It's almost time for theturkey!  I'm a huge Christmas person, but I can never getenough of the incredible Thanksgiving food which includes mystuffing with an Italian flare!  We are talking sausage,green and red peppers, red onions, tomatoes, olives, cheese and awhole lotta love. (Feel free to email me for the recipe; everyoneat my house fights for leftovers at my house each year!) I'm truly thankful for the opportunity to meet so many incrediblewomen in our industry each month and thankful for those of you whocontinue to take the time to make introductions.  Thismonth, you get to meet Alycia, Naama and Kalinda, as they sharetheir incredible stories of adapting to changing roles andreinvention.

Alycia Riedl,Mercer

"This year has been one ofsignificant change and pride for me. I was a health and benefitsconsultant at a large consulting firm with clients and colleagueswho I loved, but my soul told me that it was time for me to take ona new challenge and opportunity for growth. My new role at Merceris as a Client Relationship Manager for some of our largest globalclients across all of our lines of business (health, wealth andcareer). It has been an awesome change and I love what I am doingnow; however, it is also humbling to no longer be a subject matterexpert. It is my job to build trust and credibility with clients,understand their business, their strategic objectives andchallenges and align that back to ways that we can help them solvetheir problems and plan for the future.

I have stayed connected to my passion for benefits by being onthe Board of Trustees for NAHU and by helping out on benefitsprojects for clients. I have also had the privilege of leading ourMercer Cares Minneapolis Chapter, which is our charitable andvolunteer group at Mercer.  All of this change hasenergized me and I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by andworking with so many amazing people and organizations!"

Naama OPozniak, A+ Insurance Service

"What an exciting, unique, unexpectable and unforgettable triparound the sun this year was! This time of year, I love toremind myself that gratitude turns what we have into enough.

I was overjoyed to be recognized by my peers in receiving the2019 Wellness Advisor of the Year!  I was also thrilled tobe the recipient of the SIBBIE Award for creating jobs in mycommunity.  Both of these awards really highlighted mypassion and positivity that I have for what I do.

With open enrollment now on, it is an intense time in our officewith a bottleneck of renewals, changes and options! However,together with my A+ team, we are making sure that clients are happyand healthy.

For 30+ years, I have not only served the insurance industry,specializing in health care reform, employee benefits,international travel insurance, and Medicare; I am a mother, yogi,market disruptor, Primordial Sound Meditation instructor (certifiedby the Chopra Center), and Associate Publisher for the Cal Brokermagazine.

My presentations marries my two fields: I empower companies toreduce medical spending, optimize health care expenses, bringinnovations, add technology, and decrease stress with meditationand yoga. I have also developed a CE,  "ReducingHealthcare Cost with Yoga & Meditation" which was approved bythe Departments of Insurance in five states: CA, NV, TX, FL, andAZ!

I'm excited by the trend toward greater transparency andconversation in the market to develop solutions. I can't wait tosee what next year will bring!"

Kalinda Dunn,MPH, Generous Benefits, LLC

"Over the past year, I have hadthe opportunity to become much more autonomous in my role as clientservices executive.  I came into the insurance industrywithout much experience or knowledge in the field, but after fourand a half years, I would say I am feeling much more confident inmy abilities to communicate insurance lingo with both small andlarge employers.

During the past 12 months, I have taken on a more leading rolein small group renewals, walking them through start to finish withCFOs and HR managers alike.  I have also recentlytransitioned to a new agency with my boss, as he started his owncompany, and he has allowed me the freedom to help design theoutlook and vision of our agency as we begin to grow and acquirenew clients.

My goal at the end of each day is to have made the day betterfor someone else, whether that be adding a newborn to a medicalpolicy or helping a client with a denied pharmacy claim issue, Itry to be there for people to help answer their questions when noone else can."

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