Cristal Llorens

Director of Client Services
Soderberg Insurance Services, Inc.
Lynnfield, Massachusetts

Age: 27
Guilty pleasure TV show: “Gotham”
In your earbuds: Pandora’s “Today’s Hits Radio” playlist
The app you can’t live without: Disney Now—it keeps my child sane in the car
Spotify or Apple Music: Pandora
Netflix or Hulu: Netflix

Why insurance?

I was out of college with a degree in political science and French and no experience. I had worked in retail for about five years before I graduated, so I was just sending a résumé everywhere I could think of, applying, applying, applying. I ended up getting hired at a call center—it was insurance sales, everything over the phone, cold calls and warm calls. I mostly did auto. I was licensed in over 12 states. I learned a lot, and I started loving insurance. I was like, you know what, this is something I can do. There’s actually a market for us here—there’s not that many young people.

I lasted about a year and a half at the call center, and I knew I didn’t want to do sales anymore, because coming from a customer service background, I like helping. I’m not really pushy. And the commute was a little difficult for me, so I started looking for something in the industry closer to home. At that time, Soderberg was looking for an account manager for both personal and commercial lines. When I came in, it was just like a different world. Here, we actually take the time—we want to educate our customers and help them any way we can.

It’s been really different, but a great change. I’m pursuing my CPCU—I’m so proud of myself for doing that, because it’s hard. I’m halfway through, so hopefully I should finish it up within a year and a half.

What’s to love?

I love the one-on-one contact with customers—being able to help them and educate them, not make them just a number. They have someone to talk to if they have questions at these important parts of their lives, whether they’re buying a home, getting a new car, having kids. They’re so nervous they don’t know what to do. It’s a good feeling to be able to guide them and help them. That’s definitely why I’m still I’m around.

Your competitive advantage?

I speak four languages—English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. It’s great for customer service, because I may have a customer who speaks a little English, but they just feel more comfortable speaking in their own language. They feel more confident that they’re asking the right questions and that nothing’s falling through the cracks.

They don’t really get that around here. We have customers whose agencies are really far away from their house. They’ll say, “My agency is an hour away, but it’s the only one I could find where someone speaks Spanish. Can you help me out? I’d love being able to come closer to my home rather than having to drive an hour to get something simple done.”

Role models?

I have so many. Coming here, everyone’s about double my age, and they’ve all influenced me. I’ve learned so much from them because they’ve been doing this for 10-20 years. It hasn’t been just one person. Everybody I’ve been in contact with has in some little or big way impacted my life. I spend more time with them than my actual family.

Work/life balance?

I have an 18-month old daughter, so that’s a second job in itself! My mom lives with me and helps me take care of her, which is huge. Our Sundays are sacred—we always have something planned. It’s simple, but it’s perfect for me to be able to spend time with them. The good thing about working here is once I leave at 5, I leave at 5. I don’t have to worry about checking my email, answering calls—it’s great to have that feeling of, “I got my work done, and now it’s family time.”

Embracing change?

The best example is DocuSign. We used to have the client print, sign, scan and send back an application or send it in the mail, and it was so much wasted paper. Now, e-signature sets us apart because clients are really busy—they have other things to do. Obviously we want them to come in and get to know us, but if we can make it easier, we can make their lives better. Especially nowadays when you can do everything on your phone, it just makes more sense. I haven’t used my printer in forever—I don’t even think it has ink.

Millennial stereotypes?

Not so much now because I’m getting older, but when I first started, I would meet clients who thought I was too young. When I talked to them on the phone or via email it was fine, but when I met them in person, I could see them hesitate—“Does she really know what she’s doing? She can’t have the experience of someone who’s been here 20 years.” So I got that pushback at first, but then once I got to talk to them and explain, I could see in their body language and the way they talked to me that they started trusting me more. Then, next time, they’d ask for me by name.

The perpetuation gap?

We get a lot of internships—juniors or seniors in college who are studying business and come in and spend six months with us. That opens their minds to the possibility of working in insurance. I think it’s really important to target kids right after college and let them know this is a good industry to get into. When I was in college, I didn’t ever think about insurance as a career option. I had GEICO for my car insurance, so I didn’t ever talk to anyone. I did everything online—I didn’t even know what an insurance agency was. That’s a big issue.

Biggest career mistake?

Going through school with just a retail job and not getting any professional experience. I didn’t put myself out there. When I graduated, I felt like that was the biggest mistake I’d ever made. When I talk to my younger siblings, I tell them, “Make sure you do your internships and get that experience.” It worked out for me, but I don’t want them to feel the way I felt. I felt like I was a failure because I graduated, and I had nothing to do. All I had was a degree. That’s it—I didn’t have anything else. There are so many kids who are graduating. It’s not just good grades anymore. You have to set yourself apart.

Jacquelyn Connelly is IA senior editor.

This interview is the sixth in a series that profiles 10 millennials in the independent insurance industry, based on IA’s July cover story.