Courtny Tyler is passionate about her profession

State Farm insurance agent Courtny Tyler started out to be a history teacher, but her career course was altered by a part-time job she took while attending college.

“My father had a friend named Bob Carlson who was a State Farm agent and he needed a receptionist in his office, so I went to work for him when I was 20 and found out that I really liked the business. I had planned to teach, but decided to stick with insurance.”

Tyler grew up in Topeka, Kan. And met her husband Matt while going to high school there. They went on to the University of Kansas together, where Matt played football. After earning her bachelor’s degree in history, Tyler went to work fulltime selling insurance.

“We moved to Arizona in 2000, when Matt got a job with Intel, and I worked at insurance agencies in Tempe and Chandler while deciding where to open my own agency,” Tyler said. She eventually decided on Maricopa and set up shop in 2005.

Tyler describes herself as a “captive agent” of State Farm, meaning she only sells insurance products offered by the company, which is the largest insurance provider in the U.S. State Farm offers more than 100 insurance and financial products and Tyler said she is glad that she only sells the one line.

“I like it because we have a wide array of products and I know the products very well. I can underwrite policies and pay claims out of this office instead of sending them off somewhere.”

Tyler said the past several years have been rough for her business, but that her small company is coming out of the downturn stronger than before.

“We lost a lot of homeowner’s policies with all the foreclosures and people moving away,” she said. “But that forced us to really concentrate on selling car insurance and learning about the financial products State Farm offers. Now, with the homeowners business starting to pick up again, we also have all this new business and expertise in these other areas.”

Tyler, who has three employees in her office on Honeycutt Road, says she has more than 1,000 clients and that she loves her work because it enables her to help others in protecting their assets and planning for their futures.

“I am passionate about what I do,” she said. ‘I jump out of bed every morning eager to come to work. I’m not sure how many people can say that.”

Besides selling homeowners, health, auto and other insurance, Tyler offers mutual funds and banking services through State Farm Bank.

“I am not a financial planner,” Tyler said, “but I can help people figure out how to invest and plan for the future.”

Courtny Tyler
Agent, State Farm Insurance

Profile
Age: 32
Hometown: Topeka, Kan.
Residence: Cobblestone Farms
Moved to Maricopa: 2007
Family: Husband Matt, children Madison, 7, Austin, 6, and Trenton, 3
Pets: Two Labs
Education: B.A. in History, University of Kansas

Business
First job: Lifeguard
First insurance job: Part-time receptionist at a State Farm Insurance Agency in Lawrence, Kan.
Opened business: 2005
Number of employees: 3
Number of clients: 1,000+
Number products: 100+

Favorites
Food: Chile Verde
Beverage: “A good Zin”
Movie: “Pretty Woman”
TV show: “Wipeout”
Actor: Brad Pitt
Actress: Julia Roberts
Sport: Softball
Team: UK Jayhawks Basketball
Book: “The Shack”
Charity: American Cancer Society
City: Sonoma, Calif.
Saying: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”