This year, Alliant National marks 20 years of serving independent agents. Celebrating Our Past and Building Our Future Together, we look back at our founding, the vision that set us apart, and how the challenges of the financial crisis strengthened our commitment—firmly establishing Alliant National asThe Independent Underwriter for The Independent Agentsm
In 2005, Alliant National was founded on a radical idea: to create an underwriter that served independent agents rather than competing against them. The inspiration came from Dave Ginger, who had spent decades working with both small independent agencies and large national firms. Ginger saw firsthand how national companies often viewed local agents as a revenue source rather than as true partners.
In a 2011 interview with the Times-Call of Longmont, Colorado, he reflected on the clear differences he saw between companies that aligned their interests with independent agents and those that did not.
“I had been involved with an agent-owned company earlier in my career, and the biggest thing I saw was the feeling toward the independent agent versus what I saw at the national companies,” Ginger said.
A Texan with a reputation for bold action, Ginger teamed up with Bob Grubb, a Colorado businessman with experience in commercial finance, private equity, and technology-based manufacturing companies, as well as Scott Hendrickson, a CFO with a background in manufacturing, distribution, and insurance. Together, they formed Alliant National, a title insurance underwriter with an intriguing core philosophy: local independent agents deserve an underwriter that works for them—not against them.
From the outset, the founders made a defining decision that set Alliant National apart: it would never operate its own direct title offices.
“Our model was, we’re not going to compete against you, period. We’re going to have no direct operations, no Alliant stores,” Grubb later told the Times-Call.
This AgentsFirst philosophy resonated quickly, as Grubb would later recall during a speech marking Alliant National’s 10th anniversary in 2015.
“The ‘seedling’ was ‘tended to’ by our founding agents and the staff. We searched for, and found, agents who shared Dave’s vision and gave us a chance to prove it. We sprouted up in late 2006, gained some strength,” Grubb remembered. “We grew twice as tall in 2007 and most of 2008.”
But just as it seemed the company was firmly establishing itself, the world changed.
Weathering the Financial Crisis
The 2008 financial crisis hit, bringing the housing market to a near standstill. The impact on the title industry was devastating.
“The land title industry as a whole did about $17.8 billion in revenue in 2007,” Grubb later recalled. “By 2010, that had dropped to $9.5 billion.”
Transaction volumes plummeted, and some underwriters pulled back or shuttered their operations. Independent title agents across the country were left adrift, struggling to navigate a rapidly shifting market.
“Our agents were battling radical declines in transaction volume,” Grubb remembered in 2015. “For many, their underwriters were either closing their doors or indiscriminately cutting their agent base as they raced to adapt to the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.”
Unlike many of its competitors, Alliant National took a different approach. Rather than retreat, the company dug in, delivering resources agents needed to survive and adapt. The upstart underwriter invested in education programs, marketing workshops, and compliance initiatives. Despite the economic turmoil, the gamble paid off. By 2011, Alliant National had grown to 200 agents—a testament to the strength of its independent-focused model.
Regulatory and Industry Shifts: Strengthening the Independent Agent
The greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression was followed by the most sweeping statutory and regulatory reforms the industry had seen in decades. The Dodd-Frank Act, the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, and the rise of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reshaped the mortgage and real estate landscape. Agents faced increased compliance costs, heightened oversight, and new expectations. At the same time, the rise of cyber threats, social engineering, and wire fraud introduced new risks. Fraudsters increasingly targeted real estate transactions, exploiting gaps in communication and security protocols to misdirect funds.
Recognizing the challenges and deep confusion agents faced, Alliant National went to work again, providing training materials, webinars, and white papers to help agents adapt. The company also set the benchmark for security compliance, becoming the first title insurance underwriter in the nation to obtain SSAE 16—now SSAE 18—Type II certified status. It later completed its first ISO 27001 audit and went on to become the first title underwriter to obtain ISO 27701 certification for data privacy.
20 Years Later: A Company Built on Care and Innovation
Today, Alliant National is, in many ways, a very different company than it was in its early years. It now employs about 100 people, operates in 32 states and Washington, D.C., and serves thousands of title professionals; but while its reach has expanded, its core mission remains the same. Alliant National CEO David Sinclair says that while the company has “grown up” in terms of systems and capabilities, it remains fiercely committed to its founding ideals—continually looking for ways to put AgentsFirst.
“As a company grows, it’s always challenged to hold on to its vision and culture,” Sinclair noted. “But there’s something different about this place. The commitment of this team to that vision is remarkable, and together we’ve done a lot of work around articulating the culture that helps us deliver on our fundamental commitment to our agents.”
That culture is built around the three Cs: Competence, Care, and Commitment. Sinclair says the team at Alliant National strives to embody these principles every day, ensuring that the company’s mission is more than just words. At the center of it all is Care—care for team members, stakeholders, and most importantly independent agents.
“We all know there are a lot of places to spend a career in this industry,” Sinclair said. “The people who work at Alliant National choose to be here because of the care we show.”
And as in past challenges, that philosophy of care has led to new innovations. It is what drives the company to continually improve and develop new solutions to support agents in a changing industry. One example is SecureMyTransaction®—developed to help agents combat the latest fraud threats. The company is also working to expand its title production capabilities and improve its digital education offerings.
“I’m excited for what’s ahead—not just for Alliant National, but for our agents and the industry,” Sinclair said. “This company is a special place, and I’m honored to be part of it. But at the end of the day, it’s always about the agents. That was true in 2005, it’s true today, and we’re making the investments to ensure it remains true for the next 20 years.”
As we approach the holiday season and the close of another year, I’ve been reflecting deeply on the concept of organizational culture—what it means, how it shapes our businesses, and how we can all work to improve it. Culture is more than just a buzzword; it’s the lifeblood of an organization, influencing our interactions, decisions, and outcomes. I’d like to share some insights we’ve gained at Alliant National and offer practical thoughts. I hope you find them useful as you think about your culture-building efforts.
Understanding Cultural Paradigms
Organizational culture can be viewed through various lenses. Some companies focus on performance, where results and individual achievement drive culture. Others adopt a purpose-driven culture, aligning actions with a higher mission or set of values. At Alliant National, we’ve found our greatest strength in fostering a culture of trust. But it’s important to note that no single cultural paradigm is inherently better than any other. The key is to identify which approach aligns most closely with your organization’s values and mission.
In the title insurance industry, relationships are at the heart of everything we do, and that’s why we ultimately decided to build our culture on the foundation of trust. Behind every transaction is a person or family entrusting us with their dreams and future. Trust is the cornerstone of these relationships, enabling us to be part of critical moments in people’s lives. Without trust, we’re merely facilitating transactions; with it, we’re partnering in something much more significant—helping people pursue the American Dream of economic prosperity.
The 3Cs: Our Foundation for Trust
To cultivate this trust, we’ve centered our culture around three key principles we call the 3Cs:
Care for Others: Genuine care involves truly listening and understanding the needs of those we serve—our agents, partners, and colleagues. It’s about making meaningful connections and offering assistance that can have a positive impact on someone’s life.
Competency in Our Work: We believe in continuous improvement. By staying informed, honing our skills, and striving for excellence, we ensure that we’re equipped to meet the needs of our clients and each other effectively.
Commitment: This is about reliability and follow-through. Doing what we say we will do, meeting our obligations, and being dependable in every situation reinforces the trust others place in us.
These principles aren’t just corporate ideals. We try to live them as daily practices that guide us through our interactions with our agents and fellow team members.
Intentional Culture Building
Good culture doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intention, reflection, and a willingness to change. A few years ago, we took an important step by developing a booklet describing our company culture. It’s essentially a collective expression of what makes Alliant National special on our best days. It includes our Purpose, Mission, Vision, Core Value, and Guiding Principles. Simply stated, the “Alliant National Way” is: caring about people by providing uncommonly valuable help that delivers a positive impact. This articulation of our shared beliefs has provided a compass for our actions.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to define what’s most important about your culture, we’ve found that the exercise can be incredibly valuable. For us, it wasn’t about creating something new, but rather about uncovering and articulating what was already true about our organization. We found that the project gave us a rare opportunity to talk to our team, reflect on shared experiences, and capture our unique narrative.
Beyond defining culture, it’s important to take steps to live it more deeply and consistently. To support this, we established an Employee Engagement Team to ensure that culture remains an ongoing focus. This group serves as a conduit for feedback and ideas, helping culture rise from every level of the organization.
Other important initiatives included creating a set of Management Rules of the Road, which outlines what employees can expect from their managers. Additionally, our culture has been strengthened through regular Outward Mindset seminars from the Arbinger Institute. The goal of these sessions is to help team members understand that other people’s needs matter just as much as their own. They encourage collaboration, break down silos, and remind us to work together.
Steps to Building a Great Culture
Every company, regardless of size or industry, stands to benefit from a strong, intentional culture. Based on our experience, here are a few steps that we hope may be helpful in your own cultural journey:
Define Your Core Values: What principles are non-negotiable for your organization? Whether it’s trust, innovation, customer focus, or something else entirely, clarity here sets the foundation. A key aspect in defining your values is also in prioritizing them. It’s easy to say loyalty, honesty, and integrity are the values of the company. What happens when these values are in conflict?
Engage Your Team: Culture is a collective endeavor. Regularly involve team members at all levels in discussions about values and practices. Their insights can be surprising and powerful.
Be Intentional: Develop initiatives, programs, and traditions that reinforce your values. Solicit feedback from employees to ensure alignment and celebrate your cultural successes regularly. Values are most reflected in an organization based on who gets promoted or rewarded.
Measure and Reflect: Utilize tools like surveys, focus groups, or external certifications to assess your cultural health. Benchmarks provide valuable insights into where you’re succeeding and where there’s room to grow. For example, at Alliant National, we’ve participated in the Great Place to Work certification process for over eight years, and in 2024, we were recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the Best Small Workplaces and one of the Best Places to Work in Real Estate.
Embrace Continuous Improvement: Culture isn’t static. Be open to change and ready to adapt as your organization grows and the environment evolves.
Recognition and Celebration
One great way to promote culture is to share stories of success. At Alliant National, we’ve found tremendous value in communicating and celebrating our cultural achievements during Alliant National Live!, our bi-monthly all-hands call. My favorite part of the call is a feature we recently added — the Winner’s Circle. It’s an opportunity for employees to nominate colleagues who exemplify what it means to work the “Alliant National Way.” Most importantly, this peer-nominated recognition is to identify someone who demonstrates one of more of the 3Cs. A nomination takes time and effort, so these nominations reflect the genuine appreciation and respect colleagues have for one another’s contributions. These stories and celebrations help our team feel more connected and aligned with the company’s values.
Looking Ahead and Staying Committed
As we approach 2025 and our 20th anniversary, I couldn’t be more excited about the future of Alliant National. Our imminent partnership with Dream Finders Homes marks an exciting new chapter, creating new opportunities to grow and better serve our agents. Additionally, we are eager to continue innovating with tools like our anti-fraud solution, SecureMyTransaction, which reinforces trust and security in real estate transactions.
As I look ahead, I’m reminded that our success is built on our cultural foundations that enable us to provide value to our agents. While there’s much to be proud of, no culture is ever “finished.” It requires continuous care and attention to ensure alignment with our mission and goals.
Whatever cultural foundation you choose—whether trust, purpose, performance, or a blend—it’s important to invest in it intentionally. At Alliant National, we’ve found that fostering a culture of trust has brought great benefits to our team, agents, and partners.
Thank you for being a part of our journey. Here’s wishing you a happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year!
There is no off-season for building effective teams.
In our working lives, we hear a lot of chatter about team building. Yet, even though it is widely acknowledged that strong teams are the cornerstone of successful businesses, the exact mechanisms for how you build them are less clear-cut.
For Stacy Stolen, HR Director at Alliant National, creating an environment where staff feel connected, safe and collaborative requires a holistic, year-round approach. She shared insights on how to successfully implement team building in your organization for impactful results.Team building: A critically important conceptWhile incredibly important, team building can sometimes feel cliché and superficial, evoking images of trust falls and three-legged races. Yet when done correctly and with genuine, year-round commitment, few things can be as impactful for creating high- functioning organizations. But why exactly should you prioritize team building? “The lone wolf is becoming an endangered species,” said Stolen, when discussing the subject. “From health care to hospitality, startups to big business, teamwork has become the favored way to get things done.” This view is echoed by those who study team building. “The world is so complex, no one person has the skills or knowledge to accomplish all that we want to accomplish,” says Susan McDaniel, PhD, a psychologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center who is known for her scholarship on team-based work. “Interdisciplinary teams are the way to make that happen.”[i]Here are some of the tangible benefits agencies can realize through investing in team building: ·Enhanced collaboration: When teams understand and trust one another, it becomes easier to communicate openly and honestly, which reduces silos and promotes alignment.
Better employee morale and retention: Meaningful team building promotes safety, camaraderie, and care. This can lead to lower turnover and higher retention. Higher productivity and profitability: Close-knit teams promote the free exchange of ideas and faster, more impactful feedback, which results in higher productivity and profitability.Improved organizational culture: Team building creates a more affirming, positive and compelling culture. When teams like, respect and collaborate well with one another, businesses enjoy easier recruitment and competitive advantage in the market.
How to Team Build Year Round Clearly, team building can deliver big benefits, but establishing a year-round team building program can be a tall order, especially at a busy agency. Still, there is no need to feel overwhelmed, says Stolen. “Begin by breaking it down into bite-size steps. Start by defining what teamwork means to your organization and do your research. Also, never take a ‘cookie cutter’ approach to teamwork. Make it your own and ensure it is a good fit for your team.”This last point is a critically important one, particularly when viewed in the context of remote work. “As a new manager, or first-time manager, you now have the unique freedom to choose talent from all over the world,” said Stolen. “But you also face an equally unique challenge: Leading a team who you may have never met in person. This includes building trust and camaraderie between people in different time zones.”But whatever type of team building program you land on, make sure it’s sustainable. Without easily repeatable plays, you won’t be able to continue nurturing a strong team at different points of the year. Keep it simple and do not overthink it. Some strategies aligned with this philosophy include:·Build “buffer time” into your meetings that leaves time to chat openly and informally. ·Do ice breakers/team builders at as many meetings as you can. This creates increased cooperation, builds trust and creates a sense of belonging.·Create “team rituals,” repeated actions or activities unique to your team and help them bond. Rituals can be as simple as “Meme Monday,” where everyone shares an image or GIF that captures how their weekend went. ·Avoid communication gaps by scheduling a daily stand-up meeting for people to share updates. This process can also be repeated over digital channels like Zoom.·When it comes to meetings, share the pain. Consider the different time zones your teammates are in and rotate start times so that everyone has a few convenient meetings on their schedule.·Create an Employee Resource Group.Team building can be difficult but well worth the effort Finding time to develop new initiatives at a busy title agency can be a formidable challenge. Yet the importance of well-executed team building can’t be understated. Sticking to these tips can help you create a well-honed operation that delivers results. Better yet, says Stolen, you’ll create an ideal environment that meets your team’s “individual work preferences and needs.”
How do you make it your sole focus to anticipate and take care of their needs? How do you create a base of loyal fans who refer you to everyone they know?
Of course, you do need to display your customer-centric core values prominently on your walls and make those values part of your daily vernacular at work.
You also need to immerse those values into your company culture every day. Make those values come to life in the eyes of all employees.
One way to bring the values to life is by tying them to employee performance within your company. Options for marrying performance to a customer-centric value system include:
Creating a customer survey process and inviting customers to review employees based on a number of metrics (all tied to your customer-centric core values);
Create a “living the values” award and ask employees to vote for their peers;
Develop a “secret shopper” system to periodically test employee responses to typical customer requests;
Build the customer-centric core values into each employee’s annual review rating guide.
Another key means to bring those customer-centric values to life is to lead by example, such as:
Make the values at least a small portion of every single internal meeting in your company;
Follow the customer-centric approach you’ve created—for your external customers and internal customers (aka employees);
Make yourself available and approachable any time an employee has a question related to the core values;
Create a “daily devotional” core value email to hit employee inboxes at the start of each work day;
Communicate best-practice examples when you see other employees “living the values” during their daily jobs;
Offer constructive feedback when you see opportunities for employees to improve on their customer-centric approach.
Additionally, research shows time and time again that employees stay in jobs where they feel connected, valued and engaged in meaningful work.
Breathing life into customer-centric values, along with the tips offered above, offer employees that chance to feel like they belong. Research also shows that happy employees provide the very best customer service.
So, remember that your customer-centric core values statements are just that—words—until you bring them to life with action.
