Brandon Daniels returns to Jacksonville to work and help
By Jessica Brown
Jacksonville Country Financial Agent Brandon Daniels enjoys helping friends, neighbors and citizens in general.
A 2001 graduate of Jacksonville High School, he took over a local Country Companies location on Tendick Street as an independent agent in late 2025. “I’m an independent contractor for Country Financial,” he says, “We have a license to sell their product.”
Those products include property insurance as it relates to home and auto and life insurance. “We do brokerage services, too, and commercial business.”
Shortly after high school, Daniels joined the Air National Guard in 2003. In 2006, he was deployed to Kuwait during his college career at Illinois State University, and his then girlfriend moved to the Chicago area to take a job. “After I returned from Kuwait, I moved there, too,” shares Daniels.
That girlfriend, Nadine, soon became his wife; the couple now have two children. Daniels says after finishing his undergraduate degree at ISU, the couple got some exciting news: “I’d gone back on active duty, and we found out we were expecting.”
So, in 2010, they moved back to the Springfield area, which is where his wife’s parents had relocated from Jacksonville when she entered college in 2001. Daniels says it made sense to return to the area.
“Since I’m a Jacksonville born and raised kid, I thought it would be good to get back to my roots.”
Daniels says he went on to serve various management roles at agriculture company Archer-Daniels-Midland in Taylorville from 2011-2021. His wife’s parents, Jeff and Liz Friedman, own Home Plate Bar & Grill in Springfield. Daniels said after his time at ADM, he decided to purchase half of that business from them in 2021.
“Nadine’s father had just retired, and her parents wanted to split half their time in Florida,” he explains. Since he and his in-laws share ownership of the business, it gave him the opportunity to take on the insurance office in his free time.
“I’m still invested in the restaurant, I still work there partially … like, I do a lot of the back of the house stuff,” he says, adding he retired from the military in 2023 after serving for 20 years.
Now with his Country Financial office in Jacksonville, Daniels says, “Our agency wants to become embedded within our community. We’re trying to get out there.”
“I haven’t lived here for about 15 years, so I’d like to reintroduce myself to people who I haven’t seen in a long time and let members of the Jacksonville community know we’re here,” he adds.
Daniels is joined in his new office by associate agent Kirstin Sullivan and assistant Stacy Goodey.
Sullivan started with the office as an assistant in April 2022, and became fully licensed to sell insurance in 2024. Sullivan wants to contribute to the growth and success of the agency.
She says, “I really enjoy what I do and the opportunity to work with such great clients every day. I’m passionate about helping individuals and families feel confident in their coverage and financial decisions, and I strive to provide honest guidance and personalized support.”
Goodey is newest to the team. She shares, “I’m excited for this new opportunity to learn the insurance business and work in my community again. I look forward to meeting new people, building relationships and helping however I can.”
Daniels says the goal right now is not so much about selling products but about gaining trust. “We’d like to get to know farmers and other citizens, not only as an insurance agent, but to be a resource for whatever questions they have,” Daniels reveals.
Daniels says his office doesn’t currently offer crop
insurance, but he plans on attaining the license necessary to do that in the future, saying he wants all types of clients and that includes those from the farming community.
He also says he plans on supporting the Cass-Morgan Farm Bureau, which is conveniently located in the same building.
To learn more about Daniels, his staff and services they offer, stop by their office at 1152 Tendick St. in Jacksonville, visit agents.countryfinancial.com or call 217-245-4106.
