From Pakistan to 7-Figure Insurance Empire | Dan Pascone with Saad Janjua | Podcast #13

Posted on June 6, 2025 by Dan Pascone

Answer Box: TL;DR

A kid from Islamabad who didn’t speak English comes to the Midwest, builds a seven-figure insurance and real estate business, and does it by obsessing over people, not premiums. In this episode, Dan and insurance agency owner Saad unpack how he grew a fast-scaling home/auto/life/health agency and a multifamily portfolio in Fargo–Moorhead, why deep customer care beats price-shopping in the long run, and how “over-giving” to referral partners can flood your pipeline. They also dive into rising insurance costs, how to explain inflation and claims trends honestly to clients, and the specific ways AI and systems are saving his team hours every week so they can focus on relationships.

Key Takeaways

Insurance is mandatory – so the real differentiator is experience. Everyone needs auto and home insurance by law, so Saad focuses on what most agencies ignore: how clients feel when they walk into the office, how their kids are treated, and whether life milestones are remembered and celebrated.
Small, thoughtful touchpoints compound into massive loyalty. Fresh coffee, cold water on hot days, greeting every visitor, toys and candy for kids, and personal notes on life events (like a child turning 18) have created deep connections. Many clients have stayed even through 30–40% rate increases because of the relationship.
Clear values for the team: “do the right thing,” not “chase the premium.” Saad trains his staff that the goal isn’t one more sale or a bigger policy – it’s doing what’s best for the client, every time. That simple standard guides hiring, incentives, and daily decisions.
Referrals beat internet leads by a mile. Paid online leads were converting at only 1–10%. Old-school, in-person referral building with dealerships, schools, gyms, dog daycares, and local events now converts 50–70% for the agency.
Give first, give a lot, and don’t keep score. Inspired by referral philosophy, Saad spends months sponsoring events, dropping off breakfast, and shouting out local businesses on social media with no strings attached. Around month 7–8, referral volume exploded to the point where his sales team doesn’t want more leads.
Rising insurance costs are the client’s biggest pain point. Inflation, higher repair and rebuild costs, and claims trends are pushing premiums up. Saad’s response is radical transparency: explaining replacement costs, the risk of over-shopping, and empowering clients to decide what’s truly in their best interest.
AI is already transforming daily workflows. The agency leans on AI for writing scripts, emails, professional communication, cleaning up spreadsheets, and building processes – tasks that used to take hours now take minutes with the right prompts.
Carriers are using AI to speed underwriting and operations. On the carrier side, AI helps process applications, run surveys, and streamline back-end operations, improving turnaround times and efficiency.
Leadership is about speaking your team’s “love language.” Saad invests in understanding what his people care about – their kids’ recitals, lifting goals, sports – and building genuine, consistent relationships. It’s one of his biggest “productivity hacks” for retention and performance.
Calculated risk-taking is a core operating principle. From leaving Pakistan for college in the U.S. to starting his own agency and buying multifamily properties, Saad’s mantra is to take calculated risks – and he believes most have paid off better than playing it safe.

Key Moments

00:02 – Intro and sponsor. The show opens with Tailored Wealth’s mission of helping business leaders live their version of a rich life.
00:28 – Dan sets up episode 13. He introduces himself and the show’s purpose: featuring trusted voices who help high-level professionals simplify the complex and turn strategy into action.
00:47 – Introducing Saad. Dan welcomes Saad, president of Saad Insurance and Financial Services, and notes he runs a large, fast-growing insurance agency in the Midwest.
01:32 – Saad’s backstory: Pakistan to the Midwest. Saad explains he was born and raised in Islamabad, Pakistan, didn’t feel he “fit” there, and came to Minnesota State University Moorhead to study English and communications and chase his American dream.
02:23 – Learning English from scratch. Saad shares that he didn’t speak English when he arrived, made up words, used hand gestures, and credits the kindness and patience of Midwesterners with his success and his decision to put down roots in the community.
03:41 – The agency today. In a 250–300K population border market of Fargo, ND and Moorhead, MN, Saad’s agency serves both states with auto, home, life, and health insurance, plus his own multifamily investments from single-family homes up to 10–20-plexes.
04:21 – Team structure. The agency has about eight team members and runs a generalist model: everyone is capable of handling acquisition (new business) and servicing (existing clients), with roles flexed as needed by the office manager.
05:16 – Ideal client and philosophy. Because insurance is state-mandated, Saad’s “ideal client” is anyone in the community who needs coverage – but he differentiates on service and touchpoints inspired by his Pakistani values.
05:51 – Turning a “DMV-like” office into a warm experience. Saad describes focusing on sensory and emotional details: pleasant smell, everyone greeting clients, offering coffee or cold water, making kids feel special with candy and toys.
06:46 – Proactive, personalized milestones. The team documents life events (like kids turning 18) and proactively calls families to celebrate, invite them in, and mark the occasion with a small treat.
07:31 – Relationship over rate. Dan points out how experience and emotion, not just price and riders, become the real differentiator; Saad notes his clients have stayed even through 30–40% rate hikes because of the relationship.
07:53 – LTV and handwritten notes. Saad talks about lifetime value and how handwritten thank-you cards and deep connections keep clients with the agency through tough pricing cycles.
08:22 – The biggest client challenge: inflation & cost. Saad says the snowballing inflation and cost of insurance are the dominant pain points; clients feel like they’re paying an arm and a leg.
08:44 – Radical transparency as the antidote. He explains how the agency is empathetic but direct: explaining replacement costs, why premiums are rising, what happens if you shop too often, and then empowering clients to choose.
09:09 – Values for the team: client interest first. Saad believes whatever is in the client’s best interest is in his best interest; he doesn’t want team members driven by premium size or one more sale.
10:00 – Rethinking lead sources. Saad shares that paid internet and Google leads converted at only 1–10%, leading the agency to pivot to old-school methods like dealership visits and local sponsorships.
10:46 – Referral-driven growth. By sponsoring school events, toy halls, and local community efforts, referral conversion climbed to 50–70%. The agency is now heavily referral-focused and explicitly asks for referrals at the right moments.
11:30 – Referral partners as “secret sauce.” Saad describes how partnering with local businesses and shouting them out on Instagram (where they’ve grown to ~10K followers) has been a game-changer.
11:58 – Give without expecting anything back. He emphasizes spending money at local shops, promoting them with no demand for reciprocity, inspired by a story from the book Referrals Done Right.
13:10 – Planting seeds for 6–8 months. For the first half-year, Saad saw little return – but by month 7–8, the volume of referrals was so high that his sales team didn’t want additional leads.
14:00 – Industry outlook & AI. On a macro level, Saad sees the industry recovering from needed corrections (similar to real estate), and on the tech side, he calls AI the best thing that has happened to the business.
14:24 – AI in the agency. AI now writes scripts, emails, and professional messaging; on the technical side, carriers use it for application processing and surveys. Saad believes the industry is just scratching the surface.
15:49 – AI for internal operations. Saad uses AI daily to clean up Excel sheets, create processes, and draft copy – tasks that used to take hours now take minutes.
16:28 – Lightning round begins. Dan shifts focus to Saad’s personal side with rapid-fire questions.
16:43 – Coffee vs. tea & dogs vs. cats. Saad chooses coffee “all day” and is firmly a dog person.
17:02 – Favorite tech. His one must-have tool beyond phone/computer: Apple AirPods, which he uses constantly for audiobooks.
18:08 – Favorite quote. “Take calculated risks.” Saad repeats this to himself often and credits a mentor with instilling it.
18:48 – Favorite business books. He cites Alex Hormozi’s $100M Offers and $100M Leads as favorites.
19:28 – Biggest productivity hack: love language for your team. Saad explains that understanding and speaking to team members’ interests (lifting, sports, kids’ recitals) has greatly improved retention and performance.
20:31 – Bucket list item achieved. Coming to America and building a life and business here.
21:10 – Big financial goal. Saad openly states he wants to get to $100 million – and Dan encourages saying it out loud.
21:30 – Advice to younger self. Take more risks; in his experience, risks have generally paid off very well.
21:47 – How to connect. Saad invites listeners to message him on Instagram at @saadtheinsuranceguy, promising personally engaged responses, even if you’re not a client.
22:10 – Dan’s closing. Dan thanks Saad, recaps the theme of strategy, clarity, and hard-working money, and closes the episode.

Episode Summary

In this episode of Making Sense of Your Money, host Dan sits down with Saad, president of a fast-growing insurance and financial services agency in the Fargo–Moorhead area – and a multifamily real estate investor – to explore what it really takes to build a seven-figure business from scratch as an immigrant.

Saad grew up in Islamabad, Pakistan, feeling like there was “something more out there.” In 2014, he took a leap of faith, moved to Minnesota for college, and arrived not speaking English. Through patient teachers, friends, and a welcoming Midwestern community, he learned the language, studied English and communications, and decided to put down roots in a place that had invested in him. A decade later, as he turns 30, he runs an eight-person agency serving home, auto, life, and health insurance clients across North Dakota and Minnesota, alongside a growing portfolio of single- and multifamily properties.

On the insurance side, Saad emphasizes that his “ideal client” is anyone in the community who needs coverage – but his edge isn’t in quoting slightly lower premiums. It’s in experience. He describes the typical insurance office as DMV-like: transactional and rarely pleasant. His agency is intentionally the opposite. The team focuses on how the office smells, whether every customer is greeted by name, whether they’re offered coffee or water, and how their kids are treated. They meticulously document life events like birthdays and kids turning 18, proactively reach out, and make those milestones feel special. That sustained emotional investment has created deep loyalty: some clients have stayed with his agency through 30–40% rate hikes because they trust the relationship.

Saad also dives into the industry’s current pain point: the cost of insurance in a high-inflation, high-replacement-cost environment. Rather than hide or deflect, he and his team explain the “why” behind increases: materials, labor, claims, replacement costs, and the implications of constantly shopping policies. His core philosophy is that whatever is truly in the client’s best interest is ultimately in his best interest – even if it means advising them to make a change.

On growth, Saad is blunt: paid online leads weren’t working. Conversion rates from internet and Google leads hovered in the low single digits. So he went back to basics – dealership visits, school sponsorships, toy drives, doggy daycares, local events – and focused relentlessly on referrals. He adopted a “give first” mindset, inspired by a book on referrals: show up, support other businesses, shout them out on social media, and don’t ask for anything in return. For 6–8 months, it felt like shouting into the void; then the seeds sprouted. Today, 50–70% of referrals convert, the agency has more five-star Google reviews than anyone in the area, and his sales team is so busy with referral volume they joke about not wanting more leads.

Looking ahead, Saad is optimistic about both his industry and his business. He sees the recent challenges as a correction similar to real estate and believes insurance is an enduring, resilient sector. What excites him most is AI: he already uses it to write scripts and emails, clean up spreadsheets, and design processes, shrinking hours of work into minutes. On the carrier side, AI is streamlining application processing and surveys. He’s convinced that we’re just at the beginning of what these tools will do for operational efficiency.

The conversation closes with a personal lightning round where listeners see the human behind the business: a coffee-loving dog person who swears by his AirPods, reads Alex Hormozi, and believes leadership is about learning and speaking each team member’s “love language.” His biggest advice to his younger self is simple: take more (calculated) risks. From leaving Pakistan to building an agency and investing in multifamily, risk-taking has defined his journey – and he’s aiming for a $100M future.

Full Transcript

Announcer: Brought to you by Tailored Wealth, helping business leaders live their version of a rich life.

Announcer: Welcome to another edition of the Making Sense of Your Money podcast, where we cut through the financial noise and help business leaders to make smart, confident money decisions.

Dan: Welcome to episode 13 of the Making Sense of Your Money podcast. I am your host, Dan. I’m the founder and CEO of Tailored Wealth. And each episode of the Making Sense of Your Money podcast features a trusted voice in the financial world, someone who works directly with high-level professionals to simplify the complex and turn strategy into action.

Dan: And today I’m super excited to have a special guest. We’ve got with us Saad. And Saad is the president of Saad Insurance and Financial Services. He is running a large and fast-growing insurance agency in the Midwest.

Dan: So, Saad, thanks for coming on and joining the Making Sense of Your Money podcast. We’re pumped to have you.

Saad: Thank you, Dan. Thank you. It’s a pleasure. I’m excited.

Dan: Likewise. Likewise. So, we’ve got a lot to cover and I know our audience wants to hear a lot of your take on different key topics. So we’re going to jump right in, but first and foremost, if you could just give us like a 90-second overview of what your business does and a little bit of how and why you got into it—maybe a little bit of your backstory as well, because talking to you earlier, I think that would be important to share.

Saad: Yeah. So, Dan, I am an insurance agent. I sell home, auto, life, and health insurance. I am also a multifamily investor in my Fargo, North Dakota / Moorhead, Minnesota market area.

Saad: My background is I’m originally from Pakistan. I was born and raised in the city of Islamabad. It’s the capital city. And I, very early on, just did not really fit well in my city. I just knew there’s something more out there. I was genuinely very curious.

Saad: And so I took the leap of faith and moved here for college. I went to Minnesota State University Moorhead, where I studied English, I studied communications, and really honed in on my soft skills. And, you know, I just wanted to chase my American dream.

Saad: So I really pushed for it and I’m just super fortunate to be here. 2014 is when I came here. So it’s about 11 years now.

Dan: Good for you.

Saad: And in these 11 years, I have accomplished more than I had ever imagined. And I’m super excited because I’m turning 30 in July, so I have lots of years ahead of me, too. So I’m just very optimistic and excited to see what all can be accomplished.

Dan: I’m sure there is a lot more that will be accomplished, especially after all that you have. I think you told me you didn’t even speak English when you came to—

Saad: Yes. So it was—I feel bad for my teachers, my friends. It was tough. I would make up words. I would use a lot of hand gestures. But the people, the amazing people of the Midwest, are very kind, very patient. They really invested in me and that made me make the decision to stay here and really invest and give back to this community.

Saad: So I decided to put my roots down here. I live here, I work here. I create opportunities in my area. And I’ll tell you more about it. But yeah, I decided to stay here and I’ve been here this whole time.

Dan: Good for you. Good for you. Great story and I love to hear that, and no doubt that you’ve got big things and big years ahead of you.

Dan: So let’s talk a little bit about your business. Tell us a little bit about what you do. Seems like you’ve got your own agency now. Tell us a little bit about how that operates, who you’re working with, and what you’re doing on a day-to-day basis.

Saad: So, we have about 250 to 300,000 people in our area. So it’s a small town, small to medium town. And so our agency services—it’s a bordering city between Minnesota and North Dakota. So we service both states.

Saad: And we sell auto insurance, home insurance, life, and health insurance. I’m also a multifamily investor in our area. I invest in single-family, multifamilies up to, you know, 10–15-plex, 20-plexes.

Saad: And so my day-to-day typically gets spent dealing with my customers, with our team. I’m fortunate enough to have a fantastic team. We’re about eight people in our team.

Saad: Our team structure is a very generalist model where most of our team is split up between acquiring—which is acquiring new business—or servicing, which is servicing existing business. And we have a generalist model because I really live and breathe that no job is big or small, so everybody is fully capable of playing any role. But our office manager basically decides how the roles are split up.

Saad: And then on the multifamily side, I do a lot of underwriting, I find deals, and I put offers.

Dan: Cool. Good for you.

Dan: On the insurance side, tell us a little bit about your ideal client and what you help them to do.

Saad: So, my ideal client, Dan, is anybody in our community that is looking for insurance. Insurance is a little bit different than other product-selling products because it’s state-mandated. Everybody needs it.

Saad: So I really focus on touch points that I try to see my competition is not really looking at. And so I try to bring—as I had mentioned prior to our interview—I try to bring my Pakistani roots into our business, into our values.

Saad: So we really focus on our customer service, how we’re dealing with customers. One little rule that we have in our office is that anytime a customer comes in—because post-COVID, you know, a lot of people started shying away from going in and meeting people face-to-face—something that we really focus on is those touch points when people come in.

Saad: Is our space smelling really pleasant? Is everybody in the office coming out and greeting that person? Are we making sure that we’re making a cup of coffee for them or a nice cold water if it’s a hot day?

Saad: I’ve seen that people love when we give their kids candy, little toys. So we really focus on those added touch points, you know, because insurance offices are like DMVs—they’re not very sexy, there’s not much going on. Typically when people come in, it’s probably not a very great day of their life. You know, they got into an accident, somebody dinged their car.

Saad: So we really like to focus on celebrating those amazing moments. We’re very thorough on documentation. If your kid turned 18, there’s a very high likelihood that we have already documented that and we’re calling you before you’re even coming in like, “Hey, Dan, we’re so excited. Spencer turned 18. I can’t wait for you to come in here. We have a little treat for him.” We make that experience super personalized.

Dan: Very cool. Very cool. I would imagine that’s got to be a differentiator for you in that business, right? Because where others might be competing on price or coverage, premiums or little riders here and there that are probably difficult for the client to understand, how you make them feel is a big difference.

Saad: One hundred percent. Dan, I know there’s a very popular word going around called the LTV—the lifetime value of a client. I cannot express to you, our customers have withstood 30–40% rate increases and they still won’t leave us.

Saad: We have built those deep connections. We have created notes. We encourage our sales team members to write handwritten thank-you cards. And those things go such a long way.

Dan: Cool. Very cool. I love that.

Dan: Let’s talk a little bit about your clients. What are the biggest challenges that they face and how do you and your team help them to overcome those challenges?

Saad: Dan, I think right now the biggest challenge a lot of people are facing is this snowballing inflation, which is really costing insuring things an arm and a leg. And the thing is that our business is not immune—just like any other business, where no matter how the market reacts, the consumer is on the brunt end of it.

Saad: So I think the biggest challenge that customers right now are facing is just the sheer cost of insurance. And our strategy to counter that is by being very transparent and honest. We’re empathetic to our customers. When your homeowner’s insurance increases, we’re empathetic to you, but I respect you enough to be transparent and tell you the why behind it.

Saad: I will tell you that the cost of replacement is this. I will also tell you what are the consequences of shopping around too often. And then I kind of let that customer—I empower the customer—to make the decision because at the end of the day, I really wholeheartedly believe that whatever is in their best interest is in my best interest.

Dan: Very cool. Very cool. I love that approach. And I think this is such a lesson for any business: if you come at it from a lens of, “I want to just do what’s right for the customer every single time,” in the long haul, things will be better for you if you do that. It’s such a value.

Saad: And Dan, when you have a lot of team members with you, you have to create a very black-and-white standard. You don’t want them to be motivated by premium numbers. You don’t want them to be motivated by, “Oh, let me make that one more sale.” They should be motivated by doing the right thing.

Dan: Agreed. Agreed. Well said, brother.

Dan: All right, let’s talk a little bit about—you mentioned how you have various roles but sort of everybody can do everything on your team. Let’s talk a little bit about how you get customers, how they find you, how you ultimately get connected. Talk me through like a new client journey with your agency.

Saad: So, Dan, as much as I’m a feelings type of a guy, I do like to look at some numbers. And the biggest thing I saw was that there was really not much success that I was seeing with internet leads or direct paid marketing through Google. We would see between a 1 and a 10% conversion.

Saad: And so we started to take a little bit of a different approach and we started just going the old-school method—going out to car dealerships, sponsoring school events, sponsoring the local toy haul—and we started seeing an almost 50–60 up to 70% conversion on just those referrals. So our business is heavily focused on referrals.

Saad: We incentivize on referrals. We are not shy—we have 315 Google reviews, five-star Google reviews to date. We’re not shy about asking for them, for referrals, and we have them built right into our system.

Saad: If you had a great experience, Dan, our guys are trained—our team members are trained—to ask you like, “Hey, Dan, if you had a great experience, the best compliment we can have is if you can tell us if somebody else would like a service like this.” And that’s our primary driving source.

Dan: Love it. Love it. Obviously, in really any services-based business, referrals are so critical. And it’s the, you know, probably the hardest to get oftentimes. So it sounds like you’ve really cracked that code. But obviously the one that’s the stickiest form of new client acquisition.

Dan: Let’s talk a little bit about referral partners for a second. Do you collaborate with referral partners? And if so, what do those relationships typically look like?

Saad: One hundred percent, Dan. I think that there is—that’s honestly the secret sauce, if you ask me. We have grown our Instagram profile to up to 10,000 followers just by really partnering with other referral businesses.

Saad: I think that people truly underestimate the fact that when a local nutrition shop opens or a local coffee shop opens and you go and spend $1,000 there and you give them a shout-out and you do it just with good faith, without anything in return, without having them wear your t-shirt—that good faith goes a very long way.

Saad: And I think that it took me a while, because I’ll be honest with you, I was not like this before. I used to always think that everything had to be transactional, and that’s where I had to grow. I read a book by—we have a big insurance professional, his name is Scott Grates. He wrote a book that is Referrals Done Right.

Saad: And in that book he mentions how he actually learned this from a realtor—that there was a local realtor in her community that just kept giving, giving, giving with nothing in return. And she kept on doing that for six months, eight months, twelve months. But she gave with so much overwhelming volume that there were so many seeds planted all over the place that she would just constantly get business back.

Saad: And when I kind of adopted that theory, the first six months were really hard because I just wasn’t seeing anything. But then, you know, come around eight months where we were going to open houses, bringing breakfast to car dealerships—a big one that we love doing is giving little doggy treats at doggy daycares—we realized right around that seventh or eighth month, we’re to a point now where when I ask my sales team members like, “Hey, would you like some more leads?” they kick me out of the office.

Saad: So that’s kind of what I strive for. And that’s just by not even focusing on what we’re getting in return. We try to seize every opportunity for a kids’ wrestling tournament, local basketball team that needs sponsorship—anything that they need, we try to get there first and beat everybody else to it.

Dan: Good for you. I love your touch points. I love the way you think about giving, and ultimately it seems like that’s served you and your business really, really well. So kudos to you on that.

Dan: All right, let’s talk a little bit about the industry. Where do you see your industry going in the next 5 to 10 years? And then specifically, how do you see technology and potentially AI playing a role in the insurance space?

Saad: Dan, AI has taken everything by a storm. It is honestly the best thing that could have ever happened to us in our industry. I can tell you right now the biggest implementation that we do for AI is it has dramatically improved our delivery when it comes to scripts, writing emails, professionally communicating—and that’s just one aspect of it.

Saad: On the technical end of it, I know that our companies are heavily utilizing AI to process applications, do surveys. And I think that we’re honestly just scratching the surface. I think this will get much, much, much bigger.

Saad: And as far as like on the macro level, I think that the insurance industry has definitely suffered. Just like real estate, there was a market correction that was needed. So it’s something that we’re recovering from, but I think that we’re closer than ever. It is not like how it was last year or the year before. I think that we’re really, really close and I think we’re going to be really strong. I think it’s an industry that’s here to stay.

Dan: Yeah, for sure. For sure. It’s certainly an industry that’s well poised to weather all sorts of market cycles. And I can definitely see AI really streamlining your space. I know enough about insurance and the technical needs, especially when signing a client up and the labor intensity—I can definitely see virtual assistants really helping with that.

Saad: One hundred percent. And even—there are so many aspects that I use AI now in my day-to-day process, like cleaning up Excel sheets, creating processes, scripts—things that, honestly, Dan, would take me hours last year, I can now do them in a matter of a few minutes with just the right prompts.

Dan: Likewise, my friend. Yep. And that’s the key: having the right prompts and training the models. And once you do that, you’re right—it saves you a world of time. I’m in the same boat. I use it a ton.

Dan: All right. Now we’re going to shift gears a little bit, Saad. We’re going to focus now on you—get to know you a little bit better.

Dan: This is one of my favorite parts of the show, and it’s called the lightning round. I never tell guests about it ahead of time because we want it to be super organic. And all I’m going to ask you to do is: I’m going to ask you a series of questions. Just respond with the first thing that comes to your mind. Some of them can be one-word answers. Some of them will require explanations.

Saad: I love it.

Dan: You ready to go?

Saad: Let’s do it.

Dan: All right. Coffee or tea?

Saad: Coffee all day.

Dan: All right. Cats or dogs?

Saad: Dogs, definitely.

Dan: Okay. What’s one tool or piece of technology—you just mentioned one, so maybe you go back to that—other than your computer or your phone that you can’t live without?

Saad: My AirPods.

Dan: AirPods. Okay, that’s a good one. I just got new AirPods actually.

Saad: Love audiobooks.

Dan: Are you an Apple AirPods guy or what do you use?

Saad: Definitely Apple. Please don’t judge me.

Dan: No, no, it’s good. So it’s funny. I have my Apple AirPods here for the office, right? I’ve got them here for the office and I’ve been using those for a long time. But I did just get the Beats that I’m using for when I exercise, and I like those a lot for exercise.

Saad: Are they like really good noise-canceling?

Dan: Yeah, good noise cancelling, but also they are very snug on you. They’re water-resistant. And you know what I do now, Saad, is when I’m in the gym I like to listen to audiobooks—which, I’m a big, big proponent of. I like to read too, but audiobooks while you’re exercising—and I can leave my phone in the locker room and I can go anywhere in the gym and these have the longest range.

Dan: So I did a little bit of research on that—actually ChatGPT helped me with that research—so that prompted me to get the Beats and I just put those into the routine.

Saad: I bet you it’s nice to not carry the heavy phone on you. Then you can just kind of freely work out.

Dan: That’s it. That’s the deal. Yep.

Dan: All right. Do you have a favorite quote or phrase about business or success?

Saad: I like to always think, “Take calculated risks.” I have a mentor that really brought me into it, and I constantly—it’s always on my mind in repeat: “Take the risk, take the risk, take the risk. Do it.”

Dan: I love that.

Saad: I have to sometimes pull myself back.

Dan: Yeah, you and I are very similar in that regard. I’m with you on that one.

Dan: You mentioned a book earlier, but do you have a favorite book—like business or personal focus book?

Saad: Yeah, you know, I really like Alex Hormozi. I really like the $100M Leads and $100M Offers. Both are—just, I love reading them. Yeah, those are probably like one of my favorites.

Dan: I went through a big Hormozi kick last year myself—read all his stuff, went through his training videos, all that stuff. So I’m with you. Really, really good stuff there. He’s done some pretty remarkable stuff.

Dan: Do you have a personal hack that you can share with the audience—some sort of personal productivity hack?

Saad: I do. I think that I had really learned over time to speak people’s love language. I think that a lot of performance and productivity comes from having a good team, right? And a good team can only work if you’re singing in their language.

Saad: And it took me—I don’t know why it took me so long to figure that out—but since I have really honed in on that, I think it has really changed a lot of things for me. It has bought a lot of time back into my day and I’ve been able to retain a lot of talent.

Dan: Good for you. Good for you. That’s so critical.

Saad: And then, if I may, I would just like to expand a little bit more on that if I didn’t clarify it.

Dan: Please.

Saad: By speaking people’s love language, what I mean to say is: really, genuinely take interest in people’s interest. Like if you have a guy that’s super into sports or into lifting, please ask him like, “Hey, how was your lift yesterday? What exercise did you do?” It cannot be small talk.

Saad: Budget in five minutes of your time, but please ask him like, “How was that?” If somebody’s kids are in a recital, please take a moment to ask them by their name: “Hey, how was so-and-so’s recital? What did she sing?” Take genuine interest.

Saad: And if you love your business, you have to start falling in love with those people’s interests. So much so that it cannot be disingenuous. It has to be genuine, because if you want people to die for you, you have to be willing to die for them, too.

Dan: Well said. Very powerful. Very powerful.

Dan: What’s one bucket list item that you’ve already accomplished?

Saad: Well, I wanted to come to America.

Dan: There you go.

Saad: So that’s what—

Dan: I figured you might go there. I was going to say you’ve already answered some of these in the earlier sections of the podcast, so that’s great.

Saad: Yes.

Dan: All right. It sounds like you’re focused on investing, you’re focused on personal and professional growth. What’s one financial milestone that you’re working towards?

Saad: I think I would really—let’s see. I want to get to 100 million.

Dan: Love that. Love that. Love that. Good.

Saad: I wasn’t sure if I should say it out loud or not.

Dan: You can say it out loud. Our audience loves to hear it, so you can say it out—you’re good. Thank you for sharing.

Dan: All right. And then lastly, if you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Saad: Take more risks. I feel like risks have always paid out really well.

Dan: Good for you. Love that. Love that.

Dan: All right. And then lastly, if our listeners want to connect with you—whether they need your services, want to collaborate with you, maybe have a referral partnership—what’s the best way for them to reach you?

Saad: Absolutely. Please, you can reach out to me via Instagram. My handle is @saadtheinsuranceguy. My social media manager monitors that very closely and I directly respond to everybody. And you don’t have to be in my area or buy my services. If you just want to connect and talk, I would love to talk to you.

Dan: I’m going to reach out to you right after this. That’s good stuff. All right, awesome. Thanks for sharing. Thanks for sharing your insights. Thanks for being a part of the pod today.

Dan: That’s it for this episode. Thanks to Saad, and for everybody tuning in, keep your strategy sharp, your goals clear, and your money working as hard as you do. Thanks again for joining us, Saad.

Saad: Thank you, Dan. Appreciate you.

Dan: Cheers. Bye.

Resources & Citations

Customer experience in insurance. Research on how service, responsiveness, and personalization drive retention more than small price differences.
Referral-based growth strategies. Books and articles on building businesses through strategic partnerships, community involvement, and “give first” networking.
Impact of inflation on insurance premiums. Educational resources on how repair costs, building materials, medical inflation, and claims trends affect pricing.
AI & automation in insurance operations. Overviews of how carriers and agencies use AI for underwriting, claims, communication, and process efficiency.
Immigrant entrepreneurship & small business ownership. Case studies and data on business formation and growth by immigrants in U.S. communities.

FAQs

Why do my insurance premiums keep going up even if I haven’t filed a claim?

Premiums are influenced by far more than your individual history. Inflation in labor and materials, higher vehicle repair costs, increased home replacement costs, and broader claims trends in your region all feed into pricing. Even “good drivers” or claim-free homeowners can see increases when the overall cost of paying claims rises.

Is it a bad idea to shop my insurance every year?

Shopping can make sense if you’ve had significant changes or your policy is clearly misaligned, but constantly hopping from carrier to carrier can have downsides. Insurers often value longevity, and frequent switching may mean losing loyalty benefits, having coverage gaps, or missing nuances in contracts. A trusted agent can help you compare options while understanding the long-term implications.

What should I look for in an insurance agency besides price?

Consider responsiveness, clarity of explanations, willingness to educate, proactivity (reaching out about life events or coverage gaps), claims support, and how they treat you and your family. An agency that knows your story and advocates for you can be worth more than saving a few dollars on a premium.

How can AI actually help my insurance experience as a client?

Behind the scenes, AI can help agencies respond faster, write clearer emails, and keep records tidy. For carriers, it can speed up application processing and some claims workflows. The goal is less paperwork and more human interaction when it matters most—like when you have a claim or a major life change.

What’s the benefit of working with a local, relationship-driven agency?

A local agency that’s embedded in the community often understands regional risks, local regulations, and the realities of your market. They may know your dealership, landlord, or lender personally, and they’re more likely to be reachable when something goes wrong. That relational context can make a big difference when you need help quickly.

How do I know if my agent has my best interests at heart?

Look for transparency, not pressure. Do they explain why they recommend certain coverages? Do they walk you through tradeoffs instead of pushing the most expensive option? Do they check in after claims or major life events? Over time, consistent “client-first” behavior—versus a focus on upselling—builds trust.

Disclaimer

This episode and page are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, legal, tax, or insurance advice. Discussions of specific insurance coverages, premiums, or strategies are general in nature and may not apply to your particular situation, state, or carrier. Insurance policies are contracts with specific terms, conditions, exclusions, and limitations that can vary widely. Before making decisions about your insurance, real estate investments, or financial strategies, consult directly with a licensed insurance professional, financial advisor, attorney, and/or tax professional who understands your individual circumstances.

Next Steps

If you’re a business owner, professional, or investor who relies on insurance to protect your family and assets, consider taking a fresh look at:

Whether your coverage limits match today’s replacement and repair costs,
How your current agency communicates during rate changes and claims, and
Where you could build stronger referral and partnership ecosystems in your own business, the way Saad has.

When you’re ready to integrate risk management, investing, and long-term strategy into your version of a rich life, explore more episodes and resources at Making Sense of Your Money, or see how Tailored Wealth partners with equity-rich leaders and entrepreneurs at yourtailoredwealth.com.