EXECUTIVE TEAM

Nearly 4 decades worth of experience in the insurance industry makes our President & CEO uniquely qualified to lead our company. There is no person more in tune with the needs of our agents than Barry Clarkson. A company is only as good as its leadership, and for that reason we can confidently say that Equis Financial is the best company in our industry today.

Bill Martin is a true training tour-de-force at The Agent’s Company. After years of success and experience selling in the field, Bill is now committed to his role educator and mentor as Equis Financial’s Executive Vice President of Sales Development. Through his twice-weekly webinar series “JumpStart Live,” provided completely free to our agent base, the “Bill Martin’s 2 Cents” Facebook page featuring regularly uploaded sales training videos, and as co-host/organizer of our Friday Sales Training Call, Bill continually delivers industry-leading educational resources for both new and established agents in our industry. 

Originally a field agent in the insurance sales industry, John Barlow was trained and shaped by our very own Bill Martin. John’s penchant for closing business led to a phenomenal placement rate that impressed even Bill! His proficient prowess in the field was so significant that when it came time to open Equis Financial’s first dedicated support office, John was the first, and last, person called to fill the position of Vice President of Business Development. Throughout his time with Equis Financial, John has proven himself to be a priceless asset in ensuring our office staff be put in the best position to facilitate the success of our agents.

After graduating from the Hotel/Restaurant/Travel Administration program at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, Bill Martin (2.0) was immediately hired by Marriott as the Assistant GM to a brand-new Courtyard property. After about 2 years, Bill left the hospitality industry knowing it would take him years to achieve the level of income he desired. Once becoming licensed in the insurance industry, Bill’s momentum in his new career field skyrocketed. Now, Bill Martin (2.0) serves as the Vice President of Advanced Markets at Equis Financial and is directly responsible for the initiatives related to building market share of indexed produced and living benefit programs, as well as providing agent training and leadership in pursuit of making Equis Financial the preeminent life insurance marketing agency in the country!

When it comes to guiding agents towards quality business 

management, effective recruitment tactics, and connecting with the hopes and dreams of American salespeople, there’s none better than Rob Jones. His role as Executive Vice President of Agency Development is a position perfectly tailored towards the skillset Rob has finely tuned throughout his many years in the industry. If you’re ever in search of guidance on the best path forward as an entrepreneur and agency builder, look no further than Rob Jones.

There is, perhaps, no executive at The Agent’s Company that wears as many hats as Emily Growden, our Senior Vice President of Operations. Emily’s vast and varied corporate experience, along with her extensive entrepreneurial endeavors, make her uniquely suited to tackle the many responsibilities that fall under her title. As an accomplished and long-running event planner, she gained considerable experience in the time management, organization, and supervision of large-scale events. Emily knows, better than most, what it takes to form a group of individuals into a cohesive team. Through the direction and coordination of our acclaimed National Conventions, and as the face of our home office support team in Asheville, NC, Emily’s considerable contributions to Equis Financial have been instrumental to the current and future successes of our company.

Pete Lee is Equis Financial’s go-to authority on the state and development of the Advanced Markets at The Agent’s 

Company. As the Senior Vice President of Advanced Markets, Pete utilizes a wealth of industry knowledge stemming from decades of experience managing, developing, and integrating sales force teams specializing in annuities, IULs, tax-free 

retirement, and the many other facets of American Advanced Markets. Pete also serves as an authority on compliance and development within those markets. Through his partnership with Vice President of Advanced Markets Bill Martin, Pete Lee has designed Equis Advanced to provide our agents with the training needed to provide their clients with safe savings and protection solutions.

Kristan joined Equis Financial as we were just getting started in June of 2016. Alongside the mentorship of our President and CEO, Barry Clarkson, Kristan built Equis’ Lead Department into what it is today — a system our agent force is proud of. It took no time to learn that Kristan was going to be a unique member of the Equis Team and would play a vital role amongst our agents, managers, partners, and her peers and colleagues alike. Throughout her time with Equis, Kristan has held a variety of responsibilities involving developing and managing the Lead Department, overseeing operations in our Lynchburg, VA office, and as of September of 2020, managing the operations for our Marketing and Events Departments as well. Over the past 4.5 years, Kristan has proven her dedication to Equis. She is a true Equis Warrior! 

Having joined Equis 2 years ago, Tabitha has become an integral part of Equis Financial’s operational infrastructure. She began her journey as our Director of Technology with the immediate and daunting task of a massive software build for our sales force as well as our administrative backend. She quickly earned the trust of both parties as her only mission was to build a product that inherently served both equally and phenomenally. As a result of this success, she became Director of Operations and Technology in February 2020. Tabitha has continued to impress her peers with her ability to streamline all internal processes and procedures through new technology, all while providing our agents with new digital tools to grow their businesses.