IT’S LOVE WITH INSURANCE – Matt & Patrice Griffitts

BY PATTI SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICK COOPER

Entrepreneurs Matt and Patrice Griffitts shared the dream of starting a business together ever since they fell in love in 2011. That dream came true in August 2015 when the couple opened their insurance agency.

Matt Griffitts knew of Patrice Lovett while growing up in Bay County. She was a Moseley Dolphin who lived in Lynn Haven, and he was a Bay High Tornado who lived in Panama City Beach. Their paths crossed, but they never connected. Years after each divorced from previous marriages, their paths crossed again. “It was love at first sight,” Matt says about the moment when they met at a local restaurant. The conversation flowed and sparks began to fly. Not wanting to settle for an “I’ll see you next time,” they made arrangements to see each other again, and again. Ever since, they have been inseparable.

All of their lives they watched their parents work together to keep their families close and to provide for each member. Matt’s parents owned hotels on the west end of the beach and his dad, Philip Griffitts, served as mayor of the City of Panama City Beach for 18 years.

Patrice’s parents opened the first Grease Pro franchise in Bay County and grew that business to 10 locations. They saw their parents struggle from time to time, but the blessings of being in business together always outweighed the challenges. Matt and Patrice can agree, now that they have started their own business, the Griffitts Insurance Agency (Allstate).

After exploring many options, they decided that opening an insurance agency was the best fit. Protecting their family, their home, and property – now that’s something they can relate to.

PCL: Why did you decide to go into business together?

Patrice: Watching our parents run their respective businesses was humbling and taught us a lot. That’s part of why we want to do this together. We want our children to see a hard work ethic. And the timing was right.

Matt: We don’t want them to take anything for granted or expect something to be handed to them. Seeing us do this, now our parents get to see the fruits of their labor. We’ve had a lot of million dollar ideas but, thank goodness, none of them worked out because it wouldn’t have been the right time, and it wouldn’t have been the right fit. We talked a lot about it. We prayed a lot about it, and things fell into the right place at the right time.

PCL: What has it been like to be in a brand new line of work after working in completely different fields for so long?

Matt: Patrice says I pulled her out of retirement. It’s exciting. We both love to learn new things. As we were doing our studies, we’d say, ‘If this completely fails, at least we will be better consumers.’

Patrice: It’s that necessary evil. You have to have insurance, and we had to really dig in deep to understand it and know how it works.

PCL: How do you work together in the business?

Patrice: I’m the office manager – the office mom. I make sure everybody is happy and that they are doing their thing. I also sell policies and advise our clients and I really enjoy it. When you get passionate about something, you find you talk about it all the time.

Matt: I handle the business side of it as well as advertising and marketing. I’m the numbers guy.

PCL: What are the challenges of working together?

Patrice: Getting time off together. One of us always has to be at the office. We have three kids at three different schools. When you have the husband at one place of employment and the wife at another, sometimes it’s a little easier for both to slip away to get kids here and there and everywhere.

Matt: That’s definitely a challenge, but also, leaving it here is a big piece. When we go home at night sometimes we have to be conscious about saying, ‘We’ve got to step away from it.’ It will consume you if you’re not careful.

PCL: Any special plans for Valentine’s Day?

Patrice: We take our family to dinner. I love to bake and so does my daughter, so we always do Valentine goodies. Matt and I take a night out before or after and just the two of us go to dinner. We say, ‘We’re getting old! Do we really want to fight the crowds on Valentine’s Day?’

PCL: How do you separate your work life from your private life?

Matt: We’re still working on that. It’s making the conscious effort and saying, ‘These problems will be here in the morning’ and step away from it.

Patrice: We also find the time to take care of ourselves. We love to run. We get up at 5 a.m. and run before we come in to work in the morning. We do that about five days a week. And we have all the same interests. We love boating, fishing, and being on the water. We try to balance our fun.

 

[author image=”https://www.panamacityliving.com/media/2014/07/Patti-Smith.jpg” ]Patti Smith is an award-winning professional writer and editor with more than 25 years experience in U.S. markets including Metropolitan areas of Connecticut, California, Indiana, Kentucky and Florida. She currently writes columns, features and faith testimonies for local and national publications. She believes everyone has a story to tell and that others’ lives may be changed or enriched by reading it. She is married to a devoted husband, mother to three amazing children and grandmother to one precious grandchild.[/author]