I still remember my first insurance claim.
It was 1996. A small business owner — a guy who ran a machine shop in Fort Worth — called me in a panic. A fire had torn through his building overnight. Everything he'd built over 15 years was gone.
Except it wasn't.
Because we'd spent two hours the year before going through his policy line by line. We'd added coverage he didn't think he needed. Coverage his previous agent had never mentioned.
That claim paid out. He rebuilt. His business is still running today.
That moment changed how I saw this work. Insurance isn't paperwork. It's not a necessary evil or a box to check. It's the difference between "I lost everything" and "I can rebuild."
28 years of lessons
Since then, I've seen it all. Business owners who thought they were covered — until they weren't. Policies filled with exclusions buried on page 47. Agents who sold on price and disappeared when things went wrong.
I've also seen protection done right. The restaurant owner who survived a lawsuit because we'd added the right liability rider. The contractor whose equipment theft didn't sink his company because we'd planned for it.
Every one of these moments taught me something.
Why The Protection Circle exists
After nearly three decades in this industry, I started The Protection Circle because I kept having the same conversations over and over — with business owners who didn't know what they didn't know.
This newsletter is where I share what I've learned. The real stories. The mistakes to avoid. The questions you should be asking your agent (but probably aren't).
No jargon. No sales pitch. Just straight talk about protecting what you've built.
Welcome to the circle.
— John