Michelle O'Connor

President

O'Connor Insurance Associates

Charlotte, North Carolina

When Michelle O'Connor and her husband started their insurance agency 25 years ago, they knew from the very beginning that joining the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina (IIANC) was a must. Michelle knew of other successful agents that belonged to the Big “I" and also knew of the association's industry advocacy efforts.

While O'Connor's initial involvement with the association was with the state's young agent committee (YAC), she became more involved when she was asked by Kelley Erstine, IIANC's CEO at the time, to become part of a special committee charged with analyzing member benefits. Since then, she has served in numerous committees and is currently the national director for IIANC.

How did you get involved in legislative advocacy?

I've always been a super strong advocate of political action committees (PACs) on both the national and state association level. Our insurance system in North Carolina is very unique and that's what started my interest. I realized that if you want change to happen, it has to come from the legislative level.

Advocacy at the 2025 Big “I" Legislative Conference?

There are so many important issues, but I think legal system abuse is probably top of the list to discuss, because it filters down into so many other areas of the industry. If we address this issue, it will have a profound impact on lowering claims settlements benefitting agents, insureds and our carrier partners.

How can agents get involved in advocacy?

Advocacy via our PAC is the No. 1 thing agents can do. By supporting the PAC financially, you get the educational updates about what our advocates are doing for us and what the government affairs team at the Big “I" is doing for us. They're working on these issues all the time.

Message to agency owners about technology?

Don't embrace technology just for the sake of it, embrace it to make it work in your agency. That is the proper way that agents can do what they do best: continue to talk to customers. It's an exciting change that technology brings. 

Tell me about Weston Labs.

IIANC has started 101 Weston Labs, an InsurTech accelerator that supports the development of technology in the IA Space and helps tech companies who need access to agents' ideas. They're developing products and want to make sure that the products are actually what we need when they get to market.

It's very exciting because I know a lot of agencies, like ours, that buy a product and wish the company would have gone one way with it, but instead they went another way not realizing what we needed as agents.

What advice do you have for a new agency owner?

I think one of the things that people don't know is that you're about to run a small business. You're not just going to sell insurance—that's just your product—but you also have all of the interesting things that come along with running a small business, from marketing to human resources to accounting.

Olivia Overman is IA content editor.