09/08/2026
🌟 AmSpirit Member Highlight: Joe Wheadon — Mars Insurance Agency
This week’s featured speaker, Joe Wheadon of Mars Insurance Agency, turned commercial insurance into an interactive experience instead of simply talking about policies.
Joe has been in the insurance industry for 12 years, beginning in life and health before quickly moving into Property & Casualty insurance. He purchased the agency in 2017 and is a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) through the National Alliance.
🔎 The Commercial Insurance Challenge
For his presentation, Joe put our AmSpirit members to work! He gave us several real-world business scenarios and challenged the group to figure out:
What questions should we ask? What coverage might be needed? And what exposures could we uncover by digging a little deeper?
Meet Mike: Mike owns a $4 million commercial roofing company with employees and subcontractors, eight trucks, a $1.2 million building, $600,000 in equipment, a second location and a $500,000 line of credit.
At first, that sounds like plenty of information. But Joe showed us why the next question matters.
Are employees taking those trucks home? Are they used for snowplowing? Do the subcontractors carry their own insurance? What are the insurance requirements in Mike’s contracts with general contractors? What exactly is included in that $600,000 of equipment? Does he need an umbrella? What about EPLI or Contractors E&O?
Suddenly, there was a lot more to uncover.
Meet Michelle: Michelle owns a $500,000 attorney’s office and says she has no employees. But another attorney works for her as a subcontractor. That opened the discussion to Professional Liability, Cyber exposure, Workers’ Compensation and Hired & Non-Owned Auto coverage.
Meet Miguel: Miguel owns a multi-unit commercial condo building. Who owns the individual units? Who are the tenants? What does the rent roll look like? Who handles snow removal, landscaping and cleaning? Are Certificates of Insurance being collected?
Joe’s role-playing exercise demonstrated just how quickly the insurance needs of a business can change once you start asking the right questions.
💡 The Big Takeaway
Commercial insurance isn’t simply about buying a policy. It’s about understanding the business well enough to uncover risks the owner may not even realize are there.
That’s where Joe’s experience and his fact-finding approach really come into play.
👨👩👧👦 Meet Joe Beyond the Office
There’s a lot more to Joe than commercial insurance!
Joe and his wife, Marilyn, have been together for 15+ years, and family life is certainly busy with their seven children.
When he isn’t working with business owners, Joe enjoys running, hunting and, in his own words, “farm stuff.” Marilyn keeps plenty busy herself as a homemaker, mom and farm lady.
Joe is also involved professionally with SIAA and the National Alliance, continuing to build his knowledge and connections within the insurance industry.
If you own a business—or know someone who does—Joe is a great person to have asking the questions you may not know you need to answer.
Joe Wheadon | Mars Insurance Agency
Commercial Insurance
📍 9 S. Virginia Rd., Crystal Lake, IL 60014
📞 815-459-0711
🌐 marsinsurance.com
AmSpirit McHenry County Referral Partners — building relationships, exchanging referrals and helping local businesses grow.
Edward Jones - Financial Advisor: Kyle J. Merkling Sergio Fuentes - Comparion Insurance Agency Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Mars Insurance Agency McHenry County Referral Partners Chapter of AmSpirit Business Connections Susie Frank Catherine Fischer Frank Asen 4 Keys Real Estate Kaleen Marshall Hannah Cudney Erik Martin Sergio Fuentes Marilyn Wheadon
