Today we’d like to introduce you to TJ Jeremiah.
TJ, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My wife, Ellen, and I moved to Carlsbad in 2002 and promptly birthed a boy. Ever since then I have volunteered in the classroom, coached soccer, managed soccer teams, and participated in leadership positions in YMCA Adventure Guides, Carlsbad High School Band Boosters, and the Boy Scouts. Very few people set out to work in the insurance industry. Ask around and you’ll find it’s true. When I finished up college I was certain that I’d work in outdoor education. While it was fun and interesting it didn’t really pay the bills.
I fell into insurance at a time when the cost of health care was starting to ramp up. The challenge was to find a way to help small businesses keep their employee benefits program in the face of the year over year 12% increases. It is still a challenge. The work is interesting and the clients are always different. I think there are very few jobs where you can have a dramatic impact on people’s lives when they are in a serious situation. It happens in insurance. The tedium is punctuated with the crisis. It’s a good feeling to know the path and help guide a person down it. I’ve played a small role in providing for premature babies, cancer treatments, and a kidney transplant.
Insurance is a funny thing. People begrudge making a payment but they don’t think about how much risk the carrier is shouldering. Yes, medical insurance is more expensive than it needs to be but it is a financing vehicle for the day when you need to buy treatment for a heart attack. For over a decade I was the San Diego representative for a small Orange County agency.
Then in 2014 I struck out on my own and founded Shorebreak Insurance. It was a lot of work and stressful but like my first boss used to say, “Don’t tell me about the labor pains. Show me the baby.” Today we serve small to medium-sized local businesses from Gelato shops to E-Commerce Software. We provide medical insurance and other employee benefit plans. We also handle business insurance lines: general liability, workers compensation, commercial auto, etc.
I find I’m most interested in Life Insurance and Annuities. When I’m not cycling or hiking, I’m geeking out on the many features and uses these products have. They are way more involved than anyone wants to know about which makes them inaccessible. If you can get over that hump, they will generate lifelong tax-free retirement income.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Anyone that starts a business has a similar story: long hours, starting revenue = $0, lean times. I had the pleasure of starting an insurance agency along with the introduction of Obamacare. I’m surprised that I still have any hair left. Those were frustrating times. I spent countless hours helping people navigate the new system and didn’t get paid a dime for 10 months. I could easily spend 2 hours on hold with Covered California trying to work out client issues.
The landscape continues to change and I will have to adapt or die. The Trump administration has tweaked Obamacare and we don’t fully know the ramifications of that yet. Insurance will likely be disrupted by some kind of tech startup. Driverless cars will make auto insurance policies a novelty item.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Shorebreak Insurance story. Tell us more about the business.
Shorebreak Insurance serves individuals and small to medium businesses in Orange and San Diego Counties. We provide Employee Benefits, Business Insurance, Life, Home and Auto. We specialize in Medical and Life Insurance. We are proud to assist people in securing Personal Pensions. The 1 thing that separates us is that we can offer a wide range of products. Clients have 1 point of contact. We get a unique 360-degree view of their risk and can address it by shopping dozens of insurers to cover the need.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I feel lucky to be alive in this time of medical technology. It’s amazing how well we can treat illness and injury. The downside is the extreme cost of care and longer lifespans. Living longer is great and all until it breaks the government social safety net. I also feel lucky to have financial products available to help address that risk.
Just 20 years ago your retirement investing choices were either in the market where you could gain enough to retire but you might lose it or in a safe investment that couldn’t lose but couldn’t gain much either.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2647 Gateway Rd. Ste. 105-153 Carlsbad, CA 92009
- Website: www.shorebreakinsurance.com
- Phone: 7605121300
- Email: tj@shorebreakinsurance.com
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