When did you begin working at Farm Bureau?

I began working at Farm Bureau in August of 1987.

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Tell us a little about yourself.

I was born in Laredo, Texas, raised in Twin Falls, and went to the University of Idaho from 1978 to 1982. I became a high school teacher. I taught history, social studies, and PE in high school for about two years each at Genesee High School and Buhl High School before I decided to come on board with the Farm Bureau.

 
At that time, a lot of my teacher friends were being hired by Farm Bureau's District Manager, Ron Boyd. Ron felt like teachers were used to dealing with lots of people and had to be outgoing and observant enough to reach the students. Seeing my teaching coworkers being hired by Ron is what led me down the road to Farm Bureau.

Ron was actually my old school teacher; he also taught school before he went to Farm Bureau. While teaching, Ron had worked with a coach named Jim Bianchi – who had also been my coach – and Ron hired Jim at Farm Bureau.  It was Jim who actually reached out to me about working for Farm Bureau.
 

Back then, almost all the agents in the Twin Falls area were previously school teachers - the vast majority of them anyway.

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What were some highlights about working for Farm Bureau?

I enjoyed the wonderful All-Star trips. I went to places like New York and Turnberry in Florida. I went on a Mediterranean Cruise, a trip to England, and a trip to the Ritz-Carlton in Cancun. I remember that last trip like it was yesterday because we had so much fun. It felt like a family.

I also worked with the Federation for almost 29 years on the Jalapeño Open, which was a golf tournament that benefitted Hispanic kids who wouldn't be able to attend college otherwise. By the time we were done, we had raised close to $50,000 for scholarships over those years.

I also attended the Ron Boyd Memorial Golf Tournament each year. That event was something special because Ron was a special guy.

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Tell us a little bit about your family.

My wife, Olga, is the Assistant Director of Student Services and Academic Advising in the College of Health Sciences at Boise State University. She's also a Cuban fireball. We have four kids.
 
Sevio, our oldest, will finish up at Boise State in May. He's doing three majors: Physics, Chemistry, and Biology with an Applied Mathematics Minor. He has something like a 4.15 GPA. He just got back from a ten-week internship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He got to use MIT's equipment for research into a particular aspect of String Theory. There's only a small handful of people in the U.S. who are working on this. So, the kid is obviously fairly bright. Princeton recently called him and wants him to do his doctoral work there. He's going to visit them, the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana is another one that he is going to visit. They're paying for him to visit the schools and dad is just going "yahoo!"

Our daughter, MiSol is a Respiratory Therapist who graduated from Boise State about three years ago. She's working in the Cardio-Thoracic unit at the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus in Cleveland.
 

Our next one is Mia. Mia has a student job at CWI and is working on her Studio Art degree.

 
Our last one is Rio, and Rio is also at Boise State. He already has his cybersecurity Associates Degree and is a Computer Science major. He also works at Boise State in a student position in the Office of Information Technology. He can put together a computer, program it, and protect it. So he's busy!

I'm very, very fortunate. These kids are all good kids. And that's the most important thing to me - family.

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What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

That one's pretty simple. For as long as I could walk, I played basketball. Pretty much four days out of the week, three hours every time I went. It was kind of my place to go to after dealing with insurance all day. It helped bring my stress levels down. I did that for, heck - I think I was still playing basketball when I was 58-years-old against high school and college kids before I finally wasn't able to play. Somebody left a wet towel at the end of the court and I slipped on it and ruined my knee. After that, I was done.

 

But that also opened a new door because now it's golfing. Now I'm golfing all over the place and enjoying that greatly.

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What are your retirement plans?

I'll be travelling. I've always travelled, but now I'm going to travel and not worry about the time frame I have to be back. The day after I retire at the Fall Sales Rally, I'm leaving to see my daughter in Cleveland. All my trips to see her were always a couple of days. I'd leave on Thursday and be back on Sunday for work on Monday. Now I have two weeks scheduled for her. While we're there we're also going to spend six days in New York.
 
I'm actually scheduled out until next year. My big trip is Portugal in May of next year.
 
But there'll be just a whole bunch of little trips all over too. We’re going to Orlando - Disneyworld. My sister lives there, so I told her, "Hey, you know what? I'm going to Disneyworld!"
 
And I've always done service work too. I did Lions Club – I was President for seven or eight years running – for at least 27 years up until COVID kind of killed it because we couldn't get together. But now that I'm going to have more time, I'll probably go back to doing a lot of service work like I used to. 

  

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Just that Farm Bureau has been a wonderful fit for me. I had a great career.

 

NOTES FROM MARIO'S COWORKERS

Congrats on retirement Mario and best of luck on your travels!

 

I have worked with Mario the past three years, but my family has been close to his ever since my dad became an agent. I work full time as a teacher, but he provided me a huge opportunity to assist him with his business after going years without an assistant. This allowed me to help finish school, while also build upon my professional experience.

 

I have learned so much working with Mario, especially over the summers when I have been in the office. I have seen his ability to connect with clients, build relationships, and really show a sense of selflessness in business, especially helping the younger agents.

 

He has been a huge asset to Farm Bureau and to me as a mentor.

 

After all these years, he has earned that full schedule of golf and Cabo in retirement!

-Alex Barrett, Licensed Agent Assistant, Meridian

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As Mario says goodbye after a Farm Bureau career spanning 36 years, it's only fitting to reflect on the impact he's had on our company, his clients, and his coworkers.

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Part of Mario's success was his genuine care for clients. His work was never about him. He took the time to understand people and what was best for them - that time he tried to convert me from being a Packers fan by giving me Seattle Seahawks swag notwithstanding.

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In addition to his sales and business acumen, Maria has also been a mentor and guide to many within our organization, and a beacon of community involvement.

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The impact Mario has had in all of these areas will resonate for years to come.

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Thank you Mario, for 36 years of dedicated service.

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Here's to a retirement filled with the realization of all your dreams.

-Chuck McDaniel, Vice President of Sales and Marketing

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I have enjoy working with Mario all these years.

 

Hopefully now your chocolate fund for the underwriters can be use for golfing.

 

I hate to admit I might miss talking to you.

 

Enjoy your retirement.

-Maggie Shepherd, Commercial Senior Underwriter

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