Mike Calla is the commercial sales director of Laurel Highlands Insurance Group LLC, situated at the Belle Vernon branch. He has been working here since 2012, concentrating in cold calling, meeting with clients, and offering solutions to insurance needs. Mike used to say he would never work as an insurance agent, but when the economy decimated in 2008, he no longer wanted to just be a number for a large corporation. Instead, he wanted a profession with unlimited flexibility and the opportunity to balance work with his home life. Mike relishes meeting new people every day and observing how professional relationships can turn into friendships.
Mike would like to tell his younger self to follow his passions and to not listen to exterior influences because if you love something, you will inevitably be successful at it. Taking up the free time he has outside of work, Mike follows his passions of acting, flying remote control airplanes, going on trips with his family, sailing, playing ice hockey, and biking and skiing with his children.
His father instilled in him the values he carries to this day of keeping a hard work ethic and making sacrifices to give his family a great life. Mike goes by the advice he was once given, “do what you love, love what you do, and be the best at it”, allowing him to be triumphant with his business.