YAC Spotlight: Ricky Kopec

For our last YAC Spotlight of the year, we sat down with Ricky Kopec, a South Florida marketing representative at Johnson & Johnson, Inc. Ricky, who loves spending time with his kids, told us what led him to pursue an insurance career, shared what he thinks are the two most valuable skills a young agent can have, and explained why it’s important to build relationships in the insurance community. 

Ricky Kopec

South Florida Marketing Representative 

When and why did you decide to pursue a career in insurance? 

• I guess similar to everyone these days in insurance, I kind of fell into it. It wasn’t something I anticipated getting into when I went to college. I went to the University of South Carolina and majored in public relations with a minor in restaurant tourism management. After working for a PR firm in an internship capacity, one of my friends, who had actually started working at J&J, reached out to me about it and told me it was a great way to get a foot in the door with a great company. Growing up, I met several people from J&J over the years and was aware of the great culture they had, so I said, “OK, well let’s give it a shot,” and it ended up turning into a career. 

Who has made the biggest impact on your career up to this point? 

• My mentor over the years has been my boss, Tonya Rivera. She’s a YAC Champion and wears the title with pride. She started from the ground up, too, like me. I lean on her a lot for her knowledge gained over the years, and that’s been invaluable to me. She’s always been someone I can go to if I have questions about anything that comes up, and she’s always made herself very accessible, which is what I’ve always appreciated about her.  

Why did you choose to join the Young Agents Council? 

• It goes back to my start in Florida and marketing. I started with J&J in South Carolina and moved to marketing, which brought me to Florida. I was new in the field, and what drew me to be a member of YAC was the ability to gain more insight into what’s happening in the industry and meet like-minded individuals. It was a great way for me to gain a better understanding and build my network. Over the years, I’ve volunteered with different committees within YAC and it was a great launching pad for getting involved with FAIA via the Legislative Council.  

What advice would you offer college students unsure of majoring in Risk Management? 

• Take it from someone who didn’t go to school for Risk Management, I think it’s an extremely valuable degree to have. I think it lends a lot more credence to your knowledge and expertise in the field and your dedication to the industry. Ultimately, it’s a great career I would recommend to anyone and I think it’s got a little bit of everything for anyone’s talents.  

Tell us about the importance of building and maintaining relationships in the insurance community as a young agent. 

• From my end working for a wholesaler, regardless of where you fall or what role you play, whether a carrier, a vendor, or agent, we all have to maintain a symbiotic relationship and we all have to work together to find the best solutions for the insureds and create profit for all of our businesses, too. Anyone you know who works in this industry will tell you that insurance is a relationship business and that’s never going to change. While technology is playing a much larger role in the industry, it still all comes down to working with people. In this most recent catastrophe with Hurricane Ian, I think that was a good example of the insurance community coming together to help pick up the pieces. I think that’s when relationships really matter the most is when people are in those dire situations.  

What is your favorite aspect of the job? 

• There are a lot of things, but as something I‘ve been doing for 10 years, what really motivates me is serving our agency partners the best that I can. This hard market deals a lot of blows to you because every time you think something’s nailed down in terms of a product or guidelines, things change, carriers change, and their appetites change. But there are so many different avenues within this industry that you can really kind of pivot and go to, and that drives me to succeed. 

In your opinion, what is the most valuable skill that a young agent can have? 

• I think being adaptable and showing up are the two biggest things that will set a young agent apart. You have to be able to embrace change and adapt to new challenges, new technology, and elements. But you must also be willing to drive new change that could better impact our industry. The other part is showing up. Whether it’s a YAC happy hour or tailgate or any kind of association meeting or conference—whatever it is, just show up because that’s half the battle. By showing up, you’ll meet so many new contacts and find people who want to help you in your career.  

What do you do for fun? 

• I’ve got a daughter and a 3-month-old son, so we do a lot of stuff that revolves around them now. Whether that’s bike rides or the park, just being a dad is what I love doing for fun. We also love going out on the boat and fishing.  

Who do you admire and why? 

• I admire our CEO, Fran Johnson, Sr. He’s had a great vision for our company over the years. One thing I admire about him is that he’s always kept the family culture and values throughout the company. As much as we’ve grown so quickly, he knows everyone’s names (he even knows my kids’ names) and has an open-door policy, which I think is so crucial in this industry. From the janitor all the way up to the board of directors, anyone is able to go into his office to ask a question or offer a suggestion, and he’s always willing to listen to you and act on that feedback. With everything going on in his life, it’s very admirable. He also has a winning mentality, and his desire to win is pretty infectious. I’m extremely grateful to be a part of this team. 

What is your biggest pet peeve? 

• My pet peeve is wasted talent. One of my favorite quotes is from a movie called A Bronx Tale that goes, “The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.”