WE’RE HERE FOR YOU! READ ABOUT OUR TEAM AND OUR HISTORY
Meet Our Team
ANTHONY (TONY) K. KOLGAKLIS BIOGRAPHY
Born October 16, 1965, in Kansas City, Missouri, I was reared outside of Savannah, Georgia. After graduating from Effingham County High School in 1983, I attended Armstrong State College in Savannah for two years before transferring to Georgia State and ultimately graduating in 1987 from Kennesaw Community College with a degree in Business. At each school I was on an athletic scholarship for baseball. Immediately after graduating I began my insurance career with GEICO in my father’s GEICO agency in Kingsbay, Georgia. After 5 years, I was offered my own office in Daleville, Alabama where I lived for 5 years with my college sweetheart and wife, Carma and our two sons Anthony and Andrew. In March of 1998 I was selected by GEICO’s’ CEO to open the first office in South Carolina since the company left the state in 1972. We opened in July 1998 and have been in North Charleston since opening. As an independent contractor for GEICO, I am one of only 215 agents in the country in my position. In 1999, I not only lead sales production for all of the offices in our state, I also lead the nation as the top producing GEICO office in the country. Now, some 22 years later, I remain the largest producing agency in our state and one of the top in the Southeast. Along the way, I have also started, maintained and sold several other businesses. Each of my start-ups were home grown businesses and four are still in my family today. The entities ranged from a tanning salon to a baseball training academy to pawn shops to real estate investing and now, my newest venture is in the Durable Medical Equipment field.
My wife has worked with me in every business we have owned, and I proudly include both of my sons, and a nephew, Alex, as agents in my GEICO agency today. During my career with GEICO, I have been privileged to work closely with each branch of our Armed Forces. GEICO stands for Government Employees Insurance Company, hence my involvement. While in Charleston, I have been honored to be the only civilian recipient of the Honorary Chief designation by the Chiefs Group of Charleston Air Force Base. I am also one of the only civilians to ever give the commencement address for the Airman Leadership School at CAFB. I am a former Honorary Commander for Joint Base Charleston, Former Advisory Board member for the Honorary Commander program, an Honorary Member of the Top 3 Association and the First Six Association at Joint Base Charleston. I am a member of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church and active in our community. My personal life has been filled with the sport of baseball. In 2006, I founded a non-profit organization composed of approximately 100 players, 16 coaches and a General Assembly of 200 + members for the purpose of training young men to learn and compete in America’s Game. Of our original 22 players, 90% of them went to college and approximately 80% graduated. This result was far more significant than the trophies won. While running the baseball organization, I was also a player in the Charleston Men’s Baseball league. I have been a coach in the local school systems, including Summerville High, Ashley Ridge High, Alston Middle School and Pinewood Prep. I retired from coaching in 2017. Now my personal life is focused on my family time and being outdoors, especially boating and fishing.
SR. VP - ANTHONY KOLGAKLIS
My full name is Kim Anthony Kolgaklis named after my Greek grandad. I go by my middle name, Anthony. I was born in Brunswick, GA where shortly after we made the move to Daleville, AL for my dad to open his first agency in the insurance industry. We lived in Alabama long enough for me to attend pre-school before the opportunity arose for our family to make the move to the beautiful Charleston, SC. I grew up in Summerville, SC attending Windsor Hill for Kindergarten and then Flowertown Elementary, Gregg Middle, Summerville High and ultimately was a part of the first graduating class at Ashley Ridge High School in 2011. From there I attended USC-Beaufort for my freshman year of college before transferring to the College of Charleston where I earned a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Business Administration. Class of 2015 I currently reside in Summerville, SC with my black lab, Argo! He makes frequent visits to the offices with me! I have been employed at the agency with my family since September of 2013 covering everything from taking payments to issuing payroll. I am a huge baseball fan. The Atlanta Braves are my team, chop on! One of my bucket list items is to watch a game at every professional ballpark. I also enjoy traveling, domestic and international. The different cultures across the world are intriguing to me. My motto is to “listen, don’t speak”. It’s amazing what you can learn with an open ear! I currently sit on the membership committee of my BNI chapter here in Charleston, we have close to 30 members and always looking to grow. I am also active with various charitable donations to the Charleston Animal Society and Meeting Street Academy. My goal in life is to be someone that my grandma would be proud of as she watches over me!
ANDREW KOLGAKLIS
I have spent most of my life growing up and living here in the Lowcountry. After attending school in Summerville and graduating from Ashley Ridge High School, I attended Spartanburg Methodist College. There I played basketball for two years and completed my Associates Degree before completing some coursework at The College of Charleston. In 2014 I joined the Kolgaklis Agency as a full-time sales agent and have enjoyed helping clients ever since! In my free time I love fishing, traveling, and spending time with my dogs. I think being a local insurance agent with The Kolgaklis Agency is rewarding because we can work closely with our clients and try to protect them, while saving them money in the process.
KAITLIN MOSCOSO
My name is Kaitlin Moscoso. I am the office manager for the Kolgaklis agency, I have worked for them for almost 9 years. My favorite thing about working in the insurance industry is knowing every day I get to help make sure people are properly protected. No one ever plans for a claim but It’s my job to make sure our customers have the coverage they need when they need it! I am a native born and raised in Summerville and graduated from Summerville High School class of 07! When I am not in the office I enjoy going to local restaurants and visiting all the places that make Charleston great with my family!
AMBER GONZALEZ
My name is Amber Gonzalez. I am 28 years old and outside of a short time living in Colorado while my husband was in the military, I have spent my whole life in Charleston. I started with The Kolgaklis Agency in March of 2018 as a customer service agent and progressed to a sales agency quickly. This was my first time in sales, even though I have been a competitive person my whole life, and I soon found a home in the sales department. When I am not at work, I love to spend time with my family and my fur babies. I also enjoy crafting, being outdoors, and a good book in my free time. I love Charleston and the Lowcountry because of the history, the people, and you cannot forget the food! One thing I love about The Kolgaklis Agency is the fact that I have never felt the family environment at a job like I have with our close-knit team here in Charleston. Our clients and staff have made this a wonderful place to work, and it truly makes me happy to call Charleston and The Kolgaklis Agency home!
Our Story
Kim Kolgaklis arrived in the United States in 1952 from a small village in northern Greece. He was 12 years old and made the trip to the US alone. Upon arriving at Ellis Island, he boarded a train destined for Savannah, Georgia where his Uncle Theodore Kolgaklis awaited his arrival. Kim’s journey to citizenship was met with challenges at times, but it was successful. After graduating from Savannah High School, he entered the Unites States Army where he was ultimately assigned to the famous 101st Airborne Division as a paratrooper. After the military, Kim and his high school sweetheart began their family as he worked various jobs trying to determine his career path. Ultimately, in 1967, Kim found his place with United Life Insurance where he worked for 3 years as a debit salesman going door to door. In 1970, Kim found himself in the lobby of a Government Employees Insurance Company local office in Savannah. The owners of the agency welcomed him into their office, but not to work as a GEICO agent. Kim sold life insurance to customers of that agency as well as Army soldiers at Hunter Army Airfield and nearby Ft. Stewart. Little did Kim and his new employer know they embarked on a lifelong friendship. Kim continued to be a very successful life insurance agent for that agency.
In 1987, the opportunity to open his own GEICO agency came up. Kim, now the father of three kids, two of them in college at the time, did not hesitate to seize the opportunity. He opened his office in 1987 in St. Marys, Georgia. His office served the Kings Bay Naval Base, and his property and casualty insurance career began. In December 1987, Kim added his oldest son, Tony Kolgaklis to his agency. In the following years he would also add his wife, Faye to his agency and by 1993 his daughter was also an agent in his office. Tony managed Kim’s office until 1993 when he was offered his opportunity to open his own agency for Government Employees Insurance in Daleville,
Alabama. His office served Ft. Rucker, Alabama, and the surrounding areas. He and his wife, Carma opened on January 23, 1992, with their 3 month old son, Anthony, who was in the office each day. In 1998, Tony was offered the opportunity to open an office in Charleston, South Carolina. He and Carma moved their family of four to the Lowcountry and have been here since 1998. Carma, and sons Anthony and Andrew are all licensed insurance agents. Carma retired in 2018 and now the Kolgaklis Agency is operated by Tony, Anthony, and Andrew along with a great team of licensed professionals. So, the story of a Greek Immigrant child coming to the United States for a better life truly became a reality. The Kolgaklis name is synonymous with insurance in the Lowcountry and the foundation of Insure-Charleston.com