(Working Women) - Libba, Insurance Broker

Libba and I have been friends since I moved to Oregon in 1990. I don't remember if we were in the same second grade class or not, but if I do have any accurate recall left, she was one of the lead/hippos in our class play, When the Hippos Crashed the Dance. So yeah, she's always been the It Girl. I have a picture from my 8th birthday party to prove it - Libba in her jean shorts and knotted tee, roller skating around that Oaks Park rink like she owned it. We then went on to middle and high school together, always running in the same crowd. Libba's most distinctive characteristic, aside from her crazy popularity with boys and her naturally bangin' bod (which every one of her friends envies, and she'd be mortified to be told so) - is her humor. That chick is funny. Like, Kristin Wiig funny (who I happen to know she admires). Also? Libba likes cake. She occasionally blogs at http://walkandlib.blogspot.com/, and when she does, she'll make you laugh out loud. Even if you don't know her. But the other thing? She's smart. I cheated off her Organic Biochem tests when we were seniors, and she went on to college at UW, which we all know is for smartypants. Plus she played volleyball there. So yeah, she's an intelligent, beautiful, athletic woman with an excellent sense of humor. Jealous yet? If not, check out her hubby, Walker, and her son, Boone. Hotties, the both of them. Then I promise you'll want to be Libba's friend - or just be Libba. Most people want to do her or be her. Or both. But she'd never fess to that, it's part of her charm, that she legit doesn't realize what a 10 she is. Read on about her life as a working mom, rocking it at home and on-the-job.

Walker, Libba, and Boone (~10 months)

Bio info - who are you, how old are you, where are you from, where do you live, what's your living/family situation, what are your hobbies, etc. Essentially, what's your story?

First off – I want to thank Jo for doing this. Reading her other friends' interviews  (which you can check out here, here, here, and here, so far) has been fascinating. Smart/interesting women and jobs. This was a good little exercise in personal reflection!

My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Libba – thank you, older sister. I am 31 years old, from West Linn, Oregon. I went to school at University of Washington in Seattle – Go Dawgs. I am married to Walker, he is an Architect (SERA Architects). We have an 11 month old, Boone. He likes to eat, put toys in his mouth, pet my parents' dog, and he absolutely loves it when we pick him up when he cries. My hobbies used to be running, reading books, reading home and fashion magazine/blogs, helping Walker flip houses, watching trash tv… but I don’t feel like I do much of anything besides work and play with Boone these days. Hoping that whole “balance” thing kicks in soon.

Libba, Walker, and Boone (5 weeks old)

What is your current job/profession? What path did you take to get there? Any required schooling or training?

Currently I am a consultant for USI Northwest. We are a nationally, privately held insurance brokerage. I am on the employee benefits side. Basically, I am the middle man in between your employer's benefits package (Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Disability Insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts …) and the insurance carrier. I work closely with CEO’s, CFO’s, and HR teams of larger companies (50 employees and above) to place their benefits with the appropriate carrier. I have been there for 5 years now.

Believe me, I NEVER thought I would end up in insurance, I mean who does? During the spring of my senior year, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with life. I played volleyball for UW and that was over - it was a huge, time-consuming, amazing part of my life. Not having that commitment anymore was scary and freeing. I was a Business major, and one of my class assignments was to go to a career fair and drop off resumes. I remember being so annoyed at this assignment because it was the same night as one of my roommates' 21^st bday, which was a big deal. But, I was a good student, so I went and dropped off my resume to a number of companies. And had some conversations with a few recruiters, but didn’t take it that serious because I had NO idea what I wanted to do, like, no idea. Over the next few days, to my surprise, I got a lot of call-backs for interviews. Most of the jobs were for a sales role, so the fact that I played vball put me to the top of the list I think (competitive female, watch yoself). And because I am Type A and practical, I thought it would be a good idea to get a job figured out so I could make money while I decided what I really wanted to be ….

I went on interviews with five or six different companies. Guardian was last on my list because it had insurance in the name. But throughout the process, they started to creep up. I really liked my potential boss, the training they provided, the earnings potential, and the philosophy of the company. And the fact that I wouldn’t be “cold calling,”  it felt less “salesy."  To my surprise, I ended up going with the mother G.

I started in the Seattle office and moved back down to Portland about 6 months later (I wanted to and they needed another rep). I was Reping/Selling Guardian Dental, Life and Disability to Consultants/Brokers, hoping that my rate and product and service would make the cut for them to pitch to their clients. Being a rep was awesome. Lots of flexibility, brokers needed to talk to me so getting in front of them wasn’t difficult, I only needed to know one product … however it is a grind. You start from 0 every year and you are at the mercy of these brokers. I wanted to be the one in front of the client to help make the final decision and the idea of building a book of business that could grow was more my fit. So I moved to USI (the broker side) after just under 5 years.

What are the pros and cons of your current position?

Pros: $$$ and flexibility. My boss doesn’t micro-manage. As long as you check in and are hitting your numbers, you are basically your own boss. I don’t have to be at the office at a certain time, I can leave whenever I want. I am supposed to be out and about seeing clients/prospects. I love not being chained to a desk. In fact, on Friday’s I am working from home so I can spend more time with Boone. Obviously, this takes discipline as well – which I had much more of pre-kid. A big part of my job is building and fostering relationships with people that I normally would probably never talk to, which is fun and I love. A pro and con is that this job is very analytical and my clients depend on me to help them with potentially very serious issues, e.g. consulting on million dollar spend in general, carriers not covering particular surgeries/drugs, employees forgetting to add their spouse on the plan and the spouse needing coverage yesterday, Health Care reform fees are redic – I am the one they count on to make sure their plan is compliant …

Con: I am 100% commission. Thank goodness my book is at a stable point, but getting there was hard. Emotionally, I bring work home. I don’t like to lose; when I do, it takes me a while to let it go. And when I do lose, it impacts my income. During hard times, I think about work 24/7, I hate not being able to leave it nights and weekends. Schmoozing/networking is not as easy as it sounds. It gets old. And now that I have Boone, I have to find other ways than dinners and Happy Hours to meet people. Healthcare costs are one of the only industries that consistently increase every year. So - I deliver bad news, a lot, which sucks. I see a different side to this industry than most people. Yes – everyone deserves insurance – but it is far from free – how are we going to pay for this? Health Care Reform, focused on access of care. It did not address the rising cost of care in America and the fact that most hospital systems are fee-for-service instead of quality of care. This is a huge problem. BUT If I knew the answer to this, I would be in a power suit everyday in D.C. – kicking ass. All.  Day. Long.

Walk us through a typical day, week, or month ...

Depending on how the boss Boone sleeps, I get up about 6 a.m. About once a week, trying for twice now, I go on a run. Then I feed Boone (still nursing).  I get him and me (and let's be honest, Walker) ready for the day. Drop Boone off at Nanny at around 7:45. Head into office or to an appointment. I am usually in and out of the office all day, on various client meetings, at networking events. About four days a week I have a lunch appointment (which gets old). Usually I can get out of work by 4 or 4:30 p.m. and head home to get Boone.  I come home, make or heat up dinner, eat, play with Boone, and then start his bedtime routine at 6:30 p.m. B is out by 7 p.m. I either get back on the computer to follow-up with work, watch some TV, or read. We are out by 10 p.m. at the very latest every night. This changes if I have a client meeting in the late afternoon or if, god forbid, we want to try and meet up with friends. Usually we try and save that for weekends. My travel is pretty local for the most part. Our headquarters are in NYC – I have only had to go once. I am in Seattle about four times per year. A perk of my job is that I don’t have a territory. I am trying hard to get clients in Bend and San Diego so I can have paid excuses to see my siblings.

What is something about your job that other people might not know or expect?

Technically this is a sales job, but like I mentioned above, it is very analytical and my industry is changing daily. Employee benefit costs are usually the second biggest line item (next to a company's payroll) as a whole. My larger clients are spending millions every year on this stuff. A big part of my job is not only analyzing data, but providing different funding mechanisms in order to try and curb the trend. I have all kinds of info/stats on how much chronic conditions like diabetes are effecting your premiums, how much a preemie baby can cost, how much profit margins the insurance carriers bake into your rate … you want to know everything about healthcare reform? Didn’t think so, but if you do, I am your girl.

What other jobs could you work with your education/training/experience?

I think most sales-type jobs. The most important part is getting the meeting and building relationships. You can learn the other stuff. I do think it is important to be passionate about it. I wouldn’t say that I am necessarily passionate about insurance, but I am passionate about learning and helping people. I actually used to be embarrassed by the fact that I am in “insurance;" it gets such a bad rap in the press, and usually the word “insurance” makes people eye’s glaze over … but I have learned to embrace it. And I am not the person who denied your claim – I don’t even work for a carrier. People get pretty fired up about this topic.

How much do you make? (Too forward?!? Probably. But let's be real, a large part of the reason we work is to make money - give us some deets about your income, as much as you feel comfortable sharing, whether specific to your personal salary, or generally speaking, as in, What Would Google Say).

This one is hard – I fear that if I tell you, you will want me to buy dinner next time we hang out ;) I will say, the money is a BIG draw. It has afforded my family a lot, including the opportunity for my husband to eventually go out on his own. I figure if I am working I might as well enjoy life. We are lucky to be able to go on vacations, get our house remodeled, buy new clothes if we want to … I am a planner. I don’t want to worry about college savings down the road, so we are working to build that now. I am no Gwen Paltrow, I know how extremely lucky we are to do all this.

To give a little idea of how it works. I make 40% new sales commission on revenue and 25% every year after. My clients range from $10K in revenue to $120K. Fun little fact – commissions in Oregon are actually one of the lowest in the country. If I lived in CA or TX, for example, I would really be making it rain… like diamonds and G wagons …

Do you anticipate making any career changes in the next 5 to 10 years?

Probably not. Maybe real estate? I love homes/architecture. 

If you could have any other job in the world, what would it be?

My dream job would be to stay home with the kids until they are, like, 4 and then go back to my job like I never left. I would blog and craft and take walks in my Lululemon yoga pants and UPPA Baby stroller and send the kids to daycare a few times a week so I could do Barre 3 and have lunches with friends where we drink white wine ... THEN, poof! – four years later I would pick up the same clients, not lose any of my technical skillz … you said dream! At this point, thinking of starting something new is exhausting and I don’t think I will find anything with the money and flexibility, at least in the short term.

If someone else was interested in your job, what piece of advice would you give them?

If you want to get into the industry, start on the carrier side. If you like it, stay on that side. If you do make the leap, go with a larger company that can afford to pay you while you work to build your book. USI has been amazing at letting me learn the biz. Also, my industry is changing a lot because of health care reform. I think a lot of the smaller brokerage firms are going to have a hard time competing with the state exchanges. And with the changing environment you need resources to help you navigate through.

How do you balance work life and home life?

I don’t think I do a very good job of it. Because I get like 1 to 2 hours with Boone at night before he goes to bed, I am SUPER selfish of my time with him. And – because he turns into an ass when he doesn’t sleep, I really try and not go off his sleep schedule too much. This makes finding time for friends or anything outside of our routine hard. Walker is much better with the balance. He is not as concerned about the whole schedule as I am. Which pushes us to see friends, be a little more spontaneous – go OUT to dinner on a week night? Are you for effing real right now!? I have the struggle every mom has. I don’t feel like I am giving 100% at either job, and it is frustrating. Sunday nights are the worst, especially at this stage. I feel like he learns something new every day! I hate thinking about being away from him all day. I swear I look at my camera roll of 1000 plus pictures and videos of him at least twice a day.