(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights Southgroup Insurance Managing Principal Eddie Ray Breakfield.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in Columbia May 25, 1948.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I am a product of Columbia High School then went to the University of Southern Mississippi.
Q: What was your childhood like?
A: I was a typical little boy. I liked to fish, ride my bicycle and play baseball.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I’m a managing principal of the Columbia Southgroup Insurance branch as an insurance agent. Our goal is to help people control their risk and try to find them the best insurance product for the best price with the best coverages. We do property and casualty which is personal, home, auto, boats, 4-wheelers and more loans. We’re heavier in the commercial lines of business insurance.
Q: What led you to your profession?
A: I had handled insurance from the other side of the desk for businesses for a number of years. A guy that was an insurance agent that I dealt with for a number of years came to me and asked me to consider coming into the insurance business with this agency. I’ve been here 25 years.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: The process of meeting with people, getting to know them and establishing a trust. An insurance agent is just like a doctor. You have to ask a lot of questions that are very personal, and you have to develop a personal relationship with your clients. I tell people all the time you can buy insurance over the internet, but it’s the personal touch of somebody knowing what they need and asking you the questions to find out exactly what coverages you need.
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
A: The most challenging thing is each insurance policy is different. As much as they’re all alike, they’re all different in some way. It gets to be a challenge. Everybody is different with what they need, and the challenge is getting to the bottom line of providing the best coverage.
Q: What advice would you give someone considering your career path?
A: Be patient, a good listener, learn how to interview and ask questions and how to develop trust with the person you’re working with.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I worked a newspaper route. My cousin had the Times-Picayune route in Columbia, and I started helping him and when he was gone I’d run the route for him.
Q: Who is the person who has been most influential in your life?
A: The most influential person in my life would be my father, R.V. Breakfield. He taught me the value of hard work, the value of — as my wife says hardheaded — but what I call being persistent and the values of everyday life. Work hard, play hard.
Q: What is your spouse’s name?
A: Carol Lee Breakfield.
Q: Do you have children?
A: I have a son, Jonathan, who is a baseball coach and teacher at Loyd Star. I had a daughter, Kristin, who died in 2009.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: It would have to be crabmeat au gratin.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: There’s a lot of places in the United States I haven’t seen. I really don’t have any desire to travel overseas. I’d rather see a lot more things out West and the Northwest. I just like Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and places like that.
Q: What hobbies do you like to do in your spare time?
A: My wife says I hunt and fish a lot. That’s the two biggest things I do. We live on a farm, and I spent a lot of time on the tractor. It’s just fun.
Q: What do you enjoy about Columbia and Marion County?
A: The small-town atmosphere and the people. We still have a lot of religious freedom and core values. There is still a good bit of pride and patriotism here. The people are just good people that will help you.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: In my lifetime I would have to say it would be Ronald Reagan. He was very cool, calm, collected and straight to the point. I respect that. I’d just want to sit and chat with him.
Q: If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you do all day?
A: If I didn’t have to work, I’d probably hunt more, fish more and cut more grass.
Q: Would you rather read a good book or watch a good movie and why?
A: I am not a movie person, so I’d a read good book. About the only books I read are autobiographies about people who just spark an interest in me. I’ve read two or three on Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and a number of people.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on who you are today?
A: The day I accepted Jesus as my savior when I was 9 years old. I saw it, believed in it and accepted being a Christian. That was my choice and the way I want to live my life, helping others, being there for other people and doing things right.
Q: What would be the No. 1 thing on your Bucket List?
A: I’ve always wanted to go on an elk hunt. I don’t know if I’ll get to go on an elk hunt, but I got to go on a moose hunt and that was pretty similar. Anything outdoors I love.
Q: If you could describe your morals in three words, what would they be?
A: Honesty, integrity and consistency. I want to be the same person behind this desk that I am at church. I want to be the same person at the football game.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I’d like to be remembered as a person who cared about other people, was consistent in his day-to-day life with how he treated people and treated everyone the same whether they were influential or not. I have friends on both ends of the spectrum. That’s just me. I think everyone is created the same. Some may have more gifts than others, but we’re all human beings.
