Dan Horton

Tell us about your family: 

Married to my wife Kate for 15 years, and we have two kids – Claire and Jay. We have two dogs, two cats and two hermit crabs. It’s a zoo…

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?: 

When I was in high school, I started working on my pilot’s license and thought I wanted to be a corporate pilot. I went to Purdue to study business and ended up making the switch to the flight program my sophomore year.

What was your first job? How did you end up in insurance?: 

My first real job out of college was as a pilot for Midwest Airlines in Milwaukee. The flying was fun, but it wasn’t the glamorous career I thought it was going to be. I had to live near the airport, and when I wasn’t flying, I started to work as a part-time Client Service Representative in Horton’s Milwaukee office. Eventually, I decided that I’d rather be in insurance than a pilot, so made the move.

What’s the best advice you ever received and who gave it to you?: 

I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good mentors and have received a ton of good advice. But rather than just one piece of advice, I’d say there was instead this recurring theme – which was if you’re going to do anything, don’t accept mediocrity and put the work in to be your best. I remember first hearing that from my dad when I was around 10. That stuck with me, and whether it’s from people who have been mentors, or others who I’ve admired – I saw that common theme from all of them. 

What’s your favorite hobby?: 

Fishing. In the past few years, have gotten into fly fishing. I like being outdoors, floating down a river.

What is one thing that pushed Horton Group to join MMA?: 

Horton had a great perpetuation plan and we were having a lot of success. As I (and the board) looked at how the industry evolved and the future of the business, we wanted to evaluate what the best structure was to A) Continue to grow organically, at a fast rate; B) Ensure our producers and teams could build big books of business and have big careers; and C) Maintain a culture as close to what we had at Horton. As we evaluated options, it became clear that MMA was the right fit that addressed all three – and was the best next chapter for Horton.