At the beginning of her career, Kristine Rushing, who is now co-owner and risk consultant at Rushing Insurance in Pensacola, Florida, interviewed with a bank and an insurance agency. The insurance agency was the first one to offer her a job—and so her insurance career began.

“When I was able to take something so complex and make it easy for our clients or even help my peers understand something, that's when I really knew that this is what I was supposed to do," Rushing says.

In 2008, Nationwide released its exclusive agents from their contracts. Rushing and her now husband jumped at the opportunity to buy an agency, which showed her a completely different side to the industry and confirmed insurance was the right career path.

Rushing was also featured in the May issue of Independent Agent magazine. Check out her interview here or read the full issue online.