Viewpoints

“Small businesses are as vulnerable, or more so, than enterprise organizations,” says independent agent Robert Sargent. “However, many small businesses do not acknowledge their vulnerability.”

Blackwell is responsible for Applied Systems’ strategic growth business units, including Ivans, EZLynx and Applied Pay, as well as Applied’s corporate financial functions.

In 2023, Isler received the InsurPac Young Agent of the Year award for helping AIIA win its first InsurPac Eagle Award. In 2024, she received the national Young Agent of the Year Award for leadership in her local and state associations.

“More education is needed to get younger people to incorporate life insurance into their retirement planning and overall investment strategy,” says independent agent Colleen Corrigan. “If they purchase life insurance under the age of 40, it’s fairly inexp

Nancy Germond, Big “I” executive director of risk management and education, is a second-generation insurance professional who has written scores of risk-management articles and a book on workers compensation.

In her short insurance career, Stafford has acquired the certified professional insurance agent (CPIA) designation and was recognized as a 2023 Young Agent Mover and Shaker by Insurance Agents & Brokers (IA&B).

“One thing I’ve always loved, even outside of work, is helping other people,” says young agent Jesica Hernandez. “The opportunity to help people protect what they’ve worked hard for is very fulfilling.”

“At the end of the day, I think different perspectives are important in any organization,” says young agent Cole Schanandore. “Every generation needs to be adaptable and learn to work together as a team.”

Osuyah’s first venture into insurance was in 2004 when he purchased his mother-in-law’s Allstate agency. He quickly realized that this was not the right road for him and decided to go the independent agency route.

“It’s nice to have old-school relationship-building and true cold-call outreach in the agency,” says independent agent Weston DeFrisco. “But with Generation Z coming in, they have all of these creative ideas on how to use social networking and artificial