Gah! And just like that,it's fourth quarter. Where did this year go? As weapproach open enrollment season and the holidays, I know it can bedifficult to juggle it all. I tip my hat to the workingmothers out there; I really do not know how you all do it. I'm getting ready to head down to Austinfor the NationalWomen in Insurance & Financial Services (WIFS) Conferenceand looking forward to getting some new ideas and spending sometime on professional development.

This month, I'm excited to introduce you to some new colleaguesof mine that have figured out how to meet challenges head on and,as Jordan puts it, manage both “deadlines andbedtimes.” Please welcome Jordan and Esther to ouramazing community of industry movers and shakers!

Jordan Shea, Assurance Agency

“The past year has been one of challenge and growth, bothpersonally and professionally. As a wife and a mother to threeyoung daughters, balancing career and life is essential and I workquite hard to ensure that both deadlines and bedtimes are met withmy full attention. My experience in the past 12 months has shapedthe way that I work with my clients, bringing additional levels ofthought leadership to their overall benefit offerings.

Providing recommendations based on utilization and analytics tosupport employees and their families with physical, emotional andmental well-being extends beyond what I do for a living, but isshaping the core of who I am. By crafting parental leave policies,putting in maternity and infertility management programs, andproviding offerings for members to control and even reverse chronicconditions, I am proud to report that over $10M in value has beencredibly calculated for my clients.”

Esther Cardenas Pipoly, Loss of Life Advocates,LOLA

“I enjoyed being an account manager for employee benefits. Iloved my career; but then something personal happened to me thatchanged how I looked at benefits and account management.

In 2014, I suffered the loss of my father and husband 63 daysapart. It was fast, and there was no time to even think. I learnedthat there are a lot of things that individuals and families gothrough during the last months and weeks of a loved one's life, aswell as afterwards.

When I returned to my account management job, I realized therewas something missing: someone to guide and talk to during theseprocesses. I took everything I had learned during my accountmanagement career and put it into a new passion to help people.

I learned a lot of lessons during my experiences. Here were afew mistakes I made:

• I didn't take Guaranteed Issue on life insurance for myhusband
• I didn't fully understand how the Family Medical Leave Actworked
• I forgot about my short-term disability

Although I realized these issues too late for myself, I nowshare my own story to emphasize how crucial benefits are. Also, toremind others to stop, breathe and listen.”

If any of you plan to be down in Austin for the WIFS Conference,please look me up! And as always, if you know of great womenin the field who are working hard to make this this industry eventbetter, send me an email introduction at [email protected]. I'd loveto connect!