Allstate Insurance Agent Michael Higdon, Guntersville, AL

Insurance has been part of my life since my dad started working at an Allstate booth inside a Sears store back in 1979. He then moved to a neighborhood storefront location and established two agencies, in Albertville and Huntsville, which he ran for 33 years.

I worked at my dad’s offices during the summers but initially started down a different road when I entered Auburn University, pursuing a degree in biomedical sciences. When I realized the great opportunity my dad had, though, I tacked on a business minor and began working for him right after my December 2005 graduation. Later that spring, I purchased an agency of my own across from the Post Office here in Guntersville (where I live with my wife and three daughters). Then I bought my dad’s agencies when he retired in 2012 and another agency in Arab in 2014.

These four locations keep me busy, but I also make time for the community and our staff. We’re members of the Guntersville Rotary Club, Guntersville Chamber of Commerce, Marshall Young Professionals, and the Guntersville chapter of Business Network International. We do a lot to support Hospice of Marshall County and The Ogden House, the teen shelter here. We pick up the tab any time a staff member participates in a 5K or other sporting event, and we do the same when they go on a mission trip, along with a week’s paid time off — because I believe that helping keep your community healthy and your team happy keeps the customers happy, too.