What drew you to the captive space?

You could say that I boomeranged back to the captive space. My first introduction to captives was in 2000 as an Account Manager. I was young, somewhat inexperienced in my role, and in need of guidance navigating all the stakeholders in a group captive that was coming to GB and assigned to me. The sense of community surrounding a captive was incredible and through many mentors and educational opportunities such as captive board meetings and claim workshops, I learned the captive model. Fifteen years later, I worked my way into our Sales department and was asked if I had experience with captives in order to lead our future business development in this niche. I jumped on the opportunity to share our story of an award-winning Captive Practice and at the same time, to give back and mentor others in the captive industry.

What do you like most about the insurance industry/the captive niche?

The creative and entrepreneurial nature of captives – the ability to build something – really appeals to me. To make insurance capacity where it is needed or enhance traditional insurance arrangements – that’s exciting! Secondly, it’s the people who have also committed to working together for this purpose. We have a lot of fun and support each other.

What is the best advice you’ve received?

I have picked up various things here and there. Those that stand out include not letting fear drive your decisions (or lack of making a decision), being willing to be uncomfortable such as when faced with public speaking opportunities, in order to progress, and to ignore that occasional feeling of imposter syndrome. The best captive advice a manager ever gave me was to get involved (with the captive industry)…volunteer…get on a panel.

What is the advice you would want to have known at the beginning of your career?

That is was ok to speak up more often than I did in group settings. As a Gen X’er, I tended to observe first and then debrief in smaller groups afterwards. That is the opposite of what I tell our newer producers now. I encourage them to speak up and not to assume they are too inexperienced to have a great idea to share.

Do you feel as if you have made a difference in the industry? How so?

I hope that others would say I have made a difference. I strive to be approachable, friendly, helpful and inclusive. If someone wants to talk about best practices in this industry or career advice, I am willing to mentor. The industry has made a difference for me and when I attend industry events, I am amidst a room of friends and productive colleagues.