Meet Andrea Rodriguez! She is a partner here at ChurchWest and serves the entire Southern California region. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Andrea to hear the unique journey that led her to the awesome world of serving churches through insurance.

How long have you been with ChurchWest and what regions do you serve?

I’m fairly new to ChurchWest, but I’m not new to church insurance. I’ve been in church insurance for I think about 8 years. I am newer to ChurchWest and that was on purpose. I serve all over Southern California, mainly the ‘tip of the toe’– San Diego, South Riverside, South Orange County.

Why insurance?

It surprises me that I’m in insurance! With my personality insurance seemed very boring to me. But I grew up in the church, my dad was a pastor when I was young, then he left and actually started doing church insurance. My mom was always in children’s ministry until she retired just this year. So I grew up in the church, I used to work in the church, I have a heart for the church. I don’t think I would do insurance in any other way because it goes so far beyond just selling insurance to somebody.

What makes ChurchWest different from other agencies?

I mentioned that I partner with ChurchWest, so prior to this my dad had his own church insurance agency. When he retired I took over that, and then I partnered with ChurchWest. The reason why I partnered with ChurchWest is because the way they serve churches is so much different than any typical insurance company. If you go to our website you can see how many resources we have– not just ‘here’s a fluffy form’ or not just a video that’s made to look sweet for you. It’s actually really good, helpful content that serves the church in a way that our small agency couldn’t and it’s the sole reason why we partnered with them.

You have family in the insurance industry. What must your dinner conversations be like?

My dad, who I’ve mentioned, was the owner of a church insurance agency and I have two brothers and a sister. My two brothers are both insurance agents for church insurance in different states. So at the dinner table that sort of leaves my mom and my sister rolling their eyes a lot or just [saying] ‘can’t we just talk about something else!’ because we’re just geeking out on all the newest insurance things.

How have you seen ChurchWest impact clients’ lives?

One of my favorite stories that I’ve heard from one of my insurers is the story of [a client] was with another carrier and they had a claim and that carrier ended up dropping them. So they moved over with us and right after they were with us they had a significant liability claim that was very– I won’t go into details, but the story was very sad. And he was really reluctant to call us and let us know. When he called us, the first thing the service agent who answered the phone said was, ‘how are they doing?’ Meaning how were the people who were affected doing. Which was not something you typically hear from an insurance company. They usually go straight to the questions and what they need. By the end of the call – and he always tells this story with tears in his eyes – but by the end of the call he was on the phone praying with them.