Scottsdale · Arizona · Est. 2020
I'll walk into the fire first.
Founder of Founders Financial Group. Still learning. Still leading. Still doing the work.
still in the field
I craved leadership. Now I provide it.
When I started, I wanted somebody I could learn from. Somebody who had actually done what I was trying to do and could tell me what I was about to experience. I couldn't find it.
So I learned a lot of this business by making the mistake, figuring out why it happened and finding the solution. That shaped the way I lead today. I'm not going to ask somebody to walk somewhere I haven't been willing to go myself. I'll go first, I'll figure out how hot the fire is, then I'll turn around and tell you what I learned.
I started in insurance in 2020 with $300. Today I have built a sales organization to do over $150 million in sales. And I'm still learning. Still training. Leading in the trenches with agents and leaders. Because the second I stop doing the work, what I say about the work starts meaning a whole lot less.
Since
2020
SALES BROUGHT IN
150M
SIX
BUSINESS RAN
In his words
A real training call. No script. Just Bowen doing what he does every week.
Straight from Bowen
Real training · real conversation
Leadership
Leadership looks different from the front.
LEADERSHIP DAYS ON THE TRACK
DIALING NEXT TO YOU
CELEBRATING GROWTH
I'd rather be in the trenches than talking about the trenches. If I'm going to teach sales, I should still know what it feels like to sit across from a client. If I'm going to teach leadership, the people around me should be able to watch how I lead myself.
ARE YOU IN YOUR OWN WAY?
Bowen Sweeney
GET THE FREE 20 MINUTE TRAINING ->
Free
Free training
Give me 20 minutes. I'll get you out of your own way.
Most people aren't held back by the thing they think is holding them back. They're negotiating with themselves. Burning energy on stuff they can't control. Waiting to feel ready. Living in the problem instead of solving it.
Twenty minutes on the four places I watch people get in their own way — in myself, and in the people I lead — and what to actually do about each one.
You don't need to be in sales, own a business or lead anybody for this to apply to you.
01 · Stop negotiating
The moment you know what you should do and start talking yourself out of doing it.
02 · Drop what you can't control
How to stop spending energy on things that were never yours to decide.
03 · Live in the solution
Five minutes annoyed, then go solve it.
04 · Get the reps
Ready is a feeling that shows up after the work, not before it.
How this started
I learned leadership by watching what it wasn't.
2020
Started with $300 and a lot to learn.
The reps
Appointments. Mistakes. Conversations. Learning the business by doing the business.
Now
Built the leadership environment I went looking for when I started.
I got licensed in 2020 with $300. I didn't come into insurance because I had a master plan. I saw an opportunity and I needed to figure it out.
What I wanted was leadership. Somebody who could explain the business, who had been through the mistakes I was about to make, who could tell me what mattered and what didn't. Instead I learned a lot about leadership by seeing what leadership wasn't. So I did the opposite. If I didn't know something, I learned it before I taught it. If there was a problem, I looked for the solution. And when I learned something, I taught it.
That is eventually what became Founders Financial Group. And today I am most proud of getting to help change so many people's lives by giving them an opportunity, helping them develop a skillset, become undeniable and inject belief into others.
The part I'm most proud of isn't the number. It's watching somebody come in uncertain, develop a skill set, learn how to lead themselves and eventually become the person somebody else calls for leadership. That's the whole point.
Today
Nine agencies. Six offices. Still in the field.
TRAVELING FOR IN PERSON TRAINING & MENTORING
where your feet are
The work
The work hasn't really changed.
The numbers got bigger. The responsibility did too. But the work is still people, problems and development.
01
Build leaders
Leadership isn't telling people what to do. It's helping somebody understand enough to eventually run alongside you, and then become better than you.
02
LIVE IN THE SOLUTION
When something goes wrong, spend less time sitting in the problem and more time figuring out what you can control, what you can learn and what happens next.
04
Give away what I've learned
If something took me years to figure out and I can explain it to you in twenty minutes, I'm going to. Learn something. Teach something. That's how this should work.
03
Stay in the field
Stay in the trenches, developing, teaching & mentoring. Always leading from the front.
The people
Who you build with matters.
Acknowledging WINS ALWAYS
LEADERSHIP IS A PRIVILEGE
Scottsdale · HQ
The business matters. The standard matters. But so do the people you're building it with. Agencies have their own names, their own leaders and their own culture. What they share is the standard.
Philosophy
How I think about the work.
Four ideas I come back to constantly. They apply to sales, to leadership, and to whatever you are trying to get good at.
01
Lead yourself first
Before you lead a team or ask anybody to follow you, there's a simpler question. Would you follow you? Do you show up when nobody else does? Do you keep the commitment when nobody is checking? Leadership starts there.
02
Live in the solution
Problems are part of the deal. The question isn't whether you're going to have them, it's how long you're going to sit in them. Live in the problem and it multiplies. Live in the solution and it changes your direction.
03
Get the reps
You want more confidence? Give yourself more reps.
04
Where you start is temporary
You're probably not going to be good when you start. Good, now you know where you're starting. Your skill set can change. Your discipline can change. Where you start doesn't decide where you finish. What you do between the two does.
Fit
I'm not going to tell you anyone can do this.
We'll probably work well together if
You're coachable, and you're willing to get reps before expecting results.
You can make a mistake without turning the mistake into your identity.
You want somebody to tell you the truth, not just what feels good.
You're willing to lead yourself before asking other people to follow you.
Probably not if
You're looking for somebody else to create your discipline.
You want the result without developing the skill set.
You need every day to go right in order to keep moving.
You'd rather explain the problem than solve it.
FAQ
Straight answers
Questions I get every week.
If yours isn't here, ask me. I'll tell you straight.
Do I need to be licensed?
No. Most people come in unlicensed. It's a state exam, and we'll point you at the right one and how to prepare for it.
Do I need insurance experience?
No. Plenty of people come in from other industries, and plenty come in having never sold anything. What matters more is whether you're willing to learn it and get the reps.
What does becoming an agent actually mean?
Becoming an agent here isn't something I'm going to try to explain in three sentences. There are a lot of questions you should ask before deciding whether this business makes sense for you. That's what the conversation is for.
Do I need to live near an office?
No. There are offices in Scottsdale and other offices across the US. Being close helps early on. It isn't required.
What does training look like?
Hands on daily training, helping you work on developing your skillset and mindset.
What should I know before we talk?
That you're not supposed to be good yet, and that I'm not going to promise you a number. What I will do is tell you honestly whether I think I can help you, in one conversation.
Founders Financial Group
Insurance was the opportunity. People became the mission.
I got into this business because I saw what was possible. I stayed because I saw what happens when the right person develops the right skill set, discipline and belief.
Founders now operates through nine independently named agencies, helping families protect what they've built while developing the next generation of agents and leaders.
One conversation
Where you start is temporary.
You don't need to have everything figured out. You need to be willing to figure it out. Get the reps. Make the mistake. Learn from it. Solve the problem. Keep moving.
There's a version of you capable of getting where you want to go. Your job is to develop that person.
Bowen Sweeney
Scottsdale · St. Petersburg · Ft. Lauderdale · Jacksonville · Orem · Chicago
Founder & CEO · Founders Financial Group