Her Story
About Amanda
I started my career at Liberty as a commercial insurance underwriter, writing accounts for about 5 or 6 years before discovering my passion for process improvement and organizational alignment. That transition into project management and operations felt like a natural marriage of knowing the underwriting work intimately and using that knowledge to design processes and governance that could truly help underwriters succeed. Over my nearly 19 years with Liberty, I've developed a deep love for making connections across the organization to drive things forward. As I often joke with my team, a lot of our job feels like getting the right people in the room to have the tough conversations, to drive decisions and move things forward, and that's the part I really love. I recently moved into a new role in January focused on strategy and alignment, where I serve as the alignment leader for our Chief Options Reading Officer in our global underwriting organization called GRS. In addition to driving consistency across agendas and governance, I've taken on leadership of our executive assistant cohort, focusing on organizational design and making things more efficient and effective for both the assistants and the executives they support. What brings me the most joy and pride in my career is developing talent. I don't just think of myself as a manager, but as a people leader and thought partner who helps folks figure out what they want to do with their career, how they can grow, and pushes them a little outside their comfort zone. Seeing people who've worked for me go off and do different things and make their own brands for themselves is truly my most favorite thing.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Amanda
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think I go back to the relationships and just building a brand for myself. A lot of it is based on taking different pieces of different leaders that I've worked for or worked with over time, and finding things that I really admire or love about them, then building that into my own brand. I've been really fortunate to work with, work for, and work around some really strong leaders, and I think that's just such a huge part of my success. It's about learning from the best people around you and making those lessons your own.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I think there are a couple things that really stand out. First, always be okay to ask the question, even if you don't know and you feel like it makes you look like you're not the most knowing person in the room. I've learned that by asking questions, it helps you not only understand what folks are looking for, but it helps create a connection. The second piece is that relationships matter. Taking that time to build trust, to build relationships, to understand different people's needs and different people's perspectives just makes you better. Those are the two things that bubble to the top for me.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think be open. A lot of times, you may read a job description on a website and it's going to be the basic, you know, this is what we expect. I would challenge folks to say, okay, do all of that, and then what more can you do to make this your own, and make an impact, and drive value. Be creative, think outside the box. I think that's when opportunities open up for you. Don't just do what's expected, go beyond it and make it yours.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the biggest challenges and opportunities in insurance, which is such a competitive, market-dependent, regulated field, really come down to prioritization. We only have so many people and so many bodies to do all of the things we want to do. The opportunity is really challenging ourselves, no matter what part of the organization you work in, to step back and think: is this going to drive the most value? Am I spending my time on the right things that are going to drive the most impact? Where should I be making those really tough trade-off decisions? I think that's really the opportunity, and it's really, really hard to do.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I really value that feeling of trust. When you manage folks, and I've learned this throughout my career, especially when I was a newer manager, being okay to give them stuff that's maybe a little bit of a stretch, but trusting that they're going to figure out how to do it, and if they don't know, they're going to come back to you. I think that helps them build their confidence. Trust, to me, is super important. I also think openness and a growth mindset are important to me and to any relationships I have when working with folks. Being open to trying new things is essential. We're on this journey with AI specifically that's really exciting to me, and there are so many possibilities around it. I get really jazzed about it, and while some people on my team are uncertain because it's new and different, I think just being open to it and seeing what the possibilities are is really important.
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