Masters in Business · Thursday, July 9, 2026
McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty, shared his unconventional educational path, which included a master's in theology, before he pivoted to the family business. He explained how he transformed the niche wooden boat insurance agency into a publicly traded company focused on collector cars by embracing the community around them.
“Yeah, I kind of. I think about my academic career in a couple of phases. Like I was, I was an entrepreneur from the time I was young. I had a bunch of businesses when I was very young and thought I would go study business in college, and I ended up falling in love with philosophy and literature and all these things was philosophy and English major. I was a good student, and I thought I'd get my PhD. But I needed a little break to work on languages and some things. And I learned about Saint Ladimirs which is just north of New York here. It's been kind of near Rye or Scarsdale, and it was this incredible experience because I, you know, I got to work on my languages. I learned a lot about leadership actually at the ee'min area because there's some pretty extraordinary individuals there. And then there is no doubt about it. You are there to study to become a priest. And while that was not my driving reason to go there, they kind of it's a little bit like Michael Corleoni. They kind of drag you in and you know, before you know it, you're suddenly thinking about becoming a priest. I didn't become a priest because then I moved on and started my doctor work in philosophy up in Boston and did not complete that because the family business called and I had worked in it during the summers up until then, and you know, with mom and dad, my two sisters, and all of a sudden, I found myself no longer thinking about exams and dissertation and all those things, and thinking about this really cool business.”
“So let's talk about this this business. The hagiography is your parents, Frank and Louise. They started Haggarty Insurance Agency in Traverse City, Michigan, for what I never would have guessed was an actual business elector wooden boat.”
“They wanted a national. Business instead of a local one. They wanted one that was in a niche rather than like sort of a general purpose, and they wanted one that could have like real sustainability over a long period of time. So wooden boats was an unoccupied business space, so literally unmet need they found they matched the unmet need with an interest in that underlying interest in wooden boats and in cars. My dad was a wooden boat vintage boat gui and also a car guy, and so you know, this was just the fun combining the business knowledge with a passion.”