Episode 13 - Herding Humans: Managing the Madness of Growth

From The Darkhorse's Mouth Episode 13 In this episode of From The Darkhorse's Mouth, Dan and Carly Garzella are joined by Alyson Hutchins, Business Development Manager at BBSI. The discussion begins with the startup stage: what life really looks like for a small insurance agency with around five employees, and the operational headaches that come with trying to juggle HR, payroll, benefits, and workers’ comp on your own. From there, we break down how BBSI’s PEO model steps in at that stage: where it saves time, where it reduces risk, and how it helps owners get out of the weeds so they can focus on selling and servicing clients. The episode then follows the growth curve as an agency scales, unpacking how the partnership with BBSI evolves from basic support to more strategic HR. We talk through what makes their workers’ comp approach different, how it creates more predictability around costs and safety, and how smarter HR systems, culture work, and people metrics become the backbone of sustainable growth. Along the way, we tackle the key question: when does it make sense to start bringing HR functions in-house, and which pieces should move first? Finally, we look at the long view - how to future-proof your people operations as you grow from a lean startup team to a 50+ person organization. We cover the most common mistakes small agencies make as they scale their teams, what to watch for as early warning signs, and how to design an HR strategy that grows with the business instead of constantly scrambling to catch up. Whether you’re just getting your agency off the ground or starting to feel the growing pains of a bigger team, this episode offers a clear, practical roadmap for using a PEO partnership to scale smarter, protect your people, and set your agency up for long-term success. Also available on: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4g6WiZJ... Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/from-... Amazon - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/adc... And everywhere else podcasts are! 💬 Have questions or comments? Email us at [email protected] 🔔 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon to stay updated with future episodes. #DarkhorseInsurance #HerdingHumans #InsuranceJourney #FromTheDarkhorsesMouth #CaptiveToIndependent #Entrepreneurship #InsuranceLeadership