Happy New Year! You remember when 2020 seemed like a lifetime away? I can't believe it is literally next year! I also turn 40 this year (gah!) and that's hard for me to believe too. My Gramma Ruby Fern always said, “You'll always be 25 in your heart.” No truer words have ever been spoken in my book.

My office started the year with a bang and we are still on a roll. I also got introduced to many new incredible women that I'll be telling you about this year and that is completely inspiring to me. So, let's get this show on the road!

To kick off the year, I'm very happy to introduce you to Charity, Jeyalene and Suzy, who have all been focusing on education and wellness, whether it be for their clients or themselves.

Charity Daniels, Bottom Line Benefits, LLC

“I spent 2018 focused on educating clients on wellness and consumerism tools. In an environment of rising premium and out-of-pocket costs, it is important that members are aware of the ways they can do their part to keep health care costs down. Over the last five years, there has been a significant rise in level-funding plans in the small group space. While brokers do a great job explaining the concept to the decision makers, members are often naïve about the notion that their utilization has a direct impact on how that group's plan runs.

I conduct educational meetings with groups, so I have a chance to share tools such as third-party RX savings, telemedicine, on-site health screenings, and premium discounts through wellness (when available), all of which have direct savings on a health plan.

My favorite story is a 50 life attorney firm who fought me on a wellness program for years. They finally rolled it out and received $36,000 in wellness credits this year. Teaching employees about these programs and seeing them reaping the benefits has been very rewarding. Our revenue has increased 20 percent year over year and I look forward to another educational and successful year in 2019!”

Jeyalene Baron, Raffa Financial Services, Inc.

“2018 was a year of shifting for me. I was pleasantly surprised when I asked one of my centers of influence for an introduction, and decision that will be a game changer for 2019. They connected me to a prospective client with several hundred employees and my team is in the process of finalizing our engagement with them now! I couldn't be more grateful.

I was also approached by a former client who had moved on to a larger organization and asked for my help, as they had recently gone through a merger. Mergers always come with a lot of change and moving parts. I am humbled that they thought of contacting me as their go to resource when there were many other brokerage firms to choose from.

Lastly, I began writing. My company has a blog that I wrote an article for called, “Finding purpose through work.” This has really helped me put a lot of things into perspective and as result, I have become even more passionate about the work that I do to serve my clients. I'm excited to see what's in store for 2019.“

Suzy Alberts, Comprehensive Benefits, Inc.

“Coming into 2018, I decided to make some changes to my priorities and commitments. My “MO” has always been to try to do everything, then never give my best effort to anything. Getting clear on my priorities showed me that I was continuing some commitments just because I had always done them, not because I was truly committed. I had to let go of some activities that were dear to my heart, so I could focus on what was really important.

Making these somewhat painful changes allowed me to experience my best year ever from a business perspective and spend more quality time with my family. Now that I am clear on my priorities, I am free to pursue other opportunities that truly align with personal and business goals.

My greatest accomplishment for 2018 was gaining clarity on what is really important to me and letting go of things that do not align. While this has been a painful process, I am now looking forward to using my talents in new ways and with a clearer mind.”

As always, if you know of great women in the field who are working hard to make this this industry event better, send me an email introduction to scombs@combsandco.com. I'd love to connect!

Instant Insights /

What's the good news, ladies? Happy New Year!

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