2026 Speakers
| Jason Peacock
Oscar winner, Rhodes scholar, fitness model…
Unfortunately, Jason has done none of these things, but what he has done is author three books, built a thriving insurance business, trained sales and marketing teams from coast to coast, raised the three greatest kids in the world and married his dream girl.
For the past 25 years, he has been a leading figure in the independent insurance agency ranks. As a top-performing agent, founding partner and agency manager, Jason has a unique perspective by being able to relate to those on the front lines of selling, as well as those involved with management and leadership.
Through his books, speaking engagements and live workshops, his passion is to “pay it forward” to the next generation of insurance professionals.
Jason and his wife Wendy live in Gainesville, Georgia, and spend their spare time hanging out with their three adult children and enjoying the freedom of being empty nesters!
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| Aubie Knight, CIC, CRMAubie Knight, CIC, CRM, is the CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina.
He is known throughout both the association world and the insurance industry for his bold visions, creative approaches to problem solving and a constant desire for growth and evolution. He is the founder of 101 Weston Labs, the only insurtech accelerator built specifically to support the independent agency distribution channel.
Aubie takes great pride in the fact that for four consecutive years, IIANC has been ranked as a top employer in North Carolina, bringing home the award as the No. 1 ranked employer in North Carolina for mid-sized businesses in 2023. IIANC has an office culture and employee engagement score ranked in the top 1% of U.S. employers.
During his free time, Aubie loves spending time with his family, smoking meats, sipping bourbon, listening to live music, attending sporting events and visiting craft beer breweries. |
| Mitchell Dean
With two decades of experience as a reinsurance broker, all at Guy Carpenter, Mitchell is a team leader and manager specializing in placing a variety of property and casualty reinsurance solutions for U.S.-based carriers. Over the course of his career, Mitchell has designed and placed property catastrophe, per risk and aggregate reinsurance treaties, and created and placed workers' compensation, commercial auto and general liability/umbrella treaty solutions. His client base consists of many regional and superregional carriers across the country. Mitchell has extensive knowledge and experience with all facets of the reinsurance placement process, from strategic planning to post-placement servicing, with an emphasis on the development of capacity for large treaty placements and an analytics-driven approach to optimize his clients' reinsurance placements. He is regarded as a strategic leader in crafting new and innovative solutions to address client demand. Mitchell graduated cum laude from Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degree in business management.
| | Andrew Ellison
Andrew has been with Guy Carpenter since November 2021 and supports multiple treaty account teams representing regional, mutual and residual market clients. He focuses on property catastrophe excess of loss treaty renewals. Andrew supports Guy Carpenter's Residual Market Practice aggregating industry information, benchmarking analysis and support analytics. Prior to joining GC, Andrew was an accountant with DeBenedetti & Co. in Arizona for two years. He oversaw the bookkeeping for clients in the insurance, HVAC, restaurant, doctoral and property management industries. He managed their corporate tax returns and more than 25 individual tax returns. Andrew received his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Arizona in 2019.
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| Heath Shearon
Heath Shearon — aka “The Mayor of Insurance Town" — is a second-generation insurance professional with nearly two decades of experience spanning agency sales, carrier marketing and consulting. He is the creator and host of the popular Insurance Town podcast, which launched in 2020 and has released over 280 weekly episodes featuring candid, insightful conversations designed to help insurance professionals grow, learn and connect. Known for his high-energy style, humor and storytelling, Heath is a nationally recognized speaker and thought leader. He's been featured in Rough Notes, collaborates with leading industry sponsors like Smart Choice, Canopy Connect and Cover Desk, and also serves as a performance coach with Agency Performance Partners. Whether behind the mic or in front of an audience, Heath is on a mission to make the insurance industry feel more like a community—one podcast, one handshake and one conversation at a time.
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| Rob Johnson, MBA, CLTCRob joined the Lincoln Financial MoneyGuard team in January 2018 and has 25+ years of experience in the financial services industry. As the sales vice president of Lincoln MoneyGuard®, Rob helps financial professionals create strategies to reduce the impact of long-term care expenses on client assets. Prior to this position, Rob worked as the LTC director of sales at Allianz and a regional marketing director at OneAmerica. Rob holds FINRA Series 6 and 63 registrations. Additionally, Rob received a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Bethel University and an MBA in management and leadership from St. Cloud State University. Rob currently resides in Plymouth, Minnesota, with his wife, Lara, and children, Penelope and Berg. |
| Corey Cox
Corey Cox is the regional director at Principal with seven years of experience on the Life and DI Business Solutions team. In his role, Corey leverages his extensive experience and industry knowledge to provide innovative solutions and strategic guidance to financial professionals in the life and disability insurance sector. As a regional director, Corey is responsible for developing and maintaining strong relationships with financial advisors, brokers and insurance agents across his designated territory. He excels in educating and supporting these professionals on complex life and disability insurance products, helping them better serve their clients' needs. His in-depth understanding of underwriting processes, policy features and industry trends allows him to offer valuable insights and tailored solutions to meet diverse client needs. Outside of his professional life, Corey resides in Adel, Iowa, with his wife, Emily, and their two children, Ava and Benson. When his busy schedule allows, Corey enjoys pursuing his passions for golf, hockey and just being outdoors.
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| Joseph Cox
Joseph Cox, the marketing director at Trusted Choice, is all about helping Big "I" member agencies elevate their marketing game by educating them on the latest trends and how to leverage the free marketing resources available from Trusted Choice. Joseph has been with the Big “I" for over six years and has learned a lot about the top challenges and roadblocks agents are facing. He works to tackle each challenge one by one and encourages agents to modernize their marketing strategies by leveraging the newest tactics and tools.
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