"Challenges that are tackled head on become successes. Challenges that are put on a back burner become house fires."
Tell us about your business. What is your business?
Peters Family Insurance, LLC, is a family owned Allstate Insurance Agency. We specialize in protecting personal and small-business assets through sound insurance advice. Prior to COVID-19 we’d grown to three agencies, we were identified as “Best of Las Vegas” three years running, and proudly employed up to 10 licensed professionals.
When was it founded?
PFI was founded in August 2015. We took a very small customer base and failing business, turned it around and in just 5 years, grew the agency to multiple locations and revenue by more than 400%.
How did you become a small-business owner?
I decided to leave government and then corporate America and set out to buy a small business. After finding one, I used the experience I’d gained in the military and later as a corporate manager to build a thriving company.
How many employees do you have?
At the peak of business, pre-COVID, we had 10. As businesses had to do, we re-organized back to one streamlined, single location office with four professionals.
Why did you become an NFIB member?
NFIB is the voice small businesses need to deal with the sea of government bureaucracy that can, does, and will destroy small businesses. I wanted to be a member to do my part in making sure my business, and those like mine had someone that would continue to speak on our behalf in Washington D.C.
What’s the biggest challenge that faces local small-business owners like you?
Aside from just running the day-to-day business and keeping staff focused and motivated, dealing with all the extra government requirements was the biggest difficulty. Watching profits go to government instead of business maintenance and/or growth was depressing as well. At one point, I counted more than a dozen different fees and taxes that I was required to pay to stay in the good graces of the city, county, state and federal governments. It’s too much.
How are you tackling that challenge in your own business?
Head on. Challenges that are tackled head on become successes. Challenges that are put on a back burner become house fires. There are always day to day challenges, and overall business development and planning and sales and accounting and taxes and supply challenges. A business owner has to prioritize, delegate, and ultimately aim at the closest and largest targets to be successful. But, you also have to be mindful of those little targets that can pile up and become a big fire.
What could help your industry grow?
Smart deregulation at the federal level is the best answer for most industries. Adding bureaucracy and letting people 3,000 miles away decide what is best for consumers in my neighborhood is not capitalism, it is not a story for success, and it’s un-American. It’s time to reign in the federal Government.
Who has been a small-business hero or mentor that has helped to shape your entrepreneurialism?
Jeffrey Gitomer, Darren Hardy, my Dad, small-business owners across all industries that build something out of nothing and become successful – whatever their own definition of success is. That last part is the key. It should always be a personal definition, never one driven by government.
What are you most proud about with your work in the community?
I was on the board for my local Rotary Club and in that position, we were able to be involved in numerous local non-profits – specifically Three Square (food bank) and Project 150 (resources for homeless teens). These organizations have a special place in my heart and the work we were able to do there was impactful in others lives. Believe it or not, humanity still exists.
What does it mean to be a small-business owner running for Congress?
It means that I have experience much like hundreds of thousands or millions of other Americans that work hard every day to build something, a legacy in some cases, for their families and themselves. It means that with that experience, my judgement in policymaking will rest in a place that keeps the American Dream at the forefront, keeps the freedom to pursue happiness alive, and keeps America the beacon of capitalism that has provided the best quality of life ever in the history of the world. It means that I have seen a glimpse of the American Dream, and I want that more of it, for my kids, your kids, and their kids.
What do you hope to accomplish during your time as a member of Congress?
I want to get the narrative in Congress back on track with what the Constitution says Congress is supposed to be working on. The security of our country, the balancing of a federal budget, and basic principles of domestic tranquility that have allowed our country’s success can no longer be ignored in the effort to adopt a woke socialist society. Every single one of those societies, in the course of history, have ended badly. America, and our children, deserves better.
