Hidden Gems: Meet Tracy McKenica Besenyodi of McKenica & Associates Agency – Allstate Insurance

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracy McKenica Besenyodi.

Hi Tracy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born and raised in Northeast Ohio. Throughout high school and college, I worked in retails sales (mostly women’s fashion and home fashion). My senior year of high school, I studied abroad and fell in love with the French language and culture. Upon my return to the US, I earned degrees in Honors English and French at Ohio University Then, I decided that while I loved sales, selling “stuff” wasn’t fulfilling. I needed to sell a product that was meaningful. I had a friend who was working as a recruiter for a university and discovered what I was looking for there and over the next several years, I helped hundreds of working adults get their degrees and change their lives. While there, I also completed a Master of Arts in Organizational Management degree. That job took my husband and me from Florida to Michigan and then finally back to Ohio where we set down roots and started a family. About a year after we returned to Ohio, my father approached me about joining the family business and working in his Allstate agency. So, I went to work for him in 2002. Because he was a “nothing is given, everything is earned” kind of guy, I worked in every role in the agency over the next 14 years – front desk, service, sales, location manager, team manager, trainer, and finally when he retired in 2016, I bought his agency and became a second-generation agency owner. Now, I have the privilege of helping local families protect all the things they’ve worked so hard for and the opportunity to help my team provide for their families. It’s an amazing opportunity I am grateful for every day!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Is the road ever smooth for a small business owner? Life, customers, staff, and the industry always seem to throw new challenges our way. When the world shut down during COVID, we got a crash course in learning how to connect and succeed while working remotely. We took the lessons we learned from COVID and changed our hiring strategy to include remote and hybrid team members. We also focused on providing better work/life balance for our team. When the company cut expenses and reduced commissions, we found ways to tighten our own belts. We downsized from 4 office locations to 2 to limit expenses, and we dialed in our marketing strategy to make sure every dollar we spent provided ROI. When our industry was among the hardest hit by inflation, we sat down and put processes in place to help customers manage their premiums. As a small business, the only thing that’s guaranteed is change, and you have to “get comfortable being uncomfortable” to survive.

As you know, we’re big fans of McKenica & Associates Agency – Allstate Insurance. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I’m proud to be a second-generation Allstate agent and a woman small businessowner. My agency team and I provide common sense solutions and uncommon customer service, taking time to learn about our customers so we can offer solutions that protect both their families and their assets. We’re a specialized agency with two agency locations with dedicated sales and service teams, a Life Insurance Specialist, an Exclusive Financial Specialist to assist our customers with their wealth management needs, and a Claims Concierge who provides one-on-one assistance and advocacy during the claims process. While we primarily assist customers with protection for their autos, homes, condos, landlord properties, recreational vehicles (boats, motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs, jet skis, etc.), and excess liability, we also provide pet health insurance, jewelry coverage, event coverage, commercial insurance and a variety of other products both within and outside of Allstate’s market appetite.

Being engaged in our community is important to us. We support local non-profit organizations including the Sugar Plum Tour of Holiday Homes, the Summit County Humane Society, 91.3 The Summit radio station, the Akron Civic Theater, and others through hands-on volunteer work, donations, and Allstate Good Hands in the Community grants.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We grow by word of mouth so please collect the information on your current insurance policies and call us! My team will review your current coverage for gaps, make sure you understand your insurance coverage, and put together a personalized protection plan for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://agents.allstate.com/tracy-mckenica-besenyodi-hudson-oh.html
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/McKenicaAgency/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-mckenica-besenyodi-6638a63/