Episode 2: Try and Stop Me Podcast by Colleen Blum with Guest Stephanie Virchaux
Podcast: Try and Stop Me
Host: Colleen Blum
Guest: Stephanie Virchaux, of SV Empowerment
On Episode 2, we sit down with my dear friend Stephanie Virchaux.
Stephanie is the Founder of SV Empowerment, she is a Motivational Speaker and an Energy Healer.
Stephanie had over a decade in the corporate world marketing for some of the top beauty brands in the industry. She was making well over 6 figures in the “opportunity of lifetime” position. Despite all of the perks, at the end of the day, it just wasn’t what her gut was telling her to do. Listen along as she shares her journey which lead her to her coaching business where she was able to use her own tools to help her through some extremely difficult times of her own.
Instagram: @tryandstopme_podcast
Guest Instagram: @stephanievirchaux
To listen to the full podcast, CLICK HERE or check it out on Spotify!
What’s the good news, ladies? August edition
August 14, 2020, 3:53 pm
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Insurance Women,
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Benekiva,
Bobbie Shrivastav,
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Combs & Company,
Deidre Wright,
Feature Friday,
Strategic Stories,
What's the Good News, Ladies?Original Post: BenefitsPro Broker Innovation Lab
By Susan L Combs | August 14, 2020 at 06:58 AM
Guess what’s next week?! It’s BenefitsPRO Broker Expo time! This is one of my favorite conferences every year and this year we are doing the Fast & Furious Session from the main stage! So if you haven’t already registered, make sure you handle that ASAP! Since it is virtual this year, if you are a broker or agent, you can get in on the fun for no charge and learn what the rest of us already know about this great show!
In July, we kicked off our Wonder Woman Mastermind group, which was the brainchild of this series. We had a wonderful first meeting, where we shared some excellent marketing ideas with each other. If you are looking to be inspired by more women in our industry, please meet Bobbie and Deidre. Both women are breaking down barriers for women in our industry with personal impact and mentorship.
Bobbie Shrivastav, Benekiva
“The past 12 months have been focused on growth, speaking and mentoring! Due to all of our recent exposure and hard work, Benekiva was invited to participate in Mass Challenge FinTech Accelerator. We were selected out of over 300 applications globally and are proud of this recognition! Our impact in the industry has also increased as we’ve grown the number of carriers we work with from three to nine over the past 12 months. Personally, I was invited to speak at over 25 events in the last year, on topics such as InsurTech, innovation, customer experience, digital transformation, Blockchain, startups, women in tech, and diversity and inclusion. I’ve meet so many dynamic people along the way. Lastly, we have been able to mentor many startups and logged over 250 hours to help the startup community nationally.”
Deidre Wright, Strategic Stories
“I constantly think about the legacy I want to leave. My goal is to diversify the C-Suite and change the image of what a leader “looks like.” While companies promote diversity and inclusion, data shows the existence of pay disparities and glass ceilings amongst employees. Last December, I took the leap to become a full-time entrepreneur, providing personal brand coaching to ambitious but undervalued diverse talent. Nothing could have prepared me for what was to come. The biggest surprise has been, that in the midst of a global pandemic, unstable economy, and racial unrest, my clients are winning. For example, Uche, a first-generation African American woman, just landed a new job making 20% more pay and with the dream title we planned together. Why am I celebrating this as a personal win? It debunks the myth that top-notch diverse talent doesn’t exist. So. I encourage us all to mentor, hire and promote diverse talent.”
Know a great rockstar woman in our industry who’s doing amazing things? If so, I’d love to connect! You can just shoot me over an email with their information or feel free to make a virtual introduction to me at scombs@combsandco.com. Stay safe and mask up my friends. Hope to see you August 18th-20th at the BenefitsPRO BrokerExpo!
Episode 1: Try and Stop Me Podcast by Colleen Blum
August 3, 2020, 5:51 pm
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Tony Pec,
Try and Stop Me PodcastPodcast: Try and Stop Me
Host: Colleen Blum
Guest: Tony Pec, Y Not You Media
Our guest Tony Pec is the go to man for social media and all things business.
Hear how he saw the potential in Instagram growth which led him to say “forget the college degree” and dove right into creating his own Forbes Accredited Marketing agency!
Take a listen the preview below!
To listen to the full podcast, CLICK HERE or check it out on Spotify!
The Lessons I Learned From COVID-19
June 12, 2020, 12:52 pm
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Feature Friday,
Motivational,
NAIFA,
Susan L Combs,
Women in Insurance | Tags:
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NAIFA,
Susan L CombsOriginal Post: NAIFA Advisor Today
“I need to hear something good.”
This is what a friend of mine said to be about 4 years ago, when we were having a trying time in our industry and just needed an influx of positivity.
Fast forward 3 years and some odd months later, I found I was the one who needed to hear something good. My husband and I both tested positive for Covid-19, and although the symptoms for us were mild, I found myself being the one that was bummed out. Days upon days of seeing emails about Covid-19 and what to do and what not to do, and suffering from information overload , and I just needed to hear something good….
This made me hit pause and remind myself, “Innovation is born from necessity.” What a bold statement that just rings so true today!
I’m in New York City, the epicenter of Covid-19, and it is definitely not business as usual.
But we have found new ways to connect with family, friends and clients and also support them in ways we never thought possible.
After doing some brainstorming with my peers, these are the things we started to do to feel more connected:
- We did not actively sell. If people come to us and need coverage, we help them. We got so many calls at the beginning of the quarantine from people who had been laid off and were in need of Individual Insurance. – New York City doesn’t pay brokers for their advice; so, instead of our normal $185/hour, we are dropping it down to $100 flat. But we are finding out that we are using more leeway on just answering some general questions from people and pointing them in the right direction without their retaining us.
- We reached out in kindness. We had a lot of prospective clients who were in the process of setting up new group plans or business insurance policies and we reached out just to check on them, tell them we know things have changed, and want them to know that we can pick things up whenever they are ready
- You know those 4,712 emails all of us received about Covid-19? We pulled out a lot of important information from them , put it into one blog posting, and reached out to all our clients with just a “Checking In” email. – We got a positive response from this email and our clients shared with us what they are going through and what they are doing. One client is writing a new book, one is shifting their cooking classes to online classes, and some have created disaster relief funds for their own staff. So, what we did with these responses was to ask them to share with us links or information, and then we passed that information on to others.
- Whenever a client reached out to us about a fund they have created, we made a donation and shared the information on our Social Media accounts.
One of the things I learned from all of this is that you have to let people do things for you, too. When my brother was sick with cancer when we were kids, the Chaplain at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital told my mother, “You have to be a gracious receiver.” So, I have eaten a little piece of humble pie and let people do for me.
I can’t tell you how many industry friends have reached out to me just to check on me and offer support. I have had people send us masks, go food shopping for us, and just “Face Timed” with us to see how we are doing.
It’s been amazing to have Zoom dinner parties and Happy Hours and be able to feel connected when we felt like we were on an island. There are truly so many incredible people in my life, including many men and women in our industry. These peers of ours are working hard to make an impact on our industry during this difficult time. They all serve as a shining light in such a dark time, and I am grateful to all of them.
Stay strong, my friends.
Bio:
Susan L Combs, PPACA, ChHC, is president of Combs& Company, LLC, a full-service insurance brokerage firm. She is a past recipient of NAIFA’s Four Under Forty Award, and past president of Women in Insurance and Financial Services.
Tribute to my Father
Major General Roger E Combs (February 22, 1945 – August 22, 2018)
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Husband, Father, Grandpa, Brother, Son, Uncle, Friend, Mentor, Servant, General and Judge. He’s gone by so many titles over the years.
He was born on the family farm in rural Stanberry, Missouri on February 22, 1945. He was known for quoting a Senator who said, “When you’re born on a dairy farm, everything else is easy.”
He shared his successes with those he loved, like the incredible experience of his promotion party when he was given his 2nd Star (Major General). He invited all his “circles” – family, church, courthouse, and military. He had a Wikipedia page and hardly anyone in the family or King City knew about it.
This is how he lived. He could talk to anyone. No matter the successes he achieved, he never forgot he was that boy who was born on a farm and attended a one-room schoolhouse. He was the son of H.H. and Ruby Fern.
He was a teacher.
This man taught me, “It’s important for you to be understood, but it’s more important for you to not be misunderstood.” I think one of us kids quotes this weekly.
This man taught me to be independent and have a common knowledge of how to fix some things. Then if all else fails, WD-40 and duct tape will fix almost anything.
This man taught me to parallel park between a horse trailer and a feed truck out on the Mule Shoe Ranch. Living in NYC, this skill has become priceless.
But most importantly, this man taught me there are three major aspects of my life and he basically broke it down to me like this: “You have the person you are with, the place where you live, and the thing you do for a living. If you’re happy with 3 out of 3 then you are living a golden life; but on any given day, if you can be happy in at least 2 of those aspects, you’re doing just fine. But if you’re happy with only one or none, then get off your butt and do something about it. Surround yourself with supportive people who “get” you; to whom you don’t have to explain yourself. Live in a place that excites you and that cultivates who you are and who you want to be. Choose to do something you love because invariably you’ll do it well.” He was a living example of this by showing us a deep love for our mother, passion for his career, and a fondness for his community.
His life was the definition of God, Family, and Country. He had integrity, love, and sheer grit. He loved his family, community, church, courthouse crew, and his brothers and sisters of the armed forces, with whom he served for more than 39 years. The outpouring of stories and notes we have received reinforce the fact that he was not only our hero, but a hero to many. He was the guy who would mentor young officers in the military; he made children feel safe when their home lives were in disarray during custody hearings; he would snow blow downtown King City to make sure the merchants were safe in the winter; he took the time to care when there were no witnesses.
He was a fighter.
Most recognizably as a CH-46 Helicopter pilot for the Purple Foxes in the US Marine Corp and until the very end, as he battled Agent Orange-related throat cancer for the past decade. He never gave up and he never surrendered, until God took mercy on his soul on August 22, 2018.
To say this past year has changed me would be an understatement. He helped make me who I am today. I have been and will always be proud to call him my father and know that he still lives within each of the many lives he touched all over the world. Over the past year of his life, I am so grateful that I was able to take the time, be quick to listen, fierce to love, slower to say yes to everything, and to find the serenity when I could.
You’ll always be in our hearts.
Susan
Wonder Woman Wednesday: What’s the Good News, Ladies?
April 11, 2018, 11:12 am
Filed under:
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Wonder Woman Wednesday | Tags:
BenefitsPro,
Kimberly Eckelbarger,
Sharon Tiger,
Susan L Combs,
Susan Lockhart Weed,
What's the Good News, Ladies?,
Wonder Woman Wednesday
So, we made it through the “month of Mondays” and now we’re back at it! Not sure about you, but things have been crazy for me. I’m sitting here on a plane, and it is literally my sixth flight in five days! I swear I have aged five years this week! I’m very excited to introduce you to my new friends, Kimberly, Sharon and Susan! These women were all introduced to me by a fan of this series, Eric Silverman! Eric is a great advocate for our industry and for women in our industry, so I love the extra support he has been providing to this column by making great recommendations for some incredible women in our industry! I really think you’ll be wowed by these women. I know I was. Click here to keep reading!
What’s the good news, ladies? March Madness edition
March 21, 2018, 2:03 pm
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WIFS,
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Wonder Woman Wednesday | Tags:
Allison Cohen De Paoli,
BenefitsPro,
BrokerExpo,
Cerrina Jensen,
Combs & Company,
Paula Beersdorf,
Susan L Combs,
What's the Good News, Ladies?,
Wonder Woman Wednesday
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-
Paula Beersdorf
-
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Allison Cohen De Paoli
-
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Cerrina Jensen
March Madness is upon us! This is one of my favorite times of year! It sounds like bracketology will be interesting this year, as there really aren’t any major standouts, so anyone can be Cinderella at the ball! I’ve been also gearing up for speaking season and looking forward to heading out to Denver to speak at the WIFS / NAIFA event. I will then be heading to San Diego for the BenefitsPRO Broker Expo and I’m looking forward to making some new friends from around the country!
This month, I’m very excited to introduce you to my new friends, Paula, Allison and Cerrina! These women are doing fantastic things in the industry and I’m very happy to have them be part of the WTGNL Crew!
Click here to read about Paula, Allison and Cerrina!
WIFS LeadHER Blog – Finding Your Tribe
March 9, 2018, 3:29 pm
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Mizzou,
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Susan L Combs,
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Feature Friday,
Find Your Tribe,
Mizzou,
Susan L Combs,
University of Missouri,
WIFS,
Women in Insurance
Growing up in a town of fewer than 1,000 people in the northwest corner of Missouri I always had a sense of who I was and where I was from. Yet, when I moved to New York City, fresh-faced and fancy free right out of college, the realization that there were more people on my subway train each morning on my way to work than in King City, Missouri was a little daunting at times.
My father encouraged me to “find my tribe” and look up the University of Missouri Alumni Chapter in NYC after getting settled. He explained to me that I would have an instant connection with these people as we had a common bond of the University, and that we would just “get” each other without having to explain a whole lot. And they would also know that Missouri is in the center of the US, something that New Yorkers still seem to have trouble locating when I tell them where I’m from.
Fast forward about five years when I became fully immersed in the insurance and financial services industry, one that I feel has incredible opportunities for women, yet we still hover around 14 percent of the industry. It was very apparent that I needed to find a new “tribe,” one that would just “get” me in this aspect of my life. I found this with WIFS.
Click Here to read the rest of the story!
Saying “yes” to you
If you remember, my last blog post on the Women’s Insurance Network was about the art of saying “no.” Funny enough, I heard Oprah on “CBS This Morning” about a week after it came out. She hit the nail right on the head for me when she said, “The answer ‘No’ is a full sentence.”
As I sat on my umpteenth flight for 2017, I started reflecting on the things in my life I have chosen to say “yes” to that give me personal satisfaction. That’s one thing I love about the women I have met in our industry (as well as many men): we are givers. We’ll hand you our playbook, the budget and the strategy that built our businesses. So, after telling you all about saying “no” the last time, I wanted to tell you my “Seven Silos” of saying “yes.” These are things that I do that help me to be a better me, not only to my family and business, but a better me to me.
Click here to read all about my Seven Silos!
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