Life and Health Insurance Team

Hi, my name is Vicki Walpole Lugo. I am a life-long resident of Bossier City. I attended Louisiana Tech University after graduating from Parkway High School. Following in my father and brother's footsteps, I began my career in the insurance industry in 2011 by specializing in life insurance and Medicare planning.I am a proud mom to two amazing children. My daughter, Jaimie, and her husband, Matt, are currently stationed in Hawaii and my son Seth is a pitcher for the New York Mets. In my spare time I enjoy caring for animals, reading, traveling, and watching baseball. I'm also active at South Bossier Baptist Church.
I enjoy working with and meeting new people. I also love helping anyone with their needs, especially if I can assist in making their life a little easier.

Hello, my name is John Ogden. I was raised in East Texas around the Tyler area. I currently live in south Shreveport. My wife, Amy, and I have been married since 2002 and we have one wonderful daughter, Katie. In addition to spending time with my family, I enjoy fishing and boating. I finished my education at Tyler Junior College and The University of Texas at Tyler and began my insurance career. The first company I worked for was American General in Dallas. I handled the needs of clients in the Irving area. A short time later I was offered a management position and I began handling the needs of clients in multiple cities in the North Dallas area. I met my wife in 2000 and moved to her hometown in 2001. I began working for her family's business. I worked in the electric sign industry as a designer and job cost analysis. In the summer of 2014 I took the opportunity to join a stellar company, Providus Financial Group. The decision to become a part of this team will be the last career move of my life. My love for my job with Providus is about the people I work with and about the quality of the carriers I'm able to provide my clients. I look forward to helping anyone with their insurance needs with Medicare, Medicaid, Long Term Care, Life Insurance, Final Expense and Debt Protection. I am licensed in Louisiana and Texas.

Hi, I'm Jeff Loper and I'm proud to be an agent at Providus Financial. Shreveport is my home and has been all my life. My wife, Veronica, and I have been married for 30 years and are the proud parents of twins, Cosette and Connor. Our "third child" is of the four-legged persuasion, Ally, our black lab! Our family bleeds Purple and Gold and our passion is LSU football and baseball. We also enjoy spending time together on vacations to the lake and at the beach.
Having earned my BS degree in Finance in 1985, I began my professional career at Commercial National Bank in Shreveport in 1986. After 6 years at CNB, I embarked upon a new career in the medical device sales industry that spanned 23 years. Some of the Fortune 500 medical companies I enjoyed working for were Medtronic, Covidien, and Olympus. After a successful career in medical sales, I made a return to my roots in the Financial industry getting my license in Life and Health Insurance in May 2016.

I am honored to be a part of Mark and Josh's team here at Providus. Sharing the same values of integrity and of simply doing the right thing - by putting the best interest and needs of our Clients first and foremost - makes every day a pleasure to go to work.
My personal philosophy is to treat every individual with whom I meet with respect.
I sincerely look forward to the opportunity to help you and your family with your health and life insurance needs.
To my existing Clients, Thank You for placing your trust in me and for giving me the opportunity to serve you!

Hi, my name is Josh Knowles. I am originally from Shreveport and currently live in south Shreveport. My wife, Apryl, and I have been married since 2007 and are the proud parents of two amazing little girls: Loralei and MariTaylor. In addition to spending time with my family, I enjoy running, hunting, and just about anything that has to do with being in a boat on the water!

After graduating with a B.S. degree from Louisiana Tech University in 2000, I started my career in the insurance business with Bankers Life and Casualty. In October of 2006, I left Bankers Life and spent the next 3 years as an agency manager with Pennsylvania Life. It was in October of 2009 when I can say I made my "final" move in the insurance business. My business partner and I started Providus Financial Services and have not looked back. Our goal was to create an environment for agents that supported them and provided all of the tools they need to succeed while at the same time not limiting the product offerings they had available. We have since added an office in Monroe and we are currently licensed and doing business in LA, TX, AR, OK, GA, MO and MS.

In 2015, I took the next step in my career by obtaining my Property and Casualty insurance license. Today we also operate Providus Property Protection, LLC which is our Property and Casualty agency that specializes in Home, Auto and Commercial coverages. This move has taken us one step closer to fulfilling our dream of becoming a full service agency. I hope to have the opportunity to be of service to you and your family soon.

My name is Mark Epp and I am originally from Tyler, TX. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1991. I worked in the manufacturing and welding industry for 10 years. Upon moving to Shreveport in 1997, I met and married my lovely wife Amy. Being raised in East Texas and not wanting to leave the Ark-La-Tex, I began considering options for staying in Shreveport. After a couple of years of prayer and preparation, I decided to go into the financial advisory and insurance business.

In 2005, I formed Providus Financial Services as a company to handle the various life and health insurance lines that I handled as a financial advisor. In 2009, I met Josh Knowles and began a partnership to recruit and train insurance agents to become the most competent agents in the insurance industry. From the early beginnings in 2009, we and our team have built an agency that is rooted in the character of always doing the right thing and striving to be the best in the world at what we do.
I have been married to my wife, Amy, since 1999. I have two sons and a daughter that are active in our church, athletics and our community. I have served as a deacon in my church for many years and love teaching in various capacities to both adults and youth. My desire to invest in the next generation of leaders in all areas of life; Spiritual, Physical, Emotional and Vocational, as is evident in what I choose to participate in.

My hobbies include working out, music, spending time with my family, hunting, boating and lounging with my English Mastiff, Tucker. I can be found at on the weekends at my oldest son's music performances, my younger son's football activities, my daughter's soccer games, or anywhere else my kids have activities. I am very proud of the development of our businesses which has only been successful because of the success of the agents that I have been able to work with and mentor.