Who's ready for open enrollment? Can you believe we're knocking on that door again, already? I'm really excited to introduce you to three dynamic women who are full of treats and not tricks, though they do all have some incredible skills in the benefits world that they are willing to share with all of us. Please meet Megan, Nancy and Glendae as they share their incredible stories of creation, reinvention and growth.

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

In addition to running Adept Benefits, I am the Director of Community Engagement for a non-profit called the Health Commons Project. I am helping bring communities together to care for our most vulnerable population, our Medicaid population. The work we are doing is giving this population a chance to succeed, receive holistic care and simultaneously frees up the employer's health care dollars that are being spent to foot this bill.

This work is so rewarding! It is great we are able to save money but at the end of the day, our mission is to get people the right health care at the right place at the right time for a fair and reasonable 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 risk taking. I have invested a great deal of time in defining who I am and what I want to do for myself, my employees, and my clients.

This has led me to making some big changes, including applying and being accepted into the Health Rosetta program! I have focused on creating quality content on LinkedIn to reach a broader audience and continually strive to communicate more effectively to employers and employees about their benefits and how to use them.

This past year has also seen me become a runner! I spent the first 50+ years of my life telling myself that I couldn't run. Then a funny thing happened; I was tired of being a spectator watching my son and husband run at events and decided I it was time for me to be a participant.

I kept telling myself that if I could do "x", then I could do this too. I ran my first 5k from start to finish on the 4th of July, something I truly believed was impossible. Now I take this mentality into the challenges I face in business and changing the way we purchase and communicate health care benefits."

Glendae Tuthill, Benevestco – A Resource Seven Company

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

Being at the forefront of the employee benefits industry, along with my knowledge and experience, has afforded me to lead my company to acquire new clients and provide service that they have not had in the past.

With all of the changes and government regulations surrounding health insurance and employee benefits that have taken place in recent years, I feel as if my company has done an excellent job in ensuring that our clients are both informed and prepared to meet their regulatory requirements. I also feel as if my employer groups have a true belief that I am doing my due diligence and always looking out for their best interests."

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

Instant Insights /

What's the good news, ladies? Trick or treat

More From HR Executive

Related Stories

Recommended For You