Care Givers All-Cal Insurance Agency in Roseville thrives by providing coverage for nonprofits BY Sena Christian | PHOTOS BY Hector Amezcua
Mike Esparza ’ s father ,
Joe Esparza , started Roseville Insurance Agency in 1989 . Five years later , he gave the business the name All-Cal Insurance Agency . Mike says the All-Cal name had previously been used by a Japanese American man who started a firm during the 1940s or early ’ 50s for Japanese Americans in California who were unable to get insurance through other agencies . This was an era of rampant discrimination against people of Japanese ancestry .
Joe purchased that firm in 1971 , but eventually closed the business , and somebody else acquired the name . When he learned the name had become available again , he scooped it up .
“ We insure a lot of nonprofit organizations , because they were the underserved population in the state — actually , all over the country ,” says Mike , president of All-Cal Insurance Agency and owner since 2015 . He says nonprofits had a “ very hard time getting insurance in the ’ 80s and ’ 90s , and even a little bit today .” Nonprofits make up 97 percent of All-Cal ’ s clientele ; the business is licensed in California , Nevada and Idaho .
The youngest of three brothers , Mike joined the agency at 22 years old in 2002 , after a stint in college ( his brothers pursued other careers ). He earned his life and property and casualty insurance licenses , which he says were basically equivalent to a college degree for his field , and gleaned most of what he knows on the job . “ I followed in my dad ’ s footsteps , learning a lot of things , as I remember it , through just osmosis ,” he says .
In 2015 , Mike and Joe had a conversation about succession planning . Mike was nervous to bring it up because he didn ’ t want his father , who was then 70 years old , to feel pushed out . “ But at the same time ,” Mike says , “ I felt like I needed to start running things the way I wanted them run . … To his credit , he totally understood it , he knew it . He was just waiting for me to have the courage to step up and ask .”
Over the course of a multiyear transition , Mike started implementing changes , which included renovating the
All-Cal office in downtown Roseville , paying off debt , modernizing financial processes and cleaning up the datamanagement system . Much of this was handled by Mike ’ s wife , April Esparza , who joined the agency in a limited capacity in 2011 . She left her job as a legal clerk at the City of Roseville in early 2019 to work for the business full time as account executive , managing its day-to-day operations , with the assistance of four support staff members . She now has her property and casualty insurance license .
“ The best part of working for a family business is being able to share another aspect of your life with family ,” April says . “ Sharing and achieving professional goals together is very fulfilling . The most challenging part is maintaining a work-life balance . It ’ s really easy to let work consume our thoughts and conversations , so we make a conscious effort to limit how much we talk about work when we are at home . We are a better spouse , parent and coworker when we take a break from work and spend time enjoying other aspects of our lives .”
Joe retired from the business two years ago , although Mike still calls his dad occasionally with questions . One thing the son hasn ’ t changed is All- Cal ’ s focus on nonprofits , even if there are more lucrative routes to take . Since the coronavirus pandemic began , the agency has been restructuring clients ’ policies to reflect their diminished operations . So these clients are paying less , which means the agency is earning less , and revenues are down . Mike says he ’ s grateful that one of the first steps he took upon becoming owner was to pay off the company debt , which would be stressful to carry during a recession .
Mike is thinking about whether one day he will pass the family business onto his sons who are both teenagers , but says it ’ s too soon to finalize plans for the future . “ I also want to let them decide and see where life takes them in the next 10 years .”
Sena Christian is managing editor of Comstock ’ s . Online at www . senachristian . com and on Twitter @ SenaCChristian .
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