From starting over to overachieving

Building a business from scratch can be daunting; rebuilding it even more so. But to start over for a third time — is that even possible?

For St. Cloud State University alumnus Greg Ganyo, it is.

Ganyo attended SCSU for five years, wrestling for the Huskies for four years as a red shirt. He earned his bachelor’s in health education in 1981, and looks back on his time at the University fondly.

“I’m really glad I went to St. Cloud State,” Ganyo said. “It was where I met a group of people who were so important in the shaping of my life.”

For the first few years after graduation, he taught and coached wrestling at Big Lake High School before he “wandered into the insurance world.”

“I had no idea what I was getting into there. I had a friend who was in insurance and he was enjoying it,” he said. “His family had been happy with it, so I thought I would give it a try.”

Ganyo opened an agency through Farmers Insurance, and was with Farmers for over 30 years. Looking to move in a different direction, Ganyo sold his business to one of his daughters and opened up his own independent agency.

“I was able to recreate what I had done in 32 years in about 2 1/2 years — but without the ability to go back and get my past clients, because my daughter had those past clients,” he said. “And you don't take clients from your daughter; it doesn't go over too well.”

Ganyo continued with his independent agency for about three years, all the while splitting his time between Minnesota and Arizona as a “snowbird.” He eventually decided Arizona was where he wanted to live full-time.

“The market was in the right place down here to try to grow a new business. Most people wouldn't think about going into insurance even one time, especially from scratch and having to build a business. I started my third one from scratch down here, a little smarter than the first two times each time,” Ganyo said. “But this time it was more for enjoyment. And while I would say the first two were very successful and large agencies, this is a comfortable agency. I don't have to work 60 to 80 hours a week anymore in order to make the numbers happen. It creates a good lifestyle, and I love being able to work with my neighbors and friends here.”

Nowadays, Ganyo approaches marketing his business within the scope of personal relationships. With his previous agencies he sent out mass mailings and postcards, and called around to engage potential customers.

“You can't do that anymore because everyone's got caller ID, and they're not answering when they see Ganyo Insurance Agency if they don’t know me,” he said. “They aren't picking up. They have to want to talk to you, so it's been a different world.”

Ganyo believes his teaching background from SCSU has helped bolster his career in the insurance industry.

“I’ve learned a lot of lessons and a lot of information from my teaching background as far as being able to give that to people in a way they can understand and be comfortable with. I think the one really helped the other. I probably wouldn't be as good at what I do right now if I hadn't had the teaching background,” he said. “In reality, when we're thinking about our insurance and our bills, we're all like kids. We don't want to know everything about it. Some customers will say, ‘Greg, you just do it.’ And I have to say, ‘Well, I need you to know enough so that you aren't asking someone else and they're giving you an answer that you think I didn't give you.’ We educate them as much as they're tolerant of.”

With the multiple successful stages of his career and through all the adversity Ganyo has overcome since his childhood, a friend of his aptly called Ganyo a “classic overachiever.”

“I sat and thought about that. And I said, ‘You know what? He's absolutely right,’ because every step from childhood, going through obesity and bad grades and trying to turn those things around — I was 285 pounds as a sixth-grader in elementary school and labeled the fattest kid in school,” he said. “I had to make little changes along the way to go from a D student to a B+ student, and I think that carried through pretty much all the way through college. I’m very proud that I was able to figure it all out and, with baby steps, get better each and every day.”

Ganyo published a book, “Live Your Best Life as a Classic Over Achiever,” in early 2026.

“I thought it was a story for people who are struggling — as I was — as to whether they could find success in life,” he said.

Feeling like he grew up with divorced parents at a time and in a school where that was uncommon, Ganyo recalls washing dishes as an 11-year-old at the same restaurant where his mother waitressed.

“It taught me the value of putting in the time and, probably from that point on, having my own money. I never felt like I was poor, even though there were several times in my life that I flipped and had to start over from scratch and had no money, but was able to build lucrative businesses a second and a third time,” he said. “Money is not what’s important, but the ability to make money — as long as we have that ability and understanding that we can go out and work and make a difference in our own lives, that's really been a key for me.