Can you believe that this postmarks our third anniversary of highlighting so many incrediblewomen in our industry with this column?  A lot hashappened in our industry in the past three years; however, so muchhas remained the same.  I have thoroughly enjoyed sharingthese female accomplishments from around the country and I feellike we are only getting started!  Each month, I amcontacted with stories of new women changing the face of ourindustry and it is simply wonderful.  So, without furtherado, let's get you some more inspirational stories to continue withyour summer fun!  Please welcome, Ricki and Nikki to thecrew.  These two changemakers have learned a tremendousamount this past year when it comes to new aspects of the businessand also how to manage work/life balance.

 RickiHancart, Conner Insurance

“I believe the transition fromworking in the fully-insured small group (2-99) market into theself-funded large group (100+) space as an account manager has beenthe biggest business accomplishment I've made in the past 12months. A member of our team had decided to go a different routewith her career, leaving her book of business up for grabs. I onlyhad about two weeks to train with her and acclimate myself to thisnew set of clients, one of them being in a captive arrangement withsix other holding companies, most with common ownership. The levelof complexity to this client was much greater than anything I'dexperienced to-date. The day the lightbulb went off in my head wasa success in and of itself! In addition to all that, I was stillmanaging the small group book of business, while training myreplacement until she felt comfortable enough to be on her own. Icannot begin to quantify the growth that has taken place for me,both professionally and personally, during this past year. It'sbeen hard work, but absolutely worth it!”

Nikki Poole,Raffa Financial Services

“This was a year of finding balance for me. Being in a rolewhere you are responsible for renewing and advising clients,you're bound to run into difficult situations that take a toll onyour confidence in your ability to do your job. Clients come and gobut for those that leave, it's a learning experience every singletime and it only pushes me to be better at my job. I turn that gutwrenching “oh no, we lost an account, what did I do wrong?”mentality and put it right back into my work. While I still beatmyself up over mistakes, I've been trying to focus a lot of time onredirecting that negative energy into positive energy. I foundmyself bringing that negativity home and I hated it. I needed tofind a way to change this thought process and by recognizing mymistakes, I was able to learn from them quickly and move on. Bydoing that, I am less likely to make the same mistake twice! It'salso helped me work smarter, not harder! I think this is key tohaving the perfect work/life balance that we all need.”

As always, if you know of great women in the field who areworking hard to make this this industry event better, send me anemail introduction at [email protected]. I'd loveto connect!