About
For years, I ran my own business in Corpus Christi. We grew. We hired good people. And every year, employees would ask the same question: “Do you offer benefits?”
And every year, I'd give them the same answer: “I don't know how.”
I thought benefits were too expensive for a business my size. I thought the paperwork would eat me alive. I thought it was something only the big companies did. So I never offered them, and I watched good employees leave for jobs that did.
I didn't know what I didn't know.
When that business eventually closed, I was at a crossroads. A friend of mine in the industry told me I'd be great in benefits - not because of my background, but because he knew I actually wanted to help people. So I learned the business from the ground up. And the more I learned, the more I realized something:
The reason I never offered benefits as a small business owner wasn't because they were too expensive or too complicated. It was because no one ever sat down and explained them to me.
That's the gap Kenly was built to fill.
Once I got inside the benefits world, I saw the pattern. The big brokerages chase the big logos. If your group is under 100 employees, you don't get the time of day. You get pushed to a sales rep who doesn't know your name, sells you whatever pays him the highest commission, and disappears until renewal.
And when your employees have a claims problem? They get a 1-800 number.
I hated it the first time I saw it, and I hate it now.
I started Kenly with one rule: I work for the business owner and the employees. We don't work for the insurance carriers. That's not a slogan. It shapes every decision we make.
We're not tied to any one carrier. Every year, we go back to the market for you - BCBS of Texas, Aetna, UHC, plus the smaller niche carriers that most brokers don't bother quoting. The plan that makes sense for your group today might not be the same plan that wins next year, and we don't pretend otherwise.
If the product that's right for your group pays us less, that's the product we recommend. Period.
Not an intake form. Not a 1-800 number. Me. And when your employee has a billing question or a doctor that's giving them grief on a claim, they get someone with a name, not a phone tree.
Enrollment, paperwork, employee questions, mid-year changes, COBRA, ACA reporting - we handle it. Most of our clients tell us we function like a mini-HR department for the benefits side of their business. That's the point.
When I picture the person we serve, it's the owner running a small business or a 50 to 100-person company who's already drowning in everything else that comes with running a business - construction, oilfield, professional services, restaurants, dental practices, manufacturing shops, South Texas employers who want their employees taken care of but don't want benefits to be one more thing they have to learn from scratch.
If that's you, we're built for you.
I'm born and raised in Corpus. I love this town and the people in it.
My wife Sarah is my rock. She's the one who told me my superpower is being able to pivot and not let failures slow me down. We have two girls who keep us busy and humble. If we're not at home, we're outdoors - at the beach, surfing, fishing, in a deer blind, or on a golf course somewhere. I played college baseball, which is where my competitive edge comes from. I still compete - just now it's on behalf of my clients instead of at the plate.
My faith matters to me. I keep a verse close - “If anyone is not willing to work, neither shall he eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10) - because I believe the work you do for people should be the work you'd want done for you.
If you're a Texas employer trying to figure out group health insurance, employee benefits, or whether ICHRA makes sense for your group, I'd like to be the person who actually sits down and explains it.
Send me your employee census or just send me a question. We'll have side-by-side quotes from every major Texas carrier back to you within 48 hours, and if a group plan isn't the right fit, we'll tell you that too.
Book a free 15-minute review. No obligation, no high-pressure pitch.
