A Conversation With ... Trevor Crist

Effective July 8, you took the helm as CEO of the $37 million Nixon & Lindstrom Insurance, succeeding principal Luke Nixon, who remains president. What’s the next step for the insurance company?
When I came on in 2002, Luke Nixon ran the agency. This is a family place. His father Jerry founded the agency in 1955. After Jerry passed away, Luke and his brother, Mark, took over. When Mark passed away, Luke took over and ran with it in a different direction. He started recruiting a lot of younger talent, really growing the agency and expanding into different areas of insurance services and adding carrier partners. Luke is still involved full time and day-to-day with the agency, but he wanted to step aside and be able to focus on some of our more specialty marketing aspects. That’s really where his passion is, in cultivating, growing and identifying different opportunities. As CEO, he just didn’t have the ability to focus on that.

Our goal is to be the largest agency in southwest Missouri in the next five years. We are expanding right now. We continue to expand not only our local interests, but regionally. We have become the largest writer of propane insurance in the Midwest.

As chief operating officer for three years and with the family-based company 11, what have you learned from Nixon and how do you plan to fill his shoes?
I don’t think you ever can fill his shoes. I have certainly learned everything I know from him. Luke has been a mentor to me from the time I was on the production side, until now on the operation management side. When I took over as COO, the advantage to this agency and the structure gave me the opportunity to learn as I went. I shadowed and worked directly with Luke. As I took over as CEO, I knew how the company worked and I knew the expectations. Luke and I have a lot of the same vision for the company moving forward.

Obviously being a family-owned company, and me not being part of that family, it was a huge honor that I would have the opportunity I have to step in and take over at this time. It’s a trust. It’s something I’m very proud of and have worked toward. It also shows Luke’s range of vision. A lot of people think if it’s family owned, it’s always going to be family owned or family run. The family will always be a part of Nixon & Lindstrom, but I think it shows that Luke is going to put who he thinks is the right person for the job in charge, not just based on their last name.

The health insurance market is in a state of flux right now as new Affordable Care Act rules are implemented. What conversations are you having with business owners about the change?
The value we bring to the table is we are in the topic on a daily basis. We have always prided ourselves on giving people good advice and as many options as possible. Health care reform and the way it will affect their business is no exception.

The biggest question from most owners is, “How does it affect my business?” Everyone has heard so many different things. A lot of business owners don’t even know if they will be required to offer coverage or if they will pay a penalty. There is all this noise and all this information, but how will if affect me.

Outside the insurance realm, you also hold a stake in a couple notable Springfield restaurants, including the recently purchased Casper’s Cafe. Why the interest in the restaurant business?
I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. That’s what brought me into insurance in the first place. I can be creative and control my own destiny. Whenever I have the opportunity to get into a project, I do. I have less time to do those things now. I only go into a project when it makes sense. With Casper’s, my partner, Shawn Kraft, and I went to college together. We owned a business together while going to MSU; now all these years later we have some interests together.

I have a company called The Crist Organization and basically it’s a venture capital company. We invest in small business and that allows me to be involved and explore my entrepreneurial side. I want to own a restaurant like Casper’s, but I don’t have time to go down and make chili on a daily basis, so those partnerships are key. Under The Crist Organization, we have interest in Casper’s Cafe, Nonna’s Italian Restaurant, specifically the south location, and two of the Parlor 88 locations in addition to both commercial and residential real estate holdings.[[In-content Ad]]