In this podcast episode, join me as I chat with Dean Callender, Senior Vice President at Pan American and a fourth-generation farmer with a diverse career spanning leadership in transplanting crews and custom designing benefits programs. Dean shares his wealth of experience and passion for agriculture, delving into the profound impacts of industry changes and regulations on health insurance. He underscores the significance of seeking assistance, maintaining optimism, and practicing empathy as key points in retaining a successful business in an ever-changing landscape. As our conversation unfolds, Dean imparts a valuable lesson on the podcast: the significance of investing in relationships within the tight-knit agricultural community, emphasizing the built-in support system that should be cherished for lasting success.
In this podcast episode, join me as I chat with Dean Callender, Senior Vice President at Pan American and a fourth-generation farmer with a diverse career spanning leadership in transplanting crews and custom designing benefits programs. Dean shares his wealth of experience and passion for agriculture, delving into the profound impacts of industry changes and regulations on health insurance. He underscores the significance of seeking assistance, maintaining optimism, and practicing empathy as key points in retaining a successful business in an ever-changing landscape. As our conversation unfolds, Dean imparts a valuable lesson on the podcast: the significance of investing in relationships within the tight-knit agricultural community, emphasizing the built-in support system that should be cherished for lasting success.
This episode is sponsored by UnitedAg, one of the largest association health plans to offer healthcare to the agriculture industry of California and Arizona.
Kirti Mutatkar, President and CEO of UnitedAg.
Reach me at kmutatkar@unitedag.org, www.linkedin.com/in/kirtimutatkar
UnitedAg website - www.unitedag.org
Episode Contributors - Dean Callender, Kirti Mutatkar, Dave Visaya, Rhianna Macias
The episode is also sponsored by Brent Eastman Insurance Services Inc. - https://brenteastman.com/Blue
Shield of California - https://www.blueshieldca.com/Elite
Medical - https://www.elitecorpmed.com/Gallagher
Medical https://sainmedical.com/
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:00:04] This is so exciting. I'm so excited today because I have Dean Callender here with us and [00:00:10] Dean, I think I've known you for almost as many years as I've worked at UnitedAg over 20 years. And Dean, this our service rep or as [00:00:20] anybody knows, a broker at United. But first, let me introduce myself. I'm Kirti Mutatkar, I'm the CEO and president at United AG, and I'm super, super excited [00:00:30] to be talking to Dean today. And Dean, give your introduction. I know you are a service rep today and that's how we see you, but you've been through [00:00:40] a lot in this industry, right? And you've gone through different you've worn different hats. So can we get an introduction from you and your journey into what you do today and [00:00:50] how you've come to where you are today?
Dean Callender : [00:00:52] Yeah. Well, currently I'm with Pan American Insurance Services, which is one of the relation companies and been [00:01:00] on here for almost 19 years now. Uh, before that I was with APMA for six years, and after leaving [00:01:10] APMA to be hired by Pan American, Pan American said they would support APMA in any way possible. So I was immediately elected onto the board and then, uh, [00:01:20] came to be director and then started working my way through the executive board and president and past president and all that, which is about a 12 year stint once you make [00:01:30] the commitment to do it. And so, in addition to being executive director, I spent a lot of time working with APMA. But my background goes back to, [00:01:40] you know, being working on our farm when I grew up, starting at a very young age, I learned to drive when I was ten on the farm and then really started doing some heavy lifting, [00:01:50] but, uh, did everything from, uh, welding machinery mechanic, uh, did, uh, move field pipe, uh, LED celery transplanting [00:02:00] crews and did hiring and firing, um, and then after uh, graduated from Cal Poly, ended up getting hired at [00:02:10] a produce company, a grower shipper called Stewart Packing. That's long gone. And the reason I was hired there was because they bought Tanimura Antle's computer [00:02:20] system, and I had worked at Tanimura Antle as an intern.
Dean Callender : [00:02:25] Probably within the previous six months. And so I was hired there and became [00:02:30] their sales coordinator and then started working as a salesman. Then they needed somebody to run their cooling facility. So I became plant manager and dealt with [00:02:40] collective bargaining unit. We had a union there, and then from there went to work for, uh, Nature Ripe Berries, uh, [00:02:50] Fleming Foods as a produce buyer. I went to work as a produce broker in California, and then I was hired to be a produce broker in New York. And [00:03:00] that's pretty much the 1990s. And, uh, APMA hired me in 1999 because they [00:03:10] did not have an executive director, and they were extremely worried about the Y2K and everything getting wiped out. They had their member database [00:03:20] in DOS program. They had an amber screen and floppy disks, actual floppy disks. It was all in, uh, all in DOS. The problem [00:03:30] program was called dBASE. It used to be a very popular database program. Uh, right up there with Lotus one, two, three, which is actually the [00:03:40] program we had before Excel. We got everything upgraded to windows.
Dean Callender : [00:03:45] And then of course, year 2000 came. Nothing happened. But, uh, it was [00:03:50] a really good time to invest in the new software and get everything up and running. But I was really just thrown into the fire. I didn't know what APMA was. I sure wish I did, because when I was [00:04:00] running the cooling facility ten years earlier, SB 198, which was the uh, Senate bill that in California that put on the [00:04:10] books the Iyp program that we now all have to deal with from Cal OSHA. And I was just given it, told, hey, you got to implement this new program. And at [00:04:20] the time, if I had known APMA was available, man, we would have joined. I would’ve had help, but, uh, when I got hired by APMA, that's one of the things I wanted to do was get out to as many [00:04:30] ag companies as possible to let them know that there is help out, there is support, there is networking, and the networking can't be done on a one on one basis. [00:04:40] If you're that new to the industry, you can always call the APMA office and ask Julia to connect you with somebody. And that's the job that I had. I actually hired Julia back in 2005. [00:04:50]
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:04:51] And for people who might not know what APMA stands for, it's the Agricultural Personnel Management Association and mostly kind of supporting [00:05:00] HR personnel, safety personnel, right, in agriculture with all the things that you've talked about. So the data as you were going through this. So that's quite a journey [00:05:10] right from your internship to where you are today. You've been in everything in agriculture. When you really think about it, right? You've you've been at a produce company. You've been [00:05:20] at a from a sales standpoint, from, uh APMA from an association standpoint. And now what you do from a sales. So is there like a common theme [00:05:30] in what you've done and all these years, do you see.
Dean Callender : [00:05:33] Well, it's definitely agriculture. I mean I grew up in it. I have a passion for it. I [00:05:40] constantly am reading and learning about different aspects of it. Uh, mainly on the labor law side, even though I haven't done any human resources intensely, [00:05:50] probably in 15 years, it's still just fascinating, all the bills. And that's one of the things when I started with APMA, the job that I had was to inform [00:06:00] the members of bills that were being written or contemplated that could affect them, so that they could actually anticipate the change coming. But then in the early [00:06:10] 2000s, Gray Davis got, uh, in office. And I think that's the first Democrat that got in since Jerry Brown. But he basically [00:06:20] all the governors before that were vetoing stuff all over the place. Uh, Gray Davis got in and just started approving tons of laws, obscure [00:06:30] ones, duplicate ones. I remember, uh, there was somebody who told me that in the first year that Gray Davis was in office, he signed [00:06:40] more labor related laws onto the books of California, then were on the books of most states combined in [00:06:50] their entire labor law catalog of laws. I mean, the amount of laws that were being signed was so intense that all I could do is report on the ones that [00:07:00] were getting signed, and we were putting on workshops and trainings and seminars, constantly trying to get everybody up to speed on all these laws. [00:07:10] And that's really the the big change that took place that really, uh, pushed forth a lot of burden on agriculture, specifically through the Agricultural [00:07:20] Labor Relations Act. And then also after. Davis got kicked out of office and Arnold Schwarzenegger won. He actually really dug in and [00:07:30] made some changes and made things a lot more employer friendly and a lot of realms, especially workers comp.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:07:36] So your best job ever was that. And I feel like [00:07:40] based on what you're saying is you it was because you felt like you had an impact, right? You were helping the ag industry. Do you agree? So there is a lot of [00:07:50] this comes up all the time in my podcast. Right. The agriculture industry in California is kind of burdened with all these laws. Like you talked about the labor laws and other laws. Do you see [00:08:00] it becoming more and more difficult for agriculture in California? Do you see that or was it always there?
Dean Callender : [00:08:05] It's becoming a lot more difficult. I mean, when I look back to [00:08:10] the regulations and everything that were in place, uh, even in the 1990s, and then you look at them now, that's probably 10 to 20 times worse and more difficult. [00:08:20] But at the same time, I now deal with employers and I try to do everything I can to make them as profitable as possible. By keeping insurance costs as low as possible. [00:08:30] I always let them know that it may seem unsurmountable. It may seem like all these laws are just drowning them, but everybody's having to deal with [00:08:40] the exact same laws. There's everybody's having to come into compliance with all this stuff at the same time. In other words, all those cost burdens [00:08:50] that they're feeling as an individual company. Every company is feeling them. Every company is trying to pass them on to their customers. Every company is trying [00:09:00] to save costs by mechanizing. And as long as they just keep doing what everybody else is doing with the help of trade associations and being on top of things, [00:09:10] then they're just going to rise with the tide, right? And, you know, as long as everybody's rising with the tide, they're going to stay above water.
Dean Callender : [00:09:17] Yeah. But if you don't change, if you don't start to [00:09:20] deal with all of this and make it work for you and your company, then it will knock you down. But as long as you're trying, as long as you're doing it, as long as you're raising [00:09:30] your minimum wage with everyone else, you don't think, don't think to yourself, I'm going to lose all my employees because I can't raise my wage as high as everyone else. Everyone else is thinking the exact [00:09:40] same thing. Everyone else is working with the exact same restrictions now, at least in agriculture, because of the regulation and because of the the trade associations [00:09:50] that help everybody is on a pretty level playing field. But I've got a customer that's in the janitorial service and he said the black market there is just exploding. For illegal [00:10:00] employers that are working for cash. You can't get away with that in agriculture anymore. And so it makes for a very level playing field.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:10:09] That's [00:10:10] actually very interesting. So that's a very different spin that you said based on what I've heard. Right. So this everybody's going through this. So we just follow what needs to be followed [00:10:20] and do it the legal way. Then we'll all be okay. That's kind of what you're saying exactly.
Dean Callender : [00:10:25] Yeah.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:10:26] And looks like based on what you I hear the passion in your voice when [00:10:30] you hear of helping people. Right? Your role in APMA and stuff. Is that why you transitioned to being a service rep? Because you see your job as actually helping than [00:10:40] making a sale, right? You're helping other people make a decision.
Dean Callender : [00:10:43] Yeah. And, uh, because I've run businesses and also, uh, worked from the [00:10:50] ground up, I understand the plight of every employee throughout the chain. And I also understand the importance for an employer to keep those costs [00:11:00] as low as possible and to do everything they can to retain the best employees possible. And that's really my goal. To help people is to make [00:11:10] sure they're in compliance. You have to buy certain types of insurance. You don't have to buy it all. I've got plenty of customers who are self-insuring buildings and tractors and anything [00:11:20] they can to save money. But, you know, worker's comp is required by law. Now. Health insurance is for companies of a certain size, and we want to help them to find [00:11:30] the best costs and the best way to do it. And you know, when you're buying your insurance through United AG, you're taking out all the profit. That's, uh, with the regular carriers [00:11:40] and it shows in the premiums. Whenever I end up comparing to Blue Shield or United Healthcare or Anthem, United AG is always less, and I encourage them. Not [00:11:50] only are you saving money, but you're getting service that is just unparalleled. I mean, try, try calling somebody a blue shield. Uh, if you're with Blue Shield Direct [00:12:00] and see if you get a return call or can get a human. It's very difficult, right?
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:12:06] What is your biggest challenge? What do you think is your biggest challenge as you are [00:12:10] working with employer groups and trying to solve their pain points? From a health insurance standpoint, what do you see? Is that pricing or is that anything beyond it?
Dean Callender : [00:12:20] I [00:12:20] think regulations is a big part of it, trying to constantly educate people on all the new regulations that are getting piled on health insurance. I mean, [00:12:30] you look back before 2010, before the Affordable Care Act was contemplated and everything was very simple, very easy to understand [00:12:40] now. I mean, there's just so many different laws and regulations and the amount of paperwork, the amount of paper we waste at open enrollment [00:12:50] and annually by giving them to employees who get the same thing every single year and just throw away massive amounts of it. And so there are actual [00:13:00] benefits are lost in the mix, and it's just really hard to be able to help them and explain things when it's gotten so complicated. [00:13:10] A lot of employers, when I meet with them on an annual basis to discuss their renewals, we have to go over what health insurance is, what they're buying, what are the important aspects, you [00:13:20] know, the deductibles, the co-pays, the out of pocket maxes, the prescription deductibles and co-pays, you know, things that are really important to them. And their employees [00:13:30] get lost in the mix of everything else.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:13:34] Right? I think the message would be simplify simplification and the ease of use, because [00:13:40] you're right. I think it happens in the health care industry in general. Right? Any insurance company, there's so much jargon, there's so many things that come up that the [00:13:50] user is lost in that. Right. So you simplify things and the simplification helps as you are maybe not just at United [00:14:00] AG, but as you've gone through your life, any thing that you remember, like a story that kind of touched you or the thing that you helped [00:14:10] and it had a magical moment for your employer or a member?
Dean Callender : [00:14:15] Magical moment. I think that, you know, when, when I first [00:14:20] got went from APMA over to Pan American, I think it was before I even left APMA people knew I was leaving. I [00:14:30] had made the announcement and the first person showed up in my office was Alex Drollinger, and he said, oh, you're going to go and start selling health insurance. Let [00:14:40] me show you United AG and all the stuff that United AG can offer. And I think I got appointed with United AG about the same time I got my [00:14:50] license. It was like I was going through trainings at the same time. And, you know, I really saw the value of an association health plan. I mean, [00:15:00] I dealt with it for many, many years previous to even coming to Pan American and being able to sell it, but but I mean, immediately Alex and I started [00:15:10] going in and visiting some of the people I knew would be good potential customers. And, uh, and I really enjoyed going in from the side of helping them and then actually [00:15:20] making a sale and, uh, feeling like an extra sense of accomplishment when you sell something as opposed to when you're just helping somebody along, and then they [00:15:30] sort of ride off into the sunset and say, thanks a lot for the help. You know, with APMA, there's no extra compensation for that.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:15:37] That's true. That's true. I think it kind [00:15:40] of the reason I was saying was, as you're talking through this, and I was connecting it back to United AG, the association aspect of it and what an association can [00:15:50] do for its membership. Right. You highlighted that. And the uniqueness of United AG is it's an it's an association health plan. [00:16:00] Right. So it's a health plan, but it's also the association part of it where everything that you talked about from your APMA experience, from educating, from holding [00:16:10] people, kind of partnering with them, helping them along, I think that kind of ties in. And that's what I was connecting to what we do, looking at it from an agricultural [00:16:20] standpoint, uh, you stayed in agriculture through your journey, right? I mean, starting from where you did, what was it about agriculture? But is there something [00:16:30] that compelled you to stay in agriculture? What was that? What was the reasoning behind that?
Dean Callender : [00:16:36] I don't know, I guess it's just in my blood. I mean, uh, on [00:16:40] my, uh, mom's side, we're fourth generation in AG, and, uh, my cousin still runs our family farm that I have [00:16:50] part ownership in. And so, you know, it's it's always been there. I always feel for the plight and the difficulty that agriculture goes through. [00:17:00] I'm always I mean, I do a lot of different things within the industry to support. The different coalitions and so forth that are trying to work on things like [00:17:10] the river or labor laws or, you know, any other pesticides, anything that is really tough for agriculture in particular. And, [00:17:20] uh, you know, when I went to Cal Poly, I actually went there to be an aeronautical engineer, but then the math got too hard. So I went back and [00:17:30] so I was agribusiness as a major, and my plan was always to come back and work in AG. It was sort of like a, a default back to my roots [00:17:40] type of thing as opposed to, you know, what are my big dreams? But there's a certain passion and, uh, the ability to really connect with everybody and everything, [00:17:50] especially being from the Salinas Valley. I mean, I can barely drive around without running into a cousin of mine. Uh, this is where all my family is. And so it just makes sense to stay [00:18:00] here and tough it out, so to speak. You know, some people are leaving the state and going to places more favorable taxes and so forth. But with all of the connections, [00:18:10] all the family, all the property, everything that I have an interest in, I'm not giving up on it. I'll be here till the end.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:18:18] So one of the things [00:18:20] I kind of try to see, uh, see from this podcast is what are some of the lessons when somebody is listening to the podcast? What are some of the lessons that they can take away [00:18:30] and say, this works in this industry, so maybe this could work somewhere else? So being in agriculture and different facets of agriculture, what [00:18:40] are some of the lessons that you've learned that somebody might get inspired by?
Dean Callender : [00:18:46] I mean, the main thing is, is when [00:18:50] I was a produce broker, we'd look at things from the grand scale, from the 30,000 foot level. Whenever there was a change in the weather, [00:19:00] when there was a change in commodity prices, we'd always look at everything from 30,000ft and we'd try to predict what was going to happen next. [00:19:10] And I can tell you a whole bunch of tricks for predicting what's going to happen next, from measuring ground temperature to knowing how many days go over 90 degrees in a row that [00:19:20] would influence markets and so forth. But being able to look at it from a large standpoint, you know, we're trying to feed the nation here. And it was really fulfilling [00:19:30] to do that. Probably the best day ever was, um, back in 1997, 1997, I was working as [00:19:40] a produce broker, and we were supplying most of the produce to Michigan, almost all the produce to Wisconsin. And, uh, we had [00:19:50] lots and lots of grocery store chains there. And, and we specialized in strawberries. And my partner and I were always trying to get the best product, [00:20:00] as much of it as possible. And there was a whole bunch of rain that happened in California, and we spent the whole day scrambling to get all the strawberries we could because [00:20:10] we had ads to fill. And at the end of the day, there's a report that comes out and it shows all the strawberries produced in the entire United States that day. [00:20:20]
Dean Callender : [00:20:20] And between he and I, we bought 25% of all the strawberries in the entire country in one day. And that was like, wow, I [00:20:30] can't believe we did that. I mean, we did a lot of work and it was really hard. And, you know, we got everything our customer needed. But it was like just being able [00:20:40] to source everything from everywhere and knowing what's happening in all the different aspects that bring that together and give you the ability to do big things like that. [00:20:50] And it's the same sort of thing. Now, you know, when it comes to the laws that people are dealing with, you got to look at them from a higher level and you got to look at them from, okay, where are they going to hit on the horizon? [00:21:00] You know, you can't be just looking at one law that comes out and getting discouraged by it and going, oh, we're never going to make it now. You know, there's no way we can meet this new carb [00:21:10] standard or electric vehicle standard. You know, things end up changing, things end up working out. And, uh, I always [00:21:20] encourage my, uh, my customers don't get discouraged by all this. It does end up working out. You just need all the help you can get.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:21:28] I think that's it. It's [00:21:30] like, look at the forest instead of the trees when you're making the decisions, right? So we get all caught up as when you're saying that we get all caught up when, uh, the day [00:21:40] to day stuff happens and you stress out about it. But, uh, I think agriculture teaches us to say, let's start looking. Let's look at the forest and look at making a decision. And [00:21:50] let's not get caught up in the individual trees because it's such an unknown. That's so true. The future is unknown. And like a lot of decisions get made based on [00:22:00] not knowing what it's going to be in the future. And that's a great approach to look at it from a big picture standpoint, going back to looking at it from a health care standpoint. [00:22:10] And I think I asked you this question earlier, but I just wanted to go understand, do you think as when we are looking at it in agriculture, [00:22:20] so agriculture provided health insurance before it was mandated. That says something about our ag worker, our employers. Right. So there's a human side to [00:22:30] it because yes, there's regulation. Yes, you're required to do it. Yes, you want to be competitive. But some of our agricultural employers sometimes do things out of empathy, [00:22:40] right? So when an employer is making those decisions, even from a benefit plan or looking at it, do you think empathy plays a role in it, or [00:22:50] do you think we are more focused on does that what how does this look on our income statement or financials?
Dean Callender : [00:22:56] Well, when you're talking about seeing the forest for the trees, [00:23:00] I think that really can play right into health insurance in the respect that they get a renewal increase and all they see is the price, and they start thinking about how am I going to pay for [00:23:10] this, but we need to guide them to okay. Yes, it's obviously a cost. It's one of the many costs that increase every year that, you [00:23:20] know, drive inflation. But what do you get out of your health insurance? What satisfaction and confidence do your employees get? What sort of retention [00:23:30] do you end up with? How many of your employees are returning every single season because of the fact that you provide health insurance? I have one customer who's a strawberry grower. He [00:23:40] pays for 100% of the health insurance cost for 100% of his employees, and. We're talking strawberries were usually plays or moving from field to field. [00:23:50] He has like a 95% return rate from his employees. And I think part of the fact is, is that he provides a good [00:24:00] plan and promotes all the ground benefits that the employees are entitled to, that United AG provides before the deductible and promotes [00:24:10] it, and, you know, makes it a real treasure for people to get once they hit the first of the month following 60 days. And it's not like, okay, now you need to sign up for insurance. [00:24:20]
Dean Callender : [00:24:20] He actually signs them up and has them fill out their forms along with their w-2s and everything when they're hired, and then when it comes time for them to qualify, he goes out [00:24:30] to the field, meets with them individually and says, congratulations, you start insurance on the first of the month. You know, here's some information on your new plan. You're all signed up and ready [00:24:40] to go, and we're happy to have you as an employee and glad that you've been with us long enough to earn this. And you know, I think different employers look at the different aspects of health insurance and, [00:24:50] and make decisions on their workforce specifically, you know, what are the type of things that are driving claims, you know, what are the type of [00:25:00] issues that my employees are having? I really like it when I get a call from an employer saying, you know, I have an employee that needs help with this claims issue. We want to make sure that every [00:25:10] employee feels like they're getting the value out of their health insurance. And so we like jumping on those claims and helping them feel like they're getting that value. And, you [00:25:20] know, we're happy to do it. You know, we we work with the United AG to make sure everything works out. And it always has. And so I think employers see it.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:25:29] Yeah. Yeah. And [00:25:30] when you see employers like that, when you look at their utilization or their renewal rates, that's going to be lower because as if an employer is engaged at that [00:25:40] level and doing this, you actually see from our pricing standpoint, you see an impact on when you look at the data. If an employer does right by the employees [00:25:50] and provides the right kind of benefits, you actually see that impact from a financial standpoint because the renewals and stuff are lower. That is so true. And yeah, [00:26:00] it is. When you really look at it's just not the price. One number. Right. It's all kind of all these other benefits that play into it. And also as all [00:26:10] of us being human and providing those benefits also plays into that part.
Dean Callender : [00:26:13] Mhm.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:26:14] Yeah. So what's future for you. Are you going to be service rep or are you going to look at something else. Looks like your journey [00:26:20] has taken you in different directions.
Dean Callender : [00:26:22] No, I think when I look at my job history, other than working on my family farm for probably 12 years, [00:26:30] while I was going to school, while I was going away to college, I'd come home for the summers. And so that that was a long time. But I mean, the first job I had, [00:26:40] the first employer, I worked for three years. The second one was one year, the third one was one year, the fourth one was three years, the [00:26:50] fifth one was one year. They went out of business. That's their own fault. And then APMA was six years. When I went to work for APMA, I was like, wow, I've been here six years. [00:27:00] This is unbelievable. I can't believe how long I've been here. And now here I am with Pan American going on 19, I think I found my home, I'm not going anywhere [00:27:10] and I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:27:13] And for somebody new who might be looking to, should I be making a decision of going into agriculture or not [00:27:20] going into agriculture, what would you say to somebody new, starting the career, new career?
Dean Callender : [00:27:25] Well, it's a great career and it's a small community. One [00:27:30] of the things that going back before even APMA, but with APMA and then and beyond, you run into the same people all over the place. And even [00:27:40] when I was in the sales and brokering of produce, it was like people would move from company to company. You don't ever want to burn a bridge because you [00:27:50] will run into these same people someplace else. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when, and you want to make sure that you treat everybody fairly and that [00:28:00] you treat everybody with respect because, uh, you know, you might find somebody that's your boss in the future, your customer in the future. I mean, I can't tell you how many [00:28:10] CFOs that have gone from company to company to company. And every time they go to a new company, they call me up and say, hey, we want you to do our health insurance here, too. [00:28:20] And yeah, typically through APMA or my other agriculture connections, I've met the owner, I've met the salespeople, a lot [00:28:30] of the people and a lot of different facets of agriculture. Companies I've met, worked with, interacted with in the past, and they all move around. They all stay in AG. The [00:28:40] ones that leave usually don't come back, and the ones that stay stay their entire lives and. So it's a nice to be in that tight knit community and have [00:28:50] that familiarity wherever you go.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:28:52] That is actually so true because somebody when new people come into United Egg or when we're going through this onboarding, [00:29:00] that's one of the things I like to emphasize because relationships, relationships, relationships, that's everything in agriculture. And [00:29:10] you have that's the starting point. Everything else comes second because you're right. It could be you never know right where the next time you would meet [00:29:20] that person or where the person moves and stuff. So it's all about relationships.
Dean Callender : [00:29:23] Absolutely.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:29:24] I think that what AG has taught me is the importance of relationship. It's like [00:29:30] it's very important the connections and relationships, and it's like a big family, right? It's like you feel like you're part of a family. You go to APMA events. It's like a family gathering. You go [00:29:40] to AXF events. It's like a family gathering. You come to unite ag events. It's like a family gathering. So it's like a one big happy family that we are.
Dean Callender : [00:29:48] It is.
Dean Callender : [00:29:49] Well, [00:29:50] I'm always happy to help new customers and anybody in agriculture specifically. I think that when it comes to health insurance and [00:30:00] the insurance industry, it is an industry of itself that is really needing people and really has a lot to offer, and [00:30:10] it's just extremely fulfilling on my part. When we're able to help somebody get the plan that's right for them and for their company. I mean, every single [00:30:20] renewal presentation I do is different. Every one is tailored to every single customer, because certain people like to see the numbers in one way or the other. They have different emphasis [00:30:30] on areas they want to concentrate on, and I always want to make it as clear as possible because it's so convoluted. And I'm just hoping that, [00:30:40] you know, more people get into the industry that are are wanting to keep this going. I'm glad to see that both, uh, you know, David Nixon and Brent Eastman [00:30:50] are bringing in their sons. Uh, I hope to bring in my daughter one day to work in this industry, because I think the combination of insurance and agriculture [00:31:00] is just a win win. And, uh, and there's a lot of need out there, and I enjoy providing it for my customers.
Kirti Mutatkar: [00:31:07] Thank you. So thank you for making the time to talk to me today. [00:31:10] And I think this was fun. Learned a lot. I think that every time I actually I remember one of the dinners or something, I spent time with you. I think that was the first time I kind [00:31:20] of got to know your background and how you've kind of gone from different positions and stuff, and your knowledge about the employer groups, about silliness, about [00:31:30] agriculture. That was very, very impressive to me. So thank you for taking the time. And this was fun.
Dean Callender : [00:31:37] Great. I'm glad I really enjoyed myself. [00:31:40] Thank you.