February 28, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
A longtime insurance agency in town is getting a new leader and location as of Monday, March 1.
Mallory Sullivan Pfingstler is taking over from the retiring Jackie Smith as the new State Farm Insurance agent in Smithville and the office location has moved from the public square to 126 West Main Street across from Cantrell’s the home of Fluty.
Although new to the insurance business, Pfingstler is not new to the community. She was born and raised here. Her parents are James and Tonya Sullivan and she has a sister, Shay Sullivan Walter.
“My mom was a teacher for 30 years at the middle school and served one term as city alderman. She retired from teaching two years ago and now builds homes. My father helped get the tee ball field and soccer league going several years ago. My sister Shay also grew up here, played golf at DCHS, and went on to play golf at Belmont University. She is now a real estate agent,” said Mallory.
Pfingstler is a 2014 graduate of DeKalb County High School where she, like her sister Shay, excelled not only in the classroom but on the golf course. At DCHS, she was a four-time Class A-AA State Tournament participant, finishing in the top-10 twice. She won two district and one region title and finished second in the Tennessean Schooldays Tournament in 2013. After high school Pfingstler went to Belmont University on a golf scholarship where she majored in business administration with a concentration In marketing, and advanced her golfing career.
At Belmont Mallory played all four years carding 10 top ten finishes. She was on the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll three years. She was the OVC Newcomer of the year her freshman year and won the APSU Intercollegiate her senior year, where she was named the OVC golfer of the week. Mallory finished her career ranked third in school history for career average.
After earning her college degree, Mallory set out on her career path in the insurance business.
“I have been planning this career move since 2018. My husband Andrew and I decided we would open an independent agency so we started to do market research and created a business plan. At this time we lived in Columbus, Ohio. We planned to open our agency in 2019 and move back to Smithville. We started studying for our insurance license. Later I got a call from a State Farm recruiter who told me that Jackie Smith was planning to retire and there would be an opportunity for me. It felt every star aligned at that point. I have been working with State Farm for over a year working toward opening my office,” said Pfingstler.
Mallory said State Farm will continue to offer a variety of insurance plans. “We will be offering auto, home, commercial, renters, life, and health insurance including hospital income, short term, and long term disability.
As a new business person, Pfingstler also plans to keep a high profile in the community.
“ I do plan to be very active in the community. I am a member of the Chamber of Commerce. We plan to sponsor several events, support local businesses and schools. Additionally, we will be partnering with a local nonprofit organization of the month and offer to donate up to $10 for every insurance quote provided in a given month. The goal is to transform my role from a person who provides insurance into a person who facilitates altruism. This enables me to do “good” for my community and to move the business forward. I have also been networking with downtown businesses to help bring events to downtown,” said Pfingstler.
A ribbon cutting and grand opening for the business are planned for March 26 and Mallory said she and her new staff look forward to meeting everyone.
“We are inviting everyone to come out to see our new building, meet the team and enjoy refreshments. I have an entire new team, all local from Smithville. I am so excited to work with great people. One reason I wanted to open this agency was to provide job opportunities in Smithville. Each team member brings their own unique strengths. I also plan to meet everyone personally and reach out to our current book of business and introduce myself as their new agent and make sure they are properly covered”.
Office hours will be from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and outside of office hours by appointment.
Mallory said she is grateful for the support already shown her by the community.
“I want to thank you for the support that the community has already shown. If you are not comfortable meeting in person maybe because of Covid, we have the option to meet virtually through Good Neighbor Connect which is a video meeting. We are here to meet customers’ needs. Please come on by our office or give us a call. Our number is the same as before 615-597-8486. I would love to meet all current customers and review their coverages,” she said.