The Walters Agency Podcast

Building Relationships One Conversation at a Time: The Walters Agency Story

• Timothy Walters • Episode 1

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Meet the Host: Timothy Walters Of The Walters Agency

Meet Timothy Walters, the man behind The Walters Agency—a Brightway Insurance franchise serving East Tennessee families, homeowners, and small businesses since 2018. Timothy's path to insurance wasn't a straight line; trained as an educator, he unexpectedly found himself drawn to an industry few people enter "on purpose." Seven years later, what began as a temporary detour has become a fulfilling career built on authentic human connections.

When he's not helping clients find the right coverage, Timothy embraces an eclectic range of interests—from hiking and working on his family farm to reading physical books (a deliberate choice to offset screen time), target shooting, and exploring culinary delights. This well-rounded perspective helps him connect with clients from all walks of life. Despite the challenges of working in an industry where customers often "resent what we have to offer" and frequently interact with him on their worst days, Timothy's educational background drives his mission to help people understand not just what insurance is but why it matters. 

To learn more about The Walters Agency visit:
https://www.brightway.com/agencies/tn/knoxville/0237/team
The Walters Agency
7009 Asheville Hwy
Knoxville, TN 37924
423-417-2070

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Walters Agency podcast, where insurance meets peace of mind. Hosted by licensed insurance agent and owner, timothy Walters, we're here to help families, homeowners and small business owners throughout East Tennessee protect what matters most Our mission Creating win-win-win solutions for insurance. Let's dive in solutions for insurance.

Speaker 2:

Let's dive in. Welcome everyone. I'm Skip Mauney, co-host and producer, here in the studio with Timothy Walters. Timothy, how's it going? Going well?

Speaker 3:

Skip. How are you doing?

Speaker 2:

Doing just fine. Doing just fine. I'm excited to have you in the studio today. You know, over the years, I think you've developed quite a remarkable following with your agency. However, some of our listeners may not be familiar with your full journey or your story. So, if you don't mind, let's take it from the top. Could you share a little background about your company and about what you do?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so I'm the agency owner at Bratway Insurance, the Walters Agency in Knoxville, tennessee. It's a franchise of Bratway Insurance which is based out of Jacksonville, florida, one of only a handful of Tennessee Bratway agents right now. I started this office in spring of 2018 up in Morristown actually, which is where I lived at the time, where a lot of my family is, and so I guess I've been doing this for almost seven years now. Before that, I was with State Farm, I worked at a local agency in Jefferson City for a good guy, todd Mounts, so I've got, you know, actually a pretty good chunk of time in the insurance industry at this point, which is kind of bizarre to think about. So here I am.

Speaker 2:

How long have you been in the business?

Speaker 3:

Since 2012.

Speaker 2:

Since 2012. You said that very good.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

For such a young fella. You're doing great.

Speaker 3:

Oh, you know, it's just the young things, right, right.

Speaker 2:

Well, Timothy, when you're not running your business, what do you like to do for fun?

Speaker 3:

I'm a little bit of a eclectic guy. Yes, I do a lot of different things. I like to do outdoor stuff. I like to hike. I like to get out and walk a lot on the roads. Hike, I like to get out and walk a lot on the roads. I like to go out and kind of pick around at my dad and I's farm that we're trying to get up and running in Newmarket. I like to read I think we spoke about before. I like to read actual books, because I spend way too much time on the screens at work and I really enjoy finding old books like used bookstores and stuff. I enjoy shooting when I have the time and the money for ammunition. Uh, and you?

Speaker 1:

know just kind of getting out and talking to people.

Speaker 3:

Honestly, it's kind of my one of my favorite things to do. What do you like to shoot? Oh, just, you know raffles and pistols. Mostly I got a couple of raffles, a couple of pistols and a shotgun. I don't nothing crazy. You know, I've known people who are really into into the gun hobby and you know it's an expensive one. So it's fun to get out there. But you know you start chewing through the brass and it starts digging into your pockets a little bit. So I also enjoy good food, so I haven't got to balance that out.

Speaker 2:

Yes, shooting and food. Well, I'm a shotgun guy.

Speaker 3:

I like sporting clays is a lot of fun, if you've ever done that and I'm not good- at it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, as far as marketing goes, Timothy, we all know that's key to any business success. How do you market your business?

Speaker 3:

Skip, historically I've kind of been at old school. I hit the bricks. Our best successes have always been by business-to-business referral relationships. So I go out and I talk to people who can refer me clients. So loan officers, realtors in the commercial space are probably our best referral partners In the business space. I'm still actually strategizing on that, but bringing in people for the commercial and small business side of our products. Again, just kind of going out, walking in and talking to people and finding out, hey, you know what do they need that we can help. Maybe they have a great agent already and they don't want to talk to us and that's cool. But maybe I made a new friend or a new enemy or you know, something happened Right.

Speaker 3:

So you know, like I said, that's my favorite part of the job actually is getting out and talking to people and, you know, building those relationships and people are interesting, you know, for better or for worse, and that's again my favorite part of the job is getting to talk to new people.

Speaker 2:

Well, timothy, you're an extremely busy guy, obviously because I have a tough time getting up with you sometimes. In your own words, why are you doing this?

Speaker 3:

You know, maybe I had no other marketable skills except talking to people. No, that's an interesting question because you know you and I talked about it before Skip, very few people I'm not going to say nobody does, because there's always that one guy who raises his hand and says, well, I did. But very few people actually get into the insurance really on purpose, like we tend to fall into it. I was on the education track, you know, when I was a kid I wanted to be a teacher. I went through college to be a teacher. I did student teaching. We're actually how I met Todd. He was my mentor teacher at Jefferson County High School and that didn't work out. That's kind of a story unto itself. But Todd actually contacted me and asked me to come on with him when he started his state farm agency. And I did, and I didn't expect it to become a career. I really didn't.

Speaker 3:

I thought it'd be a short-term solution. You know, try something new and it was hard, you know. I honestly, you know I tell people all the time new agents. You're probably going to think about quitting almost every day for a while because it's a lot. There's a lot in this industry. It can be stressful. I mean you're dealing with people on bad days on a fairly regular basis and we're not selling a product that you know people can get immediate enjoyment out of. So a lot of times people resent what we have to offer. But again, my educational background I want to help people, I want to help them understand what it is, why it's important, and yeah, so I think that's kind of what drives me. I really do want to help people and our living, of course, because you know food. That's kind of what drives me.

Speaker 2:

I really do want to help people and are living, of course, because you know food and guns right. Absolutely Very good, very good. Well, timothy, I love it.

Speaker 3:

Keep doing what you're doing and we'll catch you in the next episode. All right, sounds good, skip.

Speaker 1:

I appreciate it. That's a wrap on this episode of the Walters Agency Podcast. Ready to find the right coverage for your home, business or family? Call or text 423-417-2070 for a free 20-minute consultation. Until next time, stay covered, stay protected and keep winning with the Walter Agency.