By Claudia Perez Rivas | Kingsville Independent News
After years of building her insurance business in Corpus Christi, agent Lucy Rivera-Mireles is opening a new chapter in Kingsville, a place she has long called home.
Rivera-Mireles and her husband moved to Kingsville in 2005, but her work in the insurance industry took her daily into Corpus Christi, where she spent about 15 years building her client base. After a short break following the COVID-19 pandemic, she is bringing that experience back to serve the Kingsville community.
Now, with a ribbon cutting scheduled this week through the Kingsville Chamber of Commerce, she said the moment feels less like starting over and more like returning to the work she knows well.
“I’m picking up where I left off and going full speed ahead here in Kingsville,” she said.
Her path into the insurance industry began in 2014, when she sent out resumes and received a call from a regional manager. At the time, she said, she was looking for an opportunity that would give her more flexibility and a chance to work in Corpus Christi.
That opportunity led to multiple interviews, training through the company and, eventually, a career she said she quickly grew to love.
“They showed me the ins and outs,” Rivera-Mireles said. “Not only just about the products, but about how to talk to people and how to listen, which was most important.”
In the early days, she met clients at kitchen tables, talking through the kinds of concerns many families share: protecting children and grandchildren, preparing for the unexpected and planning for the future.
Those conversations, she said, shaped the way she sees her work.
“That’s when I fell in love with the insurance industry,” she said. “People would tell you what their goals were, what their dreams were. Some would say, ‘If I didn’t come home tomorrow, I want my family to stay in this house. I want them to keep going to college.’”
For Rivera-Mireles, insurance is not just about selling policies. She said it is about helping people understand what they have, what they may need and how certain products can support them during some of life’s most difficult moments.
She recalled one call that especially stayed with her. Late one evening, a client phoned after her husband had died and wanted to know whether his life insurance policy had been paid.
Because Rivera-Mireles was familiar with the account, she said she was able to quickly confirm that the policy was in good standing and reassure the woman that she would be financially secure.
“As sad as it is, that’s why we buy it,” she said. “So, she could mourn without the stress of, ‘How am I going to do this?’”
In addition to life insurance, Rivera-Mireles said she works with health insurance, Medicare, Medicare supplements, annuities, critical illness policies and accident coverage.
Some of those products, she said, are not widely understood, especially in smaller communities where people may already be uninsured or underinsured.
“People don’t always know what’s available,” she said. “A lot of times they don’t wake up in the morning and say, ‘Today I’m going to go buy insurance.’ The agent has to be in front of them and explain it.”
That need for explanation is one reason she emphasizes personal relationships and face-to-face conversations.
In a smaller city like Kingsville, she said, trust matters.
“A lot of times people don’t know the person they’re walking in to buy something really personal from,” she said. “When they know you, they trust you, they like you, those are the people they’re going to buy insurance from.”
Rivera-Mireles said she tries to make herself accessible to clients, including helping them locate policy information in emergencies or reviewing plans they already have in place.
That includes free consultations and policy evaluations, which she said can help people better understand coverage they may have purchased years ago.
“I don’t have to sell you anything,” she said. “I just want to help.”
She said that approach also shapes the way she works with Medicare clients, who often have questions that go beyond prescriptions and doctor networks.
To properly assist someone, she said, an agent has to understand daily life, including transportation needs, activity levels and overall health priorities, in order to match them with the right plan.
“If they understand their plan and their benefits, then I’ve done my job,” she said.
As she reintroduces her business in Kingsville, Rivera-Mireles said she knows the market is different from Corpus Christi. Kingsville is quieter, she said, and conversations about insurance do not happen as often.
Still, she said she sees an opportunity to educate residents about the options available to them and to build relationships within the community.
She described the upcoming ribbon cutting as an important milestone.
“To me, it means I did it,” she said. “It gives me that green flag that says, ‘Go. Let’s do this.’”
Mireles & Associates will hold a ribbon cutting with the Kingsville Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, April 9, at 10 a.m. at the chamber offices.
Rivera-Mireles said the event is about more than opening a business. It is about introducing herself to the community and letting residents know they have a local resource they can turn to for questions about insurance.
“I’m really happy to be here in Kingsville,” she said. “If they’re already set, then there’s no need for me to change anything. I just want to help.”