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!
Filed under: Combs & Company Blog, Covid-19, Disaster Relief, Families First Coronavirus Response Act, FFCRA, FMLA, Health Insurance, Important Notice, Insurance 101, Insurance Education, WIFS, Women in Insurance | Tags: Chelsea Whalley, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Emergency Paid Sick Leave, FMLA, J Donovan Financial, Vlog
Looking for an easy digestible explanation of how the Emergency Paid Sick Leave works for companies under 500 employees? Check out this great video from colleague, Chelsea Whalley of J Donovan Financial.
– Effective April 2nd 2020 for groups UNDER 500 EMPLOYEES
*A business closure does NOT warrant Paid Sick Leave!*
– All employees are eligible, regardless of tenure
– Differences between Full Time & Part Time Employees
– Full Time: 80 hours of fully compensated time off
– Part Time: Entitled to the Average number of hours worked over 2 weeks
Filed under: Combs & Company, Combs & Company Blog, Covid-19, Families First Coronavirus Response Act, FMLA, Important Notice, Insurance Women, Vlog, Women in Insurance | Tags: Chelsea Whalley, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Disaster Relief, FMLA, J Donovan Financial
Curious how the expansion of FMLA will affect you or your business? Check out this great video from colleague, Chelsea Whalley of J Donovan Financial.
Filed under: Combs & Company, Combs & Company Blog, Covid-19, Disaster Relief, Employer Requirement, Families First Coronavirus Response Act, FFCRA, FMLA, Health Insurance, Important Notice, Susan L Combs, Women in Insurance | Tags: Coronavirus, Covid-19, Disaster Relief, Families First, FFCRA, FMLA
We’ve been receiving many questions regarding the Emergency FMLA and Emergency Paid Sick Leave Provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. To help you and your clients understand this new law one of our industry partners, Professional Group Plans, has put together a simple flow chart that makes it easy to determine who qualifies and the benefit required for each provision.
Families First Coronavirus Response Act Simple Flow Chart
Filed under: BenefitsPro, Insurance Women, Marketing, Marketing Yourself, Susan L Combs, Women in Insurance | Tags: BenefitsPro, BrokerExpo, Charging Fees, Combs & Company, ShowMe the Money, Susan L Combs
Back in college, I worked for the University of Missouri, and to this day, the coolest job I’ve ever had was working as an event manager for the Hearnes Center. This is where the magic happens when it comes to concerts and sporting events. During that time, I got to work with some amazing people, one of whom happened to be Bob Dylan. And as Bob once said, “For the times they are a-changin.” As benefits professionals, boy, don’t we know it!
I’ve had a lot of great role models in my life and one of my most incredible ones has been my mother. Like me, she was an entrepreneur. She owned a Merle Norman Cosmetics Studio and a travel agency in my hometown of King City, Missouri. My mom had worked for a number of years in the travel industry with American Airlines and Auto-Train (later sold to Amtrak) in Washington D.C., before relocating to Missouri with my father and working for a small travel agency. She later opened her own, and I remember that she saw a major shift taking place in the industry when the airlines decided that they were no longer going to pay travel agents fees on airline tickets. She made the decision to start charging fees and I remember her telling me, “If you don’t value your time, no one else will.”
Click here to keep reading!
Filed under: BenefitsPro, Combs & Company, Innovation Broker Lab, Insurance Women, Motivational, NAHU, Successful Women, Susan L Combs, What's the Good News, Ladies?, WIFS, Women in Insurance, 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
- Paula Beersdorf
- Allison Cohen De Paoli
- 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!
Filed under: BenefitsPro, Combs & Company, Combs & Company Blog, Feature Friday, Innovation Broker Lab, Insurance Women, What's the Good News, Ladies?, Women in Insurance, Wonder Woman Wednesday | Tags: BenefitsPro, Christine Cox-West, Claudia Ferreira, Combs & Company, Kate Reilly, Susan L Combs, Wonder Woman Wednesday
This is a special edition of “What’s the Good News, Ladies?” because I get to toot my horn a little and highlight some great women! Last month, I mentioned I was getting ready to go to the Women in Insurance & Financial Services (WIFS) National Conference and I’m ecstatic to report that I was awarded the organization’s highest honor: the Woman of the Year award! I was beyond thrilled and honored to be selected by my peers for this prestigious award from an organization that’s mission is to attract, develop and advance women in our industry.
While I was there, I got to meet Christine, Claudia and Kate. These fine women were the three finalists for the WIFS Fast & Furious session, where they are given 45 seconds to share their best business practice that has helped take their business to the next level. Click here to continue reading and to be inspired!
Filed under: Combs & Company, Feature Friday, Insurance Women, Mizzou, Motivational, Susan L Combs, WIFS, Women in Insurance | Tags: Combs & Company, 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!

Filed under: Combs & Company Blog, Motivational, Women in Insurance, Women's Insurance Network | Tags: Combs & Company, Just Say Yes, Susan L Combs, Women's Insurance Network
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!
Filed under: Combs & Company Blog, Innovation Broker Lab, Insurance Women, NAHU, Successful Women, What's the Good News, Ladies?, WIFS, Women in Insurance | Tags: Combs & Co Blog, Michelle Harm, NAHU, Rachel Miner, Rachel Pennington, What's the Good News, Ladies?, WIFS

Fourth quarter is here and open Enrollment is upon us! Who’s ready? Can’t ever say our industry is boring, can we? I’m gearing up to attend the Women in Insurance & Financial Services (WIFS) National Conference next week in Minneapolis and excited to meet a bunch of Wonder Women there! This month, I’m happy to introduce you to three women that I know will be killin’ it in the fourth quarter! Click HERE to be in awe as you meet Rachel, Michelle and Rachel!





