Cherise Evering

I attribute my success to not being afraid to ask questions. Sometimes you have that fear, and you're like, oh, I feel like I'm the imposter in the room, or whatever. But if there's a question on the table and you're thinking it, I'm sure there's other people in the room thinking it too. You don't have to feel comfortable asking in that moment - you can circle back with your manager and just say, hey, you know, during that meeting, I was thinking about it, and I came up with this question. You don't have to be full frontal with it, right? You could be more tactful. But don't be afraid to ask the questions that give you growth. That willingness to seek understanding and not let fear hold me back has been key to my long career.

In our specific field, you always have to be learning. I don't care if it's the insured who has to be learning, or the adjuster has to be learning, or the management team or leadership has to be learning. All three phases have to continue their learning and understanding of the industry that all of us touch on at some point in the circle. A lot of times, insureds think, I bought this policy, I don't care, I bought it, the agent sold it to me, I'm good to go. And it's not till the time that they get into a situation or a loss that they first encounter our adjusters, who now have to train something that could have been trained at the agency level. From there, the adjuster has a little bit more leverage, and they're not being so bombarded, and they can actually do their job pursuant to the policy provisions because the insured understands. And leadership, we've got to take both facets into consideration when we're dealing with claims to truly understand how to adjudicate this claim. The key is continuous learning at every level.

As an adjuster starting out, always be open to quality customer service. And when you have an insured that keeps repeating the same thing, ask the why, and learn, and figure that out. I would also tell them, don't squelch yourself into one aspect of our industry. Learn first party, learn third party, quality assurance - get yourself involved in the next 10 years of your career in all these aspects, so you have some leverage. And you also know, honestly, what part of the industry do I truly, truly like? It took me over 15 years to figure out I'm a trainer, and I would hope that it wouldn't take our young ladies that long. So explore different areas early in your career so you can find your passion sooner.

Navigating a period of Signiant transformation and regulatory constraints can be challenging.

Being accountable and showing up every day is most important to me. As an adjuster, I showed up for my insureds. As a manager, I showed up for my adjusters. As a trainer, I showed up for my claims department. Just like in family life, I have 3 children, I've been married for over 33 years, and I have a mother-in-law that I take care of. We just show up every day. My husband has shown up too - he's a good guy. That commitment to being present and accountable, whether at work or at home, is what drives me.