Two-Way Street: An American Success Story

By Eric Soda

Two-Way Street is the book for anyone who wants to improve in sales, client satisfaction and running a business. No matter what type of business you work for or own, this book is for you. 

Eric Soda started out in the insurance business while in hig

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spilled Coffee Publishing
• Release date: Oct 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088219034

Book preview

Two-Way Street

An American Success Story

Eric Soda

Copyright © 2023 Eric Soda

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Spilled Coffee Publishing—Neenah, WI

ISBN: 979-8-218-24214-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023913180

Title: Two-Way Street: An American Success Story

Author: Eric Soda

Digital distribution | 2023

Paperback | 2023

For

Monique, Lexia and Brecken.

You inspire me every day.

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Introduction

F

or years clients and peers have asked me to share with them how I got where I am.

They’ve been pushing me to write a book. People think my story is interesting and inspirational. So that’s exactly what I decided to do.

This book is scratching the itch that I never got to scratch. There wasn’t a book like this when I was young and starting out. Nothing combined the ideas, tips, or insights on business and life into one book. Some tried but they just skimmed over things at a 10,000-foot view. They hinted at the tools, but never dove in and showed how to do things from start to finish. From A to Z. How did it work for them? How did they figure it out?

I started out in the insurance business while in high school in my hometown Princeton, Wisconsin, population 1,200. I didn’t even know how to send a fax. From never getting a college degree, to being a firefighter, to starting an insurance agency at the age of 21, to setting sales records and becoming one of the largest agency owners for a Fortune 500 insurance company.

By age 32, I grew my insurance agency to be one of the largest captive insurance agencies in the country. We set the record for most life insurance policies sold in a year in American Family Insurance’s 90-year history.

We’ve been nationally recognized for our achievements and sales records. I present to business owners all over the country on ways to improve their sales, service, and overall operations.

I’ve written this book in a way I’d like to read it. I’ve shared the life stories that shaped me and that also gave me perspective. If I was starting my business out again from the start, what would I want to know? What programs, tips, or ideas would I have wanted to know before opening the doors. How would I prepare personally and mentally? How would I get ahead and then stay ahead?

I’ve always looked at owning a business as a two-way street. That means that everyone involved is equally responsible for arriving at the desired destination. Both the client and the business work together to build and grow long term relationships established in trust and respect.

These teachings and tips are relatable to anyone and any type of business. The more I share, the more likely you find something that puts you ahead and gets you off on the right foot. Failure and falling on your face is important. Don’t forget that! Because you will, just like I did. But the more knowledge and skills you can gain, the more educated, smart risks you can take to be great.

Please use this book as a tool. Take my successes and failures and build upon them. Use my failures as a learning experience so you don’t make the same mistakes along the way.

This book isn’t just for you. This book is for my kids. This book is for my future grandkids. You will see that this book is not just about business. This book is about life. It’s about the business owner and entrepreneur as well as the person. This contains hard-hitting truths about life. Truths that you will need to know. Truths that maybe you have also experienced.

Much of what I learned throughout my life has ended up connecting like a puzzle. Life is complex, confusing, and hard, but it connects to help you both personally and professionally.

We learn from those that came before us. We learn from those who have run the race. I’m passing that on. If you have the chance, do it.

If all that follows in this book helps one person, then to me it’s a success. All the time is worth it if I can impact one person’s life. I hope that is you.

Contents

Two-Way Street

Introduction

Part 1

1

2

3

4

5

6

Part 2

7

8

9

10

11

12

Part 3

13

14

15

Part 4

16

17

18

19

20

21

Closing Remarks

Appendix

Favorite Books

About the Author

Part 1

Caring for People

1

My Firefighting Life

B

eep! Beep! Beep! My pager let off a series of tones. There was a car on fire next to a house on the southeastern part of Princeton, Wisconsin, near the lake.

Into my truck I got. As I turned it on I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I’ve experienced it many times. Your blood is flowing so much that your leg starts to jump almost uncontrollably. Usually this happened when I drove the fire engine to a call.

When a notification comes across like this, where someone’s home could go up in flames, it makes you kick into another gear. Get your ass moving, Eric, I muttered to myself.

As I dashed across the street into the fire station to grab my gear, I hopped in the fire engine, the sirens blared, and George, our chief, laid on the air horn to clear traffic, I knew this would be my last fire call.

I had been on hundreds of calls, between fires and accidents. I’d hardly ever missed any. The insurance office in Princeton I was working at was just down the road from the fire station. Day or night I would answer the call to a fire or accident.

Now, the agency I was starting, and where I would be living, was an hour away. I was out of the district and not able to make calls anymore. I just wasn’t around the area unless I was visiting or home for the holidays. That meant no more rubbing dirt and breaking shit, as my firefighter buddies would say.

I sat smiling as I looked over at my firefighter brothers, who to this day remain close friends. If they or I ever need anything, even though we’re an hour away from each other, we would all drop whatever we were doing to help one another.

This is a brotherhood that I’ve never experienced outside of the Princeton Fire & Rescue Department in my hometown. The brotherhood of firefighters is unlike any other. I grew up with these guys. They all knew my parents, grandparents, and family. Many even served in the department with my dad, uncles and grandpa.

It was about coming together for the situation at hand. When you call the fire department it is always in great need. I pulled dead people of all ages from car wrecks. I’ve helped search the charred remains of homes for missing parents and children.

The smell of a perished body is a smell that you never forget. It lives with you. It’s not something you want to relive, but it does become a part of you. It puts life in a clear perspective. When you think you’re having a bad day, you don’t have to look too far to be thankful. These were life lessons that remain as clear as the afternoon sky.

Helping people was the name of the game.

I don’t write a lot about my time as a firefighter. Many to this day don’t know about it. I did the training necessary to go full-time, but it wasn’t a career I wanted to pursue.

What it was though, was my childhood dream. Not many people get to check that box in life. At age 18, I was able to do something I had dreamed of doing since I was a little boy. I’d watched my dad, uncles, and grandpa leave family gatherings to go to fire calls.

I often think back to those years. It’s a time that I relished. Now with a wife and kids, I doubt I’d ever do it again. But just like wanting to play one more snap of football, I’d give anything to suit up in SCBA again and go into a burning building. It is a feeling that is impossible to describe unless you do it. The adrenaline is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

Those guys who became brothers will still call me and we’ll talk about what is new and usually end up reliving our days together fighting fires.

I bring up this part of my life because it was me. It’s me to this day. There isn’t a more gratifying job. It isn’t glorious work. It is some of the hardest I have ever done.

I loaded people fighting for their lives from car wrecks into the med flight helicopter. I’ve helped assist cops in tackling criminals who were resisting arrest.

To this day, my ears perk up when I hear sirens. It doesn’t matter what city or state I’m in. The thoughts and adrenaline start again. I wonder what’s going on and who needs help.

Firefighters, police, and paramedics run towards trouble while others are running away. They never know exactly what they’re in for. Every day their heroic efforts are just another day on the job. Just think about what those brave men and women all did on 9/11.

A batter must make a split-second decision whether to swing or not. A quarterback has a split-second decision of whether or not to throw that pass. Firefighters, police, and paramedics have similar decisions to make. In those split seconds they must make a decision between life and death, not just for them but for others as well.

The next time you see these heroes, appreciate, and thank them. Unless you experience life in one of these heroic jobs, you’ll never fully grasp what it is they go through from one day to the next. Give thanks to them.

Lessons Learned Being a Firefighter

Being a firefighter isn’t a story that’s told very often. There isn’t a lot of good things about it that you want to remember. The duties are responding to people when they’re in their greatest point of need. People dying or severely injured in car wrecks and families losing their homes and possessions aren’t things you want to relive. It’s tough. It’s never easy.

When I’d drive the fire engine to an accident or fire, I never knew what I was going to come upon, who was going to be in the cars, who was going to be trapped in the house, or who’s house you were going to be pulling up to. It created an adrenaline-pumping fear of the unknown that nothing can compare to.

Being a firefighter is about helping people. It’s why I did it, but what stuck with me were the life-lessons I was given, lessons that I never received any other way in my life. Lessons that to do this day effect and shape me in how I am.

When you talk about learning life-lessons, the only way you do that is by living or experiencing them. Seeing and doing is reality.

It gave me an appreciation for life, and showed how to not take it for granted. As a firefighter you see it up close all the time. Many times, that split-second accident costs someone their life. There is no minimum age to die. Sadly, I pulled people of all ages out of deadly car wrecks and fires. Appreciate the life you have, and that God has given you.

It showed me to appreciate the simple things. A warm house in winter really means a lot when you’ve just come home from an overnight house fire in the middle of January in Wisconsin, where the family lost everything. Four kids now have no clothes and no toys. Put