It’s 4th Quarter, which means it’s also open enrollment. We are all tired, overworked and keep saying over and over to ourselves, “Just get through it.” But then…as my friend, Allison Cohen De Paoli put it so perfectly, you get “assaulted” by yet another vendor trying to sell you during the absolute busiest time of year, and you just can’t take it anymore.
After sharing some texts with my crew (Erika, Chelsea, Colleen & Nancy), it got me thinking that we can’t be the only ones. This prompted me to send an email to my list of about 300 women who have been featured in the “What’s the Good News, Ladies?” series over the years and see if others had stories to share.
Boy, did they! In less than 48 hours, over 50 women responded back with annoying, rude and downright appalling examples of how salespeople have approached them during this time of year.
So maybe this is a little bit of a public service announcement; maybe it’s a little eff you; or maybe it’s a little “how to sell to a woman 101.” Because people, you are missing it, and you are missing it big! You know why? I’m dropping some knowledge on you right here in case you didn’t know: According to American Express and the SBA, over 42% of businesses in the U.S. are owned by women and women make up over 51% of the U.S. population! And according to Forbes, 85% of women control or influence consumer spending. That means there are over 330 MILLION women who will sing your praises if you get it right, but they will run the bus right over you, hit reverse and do it again if you get it wrong. We will screenshot your email, text, LinkedIn DM or forward the voicemail to each other and we will remember to avoid you and your company’s services at all costs, because what’s the rule you should never forget?
Hell, hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Buckle up and take note, because you are getting a golden list that is the compilation of many uber successful women in our industry, including award winners, top producers, business owners and badasses. If you are in sales, print this out and put it where you can see it and then never do these things.
The Gift Givers: Not the ones who are sending you a thank you for the business; we mean the ones who are trying to bribe you for a meeting. Gift cards and even shoes were offered to some of these women. What’s wrong with this? It can be looked at as rebating in some states and if you are a vendor with a license, you can lose it. And just as importantly, you make us feel gross.
Bate and Switch – Recruiting: More than one woman emailed and said she had recruiters pose as a potential client. The meeting is booked, but once on the call, they realized it was a recruiter trying to hire them away. Do you really think someone worth their salt is going to come work for you when you have basically lied your way into a meeting and showed your ethical character?
Bate and Switch – “I’m Interested in Your Services”: I’ve heard a few people bring this one up: Someone reaches out to you via email or social media, saying they’re interested in your services, so you set up a meeting. But once you get on the meeting, they have a full PowerPoint presentation on selling THEIR services. So not only did the vendor waste the person’s time as they prepared for what they thought was their own prospect meeting, they completely disrespected them by pushing the vendor’s agenda over theirs.
Beauty and the Beast: I know you have all gotten this one, if you take a second to think about it. A breath of fresh air enters your inbox: finally, a well thought out email or message from someone that has done their homework! You accept the connection, but five seconds later, you get a spam sales pitch message and a link to set up a meeting. I had this happen recently and ignored it two times. By the third one, I was a little less than nice and said, “Dude, read the room. It’s open enrollment and if you really work with brokers, you’d know asking for a meeting right now is the kiss of death.” His response was basically that OE ends in 2 weeks (is he out of his mind?) and he wants to be one of the first people I reach out to. My response? I deleted the connection, took a screenshot and sent it to my friends, who won’t ever meet with him. Bravo.
Badmouthing: You know how your gramma always told you, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? If the only way you feel that you can get business is by throwing others under the bus, are you really that good of a salesperson? One guy basically told one of woman that she was dumb because of the software she was using!
Spam: “Hi…your profile looks interesting…” Raise your hand if you get 10 of these a week. Do you really feel like this is a differentiator? If someone makes me laugh, I always accept, even if I have never met them. But if it’s the same canned outreach, I delete it. And most others do, too!
Not Knowing Your Audience: Man, this one came up a lot. Salespeople basically throwing spaghetti to the wall and hoping it sticks, but missing the mark because they didn’t take any time to really look at who you are as a professional. The sad thing with this one is, that they probably could have gotten a meeting if they did a little homework.
Lying: I have to give a big shout out to the sales training I got from Paychex (I know my girl Rachel McLauchlin will echo this) as I really feel like it was some of the best. Two things I always remember: 1. If you sell on price, you’ll lose on price. 2. Never lie. One example I got of this was someone basically swiping a mutual connections LinkedIn list and pretending that the mutual connection recommended that they connect. When she called the mutual connection to see what was up, she discovered the deception and said, “I will not do business with him now.” So, this guy not only burned one bridge, he burned two, along with all the other people they will tell! (Gas up the bus, girls!)
Did you Get My Email?: This one came up like 10 times. It can also be worded as “Let me bump this up to the top.” Most don’t get the hint that you didn’t respond for a reason and so keep on sending. Or they get a read receipt when you open the email, so then they have someone else who is supposed to be higher up in the firm reach out to you and say they know “you’ve been talking with their colleague.” So many of these do not have an “unsubscribe” feature, so you just end up blocking them.
The Unapproved Meeting Request: Nothing grates on me more, and this was brought up by over half of the women who responded. If you are doing this, stop. Just stop. I don’t know who taught you this, but it’s wrong. It’s intrusive. It conveys that you think their time and schedule should be controlled by you. It’s dishonest. Think of the other person. Would you be thrilled if someone you had never met walked into your house, sat down at your dinner table and said, “Oh, is now a bad time?” I generally have a “three strikes and you’re out” rule, but this one is an immediate banishment in my book. I will never take a meeting from them and everyone I have talked to has similar feelings. Especially this time of year, we are all tired and overworked. When a funny meeting appears on our schedule that we don’t know anything about and we respond to the sender to get a little more information and find out it’s a sales pitch,, queue explosion. Hell, hath no fury….
If you couldn’t tell, I had a lot of time writing this and I hope you had fun reading it. I know we are all running on empty right now, so hopefully this gave you a little reprieve from the stress we all have this time of year. Maybe you got a little insight into how to sell to a woman and realized you might be doing some of these things in one way or another. Or maybe you just nodded your head throughout because you felt a connection to others in our industry. My hope is that it gave you a few laughs, headshakes and maybe a face palm, too.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank those who helped with this article; the emails that came in were just so much fun to read! Hang in there, ladies, and if you need a bus driver, I got you!
This month’s edition of “The Syrup” has a special ingredient! It’s our current Broker of the Year and my dear friend, Nancy Giacolone. Nancy and I have been peer mentors to each other for a number of years and we recently had a conversation about loneliness. It’s a topic that we have seen come up with our own families, as our mothers are both widows. We have also witnessed it with colleagues and clients in our industry. Our discussion led to a guest authorship for this month’s article to tackle this topic and shine some light on some of the things we don’t always think about as the holidays roll around.
And with that, I’ll turn things over to Nancy.
The festive music, twinkling lights, and cheer that fill the air as the holiday season approaches are often thought of as universal markers of joy and togetherness.
Yet, for a growing number of people, this time of year may amplify feelings of isolation, highlighting the stark contrast between societal expectations of warmth and camaraderie and their own personal experiences of solitude.
The “loneliness epidemic,” as health professionals and social scientists have termed it, is an increasingly recognized public health concern that does not pause for the holidays. In fact, it often intensifies during this time of year.
A recent Gallup Poll found that loneliness is not confined to the elderly. They reported that nearly 25% of adults feel very lonely, and younger people feel significantly lonelier, with the loneliest group being between the ages of 19-20.
Loneliness has been linked to a myriad of health issues, both mental and physical. The risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, depression, anxiety, and a weakened immune system is higher among those who experience chronic loneliness.
Alarmingly, some studies have equated the health risks of prolonged loneliness to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Furthermore, loneliness can lead to a vicious cycle, where the lonelier one feels, the less they engage socially, exacerbating one’s isolation.
Gatherings, family traditions, and social festivities typically characterize the holidays. However, they can also serve as a magnifying glass for one’s social situation, illuminating the quality and quantity of our relationships.
For those who are estranged from family, have recently lost loved ones, or are far from home, the season can be a reminder of what — or who — is missing.
The proliferation of social media adds another layer, as idealized depictions of holiday happiness can deepen the sense of exclusion for those who feel their reality doesn’t measure up.
So, what can you do if you are experiencing feelings of loneliness this time of the year?
Frequent “third places.” These places are not home or work, but locations where people gather socially. Think parks, coffee shops, libraries, churches, or sporting events. Meeting people in places where you share a common interest will help foster connections.
Volunteer. Volunteering takes the focus off of yourself and puts it on others, which can foster a sense of purpose and community.
Community events. Holiday concerts, festivals, or bazaars are great places to meet and connect with others. Not to mention, they usually have some good music and tasty treats!
Visit someone you know may be lonely as well. Maybe you have an elderly neighbor who lives alone. Dropping by with a plate of cookies to check on them may be just the lifeline you are both looking for!
Although technology is no substitute for in-person interaction, sometimes it can help bridge the gap! Does your family live across the country? Have a Zoom holiday party or create a new tradition where you decorate your trees together virtually.
The holiday season should be a time of joy and connection, but for those experiencing loneliness, it can be particularly challenging. By acknowledging this reality and taking proactive steps to address the loneliness epidemic, we can extend the spirit of the holidays to include compassion, inclusivity, and community. The gift of connection might be the most precious one we can offer in a season marked by giving.
Before we dive into our next topic, I want to just say “thank you”. I received countless emails, texts, direct messages and comments on the last edition, The Syrup – Mental Illness and Seeing the Unseen, from people who felt brave enough to share their own stories with me. It deeply touched me and as a contributor to this publication for over a decade, I can honestly say this is the most feedback I have ever received on an article. I’m glad it struck a chord with some and hope you felt a little more “seen” in this crazy thing called life.
Our next topic was brought up by the legendary Eric Silverman, who is also a frequent BenefitsPRO contributor, podcast host and enhanced benefits guru. He brought up the age-old topic of working on your business versus working in your business, something I think many entrepreneurs and business owners struggle with.
Before we tackle this, let’s first define and clarify so we are all on the same page. I think of working “in your business” as more about managing the immediate tasks and responsibilities necessary to keep the wheels on the bus, while working “on your business” involves strategic thinking and planning to ensure its long-term success and growth.
Some examples that might make it easier to think about would be:
Working In Your Business: The hands-on stuff like selling or consulting on insurance, customer service, admin work and managing the day-to-day operations.
Working On Your Business: The big picture work that looks more at the future, both near and far. Things like strategic planning, market research for opening a new office location, business development strategy, marketing, and long-term goal setting.
Some of the most successful people in our industry have found a way to balance these two approaches or to bring someone in to help. Because let’s face it, not all of us are good at doing both. If you are a person that is a bit of a dreamer and known to say things like “What would it look like if…”, then you are probably good with working on your business. But you also need to have people in your company that who keep the wheels on the bus while you have your head in the clouds, or you won’t have the revenue coming in to implement your dreams and reach your goals. These are the “In Your Business” people. Typically, your Type A’s that have to-do lists are the ones that are great on implementation and structure to hit your dreamer goals and can pull you back down to earth when you need a healthy dose of reality.
Honestly, I can be a bit of both when I’m in the right environment and surrounded by the right people. I love dreaming and I’m a taskmaster and a freaking machine when it comes to work, but I need the balance of others to run a successful company. When we brought in Sean O’Rourke as CFO over seven years ago, it became a gamechanger for the company. He has a much different approach, comes from outside the industry and was exactly what we needed to get us to the next level. Our revenue has grown steadily year after year since I opened the doors in 2005, but his strategic approach and high-level thinking put us in a financial position where we didn’t even blink when a national pandemic hit.Andhe has pushed my business Partner, Colleen Blum and myself to think about taking on new opportunities, to grow our consulting arm and to become one of the leading expert witness firms in the area we practice. All because we have an internal balance within the company.
One of my favorite things is when the three of us are brainstorming, because you get the logic, the passion and the money aspects looked at and it makes for a better way to set and accomplish goals, both short and long term.
I know many readers are sole props who are struggling with doing it all and figuring out how to take things to the next level. To be honest, you probably can’t do it alone. Eric and I talked about this recently and discussed how many business owners talk about not being about to afford bringing someone in. We both remembered when we made the decision. Eric said he had the same mindset 20 years ago, but “Once I finally made the leap of faith to hire someone to help, my business took off like a rocket. Making the decision was the hardest part. But once the decision was made, the ‘doing’ became effortless.”
As I close out this edition of The Syrup, I’d like you to think about when Eric made his leap. Very rarely does an entrepreneur have someone come up to them and hand them a few million dollars to start a company. Most of us started our businesses on sweat equity and the change from our couch cushions. And while moxie and grit can get you far in this industry, also remind yourself to be smart enough to know what you know, and to know what you don’t know. Check your ego and bring in people who aren’t just like you, but can help you soar; most successful business owners find a balance between working In and on their business, as both are crucial for the overall health and sustainability of a business. And at the end of the day, isn’t that what we all strive for?
A reader reached out recently and said she was having issues with conflict management stemming from unclear roles and responsibilities between teams. Here are some steps I would look at taking to aid in the shift.
Conflict is never easy. We can sometimes kid ourselves that when it comes to business, it’s not personal. But it is. We aren’t working with machines; we’re working with people who have their own personalities, their own experiences, and their own aspirations.
A reader reached out recently and said she was having issues with conflict management stemming from unclear roles and responsibilities between teams. She feels that her team has been left out of brainstorming and decision-making processes. As a result, this is causing the culture to become exclusive rather than inclusive.
The easy answer would be to write out the processes and shift the culture, but there are various factors, including size, that can complicate matters. So, how can you be a champion within your own firm?
I worked for a large firm prior to starting my brokerage, and you could always see very quickly who the leaders were within a team. If that leader is you, it’s probably time to step up. You know how they say that change starts with you? I know it can sound cliché, but it really does. Oftentimes, when you put things in place to shift the culture within your team, you can serve as an example to others.
Here are some steps I would look at taking to aid in the shift:
Identify the source of the conflict or confusion. Is it a person or is it a process? If it’s a process, and there is an existing outline, it might be outdated. If it’s a person, it likely stems from fear.
Update and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of your team. This should involve creating a list of goals and tasks for which your team is responsible. This helps with overlap and prevents confusion. I would do a one-sheeter on this and just keep it simple.
After you have come up with the process, I would encourage you to set up meetings with other teams you’ll be working with closely in order to set the tone that your team wants to be inclusive and work together but wants to streamline the process. This will encourage others to follow suit.
Create and enforce boundaries. I’m not saying you should be the person who is always saying “that’s not my job,” but it can help your team take ownership of what they should and bring in an alternative team when it falls into their wheelhouse. This will help modeling become more inclusive, which is what you want.
Lead by example. If your team is feeling left out, don’t do that to another team. We all know everyone doesn’t need to be in every meeting, but sometimes by giving others the option to participate and letting them know that you value their voice, you’ll see a shift and they will start to value yours.
This isn’t an airtight strategy to prevent all conflict in your organization;, however, when there is conflict, it’s often due to a lack of direction or information. If there is a deficit, his will help to clarify both.
When you break it down, this type of conflict can often be resolved through a combination of effective communication, collaboration, and problem solving. But you must be on board and not everyone will be. My dad was a Major General in the Air Force and frequently had to look at different roles, responsibilities and conflict. When I was dealing with a business issue, I remember him once saying, “80% of issues revolve around personnel and all of it is personnel.”
By implementing these practices, teams can be more effective at resolving conflicts stemming from unclear roles and responsibilities. But it won’t happen overnight. You might have to throw some spaghetti on the wall until something sticks!
I cannot believe that 4th Quarter is days away! That means that open enrollment is on the horizon and oof … how it’s going to be different this year? Hope you all have your virtual toolkit ready to go; I know we have been busy planning and gearing up for this in our office to make the process as easy and smooth as possible. But we’re all in insurance, right? So we look at worst case scenario. If you’re like me, you lay awake in bed thinking “What’s the worst than can happen?” And then you lay awake longer. Gah! Good luck, ladies. Feel free to share the best idea or tool you are using; I’m sure many would love to hear about them.
We had such a blast at the virtual BenefitsPRO Broker Expo this year and got to meet some incredible women that way! I’m really excited to introduces you to these fine women this month who are keeping it real in the world of COVID, home schooling and just being rockstars in our industry. Please welcome Sarah, Robin and Sarah to the fold!
“Interesting? Challenging? Uncertain? I’m not quite sure how to describe the last 12 months. For me, it has involved creating a new role for myself within a new firm while learning to be a teacher overnight to my 8 and 9 year olds. Juggling and adapting have become my forte.
One thing I’ve learned is we’re not meant to do this thing called life alone and that it’s OK, even good, to put ourselves out there and lean on others. Connecting has become my mission, even if only by Zoom. I’ve pushed myself to make connections with mom friends and other female colleagues a priority, carving out time to share and encourage each another. In an effort to connect with others, I’ve started a think tank for clients and prospective clients to discuss their good, bad, and ugly and to encourage one another when it comes to topics like COVID, compliance, leadership and employee morale. It’s served as a great sounding board for human resource leaders.
When you make life a party, not a competition, and give yourself and others an opportunity to connect, it allows everyone to thrive together. Here’s to ducking, diving and keeping our heads above water!”
“I am proud to say I recently conquered a goal that had always eluded me. This goal was to move families from managing money and financial advice to working towards the achievement of life’s purpose and leaving a legacy. During the pandemic, I have been helping clients feel less anxious and more in control of their finances but am also now beginning to talk about the people and organizations that are important to them. And talk they did!
Our client families are acting now to preserve their values and goals for future generations. As a result, estate and charitable planning in my firm has increased significantly. We have helped more clients than ever before design settlement letters and ethical wills. An ethical will is a love letter to your family and bequeaths values. It can be as simple as a handwritten letter or a selfie video message.”
“Last month marked my 13-year anniversary in the dynamic health insurance industry. This year has been the most challenging, as the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the nation. Adapting to a new virtual world, companies are expected to conform to an online-driven work environment, including benefits administration. To accomplish this, business owners are relying on trusted brokers.
Working at a leading general agency, it is my job to work hand in hand with my broker partners to provide top-notch benefits consulting for the most sought-after benefits. I have consulted with hundreds of clients and brokers at companies of all sizes and industries to help them keep up to speed on benefits trends and legislative changes.
Relationships are key, and pairing with a strong team with deep knowledge and expertise drives new levels of success. I’m excited for the opportunities to work with dedicated partners to support business growth and boost client satisfaction.”
Know of a rockstar woman in our industry who’s doing things better than the rest? 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, sane and mask up, my friends.
I was honored with receiving this award in 2017 and thrilled that Teri Weber is a finalist for this year! Today, on Wonder Woman Wednesday, we wanted to honor her and share the article she was in at BenefitsPro!
When Teri Weber started working from home full time, she found it a bit of an adjustment. It was almost like being absent from work. Which just happens to be one of her specialties. Weber is a partner with Boston-based Spring Consulting Group, LLC, an Alera Group Company. When COVID-19 began to confine millions of workers to their homes, she was swamped by client calls regarding work absences.
“‘Will quarantine be a disability?’ ‘People all want to take their sick time now; how do we do that?’ ‘What if 50 percent of our workforce cashes in on what they’ve banked? Could people do a time donation?’ ‘What do I do for employees who work from home but need to care for kids?’ It’s always a balancing act of finance and policy. It gets into the weeds quickly,” Weber says.
But it turns out that is where Weber spends a lot of her time: in the weeds with clients, showing them the way out.
Weber became a partner with Spring Consulting in 2008, where she has focused on disciplines such as absence management that can save clients time, money, and management headaches. Absence policies can be shockingly ad hoc, inconsistent, and are often crafted in the breach, rather than the legal or human resources departments. During the COVID-19 outbreak, Weber has had to explain to clients that actions they take to attempt to manage a tidal wave of absence incidents could easily become company policy.
To one client with a question about virus-related time off, she said: “What do you want to accomplish with this? What are you hoping to do? It’s about getting to the root of why you think this policy will help you now. Because the policy can become law long after the crisis is over.” She also lends her absence expertise to the Disability Management Employer Coalition, a group of New England employers and insurance companies focused on disability and leave of absence policies.
“We speak a different language than most people,” she says. “An employee will say, ‘I need time off for something.’ That’s how they think about it. Our work is around compliance, cost and culture. We look for the best programs we can design, from leave time to return to work.”
Another area of focus is student debt and student loan payments as a benefit.
In the quest to land top young graduates, companies experiment with offering student debt payments. Weber likes to include the benefit in a plan design, but only if she believes it is being offered for the right reasons.
“It is often a targeted approach to address turnover among younger people, or to attract young talent. Other employers just want to give it as a benefit without a specific objective.” Weber asks, is the target of the benefit specific or general? Short term or long term?
“That $2,000 can make a huge difference to a young person. But does it serve your overall strategy?” she says.
One could get the impression that Spring deals largely with major employers, those who have the financial clout, employee numbers, and staffing to engage in creative plan design. But that’s not the case.
One of Spring’s most devoted clients is edHEALTH, a three-person health insurance captive based in Rhode Island. edHEALTH is a member-owned consortium that serves as the stop-loss provider for group members, mostly East Coast colleges, universities, and charter schools, including Boston College, Sarah Lawrence, Brandeis, Wellesley and Emerson.
Tracy Hassett, president and CEO of the captive, says Weber served as an early advisor to the original 24 members as they developed their model.
“When we started talking, we were faced with numerous barriers,” Hassett says. “Brokers and consultants at the schools were nervous about taking that business away from them.
Meanwhile, the schools we talked to made it clear they didn’t want to change their plan design. They wanted to be part of the consortium and save money. ‘But we don’t want to make any changes to plan design or to our carriers or upset faculty or staff.’”
Hasset feared it would take long hours over many meetings to arrive at a plan design that would satisfy all the members. Enter Weber. Working with Hassett, she helped the members reach agreement quickly on a common plan design.
“Teri is easy to talk to, offers very clear descriptions, and she made sure potential members at the time knew that we were trying to deliver a program to minimize costs and maximize coverage. That is still the role she plays and she does a wonderful job.”
In the years since, the group has grown, while costs have held steady. Average premium growth per member over the last six years had been 3.5 percent, while admiration for Spring and Weber grows every year.
“Spring has been an incredible partner since before our inception, and an incredible partner in helping us grow,” Hassett says.
Meanwhile, back in her “home” office, Weber is getting new insights into the challenges her plan members face when forced to juggle work and child are duties. Her two daughters, 12 and 14, don’t need a lot of supervision with the family cooped up in the house, but like kids all over, they have been attempting to master online learning while Mom and Dad grow accustomed to virtual meetings, the intricacies of telecommuting, and keeping dispersed teams motivated during a global pandemic.
But Weber manages to keep a positive attitude as she attempts to establish “a new normalcy at home.”
“I’m an optimist. I look for the good people out there. The sun is always shining, even when there are clouds are in the way!”
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!
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.”
Happy Holidays! Man, this year went by quick! We are in the home stretch of open enrollment in our office and we are definitely looking forward to a break, as we have been very busy! It has been so much fun to meet so many wonderful women in our industry this year from around the country and feel inspired by their stories. I’m very happy to share the news of Erika, Grace and Pam as we round out the year, and the remarkable things they have been doing in 2017. Have fun getting to know these exceptional women. I know I did! Click here to read more!
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!
To one client with a question about virus-related time off, she said: “What do you want to accomplish with this? What are you hoping to do? It’s about getting to the root of why you think this policy will help you now. Because the policy can become law long after the crisis is over.” She also lends her absence expertise to the Disability Management Employer Coalition, a group of New England employers and insurance companies focused on disability and leave of absence policies.
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!
combsandco 