The Consultant
When Clint McLain’s career as a computer consultant fizzled out, he moved to Walker County and reinvented himself as an insurance agent. Now with offices in five cities, things seem to have worked out for him.
Words by Terrell Manasco | Images by Blakeney Clouse
One never knows where or when opportunity might show up. For Clint McLain, it arrived at a McDonald’s restaurant in Clanton, Alabama.
Born and raised in Montgomery, Clint graduated from Jefferson Davis High School in 1997 and earned his college credits at Troy University and Auburn University in Montgomery (AUM). With dreams of a technology-related career, he applied and was hired as a consultant with Gateway Computers, helping families build their first home computer. The Internet was an exciting new frontier waiting to be explored, computer sales were booming, and Clint was holding the golden ticket. Or so he thought.
“Once people became more familiar with the computer world, they didn't need consultants, so I had to find something else to do,” Clint says. “That field dried up pretty quickly.”
Other fields were ripe and ready for planting, he soon learned. His dad, then an executive with Liberty National Insurance, felt Clint would fit well within the company and suggested he come aboard. On April 1, 2002, Clint accepted the offer, continuing a long-standing McLain tradition. “My dad recruited me into the business,” he says. “He was also recruited into the business by my grandfather.”
Clint soon proved his father right. Within nine months, he had his own agency in the Millbrook area and was on his way to a successful career.
One day he got a call from Louis Norrell, district manager of the Jasper office. “Louis and I met at a McDonald's in Clanton, and he told me about an opportunity in Jasper,” Clint says. “I was new in the business but knew I wanted a path in leadership. Back in those days, you needed to relocate to take a promotion.”
In January 2003, Clint moved to Jasper. As he adjusted to life in a small town, he discovered why many other transplants have made Jasper their home. “I learned pretty quickly this was a caring community. I love the family atmosphere of this town,” Clint says. “People have a lot of pride in what they do here. I had to adjust to all the roads and how to get to the different communities. Once I did, I just fell in love with the people.”
Relocating to Jasper also meant Clint and his fiancée, Kelly, had to maintain a long-distance relationship for several months. That changed in March 2004, when they became husband and wife. The McLains are now the parents of three children: Cari Beth, 13, Anna Kate, 9, and Jaxson, 3. “The kids are active in sports,” he says. “Cari Beth swims with the Aquanauts, so we're at all the Special Olympic swim meets. She also horses at the EASI barn. Anna Kate keeps us active with softball, basketball, dance, and gymnastics. And Jaxson is a tag along with all of their activities.”
Liberty National Insurance has been around for well over a century. Founded in 1900 in Birmingham, it has evolved over the years and is now a division of Globe Life Liberty National in McKinney, Texas. “We have more of a national footprint, which is part of our rebranding with Globe Life,” Clint says. “We have a long, long history here in Alabama. We have over a million policyholders who have one of our old burial policies and we have billions and billions of life insurance holders. The main thing we sell is peace of mind.”
Now in his 18thyear with Liberty National, Clint has offices in Jasper, Gardendale, Homewood, Huntsville, and Florence, and recently opened a new office in Brentwood, Tennessee. One secret to his success is that he truly loves what he does. “What attracted me initially was being able to help people,” Clint says. “I had found a passion for consulting and helping people in the computer business. What keeps me passionate is being able to help others develop and start a career in this business, seeing them be successful and achieve what they want. That's where I get a lot of gratification.”
Those of us who have grown up in this area often become so accustomed to the simple pleasantries of small-town life we see and experience every day that we take them for granted. Sometimes it requires the observations of someone who is not a born-and-bred native of the area to remind us just how wonderful Walker County really is. “The thing I have observed coming from Montgomery to here is the great people of Walker County and Jasper, the pride people have, the great advances made here,” Clint says. “Our infrastructure has improved; our businesses and jobs have improved. There seems to be more and more progress made.”
While Jasper is known for its small-town charm, there are other reasons many people choose to make their home here. While it may not compare with larger towns in size, Clint says there are doors of opportunity here just waiting to be opened.
“Young people getting out of school don't have to move off,” he says. “There are great career opportunities here. It's a good place to have a career and raise a family.” 78