"We knew the need before they knew the need."

Before Troy Chakarun was helping scale one of the fastest-growing firms in insurance, he was making cold calls, sorting mail, answering phones, and getting yelled at by strangers at Merrill Lynch.

His first job in business? Picking up a phone book and calling dead people.
Not exactly glamorous. But it taught him how to sell, how to handle rejection, and how to outwork almost everybody around him. 

After Merrill, Troy moved through ING and Voya, built high-performing sales teams, got deep into data-driven distribution, and eventually brought that same mindset into the insurance world at Alkeme.

And the lesson never changed: the best teams don’t guess. They don’t wing it. They don’t waste time on sludge.

In this episode of Elevate the Hustle, Dom sits down with Troy to talk about sales, scale, AI, mentorship, acquisitions, and why most people are still spending way too much time on work that shouldn’t even be on their desk anymore.

Troy breaks down:

• What his early days at Merrill Lynch taught him about pressure, training, and learning fast
• Why new producers need mentorship instead of trying to figure everything out alone
• How he used data to shorten sales cycles and walk into meetings already knowing the pain points
• Why account managers and producers are still buried in “soul-sucking, time-wasting tasks” 
  
  

Plus, Troy shares what makes a great acquisition fit, why niche expertise scales faster than being a generalist, and how the best businesses create systems that make growth easier instead of harder.

If your team is still stuck doing everything manually, still guessing in sales conversations, or still trying to scale without the right support — this episode is for you.

Real talk, real stories, and occasionally real bad language.

🌐 Website: elevateteams.io
📷 Instagram: @elevateteams
🔗 LinkedIn: Elevate Teams
🎙️ YouTube: @ElevateTheHustlePodcast