Meet Our Team

I was born in Seattle, Washington in 1958. I moved to Los Angeles when my father Jack was hired by Farmers Insurance. About midway through Kindergarten, we moved to Santa Rosa where I attended Bennett Valley Elementary School on the hillside below the northeast face of Taylor Mountain. During that time, I was in Cub Scouts and played Little League baseball. I was also a member of the Santa Rosa Boys and Girls Club.

After high school, August 1st to be exact, I boarded a van that took me to the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland,CA. I was sworn into the United States Marine Corps for a three year enlistment. During my tour of duty, I got married and my daughter Jenay was born. We moved back to Santa Rosa. Shortly thereafter, my son Andy was born. Both of my children attended schools in Santa Rosa.

I got an interview with Farmers Insurance to be a claims adjuster. Wearing a tie was required. First, I had to learn how to tie one. Many of the people I worked with are still friends and some are clients. It was a great group of people. We had a lot of fun even though dealing with accidents large and small was not fun.

In 1988, I got an offer from Allstate that paid me a considerable amount more than I was making previously. I had a family and wanted to buy a home. I felt this was my chance. It was a difficult decision since my father was a Farmers Agent at the time and my Godfather was one of the top people at the company. My entire life had been spent with Farmers people and back then it was like a family. The Allstate experience was good. I had more freedom to do the job the best way I knew possible. There was less oversight from others. I am honest with a good work ethic. I got my work done as promised. I bought my first home.

I decided to try my hand as a Farmers Agent in 1991. This was after Prop 103 changed the auto insurance market and when the Northridge earthquake hit. We couldn’t sell home insurance for a time. This presented a challenge. I worked even harder to be successful. It was very difficult.

In 1995, I had the opportunity to purchase my dad’s agency and take over his business. I recall my first commission check. I couldn’t believe how great that was. I had to pay taxes and of course the payments for the business purchase. I realized I was not on Easy Street. Hard work and perseverance was still required to meet the expenses and everyone got paid before I did. I got what was left over just like many business owners. I learned some important lessons from my Father. I learned honesty is the best policy (no pun intended). If you make a mistake, and it is easy to do in this complicated business, be honest about it. People appreciate the truth. People also appreciate attention to detail so they can focus on other things.

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiddooinsurance