Thuan Hieu Nguyen, M.S. is the CEO and owner of THN Insurance Solutions in Oklahoma City. He may be the only agency owner in the country who has an educational background in biostatistics.
He also spends nearly as much time serving his community as he spends growing his business. He is the founder of the Asian Chamber of Oklahoma and is highly involved in the Asian Cultural Community.
As you might imagine, Thuan is an individual who chooses his relationships carefully. One of the key reasons he chose Smart Choice is because he valued the network’s supportive and cooperative culture.
“A lot of other aggregators have approached me, but I prefer Smart Choice because of their educational conferences and training. Our State Director, Joan Curtis, put together a commercial course for Oklahoma agencies and has helped us connect with other Smart Choice agents – building bonds and a community. Other aggregators give agencies contracts, but they don’t give them the helping hand and advice that they need,” he explains.
From Biostatistics to Insurance
Thuan originally planned to go into the sciences. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a master’s degree in biostatistics and epidemiology. However, life had other ideas. First there was a family emergency, and then the economy tanked and companies froze their hiring. That’s when a friend suggested he put his people skills to work as an insurance sales agent.
Thuan initially rejected the idea, but eventually he decided to give it a try. More than 15 years later, he’s still working in insurance as the owner of THN Insurance Solutions. “It’s been a great journey,” he says.
Many insurance agents start on the captive side, but not Thuan. “I’ve always been independent,” he says. He learned the P&C business while working with his friend. After that, he worked as an agent at a life insurance company, and then he became the co-owner of an agency.
In 2013, he decided it was time to start his own agency. That’s when he joined the Smart Choice network to gain access to carriers as well as leverage the incredible training and mentorship opportunities. He also found a great resource in Joan Curtis, his state director. “Joan has been incredible,” he says.
Finding Meaning and Building Community
Although Thuan never intended to work in insurance, he finds his career highly rewarding. “I wake up every day knowing that I helped protect people’s assets,” he says.
Education is a critical part of that. Thuan’s office is located in Oklahoma City’s Asian District. He speaks English and Vietnamese, and he’s seen how language barriers can leave people vulnerable. When he serves the multicultural community in general and the Asian community in particular, he earns clients’ trust by helping them understand their coverage needs.
“I also do a lot of Medicare education for our community,” he says, explaining that even though medical isn’t his focus, he is passionate about helping seniors.
He’s also committed to helping business owners understand their coverage needs. “I got into my business without knowing how to properly plan and protect a business,” he says. Now that he knows more, he passes on his knowledge – going beyond his role as an insurance agent. For example, he’s currently helping a Vietnamese man who is getting married in the U.S. and starting a restaurant. “I coached him on how to start an LLC, and the documents he needed,” says Thuan.
After noticing that his community lacked social activities, he helped start the Asian District Cultural Association. “We brought the very first Asian Night Market Festival to Oklahoma City,” he says. The first year, he expected a few thousand people to attend. Instead, 15,000 to 20,000 people came. Since then, the event has grown, and now it’s a two-day festival. “It was the very first time in our community that we saw people of all different cultures and ages coming together and celebrating,” he explains.
Achieving Leadership Level and Beyond
Just like the festival Thuan helped create, Thuan’s agency has been growing as well. “We don’t even need to find new clients,” Thuan says, explaining that most clients come from word-ofmouth advertising. “We get new referrals every single day.”
While Thuan’s hard work and community focus has no doubt helped him build a successful agency, network support from Smart Choice has been pivotal.
Recently, Thuan achieved leadership level at Smart Choice. That’s a big deal because it means he can now keep 100% of his commissions.
Joan helped him achieve that goal. Before sitting down to go over numbers with Joan, Thuan didn’t realize how close he was to making leadership. He just needed a little push.
To get there, Thuan decided to move all his business to the network because the numbers worked out better. He also decided to hire a new staff member. The extra commission income would help pay for the staff, and the staff could help manage the additional policies – it was a win-win.
“People think that being an insurance agent is easy money,” Joan says. "But it’s not. It’s hard work. It’s dedication. And when you have an actual plan in place that you can execute, then you can truly see benefits that go beyond the paycheck.”
With support from the Smart Choice community, Thuan has made great strides, but he’s not finished yet. His next goal is to grow the commercial side of his business, and eventually, he wants to bring on more agency owners and open additional locations. He knows that the team at Smart Choice will be by his side as he navigates each new chapter.