Meet Our Team

At Palm Valley Insurance, we've built our team with individuals who have the highest standards for client communication and servicing. No matter who you interact with at Palm Valley Insurance, you'll have the best experience possible.

Get Familiar With The Palm Valley Insurance Team

Jaime Garcia

CEO

A lifelong Coachella Valley Resident. He began working in the insurance industry in 1998. Established Palm Valley Insurance in March 2008 as a one-man operation and has successfully built it into one of the last largest locally owned brokerages in town that is currently serving over 10,000 clients in the southwest region of the U.S.

Jaime is a devoted husband, father and enjoys playing golf in the beautiful city he lives in.

Meet Jaime

Miguel Escobedo

Vice President

Miguel began his insurance career with Palm Valley in 2008. After many years in personal lines, Miguel shifted into Commercial Lines. He specializes in workers compensation, general liability, and business auto. His total cost risk approach has helped many businesses reduce their net expense while enhancing coverages to protect their business.

Miguel lives in Indio, California. In his free time, Miguel likes to be outdoors hiking, CrossFit, and hanging out at the lake with his family.

Meet Miguel

Phil Cleveland

Sr. Vice President

Phil has over 45 years in insurance experience. He owned his own Allstate agency until he moved to the Coachella Valley in 2000. He joined Palm Valley Insurance in April of 2010 and has entered his 9th year with our company.

He is well trained with personal lines, commercial, life, health, and seasonal vacation rental insurance. He specializes in working with Canadian clients. He enjoys a good round of golf, loves playing ball with his doggie Lily, and spends as much time as he can with his wife Susan of 38 years. His son, grandkids and great grandkids keep him busy.

“I love what I do for a living and can’t imagine doing it anywhere other than Palm Valley”.

Meet Phil

Bill Molina

Partner Agent

35 years of experience as an agent with a specialty in loss control, safety, and workers compensation. Bill brings a wealth of knowledge from small business to large companies. Creating solutions to help build best practices and strategies for businesses. He believes in what is best for his clients is what is best for us. Happily married for over 46 years and has 3 sons.

Meet Bill

Joanna Guzman

Partner Agent

Joanna Guzman began her career in the insurance business in 2015. She is a license Property and Casualty Agent. With her fun and energetic yet professional personality, Joanna prides herself in the high level of services she provides to customers. “The reason we at Palm Valley Insurance are so respected by our customers and even our competitors is our service,” she says. “My personal goal is to go above and beyond to help our clients, answer their questions, help them with any issues and do it all in the most responsive manner I can.” Some of her hobbies include spending time with Family and Friends. She also enjoys working out, traveling and exploring new places.

Meet Joanna

Heidi Ruiz

Customer Service Manager

Heidi Ruiz started her insurance career in 2006. With her 14 years of experience in this industry, she has become well versed with all our carriers. She also prides herself on providing the best service to clients and business partners. Heidi currently resides out of our Indio branch and is happy to assist you with any of your questions. Outside of work, Heidi spends her time traveling, going to live concerts, and watching sports.

Meet Heidi

Elisa Gonzalez

Client Service Agent

Born and raised in Imperial Valley, Elisa Gonzalez holds a Property & Casualty and Life License with 6 years of insurance experience. She is dedicated to provide the best insurance experience possible for our customers at Palm Valley Insurance. Elisa is an Account Manager in the La Quinta location. She is passionate about her career and strives to continue to have great professional relationships with her clients.

She is a wife and a mother and looks to be a positive role model for her family and community.

Meet Elisa

Art Gomez

Team Manager

Art brings over 15 years of experience in the insurance industry, with a strong background in managing and leading licensed agents. He is a graduate of the University of Santa Cruz and is fluent in both Spanish and English, which will help us serve our diverse clientele more effectively.

Art is dedicated to ensuring our office provides exceptional service by thoroughly explaining insurance policies to our customers.

His commitment to customers service aligns perfectly with our goal of delivering the best experience to our clients.

Seventeen years ago, Art moved to the Coachella Valley from Los Angeles.

In his free time, he enjoys watching movies, dining out, and traveling.

Meet Art

Anthony Ruiz

Sales Agent

Born and raised in the Coachella valley. Anthony has worked in the customer service industry for over 6 years. He became a licensed agent early 2023 and began his career in insurance. Anthony is working on helping clients do annual policy reviews. In his pastime, Anthony enjoys traveling, concerts, dining out, music and sports.”

Meet Anthony

Julie Contreras

Client Services

Julie was born and raised in the Coachella Valley, She began with the agency in early 2023 and became knowledgeable in the industry. Her main role is director of first impressions and administration of compliance documents to financial institutions. She strives to give clients the best client experience. On her pastime, she likes to travel out of town and explore new things.

Meet Julie

Elvia Magaña

Commercial Account Manager

Elvia is our Commercial Account Manager. Born and raised the Coachella Valley she attended University of California Riverside and earned her BA in Business Administration in 2006. She has been in the insurance industry since 2007. She is licensed for Property & Casualty and Life and Health.

Her focus at the agency is to examine new and existing commercial accounts to make sure clients have the best protection at the best price. In her pastime she enjoys traveling with her family, music and sports.

Meet Elvia

Aide M. Nunez

Commercial Lines Services

Aide M. Nunez is our Account Manager at Palm Valley Insurance Services, she joined our company in June of 2016. She is bilingual and comes with 20 years of experience in personal lines. Her objective is to offer customers the best service available and meet their insurance needs. Aide was also born and raised here in the Coachella Valley. In her free time, she enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends.

Meet Aide

Isaac Vargas

Sales Agent

Isaac was born and raised in the Coachella Valley before he went on to study at San Diego State University. Aside from graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, he enjoyed being an avid music festival-goer, soccer enthusiast, and coffee aficionado. Now, as part of the Palm Valley team, Isaac is spearheading a new generation in the insurance industry. With over four years of prior finance and customer service experience, he is fully determined and ready to apply his skills as a licensed insurance agent.

Meet Isaac

Monze Jerez

Sales Agent

Monze has been in the insurance industry for past 3 years. She first started out with a captive agency and then began with this agency in 2021. Her main focus is personal lines insurance sales and helps clients with Auto, Home, Earthquake and umbrella insurance. Outside of work, Monze spends her time traveling, walking her dog, and going to live music concerts.

Meet Monze

Cassie Gonzalez

Client Service

Cassie has eight years of extensive experience in customer service. She possesses excellent communication skills and the ability to solve problems quickly and effectively. Additionally, she is fluent in both Spanish and English.

In her spare time, Cassie enjoys spending time with her family and traveling.

Meet Cassie

Gus Lopez

Marketing - Social Media Coordinator

Gustavo comes from a unique educational background that began with the Animation Program at Mt. San Antonio College, where he honed skills in lighting, color, composition, and storyboarding. His journey continued at Cogswell Polytechnic, where I specialized in Computer Video Imaging, Computer Animation, and Post Video Production, delving into animated feature film creation and character design.

Professionally, Gus has 15 years of experience in marketing within the gaming industry. This blend of education and industry expertise has positioned him at the intersection of creativity and strategy, ready to innovate and tell compelling stories in the dynamic world of gaming.

Meet Gus