By Sharon Wisch-Ray
sharonw@texasjewishpost.com

Subscribers in the news:
Kipp and Jacob Cohen

Dallas native Kipp Cohen and his son Jacob M. Cohen have recently opened their own Allstate Insurance Agency in North Dallas.
The Cohen Family Agency is a full-service Allstate Insurance Agency offering home, auto, life and commercial insurance. Most everyone has heard the saying “You’re in Good Hands with Allstate.” It was very important for Kipp and Jacob to represent a well-respected company that not only was familiar to people but also offered great products at competitive rates. Allstate was a perfect match for the Cohens.
Jacob, a graduate of Plano West Senior High, started his insurance career as an Allstate Licensed Sales Professional in 2012. While working at Fry’s Electronics as a sales associate, Jacob met an Allstate agency owner.
The owner was so impressed with Jacob and his sales skills that he offered him a job right on the spot.
As an LSP, Jacob gained a tremendous amount of knowledge about the insurance business as well as how to run an Allstate agency.
He got the opportunity to be involved with a pilot program that launched the first Dallas-based Allstate agency inside of a car dealership. After over a year working inside of the dealership, Jacob was ready to expand his horizons and assist a newly started agency in building their business.
Using the knowledge he had gained, he helped them grow their sales from less than $20,000 a month to over $70,000 a month during his tenure at the Ashwander Agency.
Seeing the “other side” of the insurance business, Jacob knew very quickly that he wanted to own his own insurance agency. He then approached his father Kipp, the vice president and chief equities strategist for Wizetrade, a financial software and trading education company.
With nearly 14 years at Wizetrade, Kipp, a graduate of Richardson High School and Stephen F. Austin State University, was ready for a new challenge. Kipp had been an entrepreneur in
the past and knew he wanted to be one again.
After Jacob presented his business plan to Kipp, the pair decided to start their own Allstate office.
Following an intensive interview process and three months of training with Allstate, the pair opened their office May 1, 2015.
They enlisted the help of friends Karl Haas Jr. and Jacob Gabbai to work in their agency as Licensed Sales Professionals. You can reach the Cohens at 469-249-8525 or email them at jacobcohen@allstate.com and kippcohen@allstate.com.

Mark Grishman

Mark Grishman, vacation specialist with CruiseOne, and most importantly superdad to twins Rachel and Avi, was featured recently in two travel publications. Franchise Times featured Mark’s adventures as a “stay at home” dad who runs his business, CruiseOne, from his Lake Highlands home.
Mark explained to Travel Pulse, “I was a CPA working for a large public company and my wife was a physician. I was also commuting at least one hour to work each way and was traveling for work up to two weeks a month. Needless to say, this schedule was unmaintainable with the introductio
n of twins.
“My wife and I were lucky enough that we had the option for one of us to take a break from our normal job and be at home with our kids. I already wanted to change my work schedule, and although this was a drastic change, I was excited about the opportunity to spend a lot of quality time with my kids in their early years and not just pay someone else to raise them. Also, it would give me the ability to transition into a more flexible job that would work better for everyone.”
You can read the full articles about superdad Mark Grishman at www.travelpulse.com and www.franchisetimes.com.

Ilona Friedman

Ilona Friedman, a certified financial planner practitioner at CD Wealth Management in Dallas, was just awarded her MBA from Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business. Ilona graduated from Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, with a concentration in public financial management, a Business Certificate from the Kelley School of Business, and a minor in French.
As a wealth advisor at CD Wealth Management, Ilona specializes in comprehensive financial planning with a focus on working with families, individuals and people in transition.
Ilona started in the financial industry working for a global financial services firm and joined Waldman Bros. in 2009. Beginning her career right out of college, she has learned the business from the ground up and is able to understand the entire process of financial planning and investment advisory services. She was active in many school organizations, as well as in the Jewish community. When she is not working Ilona enjoys spending time with family.

Leon Levitz

Leon Levitz, Dallas retail furniture pioneer, celebrated his 100th birthday with family and friends June 12 at the Four Seasons Hotel and Resort.