My Career in Insurance Is...: Opportunity, Reward, and a Career Path Without Limits

Insurance is more than just insurance companies. It's an industry that exists everywhere in the world. The idea of having many different experiences in many different locations, I think, really excites me. There's a lot of opportunities in the industry for programmers, for data scientists, for people who love mobile apps. This industry allows you to move from company to company and open doors that a lot of other industries don't. I was in the military before I came into this industry. I served for five years in the U.S. Army, and I had a friend who worked in the industry already. I said, I know nothing about insurance, and she said, it doesn't matter. They want you for your leadership abilities, and they will teach you everything else. There's a lot of people with, you know, maybe decades of expertise that you can learn from. Mentors have been able to provide me feedback that I really needed. It's played a huge role in my career. For anyone who is a bit younger or kind of in the middle of their career who comes into the industry, there's a lot of mentorship that's available to you. The way we network is through social media now. As a young person getting into the insurance industry, that is a huge opportunity. I can honestly say that I don't know anyone who's studying insurance who doesn't have a job lined up. If you talk to people, there's a presumption that, you know, insurance is kind of a boring industry, which I assure you it's not. One of the misconceptions about the insurance industry is that we're always out to get you, and one thing that I've learned since working in this industry is that it's the complete opposite. Everyone who I've met throughout the insurance industry has all seemed genuinely excited about what they're doing. In 2015, I got to travel to every continent except Antarctica for work. I went to Iceland, Jamaica, Mexico, Bermuda. You may get to have dinner and see a nice sunset with a client, you know, by the beach. I can work in my office, I can work from home, I can work while I'm traveling. Some of my teammates work remotely. I can start my day at 7, I can start my day at 11. There's something for everyone. I have a colleague who studied boat building, and she's now doing marine underwriting. I just think that is so cool. I found this list of the happiest jobs in America, so I looked at the number one position and it was actuary. I think the insurance industry has a lot of potential to make positive change in the world. Being able to come in and say, yes, you just had a fire or a hurricane just came through and we're going to be able to help you through this, that's, it's a really great feeling. Insurance is one of the gems of the business world. We're kind of the secret saviors. My career in insurance is an opportunity to keep learning every day. It's very fulfilling. It's exciting. It's awesome.