Meet Patrick Gaughan of Williams-Gaughan Insurance Agency

Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Gaughan.

Hi Patrick, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I got started in the insurance business around Christmas of 2016. I was finally graduating college and decided I would rip the band-aid off and dive right into my insurance career. I say “finally” because I was always a little more focused on work than school. I worked in a restaurant, a bar, a gym, and a local bank while in college. Not all four at the same time, but I always had at least two jobs during my college career. My manager at the restaurant loved me because I would skip some of my lectures to work the best shifts. Part of the reason I was so focused on making money in college was that I knew I would need savings to survive while I started from scratch in the insurance business. Starting your own book of business in the property & casualty insurance world is a very slow grind. You can knock it out of the park in your first year and still probably qualify for welfare. I kept my restaurant job for my first couple of years until I had enough income just to get by. Luckily for me I had the best resource possible, my dad Jerry Gaughan, who’s made a huge footprint in the insurance industry over the last 40 years. Seeing someone build their book so successfully was definitely what gave me the confidence to try it myself. It also helped that I had worked so many different jobs because I had tons of former coworkers to call on. Some of my biggest clients today are people I either worked with or served food and drinks to, serviced at the bank, or checked in to the gym. It’s funny I can actually think of people in all of those categories off the top of my head.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Well I mentioned that it’s a very slow grind. 90-95% of the people that pass their insurance license exam quit within the first year. If you want a get-rich-quick job, this is not for you. To put it in sales terms “you eat what you kill” your first year, and the problem is you’re hunting gerbils. The beauty of it is that you get residual income from your sales every year. So if you can keep your sales rolling in your early years, you can really build a sustainable book of business and keep adding to it. But I really had my moments where I considered giving up. My first year, there were some days where I’d leave work at the agency, go to the bank to get a cash advance on my credit card just to pay the bills that were already due, and then get to the restaurant for my night gig. I remember the feeling in my gut when I saw my credit card balance get to $10K and thinking about how long it was going to take to pay that off (finally paid that off last year by the way).

Towards the end of my second year, I even sat down with my dad and told him that I had made the decision to leave the family business, and I meant it. That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. He was supportive of my decision but I just kept the ball rolling while I considered what path to take. Before I knew it, I was a few months into my third year and I still wasn’t making enough money, but it was more than my 2nd year which was more than my first year. It just finally clicked and I really started to believe “ok I can do this”. So I stuck it out and I’m so incredibly grateful I did because today I get to focus on what I can do to help my clients and I absolutely love my job. It’s been a monumental year in my life. I married the beautiful and talented Nikki Gaughan (Buckles), I turned 30 years old, I’m celebrating six years of sobriety and I’m just wrapping up the fifth year of my insurance career and I can say I’m finally starting to reap some of the benefits I’ve been working towards. Still got a long way to go before I let my foot hit the brakes though!

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We’re a family-owned independent property & casualty insurance agency. We specialize in home, auto, rental properties, small business and workers comp insurance. Some of our biggest partners are Travelers, Safeco, Progressive and Encompass. There are five of us in the office. Myself, my dad Jerry Gaughan, my cousin Brett Gaughan, my brother Jack Gaughan, and Mindy Moberg who is not a blood relative but is just as much a part of the family business as any of us. Since we work with multiple insurance companies, we can shop around and usually get you the best rate available. But where our value really comes in is that we know our companies products well and we know our customers well. So if I know that Jimmy just bought a brand new BMW, he not only needs full coverage but he needs to be with a company that offers new vehicle replacement and GAP coverage to protect his loan. If Steve wants to get home insurance and I know Steve has a gun collection then I know I should put his coverage with Safeco because they offer unlimited gun coverage. If Stacey is moving from KS to MO she may not realize her injury protection coverage on her auto insurance will no longer apply so we need to make sure she has medical payments coverage if she chooses. We help our clients make informed decisions. Insurance can be tricky and once you need to use it, it’s too late to change anything, you’re stuck with what you have in place. And our service doesn’t end once the policy is issued. People’s needs change over time and we will be here to adjust coverage accordingly. Ideally, your insurance plan will fit your needs like a tailored suit. We make sure our clients are adequately covered and also that they are not overpaying for excessive coverage.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love Kansas City. Kansas City is full of people that just want to laugh and connect. I know that’s generalizing but I really believe that. I have a huge family and many of them live here in KC. Nikki and I live in Westwood and my parents and two of my siblings are all with in a couple of miles of each other and another sibling in Lees Summit so there are lots of family dinners and impromptu meetups. I love going on walks with my charismatic dog Jeffrey, eating local Mexican food (Taqueria Mexico is my favorite), and working out at PowerLife KC. I could sap on all day about Kansas City I love it.

Contact Info:

• Email: patrickg@williams-gaughan.com
• Website: williams-gaughan.com
• Instagram: @ptgaughan
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wginsurancekc/