Holden Smith (Photo courtesy of Lennox Insurance)
For Holden Smith, being a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of guy is more than just a personality trait; it sums up his perspective on life to always be authentic, genuine and connected to the community. As it turns out, it is also an extremely effective business strategy as evidenced by Lennox Insurance, which he founded in 2016 at the age of 25, growing the Paragould-based company from the ground up to become one of the most respected independent agencies in the country.
Smith, whose family and wife’s family have multigenerational roots in Paragould, readily gives a share of the credit for his success to local families, many of whom he has known his whole life, who were willing to be part of a hometown kid made good. He said those elements helped Lennox Insurance grow into a nationally awarded agency, the most recent of its accolades coming last month as Smith was awarded the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents’ Professional Agent of the Year, despite being just 34.
“I’m third-generation Paragould. My kids are fourth generation. My wife’s family has been here forever,” Smith said. “We had a lot of people in the community that were pulling for us and rooting for us, and a lot of those people put their money where their mouth was and supported the business, as well.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’ve heard the, ‘Hey, my insurance agent should probably be older than me,’ but there were a lot of people who identified with us and who seemed to like the idea of this young and hungry guy taking his shot. They kind of just rallied around it and supported it.”
Even for the casual bystander, it is hard not to want to get behind someone like Smith. The son of an independent truck driver, his father died when Smith was in high school. Watching his mother, a former schoolteacher who left her career to raise her kids, have to reenter the workforce to feed the family made a distinct impression on him. He not only developed an admiration for what she did to keep the household running but an appreciation for the kinds of life scenarios he would later help clients plan for and deal with.
“It was one of those situations growing up where, one day, we had a good little business and a good thing going, and the next thing you know, the sole breadwinner had a major stroke, can’t drive, can’t work,” he said. “Today, I look at that from the standpoint of trying to make sure the client is prepared for whatever can happen. People never think it can happen to them, and so we try and educate them and say, ‘Hey, here’s what could be around the bend. It might be, it might not, but here’s how you protect yourself from these things.’”
Smith stumbled into the insurance business at age 21 after an enjoyable if unproductive period in college when he took a job with the local State Farm agent, the father of a friend. To his surprise, he found the industry appealing both for the aspect of serving others and for the growth potential it provided.
“A lot of people in insurance tell you ‘Hey, I wound up here by accident,’” he said. “Yeah, I can say I wound up back here by accident, too, but there was always an appeal to [insurance]. Growing up, I always looked at it like I thought [agents] had a really cool life, and what they had going seemed like something that would interest me, so it was just born kind of out of mutual opportunity.”
Like most entrepreneurs, opening his own agency was a real step of faith, but even from day one, he felt at home in the role of business owner.
“I think the reason why some of the lessons wasn’t as hard was my parents were self-employed,” he said. “I got to see so much of that as a kid, you know, my dad’s an owner-operator. He’s in the truck. He’s making a delivery. He’s doing all of that stuff. My mom’s his bookkeeper. She’s keeping his bills paid, keeping the taxes done. I grew up getting to see all of the behind-the-curtain stuff.
“I mean, there were parts of it I wasn’t prepared for. We started from scratch, no policy holders, no premiums, no money, all those fun things, but as far as understanding, hey, there’s a lot more to this than selling insurance, I knew that walking in.”
Smith’s venture grew on a combination of hard work and square dealing, qualities he shared with his wife, Jordan, who would join in the firm full time in 2023, making Lennox Insurance a true family endeavor. As with all businesses, there was a bit of good luck along the way, as well as some elements were completely random. The origin of the agency’s name, for instance, is an amusing bit of company lore.
“I don’t even remember the name we picked out, but [the Arkansas Secretary of State] called and they were like, ‘Hey, the name you’ve picked, somebody somewhere in the state already has it. You can’t have that one,’” Smith said. “I asked my wife, ‘Hey, what are we going to call this thing?’ and she said, ‘Call it Lennox Insurance.’
“I never questioned where she came up with it, but years later, somebody asked her, and she said I had been sitting in the office, doodling names, and there were scrap papers all over the floor. The top one said ‘Lennox,’ and that’s where the name came from.”
The firm’s name may have been random, but the growth strategy was not. By 2023, the agency expanded through Smith’s purchase of three other firms, and the following year, Smith partnered with Pinnacle Advisors in Little Rock, which led to opening Lennox’s Cabot office.
Along the way, Smith actively gave back to the industry through the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents both at the state level and at the national level, where he has been on the board and served as president. He said he liked working to advance a professional association that focused on the little guy, especially as more and more mom-and-pops are swallowed up by the big players.
“Mergers and acquisitions have been massive in the insurance industry,” he said. “We’re definitely seeing a generation sell and move out of the industry, but you’re also seeing that younger generation look around and go, ‘Hey, being a part of a big conglomerate is not for me. I’m going to go hang my own sign on the front door and see what happens.
“That’s the beautiful part about it, that circle of life that keeps continuing. People keep taking their shot and taking a chance and opening their own independent businesses, and I think that’s wonderful. I think that’s what our industry and the economy and everything is built on.”
READ ALSO: From Rogers Stand to National Brand, 7 Brew Hits the Big-Time
