Pulcine Opens Insurance Agency Right Before Pandemic Nancy Pulcine opens insurance agency right before pandemic

Starting a business takes a ton of hard work, dedication and devotion. Opening a business in the middle of a pandemic pushes that formula to another level.

Nancy Pulcine, along with her husband, Brian, opened Parkway National Insurance Group in February 2020.

"We had no clue there was going to be a pandemic," Nancy said.

Despite the timing, Parkway was able to survive and today is thriving.

Nancy grew up in Waco, which may have given her an edge in keeping the business going. She was born in Toluca, Mexico, but her father was working in the United States. He returned to Mexico to secure his family, and a week after Nancy was born, she was brought to Waco and raised on 25th Street.

She attended Reicher Catholic High School and then McLennan Community College. She married in 2013 and was attending Baylor University majoring in political science, but a risky pregnancy put her on bed rest, so she couldn't attend her last semester.

Baylor worked with Tarleton State University, and Nancy was able to take online courses to finish her degree. In 2013, she graduated from Tarleton. She is working with Baylor to earn her master's degree.

Changes

In 2014 her marriage ended, and Nancy had to work harder as a single mom. In 2015, she got a job as account manager with an insurance agency. There she met Brian Pulcine (POOL-chee-neh; it's Italian) who also worked in the insurance business, and they eventually decided to blend families together - not an easy task.

The couple opened Parkway National Insurance together in the middle of the pandemic, but Nancy had the advantage of experience with her father's commercial insurance; he was a truck driver.

Thus, Parkway National Insurance Group was born, serving only business accounts with commercial trucking and towing, small business, and contractors' insurance. Six months after its opening, Parkway extended its line to include personal insurance of home, auto, life and health. Today, it can write policies in multiple states, working with anywhere from five to 30 agents.

"We made our agency a one-stop shop," Nancy Pulcine said. "It took a lot to get to where we are today."

During that time, lots of people were getting sick from COVID. Family members fell ill, friends got sick, and some died. It was during this time that Brian proposed. They were to be married in Hawaii, but due to the pandemic, they ended up at a local venue at The Gaylord in Grapevine.

Running a business, raising kids and attending college is stressful to say the least. To destress, Nancy would cook. And she was good at it.

Something More

In 2021, she got the idea to open a food truck for special events such as parties and weddings. She didn't want it to become full-time work, though. Nancy's Cocina was created, but never really went to events. Instead, her good friend Katie Selman Green of Stay Classy - located on Austin Avenue across from The Hippodrome - suggested she cook for her in Stay Classy's open kitchen and forget the food truck.

Pulcine accepted, and today Stay Classy serves delicious Mexican cuisines from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

"I love to make everything from scratch," Nancy said.

It's also a family affair, as most of her family participates in the work. Her son, Robert, 17, considers himself kitchen manager at home. Eleven-year-old daughter A.J. is the quality control manager, testing everything to make sure it's just right. Another son, Alex, attends the University of Texas.

Even Brian gets involved with the cooking business, taking care of whatever Nancy needs him to handle. He has his own special recipe for quesadillas that's so good, they joke it should be called Brian's Cocina.

"It created an opportunity for children to know the value of hard work," Nancy said. "We're in the kitchen all the time."

She added: "A.J. and Robert have been amazing with helping in the business."

A.J. no longer sees her struggling as a single mom.

"She's seeing the best right now," Nancy said. "She's the reason I do everything I do." ?

Parkway National Insurance Group

4800 Lakewood Drive, Suite 6

254-735-1000

Mon-Fri, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

parkwaynational.com

Nancy's Cocina

at Stay Classy, 723 Austin Ave.

Thu-Sat, 6 to 9 p.m.

stayclassywaco.com

nancys_cocina on Instagram

Nancy Pulcine and Katie Selman Green of Stay Classy Waco have a business tips podcast named Bring Your Own Bootstraps on the Rogue Media Network.