Dear ,

There is extraordinary excitement in the air that is related to something changing…something different. Is this excitement a response to the reality that we have arrived at some level of COVID safety, where after multiple years we can again move around in the world? Or is the change due to the undeniable feeling of not knowing how our futures will unfold, that life from this point forward will be different, and followed by my instinct that this change, whatever it is, is moving toward better? 

During the COVID years the Amplify Women Committee of the Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA) became a business/social lifeline for many of us. It was a break in the stream of business focused Zoom/Team meetings, calling upon a group of professional insurance women and Dan Towle to discuss the plight of women in the insurance industry. 

My career began in the late 1970s at a time when the commercial insurance industry was recognized as being male dominated yet female populated. Few women had advanced in the ranks and as a young professional want-to-be, trying to construct a career path, the only model for professional advancement came from men. It was difficult to figure out how to break into a posse of men who were charged with the role of “rain makers” – those individuals working on the exciting high-profile projects. This group was well compensated and celebrated their successes in a way that the sea of women in support roles did not. I wanted in and had to try and figure a way to infiltrate those groups as a woman. I formed what felt was a safe strategy, to align myself with senior men who had daughters who would soon be a part of the workforce. It was from these male mentors that I found both the recognition and the invitation to work on the interesting work that would advance my career. I slowly but certainly was recognized as a significant contributor of the winning team. The price of membership on this winning team for women was significant. The culture of the time was invested in following the leader, keeping your head down and withhold all comments. Betting my future in adapting to this culture had its cost and it is only now after a long, and mostly wonderful career, that I realize that women entering the workforce now would be appalled by these unwritten rules. It did not matter to me what portion of the project I had, I was going to work at it more than anyone, keep my head down and not comment on behavior. In that commitment, I twisted myself into someone else, someone who was much more serious, solely focused on the task at hand and driven to accept responsibility for everything. I recall one time in the early days of wind turbines and working with a “rain maker” to develop a program specific to this innovation. For him success on this program was winning the lottery. One morning, out of nowhere, he just let me have it, I did not get it, but I took it, I took his frustration and unhappiness and made it mine. A younger colleague on the project entered the room and he pivoted to her, to let her have it and she stopped him in his tracks. She confidently leaned back in her chair and with incredible compassion said, “Ron you must be having a terrible day, let’s meet later when you are more like yourself.” In such an effortless way she let none of his frustration and anger cling to her where I had owned it thinking if somehow, I was better, he would not be this emotional bomb. My mouth hung open and at that moment I realized that I needed to start to learn from my junior colleagues. Someone was unearthing a better way.

When asked to reflect on my career throughout our Amplify Women meetings, I have been able to identify that what was sacrificed was my authentic self. Every day young professionals are teaching me that losing your authentic self is a price they are unwilling to pay, and I cannot tell you what incredible joy that brings me. To know that we can all achieve success and career fulfillment in an incredibly interesting industry without doing harm to one another is a promise we all owe each other. 

We Amplified Women have advanced these and other conversations through conference panels and group chats, to find that the conversation is well worth having. Deconstructing dated and unnecessary cultural norms is important work. What we are finding is that this dated, nasty, suffocating, cultural suppression impacts every part of the life of every woman, man, families, and friends. We spend too much of life working to think that sitting on the best parts of ourselves does not have consequences. 

In my time as a member of Amplify Women, I have seen members find the confidence to go after that next new fabulous job, assert the confidence to volunteer to speak at a conference event, and extend an invitation to hundreds of insurance professionals to join us in our important work of Amplifying Women. If you want to Amplify your career and your life, come join us. All are welcome!