Jonathan Reaves is a partner at The Reaves Agency, a 42-year-old benefits brokerage and benefits management company. Started by Reaves' father, the Dallas-based company works with 300 small- to mid-sized clients. The firm has grown from four employees just four years ago to nearly 20 today, with no signs of slowing down.

Paul Wilson: How did you get your start in the benefits industry?

I grew up in the insurance world. My father started our firm in 1974, so the company is actually a couple of years older than I am. When I got out of college, I was determined not to go into the insurance industry, so I entered financial services.

In the late 90s, a friend started day trading and was making a ton of money. I started doing that and made enough to buy my wife her engagement ring. Once we were married, she basically said, “You need to get a real job.” She was tired of supporting me as I tried to live the dream of the day trader.

I became a sales rep for an ancillary carrier and about 10 years ago, my father convinced me to join the agency. Three and a half years ago, my business partner and I bought my father out and we've been working to grow the business ever since.

PW: How do you explain your initial reluctance to join the family business?

Growing up, my father's business was a great model. He provided a really nice lifestyle for us; he had flexibility and freedom, and worked for himself.

I think it was a matter of not wanting to necessarily follow in my father's footsteps as a young man — you want to do your own thing and see how it works. But I quickly realized that the model he showed me was actually pretty good and that maybe I could be good at it, too.

PW: How has the industry changed since you came on board?

It's changed so dramatically, particularly since the Affordable Care Act was passed. I think people have always looked at insurance as kind of old school and boring. But our industry is a lot sexier now. I think that's partially thanks to all the technology companies who are jumping into the field.

And with increased regulations and all the rule changes, it has really become a dynamic atmosphere. Any change, whether good or bad, creates a huge opportunity. It opens a window and I think a lot of people see that. People are noticing our industry now.

PW: What's your favorite thing about your job?

Working with my team and our clients — the relationships we have. The two things I'm best at are developing relationships and identifying opportunities. So right now, I'm having a ball because I get to do both of those things quite a bit.

PW: What are the top challenges you see facing people in the industry?

There's so much noise, so much chatter in our business. And there's a lot of competition. The newer firms with commercials and Silicon Valley money have the loudest bullhorn now in our market. So it's a challenge to rise above the noise and deliver the messages our clients and prospects need to hear.

PW: As the industry ages, there are challenges around bringing in new talent. How does your company deal with this?

At our company, we strive to ha

ve an innovative, forward-thinking and rewarding culture. For example, our employees have unlimited sick days. We have a foosball table, we play Nerf basketball, we plan to get an Xbox next year for our think tank meetings.

We trust people and reward good talent. Trying something new and failing can be just as valuable as trying something new that's successful. We reward that type of thought and action and our goal as a firm is to get younger. I think the payroll companies have it figured out. They have a lot of young people straight out of school who maybe haven't found their niche or career yet but they're hungry. That's where we'd like to head and it's our goal for 2017.

PW: How are you and your company taking advantage of this new industry environment?

There are so many good ideas in the industry right now, but we have to figure out what's best for us and our clients. Technology helps us a lot, but we also have the old-school DNA; we're a 42-year-old firm and we still have those roots of do what you say and say what you mean. If you don't have that model to start with, then you don't have a business in this field, because it's still a customer service-oriented industry. Having said that, the tools we have now are really cool.

PW: Who are your favorite innovators or sources of inspiration?

My passion is music; I'm actually a bedroom DJ. I like techno and house music so I mix music for fun, record it and put it up on my own Mixcloud page. So when I'm busy doing spreadsheets, I crank it up loud in the office and have fun with it. I get inspiration from music. I'm a big fanboy of DJ Sasha of Sasha and Digweed fame.

The best business book I've ever read is “Getting Naked” by Patrick Lencioni. It's a fantastic book that has really helped us define our help first business model.

And we're part of a national broker group called ProSential group. The best thing about it is working with principals and brokers from other firms and hearing their ideas; hearing what they're doing in their markets; hearing about their successes and struggles and just brainstorming with them. It's probably been the biggest help we've had with our business.

PW: Finish this sentence: The key to success in this industry going forward is …

being excited about change. It just creates so much opportunity.