Get Clarity. Move Fast. Continued Expansion in New Mexico with Acquisition of Blue Star Insurance Agency

By Benito Ortiz, President of Strategic Insurance | Equal Parts Partner

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AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, I’m proud to announce the acquisition of Blue Star Insurance, an agency that’s been serving the town of Belen, New Mexico for the past decade.

With this partnership, we’re continuing our commitment to deliver best-in-class service to our clients and communities across New Mexico — more access, more capability, and more operational excellence.

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| Building Strategic

When I started Strategic Insurance, I wanted to do things differently. I wanted to build an agency that provided fast, reliable, human service — the kind of experience I wished more people had in this industry.

Building an agency is hard. But over the past four years, with a small but mighty team, we grew to serve more than 2,000 clients. We built that with blood, sweat, and tears. And soon enough, business was booming.

If you’ve ever run an independent agency, you know what happens next — the offers start coming in.

Private equity firms began reaching out, one after another. They wanted to buy Strategic. It was exciting, but it also made me pause.

Sure, selling would be great for my family.

But, the more I looked at the offers, the more they all felt the same — same playbook, same promises, same machine.

I didn’t want to sell out. I wanted to buy in.

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| Meeting Equal Parts

Then I met Mike Witte and Mike Meller from Equal Parts — an Austin-based startup looking to reinvent what an independent agency could be.

‍They weren’t talking about consolidation. They were talking about building a platform — one where great operators could go faster, think bigger, and stay true to who they are.

When I asked how fast they wanted to move, they said: “We’re going from zero to a billion in premium in three years.”

It sounded bold, maybe even crazy. But I was in.

They didn’t want to change how I operated or tear my business apart. They wanted to unlock me — to give me the tools, capital, and autonomy to play at a different level.

I wasn’t a cog in a machine. From the first conversation, I was part of the machine.

That’s when I first heard one of Equal Parts’ core values: Get clarity. Move fast.

It’s simple but powerful. Align on outcomes. Create autonomy. Then go after it, as fast as possible.

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| Getting Clarity

After joining Equal Parts, Mike asked me 2 questions…

How big did I want Strategic to be next year?  And what would it take to 5x my business next year?”

To get there, I needed to acquire best-in-class agencies across New Mexico. agencies like Blue Star, while continuing to grow organically.

It was aggressive, but not reckless. Bold, but achievable.

That was the plan. That was clarity.

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| Moving Fast

Then came the execution.

To make this work, I couldn’t be buried in bureaucracy or slow corporate decision cycles. Equal Parts runs differently, with speed and autonomy baked in.

‍I’ve had the freedom to move, to make decisions, and to keep doing what I’ve always done best - build.

I had never bought another agency before. But 30 days after selling my agency to Equal Parts, we closed our first acquisition: Blue Star Insurance.

Thirty days.  That’s what happens when you get clarity and move fast.

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|The Future of New Mexico Insurance

Blue Star marks the next chapter — not just for Strategic, but for the entire Equal Parts family in New Mexico.

We’re building something special here. A new kind of insurance agency — one where great people move fast, think big, and never lose the human touch that makes this industry great.

If that’s how you think — if you want to move faster and play bigger — we’d love to have you onboard.

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Get clarity. Move fast.