Here to Help Life Go Right!

It is always amazing to me how life leads people to where they are supposed to go. Take Leo Rodriguez, State Farm Insurance Agent, for example. Growing up in Edinburg, he loved being outside.

“We had such innocent fun back then,” he chuckled. “We’d go out and play baseball, touch football and climb trees. Every now and then we would try to get into mischief.”

Graduating from Edinburg High School, he went to UTPanAm to follow his aspirations of becoming a doctor.

When he graduated, his life changed when he was asked to be on the ground floor of what is now called the Learning Assistance Center, a program designed to help disadvantaged students get on an even playing field. Then, after seven years he received a call from an Agency Manager with State Farm.

“He specifically told me, ‘This is not a job. We’re offering a career. If you’re interested, fine. If you’re not interested, that’s ok too.’”

By May 1, 1978, Rodriguez was opening his own insurance agency.

“When I first hired with this company and met the people who hired me and those who were involved in my training, it was like joining a family,” said Rodriguez. “I especially remember my manager who said, ‘Don’t worry about the mule going blind. Just keep loading the wagon.’ What he meant was not to worry about the things going on around me, just keep building my business.”

All these years later, he’s boiled it down to two simple facts of success.

“You have to be a people person and you have to want to help them,” he explained.

Becoming community oriented fits Rodriquez to a tee. Involved with his church, Knights of Columbus and the Texas Department of Juvenile Corrections, he’s also on the board of St. Joseph’s Catholic School.

His career drew him in because he loves the challenge to build something up just like his dad did in his life insurance business. Now, 40 years later, Rodriquez has become a doctor of sorts: for those with ailing lives, houses, businesses. He followed his aspirations after all.