Slade Lewis on Leadership, Follow-Up, and the Future of Insurance
What strong leaders do, why follow-up still wins, and how insurance is changing fast without losing the human part.
In this episode of The Long Game, Mitch Long talks with Slade Lewis about how he got into insurance, the turns his career took along the way, and how he ended up in a leadership role at Pinnacle. They also get into sales, management, technology, and what has changed in the business over time.
It is a practical conversation about relationships, follow-up, and how to lead people well. It also gets into AI, rising premiums, and why clients still need a real person they can call when something goes wrong.
WHAT WE TALK ABOUT How Slade Lewis got into insurance Starting out at Jefferson Pilot Leaving insurance and coming back What makes a strong manager Why follow-up still matters in sales How Zoom, DocuSign, and technology changed client meetings Where AI is starting to change insurance What rising premiums are doing to clients and agencies Why the human side of the business still matters Slade’s high school typing champion story
CHAPTERS 00:21 – Mitch kicks off the conversation from the road 01:03 – Slade on growing up in Hampstead and going to UNC 02:30 – A journalism degree with a concentration in advertising 03:09 – Slade’s first job in insurance with Jefferson Pilot 04:00 – Moving from service into sales 04:27 – The bulldog hair company car story 06:14 – Leaving insurance for pharmaceutical sales and coming back 07:20 – Product roles, UnitedHealthcare, and becoming a broker 08:26 – Slade’s current role and how he thinks about leadership 10:48 – The biggest sales challenges in insurance today 12:00 – Why answering calls and following up still separates people 13:34 – How client meetings shifted from face-to-face to Zoom 14:20 – Technology, DocuSign, and doing business across states 14:57 – Why AI may transform agencies faster than expected 15:58 – The caution around database underwriting and automation 16:50 – How AI is already shaping health insurance underwriting 17:41 – Rising health insurance costs and the pressure on employers 18:35 – Standard rate increases in the small group market 19:20 – Looking for options when traditional carriers say no 19:43 – Auto and homeowners insurance costs keep climbing 20:18 – Roof issues, storm risk, and what is driving property costs 21:36 – Slade reveals he was his high school typing champion