Who's ready for open enrollment?  Can you believe we'reknocking on that door again, already?  I'm really excitedto introduce you to three dynamic women who are full of treats andnot tricks, though they do all have some incredible skills in thebenefits world that they are willing to share with all ofus.  Please meet Megan, Nancy and Glendae as they sharetheir incredible stories of creation, reinvention and growth.

Megan Cook, Adept Benefits

"I have a very thoughtful plan inplace to scale Adept Benefits over the next six months, 12 monthsand three years! Adept has doubled in size this year and will mostlikely quadruple in size next year! Finding clients is the easypart; scaling and executing on our promises takes skill. I'm luckyto be surrounded by incredible mentors who have guided me throughthis process.

In addition to running Adept Benefits, I am the Director ofCommunity Engagement for a non-profit called the Health CommonsProject. I am helping bring communities together to care for ourmost vulnerable population, our Medicaid population. The work weare doing is giving this population a chance to succeed, receiveholistic care and simultaneously frees up the employer's healthcare dollars that are being spent to foot this bill.

This work is so rewarding! It is great we are able to save moneybut at the end of the day, our mission is to get people the righthealth care at the right place at the right time for a fair andreasonable cost."

Nancy Giacolone, RHU, Olympic Crest Insurance,Inc.

"As a woman who has been in this industry for over 30 years,this past year has been one of reinvention and risktaking.  I have invested a great deal of time in definingwho I am and what I want to do for myself, my employees, and myclients.

This has led me to making some big changes, including applyingand being accepted into the Health Rosetta program!  Ihave focused on creating quality content on LinkedIn to reach abroader audience and continually strive to communicate moreeffectively to employers and employees about their benefits and howto use them.

This past year has also seen me become a runner!  Ispent the first 50+ years of my life telling myself that I couldn'trun.  Then a funny thing happened; I was tired of being aspectator watching my son and husband run at events and decided Iit was time for me to be a participant.

I kept telling myself that if I could do "x", then I could dothis too.  I ran my first 5k from start to finish on the4th of July, something I truly believed was impossible. Now I take this mentality into the challenges I face in businessand changing the way we purchase and communicate health carebenefits."

Glendae Tuthill, Benevestco – A Resource SevenCompany

"The past 12 months have beenvery exciting for me and my team! I believe that the growth in mycompany's overall business can be directly correlated to ourpassion dedication to do the right thing for our customers.

Being at the forefront of the employee benefits industry, alongwith my knowledge and experience, has afforded me to lead mycompany to acquire new clients and provide service that they havenot had in the past.

With all of the changes and government regulations surroundinghealth insurance and employee benefits that have taken place inrecent years, I feel as if my company has done an excellent job inensuring that our clients are both informed and prepared to meettheir regulatory requirements.  I also feel as if myemployer groups have a true belief that I am doing my due diligenceand always looking out for their best interests."

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