March 1, 2025 represents 50 years that I have been part of the insurance industry.
While I might not look my age, I actually started working for my dads insurance agency when I was 15.
March 1, 1975 was my first day of employment. My dad started his insurance agency a few years earlier so it was the perfect opportunity for us to spend time together. His office was 30 minutes from home and since I wasn’t old enough to drive, my boyfriend would drive me to work. Fortunately I obtained my drivers license a month later, but that first month, I was dependent on others to get me to work.
I worked for my father through high school and college and I knew insurance was where I wanted to spend my career. Even though my father gave me the crap work, but it was the best gift he could have given me. As a result, I learned all aspects of running the agency and that has helped me throughout my career.
The Second 10 Years
Unfortunately, I wanted to be in sales and my dad didn’t think that was a good path for me. After almost 10 years, I left and went to work for another insurance agency. It was such a difficult decision, but in retrospect, a good one. My next employer was significantly larger than my fathers agency and I learned so much more there. Unfortunately when the conversation about me doing outside sales surfaced, they no longer thought I was valuable.
When one door closes, a new one opens. Fortunately, I was able to find an agency that saw my potential and wanted me as a sales person. The new agency focused on helping construction contractors with their business insurance. This is exactly what I had been doing since starting with my dad. It was an interesting time for me as a new mom and a young woman working in a male dominated industry, but I forged forward. I loved and was grateful for the opportunity that was given me. Unfortunately, something happened in that agency that went against everything I believe in. As a result, I ended my employment after a few short years.
In addition to helping business owners with their insurance programs, one of my greatest accomplishments during this time was earning my CIC designation. This is a prestigious designation in the industry and is very difficult to obtain. The knowledge gained from this program really helped me level up the advice I was offering clients. It wasn’t about buying an insurance policy, my conversations revolved around designing risk management programs that helped a business be more successful.
That launched me into my first agency, The DLD Group, founded in 1992. This had always been my dream, so I was determined to make it a success. I’d learned enough from my dad, and the other agencies I’d worked for to jump in feet first!
As with many home based offices, the distractions were many. It was the beginning of the internet, email and the technology revolution. Not many people worked from home in the early 90’s so I was constantly trying to implement best practices. It felt important to maintain a professional image which was sometimes challenging with two young children running around!
For several years, I built this agency, but unfortunately in 1999 my sister passed away and my perspective about everything changed. As a result, I sold my agency.
The Next 20 years
Over the course of the next 20 years, I kept my insurance license and did consulting. I would help people evaluate insurance products, design risk management programs, implement insurance best practices. Most of my consulting was scheduled around raising my children, caring for several nieces and nephews and caregiving for several of the seniors in my life. For a little backstory, check out this article
Part of maintaining my insurance designation and license meant taking continuing education classes every year. The CIC designation required 16 CE hours each year in addition to the state license CE requirement. These classes allowed me to keep on top of industry changes and benefit those that I worked with as a consultant.
The Last 5 Years
In 2019, I began caring for my mom and she had issues with her Medicare Part B. I tried so hard to find out what was going and very frustrated with the answers. From this experience, I realized it was time to jump back into insurance full time. This time my focus was helping people with Medicare.
Discovering Medicare and helping seniors has been the greatest gift of my career. I wish I had discovered this side of the business 20 years earlier, but I think my experience from being a caregiver has helped me understand what children and older adults go through as we age.
While I’ve been in the insurance industry for 50 years, I hope I’m part of the industry for another 50. So long as my brain continues to work, I’m not going anywhere any time soon. Hopefully we’ll be celebrating 75 years before long!
Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA, CLTC Connect with Debbie on social media platforms: LinkedIn; Facebook
