A New Era / Business as Usual
By Jerel R. Fish, CIC
On May 15th 2016, I officially became the third generation family owner of Fish & Associates Insurance.
We’d been planning for years that I would take over eventually when Bill, my late uncle, former owner of the Agency, was ready to retire. As many of you already know that’s not quite how it worked out.
When Bill passed away unexpectedly last June, I was suddenly in charge. Having worked here since 1999, this was manageable, for the most part. But, the sudden weight of the entire operation on my shoulders and the silence in the office where there used to be Bill’s sense of humor and uncanny product knowledge, made it tough the first few months as I did my best to teach myself the accounting and other aspects of the business that Bill had handled himself.
I want to very sincerely thank our wonderful clients who showed me so much support and patience during the transition. And, I want to assure you all that, going forward, Fish & Associates will continue to be here for you, to offer the personal service, fair advice and great values in insurance that you have come to expect. My first major project as the owner was hiring someone who shares my vision of, and dedication to, providing the kind of customer experience that is so hard to come by these days.
I’m pleased to announce that last month Natalia Hefko joined the staff of Fish & Associates. Natalia is a licensed agent with a little over two years of insurance industry experience. In addition to her insurance knowledge and great customer service skills, Natalia, a native of Argentina, brings with her the ability to serve our clients in both English and Spanish. We know that no matter how fluently one may speak English, insurance is more easily understood when it is explained in your native language and we look forward to bringing a better insurance experience to those in our community who may be more comfortable discussing business in Spanish.
So, as Fish & Associates enters this new era, rest assured that nothing you love about doing business with us will change. We will remain a supportive member of the Anthony Wayne community, we will treat every customer like a person, not a policy number, and we will partner with insurers that offer great rates and fair claims service.
In other words, business as usual.