License to Lead: Meet Young Agent Brooke Stout
Brooke Stout
Receptionist and assistant account manager
Chalk & Gibbs Insurance & Real Estate
Morehead City, North Carolina
Age: 28
Go-to drink order: Sweet tea or chocolate milk
Favorite movie: The “Twilight” series. As a teenager, it was an epic love story. As an adult, it’s a cringey comedy.
No. 1 item on bucket list: Travel to Japan
How did you get started in insurance?
I was working a dead-end job at a high-end retail store with no opportunity for upward mobility. I knew I was looking for something else; I just wasn’t sure what I was looking for. I ended up posting to Facebook with my qualifications and personality traits, and the HR manager of Chalk & Gibbs reached out. The rest is history.
I do reception, and I am also an account manager assistant, so I do a lot of quoting and intake for new customers. I love it. I eventually want to move into a producer role, because I like meeting new people and writing new business.
Find Your Tribe
What do you love about insurance?
I love that we get to be the face of insurance, cultivating positive interactions where we get to help people. Insurance isn’t always positive. People don’t enjoy talking about it, purchasing it or dealing with it, so when you can make it a positive interaction, it’s really great.
Gen Z stereotypes?
I consider myself an elder Gen Z. We get a lot of flack for being lazy or entitled or unmotivated. There’s always some bad apples, but our generation really does work hard. We’re always looking for new opportunities. We just haven’t always been given the same opportunities as previous generations, especially with our economy. We’re trying our best.
Best thing about being an independent insurance agent?
I love not being stuck with one carrier and being able to offer multiple, customizable options.
Role model or mentor?
My entire branch took so much time and patience to teach me how to be an account manager assistant. My office manager, Angie Morse, and my fellow receptionist, Nancy Cooper, have especially mentored me. They both have 30-plus years of insurance experience, so their knowledge and experience has been fantastic.
Multiple generations in the workplace?
Previous generations bring vast amounts of knowledge and experience and new generations have great new ideas, new life and new outlooks. There are many ways to integrate the old ways with the new ways and make the best workflows possible. Sometimes older generations are a little bit steadfast in their ways, but when there’s respect between generations, it can work out really nicely.
AnneMarie McPherson Spears is IA news editor.
