Can you pinpoint a single moment that changed the trajectory of your life?

While there are undoubtedly several for most of us, perhaps none was more significant in shaping my career in insurance than the introduction to the industry that I had while a student at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Such a warm welcome I received yesterday as I headed back to campus to share with current risk management and entrepreneurship students the various highs - and lows - of my own career journey since graduating nearly 20 years ago.

There are fantastic ideas taking shape in the minds of these students and I can’t wait to work alongside - and learn from - those that decide to begin their own careers in insurance.

An aside - I’m exceptionally proud to have made it through the day without uttering the word “whippersnapper” - and without telling a single person that “I’m old enough to be your mother.”

I’d say it was a success!

Thanks to Warren Kistner, Patrick Zajac and Brian Richardson for the thoughtful coordination of the day, and Joe Solberg and Tara Gerstner for making space for me in your schedules.