Episode
How do I grow my agency using Virtual Employees?
- Podcast
- Insurance Town
- Published
- Sep 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3876
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://insurancetownpodcast.com/348
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Summary
in this weeks episode, Heath Shearon sits down with Rob Lopez, CEO of V!VA, for a wide-ranging conversation about insurance, outsourcing, virtual assistants, and AI. Rob shares how his path from broadcast journalism and sports radio led him back into the insurance world, and why his focus has always been on building real departments not just filling seats. They also dig into what makes V!VA different: process-driven onboarding, bilingual support, nearshore staffing in El Salvador, and a consultative approach that helps agencies document workflows before adding talent. https://vivateams.com/insurancetown Timestamps 00:00 – Welcome, sponsors, and introducing Rob Lopez from V!VA 03:33 – Why Rob stays present in the industry 05:32 – Rob’s early life as an Allstate kid 06:30 – Broadcast journalism, the Houston Rockets, and a career shift 07:26 – The first life insurance claim that changed Rob’s perspective 07:55 – Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma 08:44 – Distribution work, aggregators, and building agency networks 09:35 – Why aggregator margins eventually hurt the value proposition 10:29 – Rob’s sports talk and media background 12:30 – Why catastrophe work mattered more than commissions 14:53 – Rob’s father and front-line catastrophe response 17:37 – Delivering a claim check and overcoming fear at the kitchen table 18:43 – Why showing up during claims builds trust 20:40 – Heath and Rob discuss the mission behind insurance 22:32 – How Rob entered the virtual assistant space 23:43 – Hiring for impact, not headcount 24:39 – The story behind V!VA’s first hire 27:18 – How that first hire became part of V!VA’s origin story 29:13 – The evolution from “VA” to trained insurance team members 30:13 – Why checklists and SOPs are essential 32:03 – Using virtual assistants to document…