Catalytic Leadership

Risk Management: Protect Clients and Scale With Confidence

• Dr. William Attaway • Season 4 • Episode 12

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Scaling an agency comes with growing complexity: more clients, bigger teams, higher stakes. And with growth comes risk. If a single misstep could cost you clients, revenue, or even your reputation, how do you protect what you’ve built while continuing to scale with confidence?

In this episode, I sit down with Kieffer Rittenhouse, a 30-year commercial insurance broker and partner at Integrated Insurance Solutions, who specializes in protecting small to mid-sized businesses through smart agency risk management. Kieffer shares how he’s built decades-long client relationships by being an advocate, not just a vendor, and how applying the “Platinum Rule” can transform the way you serve and retain your clients.

We also explore real-world lessons around navigating team burnout, leveraging AI for smarter decisions, and putting systems in place that prevent costly setbacks. If you’re scaling to or beyond 7-figures, this conversation will help you rethink how you protect your agency’s growth while staying focused on what matters most: your clients and your people.



Books Mentioned

  • Spark Brilliance by Jackie Insinger

  • Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins 


To learn more from Kieffer Rittenhouse or connect with him directly, you can reach him at krittenhouse@integrated-usa.com or on his cell. His commitment to client advocacy and smarter risk management makes him a trusted advisor for entrepreneurs scaling with confidence.


Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.

Connect with Dr. William Attaway:

Dr. William Attaway:

I am excited today to have Kieffer Rittenhouse on the podcast. Kieffer is a 30-year commercial insurance broker and partner at Integrated Insurance Solutions, specializing in risk management for small to mid-sized businesses. He focuses on protecting assets, solving problems, and leveraging trusted underwriter relationships to deliver smarter insurance solutions. Kiefer, I'm so glad you're here. Thanks for being on the show.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Dr. William, I am pumped as well. I'm looking forward to it, and it's been on the calendar for a while, so I'm really excited.

Intro:

Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed to help leaders intentionally grow and thrive. Here is your host, author, and leadership and executive coach, Dr. William Addaway.

Dr. William Attaway:

How did you get started?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

It's kind of funny. I, you know, um growing growing up in Baltimore, um I I went to a great high school and I got involved with uh student council leadership there, and I went to a great college and got involved with uh student government there. So I've been um leading and learning and and you know facilitating you know others and working with other people and uh for a long time. And it's just been kind of um uh I wouldn't say natural for me, but it's been you know a blessing for me that I've been able to do it successfully for a long period of time. And professionally, I've um ran a bunch of networking meetings and networking associations and created some trade organizations in the transportation business and a lot of different various you know um uh opportunities throughout my career too. So it's been pretty cool.

Dr. William Attaway:

So tell me a little bit about how you got from where you started to now being a partner at IIS.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

A lot of hard work, a lot of perseverance. I mean, but that's um you know the insurance industry has definitely changed a lot over the last you know 30 years, and it's um you know very digital now, so you have to pivot quickly and you know learn different skills and to use different tools that we used. You know, it's kind of funny back when my liberty back in my Liberty Mutual days, we were using typewriters and filling out applications by hand, and you know, we got the Macs back then, and then you know it went digital, and now we just take pictures of things and you know you can insure that. That's just crazy. Not that I'm trying to date myself or anything like that.

Dr. William Attaway:

My kids are you know, I'm I too. I too remember the typewriter days. I I'm with you there. Like as as you as you think about that journey, like obviously a lot has changed technologically, to be sure. What are some of the things that haven't?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Bottom line is you know, you we've always had our own brand, you know, we've always created our own, you know, network and our own people to to um do business with. It's all about taking care of the client. And you know that better than everybody because you have a lot of them and and and they're in different spaces. And and from a coaching standpoint, from a development standpoint, from a leadership standpoint, you gotta be able to say at the end of the day, I did the best I could for that client. And, you know, um I have relationships that I've had for 25 years because of that. And wow. And that's yeah, I mean, it uh and I would have clients longer if they didn't, you know, if the second generation or third generation couldn't handle the business and it didn't sell. Um, so I'm blessed to have those relationships, and and that's because you you're their advocate, and that's the best, that's the bottom line thing, you know, from an insurance broker standpoint is I'm fighting for my client.

Dr. William Attaway:

So so let's talk about that for a minute. How do you develop and nurture those type of relationships that go the distance like that?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

You become part of the family, you become part of the you know, the organization. You know, they lean in on you um when it comes to an insurance situation or a contract that has insurance language in it, and they ask me to you know convert it into English for them. You know, um I have a really good friend who said, you know, you you you speak insurance language, English. And um, you know, I convert that all over to make it sense, make make it s make sense of it for you know a person that doesn't know that um industry and know my industry as well. So that that's been very successful for me is just breaking it down and and you know, compartmentalizing it and and making it simple for my clients to understand.

Dr. William Attaway:

That's a gift. I think to take the complex and make it simple, you know.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Yeah, yeah, totally. And that's what we do. That's what I do, and that's what my team does successfully.

Dr. William Attaway:

You know, we met as part of a a networking group called Provisors. And we have been, uh I think gifted with an opportunity to interact and get to know people in a lot of different spaces, but in one regional area. Uh and that's something that I had not really spent a lot of time on prior to provisors. Uh, you know, my my client base is is all over the world. And so the the the key thing about getting to know people locally is really about those relationships. Can you talk a little bit about that and and how you are intentional with building relationships even in a local geographical area?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

It uh it's it's funny. Um when I graduated from college, you know, I I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew how to meet people and introduce myself and be professional about it. That's you know, stood the test of time with me. I think if you look at my LinkedIn, you looked at my digital profile, you'll see that I have some pretty amazing followers and a pretty good network of people. And those people are hand, I mean, I just don't swipe yes to everybody or connect with everybody on that. You know, you have to have a relationship, you have to have done something, or had a meeting, or had a lunch, or had some, you know, personal reflection or personal connection to those people before I've added them to my LinkedIn or you know, Facebook's even more, you know, um uh specific too. So I think you know, it's it's just taking care of people, um, giving them what they want, and you know, listening to them and being a friend and being there. You know, it's I'm not just selling insurance. You know, I'm an advocate. I'm you know, I'm a part of their team. I am someone a trusted advisor, really. And that's that's is played, you know, is paid dividends for me through my career, and I'm blessed for that. I love that.

Dr. William Attaway:

That trusted advisor role, I think, is particularly important in the in the business space. You know, uh I'm sure like me, you are constantly inundated with people wanting to sell you something, people wanting your business, and it just, I mean, whether it's on social media like LinkedIn, whether it's in email, phone calls, I mean, the spam calls never stop. Uh, you know, thinking about the the 30-year run that you've had, you know, the the people who are listening to this by and large are business leaders or business owners, a lot of small business owners. And so as they are thinking about commercial insurance, so many of them are a lot like me, which is, man, that is not my world. I don't know, I don't understand, I know I need some stuff, but where do you even get started? Like if you're talking to people like that, where do you begin?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Well, it's kind of funny because I think most business owners think that, you know, I'm I'm working for the man or you know, I'm not an entrepreneur, and I really am. You know, it's my book of business, it's my 30 years of legacy that I've built on my clients, and it I get paid every year that I renew that piece of business. And if I don't take care of that piece of business or service that client in the right way, then they can leave me tomorrow and I'm you know down to zero from a commission standpoint for that client. So that's the that that's it where that's held the test of time for me. It's like if I don't perform, you know, please, you know, fire me and you deserve better. And that's you know, I've been blessed and I've kept a lot of these clients and I've grown my book of business successfully. And in the last couple years, it's been easy to do that because you know the the the the insurance marketplace has changed so much that you know the agents are retiring, the um the people aren't getting compensated the way I'm getting compensated every year. And you know, um I get paid for performance basically, and that's that's the way I want to be forever, honestly. I I remember going to Straight Commission, you know, in my 30s, and the kids were little, and I'm like, man, how am I gonna do this? How am I gonna do this? And it's just take care of the clients the way you've always taken care of clients, and it's the the reward will be there at the end of the day. And I've been blessed. I really have.

Dr. William Attaway:

I love that. You know, with a with a run like yours, there are a lot of lessons along the way. You know, in that entrepreneurial journey, what are some of the things that stand out as lessons that you've learned so far?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

I'll tell you one of the things I've kind of had an epiphany in the last, you know, three or four years. I have a friend of mine, her name's Jackie Insinger. She wrote a book called Spark Brilliance. And um, I've always been a firm believer in the golden rule, you know, treat other other people how you want to be treated. And she kind of talks about the platinum in our book and how to apply that to businesses. She's applying it to education right now and a bunch of different other um, you know, industries. Asking the client how they want to be treated or how they want to be serviced has been one of my things that I've been really focusing in on the last couple of years. And it's really, you know, people are like, wow, I've never been asked that before from the insurance broker. You know, let's let's think about that and you know, and setting the parameters of how they want to be treated through the policy period and what they want, what the services are important to them. And that's been a you know a pretty cool um you know guiding light, if you will, for me and my clients. I've been pretty successful picking up new clients. Um, you know, traditionally um you would have to fight for those clients and bid it out, but I've been lucky enough to get breakout record letters and things like that because of my approach and because I am different. And you know, I I mapped up my my um my words. I love that.

Dr. William Attaway:

I don't I don't think anybody gets through the entrepreneurial journey without some challenges. And you know, people might look at you today and say, oh man, he's so successful. He doesn't really have any challenges. He doesn't really have any problems. Can you can you think of a few of those that you'd like to share challenges that you've had along the way?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

I tell you, I have one. I have a challenge right now. Um, you know, that I'm going through. It's an account that um I worked on about four years ago. It's a transportation account. Um they've they've had a um a couple bad claims, reported some claims late, and um, you know, we placed them, placed our insurance coverage. Our insurance company went from $300,000 to half a million dollars, you know, overnight, and and that's a pretty shocking number. It's a pretty huge increase. And it wasn't because of me, it was because of the the system and the their old broker and uh a couple situations that were out of their control. We've worked with them over the year, we've taken their claims to zero, um, and they're still getting you know, be it be it against the bush because of the industry that they're in. And you know, in one insurance company um wanted to exclude one of their drivers, it's been with them for five years, and you know, in the trucking business, transportation business, you can't drivers are a hot commodity, you can't let one go because of some bad things on the record. And we dug deep, we're digging deeper, we're gonna find out what those actual situations are and make sure that the insurance company and my client are defended properly and that we can keep that driver, keep that insurance in place for them, and we don't have a lot of you know fruit to pick from out of the you know insurance barrel because it's it's pretty dry on transportation and it's it's been a challenge. I was up till 9.30 last night with that client on the phone, walking through some scenarios, asking the questions. So this morning we could be on the street with the the right answers, talking to the underwriter and getting the numbers down and making sure they're in all, but it's it's it's it's not as easy as it once was, but you know, we're still in the fight and we love what we do and we love being advocates for our clients, and that's the best thing I do. It wakes me up every morning. Let's what's let's go kind of thing. It's a motivating factor. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Dr. William Attaway:

You know, I've I've worked with a number of insurance people over the years, and I gotta say, I don't uh I don't know that I would see anybody who has that level of passion uh for their clients who's gonna be that advocate, who's gonna be on the phone at 9.30 at night.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Like, wow. It's funny you bring up the 30-year career, but I don't even think about the 30 years. I think about the next 30 years, honestly, and how much longer I'm gonna be in the game. Everybody, you gotta be retiring. So I'm like, no way. I love this. I love meeting new entrepreneurs and new um uh leaders and learning how their business ticks and you know, digging deeper into it so I can protect them and you know, put the right insurance, you know, force field around them and and um take care of their families and their next generation of leaders in their company. And I just love what I do. So um, God willing, and you know, my body holds out and my mind holds out, right? I mean, that's what we that's the deep thing. Um, you know, I can do it for another, you know, 20 years. My wife might be mad if I stayed 30. So we'll see what happens.

Dr. William Attaway:

I love that. You know, so often people talk about retirement, and uh the the context of that is, you know, that's so that I can do what I want to do. Well, what if you're already doing what you want to do? You know, what if you've been able to curate a life as an entrepreneur where you get to do what you want to do every day?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Yeah.

Dr. William Attaway:

Why would you stop?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

That's so true. I mean, there's a lot of people that talk about that. Uh it's if you love what you're doing, and it's not work, right? So um it's passion. So I I definitely share that sentiment for sure. That's it.

Dr. William Attaway:

Uh Keeper, you know, you you constantly have to be learning and growing, not just in your field, but as a leader of the team that you work with and for your clients. How do you stay on top of your game? How do you level up with the new leadership skills that your clients and your team are going to need you to have for the next five, 10, 20 years?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

I think, you know, stand up staying ahead of the technology game is really critical. Well, if my daughter was here, she would say, Oh, you're such a boomer, but I'm not a boomer, and I'm I'm fighting that, right? Um But you know, technology. I just got a new phone, you know, the phone can do a lot of things for you. It's got AI incorporated with it, and that's a big, you know, advantage that we're taking, we're working on it within our practice is to use that to be smarter and not work harder. Um and I think that you're gonna really see that coming into full play here in the next year, year and a half in our industry. And um taking advantage of that and being on the right side of that wave is gonna really be critical for our businesses and our industry, you know, and uh we're we're incorporating that and we're embracing, you know, other ideas, right? I mean, you know, we're in provisors together and hearing how other business people, you know, work through their challenges is great to be in that forum to learn and to you know be open-minded. Um so that'll benefit me if I can keep my big fat head focused and open-minded.

Dr. William Attaway:

Well, and I think I think the the joy that we have as as Gen Xers, you know, is that we can we can look at this and we can say, okay, uh, you know, I don't have to stop learning. I don't have to stop growing. I love that you're leaning into AI. Uh so many small business owners that I know are not, uh, and they're just kind of hook closing their eyes and hoping it's gonna go away. The Clue phone is ringing. It's it's not going away. It's only gonna become more and more pervasive. And learning how to leverage it for the benefit of our clients, for our business, not to replace people. I heard one uh guest on the podcast not long ago said, you know, AI is not gonna replace people. People who know how to use AI are gonna replace people who don't. And I thought that was such a poignant statement and so, so true in my experience so far. And helping clients learn to step into this and use these tools is one of the joys of what I get to do. I love that you are doing that, that you're not allowing this to pass you by.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Now I'm not saying I'm on the Excel train with that. You know, I'm definitely chugging down the track in a you know, old steam engine, but you know, we're we're learning it and we're trying to be you know as broad base as we can with the learning process. So the curve is you know still to be determined.

Dr. William Attaway:

Aaron Powell And there's so much that's unknown. That that field I was just yesterday talking with a guy who runs uh a company that does uh AI closures. It's actually conversational AI that will actually set appointments, book appointments, and it's phenomenal. You know, so often people don't even know they're talking to the AI. And he's deploying this uh in so many different businesses right now. And as we were talking about this, he I said, so so if I could, if I could solve one thing right now for you, what would you want me to solve? He said, let me know where AI is going in the next six months. He said it changes every week. And and I think that makes the learning curve for the rest of us who are not developers, who were not in that particular tech world, uh it makes it a lot harder for us, you know, but we're not gonna stop. We're gonna keep pressing on.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Think how many thousands of dollars I paid, you know, to be to learn how to be a closer throughout my career and you know, the seminars and all those tapes that we used to listen to back in the day. And you know, you got a you know, AI function that can close a deal for you, which is incredibly insane, but I love it. Isn't it? Yeah.

Dr. William Attaway:

What if what if the AI was qualifying your leads? You know, what if the AI is setting appointments for you to talk to? And that's what they're doing. And I'm like, that's so amazing. What a what a tool that is. Yeah.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

I mean, that's absolutely amazing. Yeah.

Dr. William Attaway:

And we're at the front end. You know?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

We are.

Dr. William Attaway:

And I think I think one of the gifts that that you and I have is that we're gonna continue learning and we're gonna lean into this. And we may not be on the the accelerant. I like that. We may not be on the accelerant at the very front end of the line, but we're not gonna get left behind because we're gonna lean in.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Yeah, we will for sure. And you know, it's it's it's just it's just amazing that you know um the technology is in our favor, and we just need to embrace it. And you know, it's it's tough being that, you know, that first person to jump in, right? Um, you know, to make sure the pool pool water is the right temperature. But once you're in, it's always a delight. And um, you know, uh I'm very cautious on some of those closing docs. Because I like I like being that person myself, but you know, from a bandwidth standpoint, you're gonna have to delegate certain things, and if you feel comfortable, that's a great way to um you know get leads and you know prosper. So that's awesome. Absolutely.

Dr. William Attaway:

Uh Kiefer, if if you were able right now to go back and talk to 25-year-old Kiefer, knowing what you know now, what would you love to go back and tell yourself?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Yeah, it's I I I talk about the crystal ball thing all the time. If you had a crystal ball with your clients, you could see into the future what's going to happen, whether you need this insurance or not. Um, but going back, I would say um, you know, you're on the right path, you know, because that's one of those things that without mentors and things like that. And growing up, you know, I didn't really have a lot of those people patting me on the shoulder and saying, Hey, good job. Um, you're on the right path, just keep working harder, keep being diligent and keep doing the things that that you know make you money. Um, and um and taking care of your clients and client advocacy, if you you're if you're good at that, you're gonna always make money and you're always gonna have your pockets full. And I'm I've been blessed to say that. And you know, um, I think I was I mean, I've been a great dad, I've been a great husband. Um, you know, I could do some of those things maybe a little bit better and and reach deeper into my pockets and and spend more time in those those realms. Um but from a professional standpoint, um, you know, maybe um get that CPCU or maybe work harder when you know school was easier, um, and and and get designations behind my name to add credibility to what I bring to the table. Um, you know, um, you know, Dr. William Attaway is a lot cooler than you know, CK for Rittenhouse, you know, and having those initial things, I think, really matter um the older you get. Um and at 35, I don't think anybody pays attention to that. But my age now, if I had CPCU after my name, which is um, you know, a pretty high designation in our industry, that would be, you know, you know, telling for sure. Hmm. That's a good word.

Dr. William Attaway:

So thinking about your your learning journey, is there a book that stands out that has made a big difference for you that you would recommend to the leaders who are listening?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

I would definitely recommend Jackie Insinger's book. Um, you know, that's probably the Spark Brilliance. Um I think it's it's a quick read. Um you can get it on Audible. She's she reads it to you, which is pretty cool. Um, and there's a lot of energy with that. And um this is eye-opening for me. Um, I don't really I listen more than I read. Um so um, you know, um I'm a big David Goggins fine guy. He's crazy and out of whack, but I love his his his realism and um factual, you know, no BS kind of stuff. But um, you know, I I I think that's a great book to read for anybody. And um Jackie's very insightful, very smart, and um she she um getting into her story is pretty cool. So I think that's a great book. Um probably a little dated now. It's good.

Dr. William Attaway:

Well, they're called classics for a reason.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Yeah.

Dr. William Attaway:

So so so often the the insight and the wisdom is timeless. So and learning how to contextualize that, I think, is is a big deal.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Yeah, it really resonated with me. Uh, because I I was always a firm believer in a golden rule growing up, and you know, hearing the platinum rule was kind of a wow, never thought I mean never would think of that. So it's great. That's a great concept. Yeah.

Dr. William Attaway:

You know, Kiefer, I I know you know you are continuing to grow your business and continuing to serve your clients at a very high level. But that doesn't mean that you're immune to problems and challenges. You've already shared one of those today. If if I had the ability to snap my fingers and solve one problem for you today in your business, what would you want that problem to be?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

You know, I think it's I think it's the people problem, right? Like, you know, taking care of my team, making sure my team's not overworked, um, managing that piece and making sure they're happy and that not overbearing and that they're getting everything that they need out of their job. I think that that's something that we jam so hard. We're going so quick down the highway that we forget the people that got us to where we are. And making sure making sure they're happy and making sure they're fulfilled as much as they're fulfilling me from a business standpoint, I think it's really critical. And, you know, growing that team with the right people, I think is is mission critical to me. And you know, we definitely have some space to add people and picking those right people that don't, you know, really kind of upset the Apple card or, you know, cause drama would be the area that I think I would love you to snap your fingers and and and fix that for me.

Dr. William Attaway:

As soon as I have that ability, man. I'm gonna call you. I'm on this podcast. That's right. I think I think people are the messiest part of running any organization, you know, any business. I think that we we would like as leaders for everybody to be led the same, for everybody to respond the same, to just have a cookie-cutter approach, one size fits all. Uh, but that's not how people are. And we have to lead them according to how they are. Yeah. Right.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Yeah.

Dr. William Attaway:

That sure looks good.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

It used to be easier to do.

Dr. William Attaway:

I'm so grateful to you for sharing today so much of the insight and the wisdom you've gained along the way. Uh, I know our listeners are going to want to stay connected to you and learn more about what you can do for them in the commercial insurance space. What's the best way for folks to connect with you?

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Uh connect with me via email or my cell phone. Um my email, I think, is I added it somewhere in in the chat room, but it's, you know, kefer written house at Krittenhouse at integrated-usa.com. And um I'd be more than happy to take the phone call, take their email or respond to them and and and and and catch up with them or me and my cell phone too. You can forward that to them as well if you would like.

Dr. William Attaway:

Perfect. We'll have the uh we'll have those in the show notes.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Great. Awesome. Thank you.

Dr. William Attaway:

Kiefer, thanks so much for your time today and your generosity.

Kieffer Rittenhouse:

Thank you. I think you're an amazing person. I really love spending time with you, uh, Dr. William Mattaway. And anytime you uh need a favor, I'm here to help you. Thank you. Well, right back at you, man. Thanks, Kiefer. Take care, everybody. Thank you.

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Dr. William Attaway

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