Board Spotlight: Garrett Butler

 

I am a fourth-generation Butler in our family’s agency. My great-grandfather started the agency. In 1910, it was established, and he was an employee. Shortly after that, he became the owner. So, out of college, I worked in the storage and shipping industry with a startup that me and a couple of buddies of mine created. About five years later, my buddies and I sold the business, and, at that point, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do.  

 

Growing up, I lived a privileged life and realized it was because of the insurance business. I thought I was probably passing up on too good of an opportunity not to try it out and work with my dad, so I got into it after talking to him about it. He said, "Absolutely, you got the job. You're gonna make $25,000 a year, so good luck with that." So, I got my license, and here I am, 18 years later, and now I can provide my own family with a nice life like my dad did for me. 

 

 

I would say there are two things I like to live by. Brendan Lynch has always been a mentor to me; he was the first young agent I got to learn from, and he really helped me out and gave me the best advice ever. He and I became really good friends early in my career, and the advice he gave me years ago has grown my book of business to where it is now. It's like a secret of the pros—I don't tell people about it.  

 

The other person who gave me some of the best advice I ever got was Tom Buckley, who's now retired. When I was first starting out, he told me, "Listen, this business is going to hurt you, but it's also going to give you great joy." He said to me that you should celebrate your victories for one day. But you must also do the same with your losses and let it go. There have been times when I haven't followed that, and it put me in a funk that affected everything else in my life. So, that advice really imprinted on me, and I try to maintain that mantra in everything I do.   

 

 

I fell into a niche early on in my career. The best advice that I wish I would've gotten was to figure out what I like and then become an expert in that arena. I have friends in the business who only work with contractors, and they became experts in that, and now they are very successful. And now referrals are so easy because they're experts. Find your niche and become an absolute master. 

 

You'll always pick up random clients or referrals here or there. But if you become a master of one main thing, whether it be marine, cargo, or something like that—if you're the best, that means people will come to you just because you're the best. I just fell into my niche, and now, five to 10 years later, huge accounts are calling me like, "Hey, I need that cyber liability insurance." I have the market already, and the underwriters know me—it's all set up easy. That's what I wish I would have learned or what I would advise somebody who just started getting into the business to do.   

 

When I first started in the industry, my uncle Richard was the president of the local Big I here in Dade County, and he told me, "Garrett, you're going to go to a YAC meeting, and you're going to get involved." I had no idea what he was talking about—I didn't even know the acronym "YAC" stood for Young Agents Council, but I went to this event anyway and met these young agents. Eventually, just a few months later, it led me to meet Brendan Lynch, Melissa Champany, and Sarah Washburn. I looked at them as my peers, and I thought to myself, "Man, these are the people I want to be like. I want to do business like Brendan. I want to do business like Sarah and Melissa."  

Right at the beginning, I saw they wanted to help me and take me under their wing even though we were technically competitors. Through the local Big “I” and FAIA, I got the professional development I needed. As I progressed through my career and became president of the Local Board, I knew I wanted to get involved with giving back to the groups that helped me out and serve with people like Brendan, whom I looked up to. I wanted to get other like-minded people involved in FAIA and give other young agents a chance to experience all the awesome things the association gave me. 

 

 

Relationships. Some people are technical agents, some are great at making phone calls, and others are grinders. I am a referral guy. I get most of my business through my relationships with my clients, business associates, and friends who are professionals in whatever industry they may be in. It’s all about networking with my peers and friends for me. 

 

 

I don’t know if it surprises anyone, but I’m a crier. I’m a big guy with a beard, and people might look at me and say, “Oh, look at that lumberjack guy.” But I’m a crier. No man can make me cry, but the women I love in my life can make me cry with just a look. I have a three-year-old daughter, and she is my world—I’m getting teared up right now just talking about it. I’m a big softy when it comes to the women in my life. 

 

 

Well, I will say that I do have my moments. But I'll say this: When I'm with Bob, 95 percent of the time, it's associated with FAIA. Whenever I'm around Bob, Brendan, or any of the fine people connected to FAIA, I'm surrounded by such great people that it's impossible to be upset or sad or not on your game. And you want to strive to be better, then, because you're just in that perfect moment, you know. As Andrew Carnegie said, you should surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. Even in business, you should surround yourself with people who are smarter than you because they will make you look like a genius. And so, when I'm surrounded by great people like Bob, Brendan, Kyle Ulrich, Melissa Champany, and everyone in FAIA, it's impossible not to be happy and have a positive attitude.   

 

 

Definitely being chair of FAIA. I look at the pictures on the wall in the Chairmen’s Hall in Tallahassee, and I see all of these amazing, accomplished people who have been chair over the last 30 or 40 years that I look up to, respect, and still know to this day. And I still can’t believe my peers nominated and then selected me to be chair of FAIA and put my picture on that wall. It’s an amazing accomplishment, and it’s very humbling.   

 

 

Continuing to be positive and work when negative things are happening to you. Sometimes, things happen that are out of your control, and it brings you down, like when a client sells their business or gets bought out, so you lose a big part of your paycheck. So, I’d say continuing to be positive and continuing to work hard, even when it’s a hard market or when the wind is pushing against you. You just have to stay positive, keep grinding, and keep going.