October 20, 2026
Benefits With Purpose: Why So Many Employers Overpay (and How to Stop) | Episode 254: Evie Blair
with Evie Blair, President & Founder, Synergy Benefit Advisors
28 min
Benefits With Purpose: Why So Many Employers Overpay (and How to Stop) | Episode 254: Evie Blair
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In this episode
In this episode I sit down with Evie Blair, President and Founder of Synergy Benefit Advisors — and yes, she's also the sponsor of this podcast, so I wanted you to actually meet the person behind the name. Nobody loves talking about insurance... except Evie. She lights up about it, and by the end of our conversation you'll understand why.
Evie set a goal at 20 to run her own agency, and at 30 she opened her doors. She built the whole thing on two simple ideas: answer fast (be the "Chick-fil-A" of whatever you do) and turn over every stone to find the best deal without giving up good coverage — because a lot of employers are quietly overpaying for their benefits. We talk about the benefits you may not know exist, like pet insurance and the emergency savings account, who she works with (everyone from a one-person LLC up to about 500 employees, from Tulsa to Jackson Hole, Wyoming), and why a no-cost second opinion matters so much in a year when rate increases are running 28 to 60 percent.
Then Evie walks us through Insure Oklahoma — the state program that can pay 60 percent of a qualifying employee's health premium — and closes with what following your passion really means to her. I love that she ties it all back to showing up every single day and never giving up on the dream. Whether you're a brand-new business owner or you've had the same broker for years, there's something here to help you take better care of your people.
Key takeaways
- Respond fast and go the extra mile — Evie built Synergy on quick, hands-on 'white glove' service, chasing down denied claims and prescription issues from start to finish.
- Many employers are overpaying for benefits. Savings found on the health insurance side can be redirected to other benefits, retirement planning, or employee raises.
- There are benefits you may not know exist — like pet insurance for your team's fur babies, and the emergency savings account that lets employees access funds without raiding their retirement.
- The emergency savings account helps employees get financially healthy; some employers add an incentive, like a $25 bonus per paycheck or a match on what the employee contributes.
- Synergy works with everyone from a one-person LLC up to about 500 employees, handling health, dental, vision, life and disability coverage, plus onboarding/off-boarding tech.
- In a year of 28 to 60 percent rate increases, get a no-cost second opinion and start shopping early — different brokers think differently and have access to different products.
- Every Oklahoma employer from 2 to 200 employees should know about Insure Oklahoma, which can pay 60 percent of a qualifying employee's premium (and 85 percent of a spouse's), funded by the tobacco tax.
- New business owners can start as soon as they have one full-time employee (W-2 or 1099), and can look for carriers that don't require a set employer contribution.
Chapters
- 0:00Coming up
- 0:36Sharing Passion and Purpose
- 0:54Welcome: meet Evie Blair
- 1:45A ten-year goal: opening the agency at 30
- 3:48What Synergy does: the white glove treatment
- 5:00Most employers are overpaying for benefits
- 8:55The benefits you didn't know existed: pet insurance
- 10:19The emergency savings account
- 13:05Who Synergy works with: one employee to 500
- 14:04A word from our sponsor
- 15:14The no-cost consultation: get a second opinion
- 16:17Rate increases of 28 to 60 percent: start shopping early
- 17:41When should a new business owner call?
- 19:16Insure Oklahoma: the program every Oklahoma employer should know
- 23:23Rapid fire
- 24:39What does following your passion mean to you?
- 26:01A question from the last guest: solve one world problem
- 27:45Outro
“You have to be the Chick-fil-A of whatever you're doing — just have that really quick response time.”
“A lot of employers are definitely overpaying for their benefits. We will overturn every possible stone, even little pebbles, to find the best deals.”
“The state of Oklahoma is actually going to pay 60% of that employee's health insurance premiums.”
“Following your passion is the devotion and the commitment every single day to get up and give 110%. You just never give up on the dream and you continue to stay steadfast.”
Resources mentioned
About Evie
President & Founder, Synergy Benefit Advisors
Evie Blair is the President and Founder of Synergy Benefit Advisors, an employee benefits agency with offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She has worked in the benefits industry since 1998, on both the carrier and advisory side. At 20 she set a ten-year goal to open her own agency, and at 30 she did, building it around fast, hands-on service for employers of every size — from a one-person LLC to companies of about 500. Synergy handles health, dental, vision, life and disability coverage, voluntary benefits like pet insurance and emergency savings accounts, benefits technology, and the Insure Oklahoma subsidy program, and offers employers a no-cost consultation. Evie is married with two children.
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