Where You Start Doesn’t Define Where You Finish: Forging Space in Insurance for Non-Traditional Talent

After 16 years working for car dealerships, I was ready for a change. I needed a career that offered financial security and the flexibility to spend more time with my kids. A LinkedIn job ad I stumbled across for an insurance producer role intrigued me. The position required no prior experience and would train me and get me licensed. The best part? It was selling to a market I already understood, auto dealerships.

The insurance industry has given me flexibility, purpose, financial security and most of all, the chance to serve others.

I never envisioned myself in a professional services career. Growing up in a small town in Michigan, I was raised by a teenage mother before becoming a teen mom myself and achieved emancipation at 16. This industry paved a new career path for me – one that helped me grow professionally and offered me work-life balance, while allowing me to work in service of others.

I’ve known poverty, especially in my early years, but I always had a sense of the importance of giving back to my community. I can’t explain the pull of this feeling other than to say it became a goal to give back to communities and families that looked and felt like my own, as soon as I could create some income for myself. Doing so began in very small ways. I started picking names off my local town’s Christmas tree with my kids, doing a small amount of holiday shopping for those without support to experience the joy of the season. My family and I made this a holiday tradition, and I was proud to see my kids embrace the spirit of giving during the holidays.

Today, I am an active member and corporate liaison for the Association of Professional Insurance Women, I sit on the board and serve as advisory chair of the PACE Center for Girls, hold a seat on the community advisory board for The Junior league of Tampa and recently co-founded the Florida Chapter of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) alongside my good friend and colleague Maggie Potter. Insurance has served me well. This industry is about service and protection. The same principles that drive us to serve clients in their times of need should drive us to invest in and serve our communities as well.

If there is a lesson I’ve learned in my life and my career, it is to help others understand where you start does not define where you finish. I’m passionate about making sure others can pursue similar opportunities that I’ve found along my own journey.

Building Confidence Through Mentorship

I knew very little about insurance at the time I found that long-ago LinkedIn ad. But I did have a bold personality, and that helped endear me to a few incredible mentors who helped me along the way. In fact, mentorship has played a huge role in my career and still does. I have a mentor outside of the industry with whom I meet monthly for an outsider perspective as well as a mentor within insurance who helps me navigate professional growth. I also serve as a mentor to two women. We talk through their goals, challenges and perspectives, and where I can, I offer some advice and sometimes help connect them with additional resources.

Mentorship is crucial to professional and personal growth. In my role as business development executive at OneDigital, I am involved in our mentorship program for women interns. Many of these young professionals are still learning how to find their voice and speak up for fear they will be dismissed or misunderstood. We work on building executive presence, eliminating minimizing language and learning to communicate with confidence. Encouraging young professionals to make these small changes will improve their confidence in the workplace and help them make space to contribute to real change throughout the industry.

Finding a mentor, however, can be a challenging, especially for those just starting out in their careers working in companies who may not have a program set up. My experience as both a mentor and a mentee has proven you don’t need to wait for someone to offer their insights. You have to simply reach out and ask. I have even walked up to people after hearing them speak and asked if they would be willing to mentor me. If you’re not ready to advocate for yourself in person, a simple email or LinkedIn message is a great place to start. Doing so will build confidence, and people love to know they provide value. You may be surprised how willing people are to help when they know they are appreciated.

Opening Doors for Non-Traditional Talent

As insurance organizations grapple with ongoing retirements, expanding the talent pipeline is a top priority. While doing this, the industry could be opening doors for someone in search of the rewarding opportunities a career in insurance can offer. And there are so many ways this can take shape. Some brokerages, for example, are encouraging local brokers to hire interns straight out of high school. Insurance leaders don’t need to fill every intern slot this way, but even one spot can change a life and aid the industry in addressing its ongoing talent challenges. There are people who simply cannot or will not pursue a traditional four-year college program, but they still have the skills and drive to be successful in this industry.

I came to insurance from sales. With a background in the auto dealership space and strong client relationships, I was able to connect immediately with the businesses I served. Insurance leaders should consider the value of transferable skills and lived experience. The future of work will include fewer traditional paths, and if the industry wants to keep up with the changing workforce, leaders need to be creative in how they hire and who they invest in.

There is also a large, overlooked group of talented people who simply need access, exposure and encouragement. For insurance organizations looking to attract and retain individuals from non-traditional backgrounds, it is essential to foster welcoming environments that can support their success. Consider the following:

• Reinforce their value: Those entering the industry from unconventional paths may carry the same imposter syndrome many of us feel at some point in our careers. Insurance leaders and their team members would all benefit from building a culture that reinforces everyone’s unique contributions and encourages people to bring fresh perspectives and new ways of thinking.
• Meet them where they are: Do not wait for talent to come knocking. The industry should be intentional about building a talent pool that considers non-traditional candidates. This might result in welcoming high school students to apply for internships or attending events in communities or industry sectors where the organization has not yet built a presence.
• Invest in support: My access to the insurance industry came when the company I applied to offered to train and license me, requiring no prior experience. They invested in my professional growth and encouraged me to keep going. Insurance organizations should find ways to invest in the professional development of their team members. Whether providing mentorship or developing peer groups tailored to people new to the industry, when employees feel seen and supported, they are more likely to grow and thrive.

Expanding access to insurance careers is only part of the equation. To truly move the needle, the industry needs to unite in the collective service of the communities where we live and work.

Philanthropy with Purpose

Starting the Florida Chapter of IICF came from a desire I share with Maggie Potter to make a bigger impact. I was already involved in the incredible work of the PACE Center for Girls and the Junior League of Tampa. But Maggie and I saw an opportunity to leverage our networks and experience to create something that could benefit our larger communities through IICF. Our first IICF Florida event is a Harvest Meal Pack food initiative in Tampa on October 9, and the response has already been incredible. We aim to deliver 20,000 meals in the Greater Tampa region with the support of the insurance industry.

I recently spoke with a colleague involved with IICF’s Florida Chapter who told me he had been searching for more than a year to find an avenue to give back in a way that felt connected to his work in insurance. Doing so reinforces the drive of many insurance industry professionals to give back, and philanthropy is yet another natural progression of the industry’s impact.

Organizations like IICF help formalize and expand the industry’s charitable reach. They make it easier for insurance professionals to show up, get involved and support their communities alongside colleagues and competitors. And when the industry joins in collective action, the impact multiplies.

My professional journey to insurance was far from traditional. But it was deeply personal. I want people to understand that there’s a place for them in insurance, regardless of where they started. The future of this industry depends on the talent we bring in and the impact we make today. Let’s make sure we open doors wide enough for everyone to walk through and that we continue to give back along the way. &