Tom Williams

Tom Williams has a diverse and colorful background, including an early career as a psychological warfare and propaganda officer in the famed Special Forces “Green Berets,” with decorations as a Korean War veteran as well as assignments in strategic locations throughout the world. He is also an accomplished pilot, underwater diver and sky diver with more than 500 jumps to his credit.

Today, Tom is considered one of the country’s top marketing and management experts in the property and casualty business. He entered the insurance business in early 1970 as a property claims adjuster and quickly assumed management responsibilities with a national adjustment firm. Subsequently, Tom was recruited by a Southern-based property and casualty insurance company. Within two years he quickly moved from Junior Marketing Representative to the company’s Marketing Vice President.

By mid-1970, Tom had established his first independent insurance agency from scratch in North Carolina. He credits entrepreneurial skills acquired as a Green Beret officer as largely responsible for significant growth during the next ten years. In early 1980, he expanded his Southeastern regional operation to nine states with sixteen locations. Tom attributes most of this growth to focusing on the critical areas of producer recruiting, training and development. To this end, he created the original “Dynamics of Selling.” Today “Dynamics of Selling 2000” is a standard for sales and marketing training throughout the insurance industry — sponsored by both the Certified Insurance Counselors and National Association of Independent Insurance Agents of America as their official sales training system.

By 1980 Tom had expanded his business interest from the Southeast to the Western United States. He served as president and major stockholder of Insurersgroup, an international network of independent agencies headquartered in the Los Angeles area. In 1984 he arranged a merger between Insurersgroup and the Merrill Lynch-based ISU International of San Francisco. While he was president, ISU expanded from its limited California boundaries to more than 500 franchise locations in more than 460 cities throughout the United States and Canada.

By 1991, Tom had outlined a five-year vision for creating a dominant Northern California- based regional property and casualty insurance agency and brokerage operation. That vision became reality with the 1992 merger of Sacramento-based Noack and Dean, Chico- based Lindo, Hanna & Abbott and Redding- based Insurance Associates of Redding that produced InterWest Insurance Services, Inc.

As chairman and CEO, Tom led the corporation toward its goal of becoming the dominant agency operation in California. His primary responsibilities as Chairman and CEO were in the areas of sales, marketing and “keeper of visions.” In 2008, Tom handed over the reigns of CEO but continues to help InterWest prosper in his position as Chairman of the Board.

Tom has also authored and published a nationwide sales and management newsletter distributed throughout the insurance industry.

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