A Moving Story from The Surrells

This date of this event has been changed to Thursday, May 23, 2024

2:00 PM EASTERN / 1:00 PM CENTRAL   l   ZOOM

Join us on May 23 to hear from Joe and Barb Surrell as they tell their moving story. Below is a peek into their journey.  

Joe & Barbara Surrell have been happily married for 31 years and have 2 children and 2 beautiful granddaughters. They live just outside of Louisville Kentucky. Joe started in the insurance business soon after they were married in 1993. Joe began his career with National Life of Vermont and soon realized that disability was being underserved in our industry and dove headfirst into learning everything he could about DI. 

While Joe was starting his career by calling on doctors all over the state of Kentucky, Barb was managing the Surrell household and keeping up with the kids' activities. Once the kids were in school Barb turned her attention to running Joe's office and soon they were a well-oiled machine with Barb keeping Joe on the road and her running the day to day operations of the office.

In 2006, Joe was asked to join a small money management firm in Louisville, ARGI Financial Group, to help start an insurance department within the firm. Barb was brought on to continue helping Joe but also became the Director of First Impressions for ARGI by becoming the receptionist.

In 2008, Joe was introduced to Bob Herum and Scott Nelson Archer and was soon invited to be part of the AMA Trusted Advisor program and began working under the tutelage of Scott, Joe began a very successful practice of working with physicians on their disability insurance planning in a 5 state region.

On November 3rd, 2014, Joe and Barbara's lives changed forever. After an appointment in downtown Louisville, Joe and Barb were involved in a car accident with a woman who ran a red light and hit directly into Barb's passenger door. Barb injured her left knee and it required a total knee replacement. What seemed like a routine surgery turned into a nightmare, with infections and knee replacement failures. Eventually, Barb had to have a permanent rod put in her leg from her hip to her ankle and her knee was removed. Barb walked with a straight leg from 2015 until November of 2022 when after 21 surgeries and multiple complications with the rod in her leg, she had to have an above the knee left leg amputation. After some early setbacks in 2023 including back surgery, Barbara is adjusting to life with a prosthetic left leg they named Flo (as in going with the flow) that has a beautiful flamingo prominently displayed on her.

That small firm, ARGI, that Joe and Barb joined in 2006, grew from 10 employees to over 250 employees. Joe eventually became the director of the insurance division and a partner in the firm. In 2023, ARGI was acquired and merged with Cerity Partners and is in the top 10 nationwide amongst RIA firms.

In January of 2024, Joe retired from Cerity Partners and now Joe, Barb and Flo are planning many adventures and many hours watching the grandkids. But as you all know, it's not about the destination...It's about the journey! And what a journey it's been.

Please join us for this discussion on May 23rd! 

REGISTRATION:

Register online via the IDIS website, or contact Executive Director Joe Pittman at [email protected] or 402-397-0280 and he will add you to the registration list. Watch your email for registration confirmation and a Zoom link.

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

We’re planning another great series of Study Group webinars this year. Webinars will generally be held the third Thursday of each month.  If you have suggestions for potential topics and/or speakers, please contact Executive Director Joe Pittman at [email protected] or 402-397-0280.  Watch for information on the June webinar coming soon!

QUESTIONS or ISSUES WITH REGISTERING ONLINE? Contact Executive Director Joe Pittman at [email protected] or 402-881-6467 cell and he will sign you up.

Tickets

$0.00 Member: FREE

$0.00 Non-Member: FREE (Non-members can attend up to two Study Group programs at no charge before Membership is required)