The insurance industry is defined by its many disciplines and layers, which make the work both challenging and deeply engaging.

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Each day demands excellence across a broad spectrum: managing investments, developing products, controlling loss dollars, interpreting a complex legal environment, evolving acquisition channels, complying with regulation, adopting new technology, analyzing data, educating and motivating teams, building and updating software, securing and serving reinsurance, strengthening underwriting tools, deepening relationships, marketing, responding to constant audits, and organizing a global workforce—often under the tyranny of the urgent.

This diversity is what I enjoy most. Winston Churchill captured the essence of insurance leadership when he wrote:

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“True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information."

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I am grateful for the opportunities God has provided: to participate in dynamic businesses, to serve alongside talented and intelligent individuals, and to pursue the areas I am most passionate about.

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The Boenker Group of Companies

 

I currently direct the diverse disciplines of the Boenker Group of Companies, including Alinsco Insurance Company and our global workforce in Texas, Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua, as well as our agencies—the Al Boenker Insurance Agency and Dillo.com.

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We built Alinsco into a leader in Texas auto insurance and grew the Al Boenker Insurance Agency into the top 1% of personal lines agencies in the United States.

With a small team, we have consistently stayed ahead of MGA and carrier competitors in software, product sophistication, and underwriting profit. Our tools help independent agents grow in a highly competitive marketplace, and few companies in the U.S. offer comparable materials and support. We have kept our original reinsurance partners because of our commitment to results.

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In 2012, we expanded our capabilities by creating Serve5ive LLC in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, which now manages our processing, customer service, and underwriting functionality. Our team now stretches from Texas to Central America.

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That same year we launched our own reinsurance brokerage, AlinscoRe.

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I have built my career on meeting bottom-line demands through a philosophy of people first, proficiency second. Only with great people can true proficiency emerge.

Managing sales, marketing, claims, underwriting, product development, distribution, and reinsurance has given me two decades of real-world exposure to the complex challenges of insurance. Our mission remains clear: to provide affordable protection for Texas consumers and to strengthen the independent agent distribution system.

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More than 3,000 Texas independent agency locations represent Alinsco, and we value these relationships deeply.

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Data, Technology, and Insurance Kinetics®

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While data has long been important across the industry, the last six years at Alinsco have been dedicated to critical sophistication. Data study and usage have become part of our culture. Through our development of Insurance Kinetics®, we process and interpret billions of dollars of data in real time. As many MGA competitors still rely on gut instinct and narrow data, a wave of necessary catch-up is coming. Thanks to leaders like John Albritton, Michael Scott, Clint Woodward, and Darrin Kirby—and to an owner like Al Boenker who is never afraid to test new insurtech waters—we continue to advance aggressively.

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Texas auto insurance remains a dynamic and challenging environment, and it energizes me every day. I am privileged to work directly with our agents, brokers, and reinsurers.

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Before joining the Alinsco team, I served as Chief Marketing Officer for the Al Boenker Insurance Agency.

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Marketing, Media, and the Early Years

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Al Boenker is a unique individual—if my pace is fast, his is supersonic. He taught me a realistic, results-driven approach to marketing, saving me from agency hype and “impressive-but-ineffective” creative. At ABI, I learned to develop campaigns from scratch: writing copy, filming, recording, editing, and executing full productions. Al put professional-grade tools in my hands long before most independent agencies had such resources.

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His “Thanks Al” campaign—whose success greatly preceded my arrival—was a stroke of marketing genius. While with the agency, we produced memorable campaigns such as “I Am the Middle Man,” “Insurance Companies Are Stupid,” and “Had You at Howdy.”

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We also executed an outstanding grassroots strategy. Al and Quad Boenker raced in the National Pro Formula Mazda Series, and we built marketing events around that excitement—big rig, race cars, video screens, and a team outfitted in race gear. The impact at major events was extraordinary.

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As I connected messaging with customer experience, I was given the opportunity to lead the sales team—a step that eventually drew me deeper into the insurance side of the business. During my tenure, we grew sales exponentially. ABI was, at one point, the largest insurance advertiser in the DFW market. Even today, despite billion-dollar ad budgets from national carriers, ABI continues to grow.

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Radio and Promotions

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I met Al in 1995 while working as Promotions Director for KLTY Radio. At our “Celebrate Freedom” event—the largest outdoor concert in the U.S.—I noticed something remarkable: Al Boenker’s autograph line was longer than Amy Grant’s. I decided then that I wanted to work for him.

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KLTY was a tremendous experience under station owner Marcos Rodriguez. When I joined, the station ranked 20th in the market. We repositioned it as an adult contemporary station with a family brand, letting the music tell the story of faith. We rose into the top 10; today KLTY is often first in key demographics.

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As Promotions Director, I was given unusual latitude to influence programming and sales. I built close client relationships and discovered a passion for sales and commissions. Producing “Celebrate Freedom” and leading grassroots strategies shaped much of my later work.

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This period also taught me the importance of mentorship. We built a strong pipeline of interns, and I committed to supporting them in their careers long after they left the station. One of them, Keith Nelson, still leads KLTY promotions more than a decade after my departure.

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Before KLTY, I spent a short time with COPRA Media before joining Rodriguez Communications full-time.

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CBS Radio and Early Industry Lessons

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My radio career began in college with an internship at 98.7 KLUV. Programming VP Chuck Brinkman offered me the chance to help with traffic, assist in the studio, and—memorably—fetch his daily Snapple and Snickers. I worked for free throughout college, absorbing everything. Soon I was in the production studio, filling in overnights, running programming software, and contributing to traffic. I was thrilled.

After graduation, the internship became a paying job—$4.25 an hour. It wasn’t much, but the exposure was invaluable. I worked with top consultants like Bill Drake, Bob Hamilton, and Kent Burkhart. At 23, being asked for my opinion felt like a surge of adrenaline.

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CBS Radio and TK Communications laid the foundation for my professional life. Chuck Brinkman (CLB3) shaped my early career, and I remain grateful.

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I graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Communications major and a Business minor. I worked while in school and served a year as Vice President of the Baptist Student Union under Dr. David Stricklin, who showed great patience with a young, opinionated version of me.

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Early Work and Lessons in Leadership

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During high school and college, I worked in a downtown Fort Worth factory disassembling clutch cores, installed insulation in summer attics, and served as a porter for an apartment complex. As a porter, I learned some of my most important lessons about leadership and dignity—many through negative experiences. After a demeaning incident with a manager, I resolved never to treat anyone under my authority the same way.

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Family, Faith, and Friendship

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I have been blessed to know my wife, Danae, since 1987. We were high school sweethearts, and she remains my greatest treasure. Her strength and perseverance inspire me.

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Our children, Sarah and Don IV, have made parenting a joy. Watching their growth has been one of life’s richest privileges.

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Faith is the foundation of my family and my worldview. After years of study and exploration across world religions and secular philosophies, I am convinced of the truth that Jesus Christ came to redeem us all. My hope rests in His finished work on the cross and the resurrection.

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Friendship has also played a central role in my life. In 1995, I started The May Club—a five-day annual adventure with friends. Over 100 men have participated over the years, and it has taught me the value of walking through life in community.

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In 2023 I released my second book "Ancient Friendship for Modern Men" which explores the value of friendship and the lessons taught us by the ancient writers about great friendships. 

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Adventures, Travel, and Service

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As an avid outdoorsman, I enjoy climbing, hiking, whitewater and sea kayaking, fishing, and hunting. When I’m not working, I want to be outside. I also enjoy engaging with the climbing community through my Instagram account Colorad14ers and with packrafting enthusiasts via PackraftNation.

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My family and I love to travel. We set goals to visit many of America’s National Parks and have shared unforgettable experiences across Europe, Asia, and Central and South America.

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I served on the Board of Directors for the European Initiative from 2009 to 2011 and currently direct the 370-year-old Port Royal Society.

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