Welcome to ITC's Agent Resource Center, a hub of content for agents who want to learn how to manage, market and grow their agencies in today's insurance industry.

Not sure where to start?

To search for a specific topic, click the magnifying glass located at the top of every page. Then, type in your topic and hit enter.

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You'll find all sorts of helpful resources in this hub.

Our Operation Agency Success series covers various topics, including marketing in short, helpful videos. 
 

Operation Agency Success

Find out how others in the insurance industry plan their day and achieve success in our This is the Way series. You may see a familiar face. 
 

This is the Way: Mick Becker, CEO of PIA National
 

In-depth eBooks and white papers are detailed, long-form content that cover our most frequently asked questions and popular topics like "How do I use Facebook for my agency?" and "How can I drive more traffic to my agency website?"
 

 
White paper library

If you have only a few minutes a day to learn, here are some good places to start...

• What does it mean to start and run an insurance agency in the 2020s? Our Modern Agency blog series will give you a good idea.
• Stop by the Sales and Rating section for insight from our sales experts. 
• The Marketing section is a cornucopia of helpful information. Start with our most popular posts: Learn how to post to Instagram, create a partner page on your website, and write an effective email. 

If you made it to the bottom of this overview, here's a secret: We put on a free insurance marketing webinar every month. Click below to learn more.  

Masters of Marketing webinar series

Whew, that's a lot of content. Trying to find something and can't? Leave a comment below.

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of change for the nation as a whole. Concerns are continuing to grow about the impact of COVID-19. Likewise, insurance agencies have increasingly become worried about their near-term future.

I’m here to say that there is a basis to that concern. We all feel it. But, the insurance industry is strong. Now is the time to show our strength and capture the essence of what makes working with an independent agency great.

Essential Service

While everyone tries to determine what businesses are essential, we can clear one thing up. Insurance is such an essential service that it is required by law.

The time for insurance agents to shine is now. You can do that by being there for your clients during this constantly changing situation. But remember… Being essential does not mean you need to have your offices open or make in-person visits. It does mean that you must be readily available to service your clients from anywhere.

You can provide these essential services to your clients. Through the use of browser-based tools, you can enable your agency to work remotely. These solutions include VoIP phone systems, comparative raters, agency management systems and automated marketing tools.

Slowing Business

We have been talking with many agencies who are feeling the collective pain right now. They are justified in their concern. So are you if you’re feeling concerned too. Keep in mind your clients are feeling the same pain, just in different ways.

Insurance is the one thing consumers have to buy, yet they hope to never use. Your clients might forget that while they are sheltering in place and not driving as much. They might even think of insurance as non-essential and choose to allow their policy to lapse.

This where you can step up and offer them options to retain their coverages. Here are some ideas.

Essential Requirement

We all know that you must keep insurance on your vehicles, And, if you are wise, anything else that is valuable to you. Remind our clients of the that.

Risk does not get sick. It does work from home. It is out there everywhere. On your way to the doctor’s office. Coming back from the grocery store. Risk is always there. Whether one goes out once a month, or once an hour. Insurance is the cure for that risk.

Coverages

Many consumers feel that insurance comes in only one size. They are often unaware that there are many levers controlling the cost of an insurance policy.

Agents can use these levers to assist clients who are looking to lower costs. It is better for a consumer to remove comprehensive and collision coverages, rental and towing as they drive less rather than allowing their policy to lapse altogether.

New Carrier

What sets an independent agent apart from the others? Choice.

Should a client become concerned about the cost of their insurance but require the same level of coverage, agents have another lever, the choice of carrier. There might another carrier that offers the same level of coverage and service but provides lower commissions and contingency bonuses.

It is better to keep the client than lose them altogether.

Discounts

Available in the majority of states (I’m looking at you, California), prior coverage is one of the largest discounts and most influential rating factor used in insurance. The everyday consumer does not understand this facet of insurance.

It is an agent’s duty to inform their clients that allowing policies to lapse is a short-term gain with long-term pain. The additional premium paid later far outweighs the money they save now.

Changing Laws and Regulations

Another option available to agents is the ever-changing laws and regulations provided by various relief acts. For example California Insurance Commissioner Richard Lara has called for a 60-day grace period on premiums in response to COVID-19.

As you can imagine, sweeping changes like this can create more damage than they are meant to help. Are commissions paid during this period? Are insured’s really insured? How will claims be handled? Can carrier’s policy systems properly handle these changes? Will consumers have to pay back premiums? All unanswered questions persist.

While a change in the regulatory environment is our backstop, insurance agents should do what they do best. Play it safe and stay on the side where they are comfortable.

Policy Reviews

You can start all the suggestions above through offering consultative policy reviews for your clients. Make sure to conduct these reviews with the client’s interests in mind.

Yes, you might have a loss to your book of business through these trying times. However, as stated above, it is better to keep 75¢ than lose $1.

An automated marketing system can assist you in this task. Use it to send automated emails offering policy reviews. You can also send timely notices of policy lapses, changes and other pertinent information your clients may need.

Conclusion

As we start to get the economy back on track, consumers will need their agents more than ever. As their financial advisors, agents must step up and help their clients through this time of need. All of this is available to you without stepping out of your remote or home office. It is time to use technology to make your job easier no matter where you are. We’re here to help. Contact us to learn more about our browser-based solutions that enable you to work remotely.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is ideally a long-term strategy that requires a lot of work. If you follow SEO best practices, you can see your insurance agency website’s ranking and traffic improve over time. However, many agencies don’t have the staff or time to improve their SEO.

One hour per day, five days a week is not enough to do all five of these tips. That’s ok.

Create an SEO plan based on your website that ranks these tips in order of importance from one through five. Start with what your website needs most.

Before you get started, I highly recommend setting up Google Analytics and Google Search Console.  These free resources will track visits and activity on your insurance agency website. After setting these up, learn how to use them! Google offers free training on both.

So, let’s get to your quick-win SEO tips.

1. Optimize Pages:

What does it mean to optimize pages? This is a way to target your specific audience and geolocations.

On-page optimization is the process of reviewing the fields on your website that tell search engines what your website is about. These fields help people who are shopping for insurance decide if they are going to click on your website or a competitor’s.

They  are title tags, alt tags, meta descriptions, headers, internal anchor text, and body content. It is important that the information you put in these fields ONLY pertains to the content on that page. Don’t try to stuff a bunch of information about everything you offer. That will ruin the SEO for that page.

In the example below you can see the larger blue text is your page title, the text below is your meta description.

Learn how you can improve your page optimization here.

2. Improve Content Quality:

This is an important one.

Having quality and relevant content is one of the top-ranking factors for any website. It can be difficult to delete content and pages from your website, but low-quality content could be harming your website traffic and ranking.

Take an hour to review your website. Make sure you don’t have any duplicate or outdated content.

You can also use an hour to check Google Analytics and Google Search Console to see which of your webpages are getting traffic and which are not. It is important to match your content to how people are searching and that isn’t only by using the keyword insurance.

If you’ve reviewed your website and believe your content quality is lacking, you should focus your hour-a-day efforts on creating new content. Use your time to create one blog post per week or consider hiring a content specialist to help you out.

For more information, check out one of my previous blog posts about developing quality content.

3. Optimize Content:

There are simple edits to your existing content that can help get some additional visibility. Like, include the cities or state you want to target. If you want to help insurance buyers in your area find a policy, your website needs to provide information specific to your area.

Resist the urge to stuff your pages full of every keyword you can think of. This will only hurt your pages.

The good news is once you’ve successfully audited your content, you won’t need to do this step very often. About once a month, dedicate a few hours out of your week to making sure your content is still relevant.

Watch ITC CEO Laird Rixford explain how you can use blogging to get more local traffic.

4. Make Your Listing Consistent:

What listing am I referring to? Your Google My Business listing. This is quickly becoming one of the most important platforms for businesses. Consider these listings like a secondary website.

Make sure your agency name, address and phone number listed matches what is on your website. If your Google My Business listing is in desperate need of a makeover, prioritize this task and update it.

Take an hour to review your Google My Business listing and include as much information possible. These listings offer you the opportunity to share tons of information about your insurance agency. That information will help your audience find you.

The Google My Business listing includes an FAQ section that you should contribute to. You should also update your products and services section with what type of coverage options you provide.

Of course, this is also a place for clients to share their experience with your agency. Every week, you should commit an hour to looking through recent reviews and engaging with them.

It might not take a full hour to do this task, but this practice should become a part of your weekly schedule.

5. Start Guest Blogging:

Guest blogging is a good way to build backlinks and get additional online visibility. A backlink, or inbound link, is essentially a citation to another resource. The previous sentence is a real-world example of a backlink. We are effectively linking to another website to provide you with a source of information of backlinks and their uses.

A great place to start when trying to break into guest blogging is reaching out to a few referral sources or partners. Once a week, send out some feelers and offer to write a blog that would appeal to their audience. Sending an email to these contacts should only take about an hour to complete.

If you secure a featured post on their website or blog, use the remainder of your week to write the content. Check out our blog post, “A Step by Step Guide to Guest Blogging”, for more details.

One hour a day. That’s all you need to improve your website’s SEO.

Not every task that we listed will require your attention on a weekly basis. So, make a plan and set some goals for your website. If your website needs more content, then work on writing some good blog posts. You can also reach out to referral sources or partners to do some guest blogging and backlink to your website. If you need to review your website or Google My Business listing, then spend your first week on that.

If you act on these tips, you will put your insurance agency in a better position to succeed in a digital marketplace. You can increase the effectiveness of these tips by researching keywords and topics. This free resource should help you do just that.

As technology and consumer behavior continue to evolve, now is the time to optimize your agency’s email marketing strategy to accommodate new changes in the digital landscape. Unlock your email marketing’s full potential and see more results from your efforts.

In March's edition of Masters of Marketing, learn about changes on the horizon and how you should prepare for the future. We’ve rounded up five email marketing trends and developments to help you get more from your email marketing: accessibility, user-generated content, email authentication, video content, and marketing automation.

View slides below, or watch a recording here.

5 Ways to Elevate Your Email Marketing Now from Insurance Technologies Corporation (ITC)

These are the enhancements that are included in the next release of agency management system InsurancePro (Release 6.0.40.16).

• Security enhancements
• Modified user count for FollowUps screen
• Modified caching to improve performance
• Added e-check option in daily transaction report

Your Agency's Brand Identity Begins with a Logo
 

Branding your insurance agency is a key component of success and it starts with a logo. When you decide on a logo, you want it to set your agency apart from your competition. Distinguishing yourself from other agencies doesn’t just happen with a logo, though. You have  to build the brand behind it. The right logo, emphasizing your quality, services, products and customer service, will help build that brand.

It's important to be unique when brand building, but it’s just as important to explore the identity you wish to portray. How should you target consumers? How should you go about obtaining exposure? These questions help to determine your best logo design.

Once your perfect logo is finalized, you need to add it to every form of business communication. The more places you put your brand logo, the better. Employee uniforms, golf shirts or oxfords (and "khakis"), helps promote your identity. Consistency communicates the professionalism you want your company to embody and the legitimacy of your agency.

If corporate branding is so important and there are so many ways to achieve it, why are so many agencies not spending the time to get creative? Just look to some big brands for inspiration. Their logos are creative, functional and—perhaps, most importantly—memorable. Two corporate examples of brand building with creative messaging are Amazon and FedEx. With the Amazon logo, there is an arrow pointing from the first “A” to the “Z.”  This design is not only reminiscent of a smile, it represents that Amazon has everything available from A to Z.

FedEx utilizes an arrow pointing from left to right between the blank space of the “E” and the “X.”  This shows that FedEx is always moving forward, with speed and precision.

These company logo designs are simple, yet elegant. They offer a little “aha” moment when someone understands the hidden meaning behind the logo. People will enjoy having that moment and start to identify with your company.

There are so many factors that go into branding, from your website, to your social media and advertising. Customer service, itself, is a huge contributor to your agency's image. Sending thank you letters, calling customers personally to check in and always providing prompt and thorough support help to build your brand. With those first few steps, you've started to build an image of your business. Setting this precedent of excellence will differentiate your agency from others that may not support clients as thoroughly or sincerely.

Establishing the tone of your company branding is imperative. It communicates your reputation, your quality and service. Proper branding illustrates that you're doing things that are original and refreshing. And, it all begins with a quality logo. People will come to associate the brand you’ve built around that symbol.

Utilizing Agency Matrix insurance software, placing your logo into documents for your clients is extremely easy. Your custom insurance agency logos can be copied into all documents. Simply contact us to get started with branding your company and having it represented the way you deserve.

Reducing Risk Exposure
Posted: 06/13/2018

Theft is a serious issue with insurance agencies nationwide. Theft occurs most frequently with the agents who don’t spend a lot of time in the office and who have multiple locations. When the insurance agency owner isn’t participating in the management of their company, it generates the perfect opportunity for fraud and theft to occur.

One of the ways that employees commit fraud is by fabricating certificates and certificate holders. By doing this, they can easily pocket funds without the insurance agency owner knowing. Another easy way for theft to occur comes from the handling of money. When a customer comes in, the agent will post the payment to the carrier’s website but not to the management system. They continue to post it to the carrier website because they know that failing to do so will result in the policy being cancelled and an alert being sent to the insured. But by not posting it to the management system, unless the owner is tracking these statements on a daily basis, they will remain unaware of the theft.

Theft can also occur through false receipts. Some insurance agents purchase a receipt book and tell the insured that the system is down and that they have to hand-write the receipt. The insured walks away with a receipt, but the agent does not put the transaction into the management system. One way to combat this is by having an example receipt posted clearly in the office. Showing customers what a receipt is supposed to look like deters fabrication of fakes, especially if you add instructions like contacting the management if the receipt given does not match the one posted.

Agency Matrix insurance software takes this idea a step further with its text receipt feature. You can print a receipt with a default message at the bottom asking the customer to sign if the receipt is correct. The client will sign the physical receipt acknowledging that they paid and that the agent has received it on behalf of the insurance company. As you can see, an excellent way to mitigate fraud is to have multiple contingency plans in place.

Further, by utilizing Agency Matrix’s sweep reports, insurance agency owners can see all the transactions with all of their carriers over several days. The sweep report shows the transactions, carriers, and the amount that each carrier is going to sweep from the account. By comparing the sweep report with the amount swept from the agency’s account, owners can know whether mistakes have been made or if someone is pocketing revenue.

A very common way in which agencies lose money is through the abuse of the company time clock. Time is a precious commodity. The cost of your employees’ time adds up quickly by the end of the month. Fortunately, Agency Matrix can report any oddities that occur on the time clock.

One Agency Matrix client that used this feature learned that one of the agency’s employees had accumulated an extra 240 hours to their normal amount. This report helped to reveal that the employee’s boyfriend, a manager at the agency, had been feeding her extra hours to increase her paycheck at the expense of the agency owner. This feature helps owners remain aware of what is happening inside the agency while still being able to attend to other important matters.

Ultimately, there is no known foolproof way to stop risk. The best thing an agency can do is limit its exposure to risk. A great way to minimize this risk is by having software in place to detect the discrepancies that occur when theft happens. Management systems, when utilized properly, track your client database and protect your book of business and information.

The many different types of investigative reports and security measures that Agency Matrix implements can massively reduce the exposure to theft and risk that your company has. If you are interested in diminishing your agency’s risk then Agency Matrix can help.

As a result of coronavirus outbreak, the practice of social distancing has begun. For many of us that means self-quarantining and insurance agents are no exception.  You may be very productive at home, but some of us might begin to miss our distraction-free offices. Here are five pro-tips  you can use to stay productive at home.

1: Have a Dedicated Workspace

Working from home inherently comes with more distractions. Your first goal should be to create a distraction-free work-from-home environment. 

Find a place in your home to set up as a desk. Make sure you have good connection to the internet. Set up a work phone or forward your work phone to your cell phone. If you haven’t already, start using messaging applications for internal communication. Some good ones to try are Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Skype.

Having all the physical tools to work at home are important, but so is the right technology. If you can’t access your agency management system or other insurance agency software from home, now is a great time to start evaluating your technology.

Software that is browser based is the technology agents who want to not just survive but thrive use. That is because browser-based technology like comparative raters and agency management systems make it easy to run your agency from anywhere if you have an internet-connected device.

2: Take Advantage of Your Time Gained

You might not have realized this but working from home has some great advantages.

Working from home means no daily commute to and from the office. No more sitting in traffic. It makes it easier to run to the kitchen and make lunch rather than having to go out. You might find that you have more time to work on things that you normally wouldn’t.

Here are a few things you can do to take advantage of that time:

• Create new website content. Your insurance agency website always needs fresh content to help with SEO. Take this time to write a new blog post. Need some fresh content ideas? Download our 12 Months of Content Ideas e-book.
• Do a quality control check on your website. Keeping your insurance agency website updated is a necessary piece of website success. It goes hand in hand with ensuring the customer experience is a positive one. Choosing images and colors can seem like more fun. But, check the quality of your content often to ensure you keep the customer experience fresh.
• Work on your email marketing. Your prospects are also working from home and will have more time to read their email. Now is a good time to see how effective your email marketing is. Check out our white paper for 8 tips for effective email marketing.

3: Get Active on Social Media

Your insurance agency should be present wherever the consumer is. It’s a near guarantee that the consumer is monitoring social media for the latest updates. This is a great opportunity for you to let your community know that your insurance agency can be a resource during these difficult times.

Start by sharing relevant information from your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts that you feel your followers should be aware of. Always make sure to do your research thoroughly to make sure that what you’re sharing is factual. You do not want to spread misinformation. I do not recommend sharing personal opinions via social media. Stick to the facts to avoid alienating parts of your audience.

Our blog post 4 Social Media Trends Your Agency should Try in 2020 has some great tips for leveraging social media to engage with your community. Use social media to be a resource for others and make sure your website is too.

4: Re-Evaluate Your Website Design and Effectiveness

Your insurance agency website has never been more valuable. People are now, more than ever, pondering whether their insurance plan is the best plan for them. Now is a great time to reevaluate whether your website is working for you or not.

Also, is it a tool for clients and prospects to help them address their concerns? Are you offering online rating via a consumer rating portal so that a prospect can get a quote while on your website? Does your website have a client portal where your clients can view their policies?

While you’re at home, review these great resources to help you answer these questions:

•  Maximizing Your Website's ROI
• Why Your Insurance Agency Website is Your Best Tool

5: Take Time to Decompress

Working from home can be stressful. It’s understandable if you get a little stir crazy after long periods of time at home. Here are a few tips for staying sane in your new working conditions.

1. Set boundaries. You may be working in the comfort of your own home, but your personal time is still your personal time. Set strict working hours. Give yourself the same time to recuperate as you normally would. Don’t feel bad about that either. Even though you’re working from home, it wasn’t your choice.
2. Take breaks. You may not realize it, but you probably take tons of mental breaks throughout the day at the office. You chat with friends on messaging apps. You visit with co-workers in the break room. Most of us take an hour for lunch. Don’t give up your breaks just because you’re not in the office.
3. Stay healthy. The reason we’re all committing to social distancing is for the sake of our health and the health of others. However, eating right and exercise is still important. You’re not walking around the office like you used to. So, if possible, go out and take a 15-minute walk around your home. Do whatever you can to stay healthy.

Working from home has both pros and cons. Taking advantage of these five tips can help you grow your insurance agency right from home.

If you would like more information on how your insurance agency can respond to coronavirus, the Big I have helpful resources on pandemic office preparedness, insurance industry implications, and more.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

These days most people have some form of access to the internet. In this digital world, it’s critical to have a website that helps your business have a strong online presence. But, not just any website. An insurance agency website that helps you work smarter, not harder.

Here are a few questions to answer as you build such a website.

Is Your Website a 24/7 Tool for Your Agency?

Make your website work for you. The primary function of a great website should be as a tool, not an online business card.

Does your website provide your visitors 24/7 access to product information? Does it solve their problems and/or answer their questions when you’re not available to assist them?

Always remember, your website enables you to assist your clients at any time – day or night. It’s your only employee that doesn’t eat, sleep, get sick, or go on vacation. There’s no substitute for a great employee. But, if your website works effectively, it can be your secret weapon.

Does Your Website Give You Credibility?

First impressions are everything. Human intuition in the digital world has evolved exponentially in the last decade. Studies show that it only takes 0.05 seconds for a visitor to draw their first impressions about a website.  

A professional-looking website is the first step towards establishing your credibility. You can create a positive first impression of your website with a few basics. Good structure, colors, spacing, images, icons, copy, buttons, and more. Having a beautiful insurance website design is the key to opening the door.

Once the door is open, you need to earn credibility with your audience. You need to earn their trust. To do this, you need to show the consumer, through content on your website, that you’re an insurance expert.  To prove your expertise and trustworthiness, make sure your website has quality content that provides value and answers. Also, add positive reviews or testimonials to show how you’ve helped people.

Is Your Insurance Agency Website Helping You Reach Your Audience?

Consumers are always looking to make their lives easier. They want to buy a great product without roadblocks. They want answers fast and from a credible source. Does this describe the experience you’re providing on your website?

Your insurance agency website should do the work of reaching your audience for you. Think of your website as a modern storefront. Now imagine anyone in the world can find your store in a matter of seconds. They just need the map. Your map is SEO.

“SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the practice of optimizing content to be discovered through a search engine’s organic search results.”

Joshua Hardwick

Search engines are important to your agency because they’re providing the best and most relevant results to consumers researching insurance online. If your website has been optimized for search engines, then your website should begin generating organic traffic.

What is organic traffic? Traffic to your website is organic if visitors land on your website as a result of unpaid search results. If you want more organic traffic to your insurance website, then you need to understand and cater to Google’s algorithm.

Search engine algorithms change often, and your main goal should be consistency. It is crucial to understand how search engines work and what they are looking for. Luckily, most website companies have an SEO team who can assist you with your site’s optimization.

Final Thoughts

In 2020, it’s hard to imagine a business without a website because of how much it can do for you. Use your website as a tool to prove to your prospects that you’re someone they can trust with their insurance. Show how you can help them and be a resource in the toughest of times.

You can work hard, or you can work smart. Let your website do the heavy lifting while you focus on growing your insurance agency.

Lisa LeBlanc developed a self-described nerdy enthusiasm for serving clients and understanding regulations when she worked in the legal field during high school. At the age of 25 when she started working at her dad’s insurance agency, that enthusiasm served her well.

Now 11 years later, she’s achieved her dream and is an owner in the agency. “After 11 years and learning lessons working through failings and embracing growth, I’m elated for the opportunities ahead.”

Outside of the agency, Lisa enjoys doing life with her husband, Aaron, and their rescue black lab/pit mix, Major. Their time is spent traveling, working on home projects, learning to golf, activities with church, their community, and nonprofits, including Adult & Teen Challenge and Then Jonah Project. And, in the summer, spending as much as time as possible at their property on the Pend Oreille River.

And, Lisa’s favorite thing about the insurance industry?

“Opportunities. The industry is full of opportunities to live our values, to engage with the community, to serve, to grow, to learn, to provide for ourselves.”

This is how Lisa LeBlanc works.

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Location:  

Spokane, Washington

Current gig:

New owner of North Town Insurance Agency

One word that describes how you like to work.

Efficiently

Current mobile device:

An old Apple iPhone

Current computer:

Microsoft Surface Go

Project(s) you’re currently working on:

Growing the young agent enthusiasm and camaraderie in our area through events, collaboration and activities.

Accomplishments you’re proud of:

Earning my CIC designation. Purchasing the company I had worked at for 11 years.

What are your goals for the next 12 months? 

Bring on a new like-hearted team member; achieve financial benchmarks to begin profit sharing with our team; start our own networking group with similar minded small businesses; some fitness goals; and building a retaining wall on the river property.   

What are your biggest professional challenges? 

Hiring! Taking the time to hire slowly and intentionally, with a focus on the correct fit for the team and position – regardless of how much we like the personality or experience of the candidate.

What do you like most about your job? 

Aside from engaging with clients and finding new ways to set ourselves apart, I enjoy the potential.  Potential new relationships, potential to deepen the camaraderie with our team, potential to find creative ways to give back to our community and potential success for our company.

Aside from your phone and computer, what gadget can’t you live without and why? 

My earbuds – for books on tape, listening to music while working on tedious tasks.

Describe your workspace.

Functional and welcoming. Two monitors, desk riser and small desk space to help me stay paperless.   

How do you manage your to-do list? 

Time blocking. Being responsible for so many tasks from paying bills and marketing to team meetings and serving clients, I have to block time to dedicate to each task that uses a different skillset or part of my brain.

What’s your best time-saving tip or hack? 

Utilizing all of our resources and vendor offerings to the fullest. 

What’s the first thing you do when you get in the office? 

Listen to an audio book and make a “toward move”– taking a small action toward achieving my goals.  For example, learning our client management system’s new text portal and training the team. Or, evaluating our procedure for new clients. Or, getting quotes on upgrading our phone system. 

What do you listen to while working? 

Pandora. We take turns picking the station. Today is movie theme songs!   

What are you currently reading? 

Profit First by Michael Michalowicz

Favorite social network? 

Instagram

Night owl or morning person? 

Neither! I’m a 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. sort of gal.

What are you watching on Netflix right now? 

Alone

What does a typical day look like for you?  

Intentional start to the day with a workout, strong coffee and a “toward move” (action toward my goals). Then, whatever the day throws at me – meetings, serving clients, team pow wow, endless emails. Ending the day with walking the dog and binge-watching Alone w/ my husband.   

Who are your business idols and why?   

Currently, I am admiring Christy Wright. How she lives a life of high values, moral integrity, servant leadership and pushing through our fears to achieve our goals. 

What is your motto or personal mantra? 

Even if it’s scary, lean into progress and “do it scared.” (Christy Wright).

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? 

So many choices!  The most recent is, “Don’t let the shame or fear of past failings stop your progress.  The pain and negative feelings will pass, but the lessons will stay forever.” 

If you could switch jobs with someone, who would it be? 

No one. I’m really enjoying this new season.