Her Story
About Kristin
I came into the insurance industry in 1993 when my father, who was a state senator, needed my help with his insurance agency. The first thing I did was bring in computers and networking because everything was paper. I ran that business for 30 years and owned it for 20. Throughout my career, I constantly kept up with technological changes - we went from paper to computers, got the internet, did transactional filing, scanning, uploading and downloading. I was always the one implementing new technology. I sold my agency to a large brokerage and worked for them for 3 years doing merger integration work, getting all our information from one core system to another. Then I got laid off at 56, which was the biggest challenge I've ever faced in my life. I left all my customers who were like my family. I had to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. I took a class at Johns Hopkins University for AI and business, got an A, and wrote my first paper in 35 years. Then I took another class for Microsoft Azure. I've been constantly upskilling myself. I started my own AI strategy business reaching out to help independent insurance agents. I want to help them bring in AI with clarity, automation, and intelligence, always with a human in the loop. My real expertise is operations and workflows. I go in and strategize with them, looking at their workflows first before bringing in AI. I want to help smaller independent insurance agents who want to stay that Main Street business and compete with larger agencies, or get ready so the value of their business doesn't go down.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kristin
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I tell every woman that I see that they need to spend the time learning AI, because this is our opportunity. Don't let technology pass us by. Maybe we're gonna eventually make more money than men. I really want young women to make sure that they're upskilling themselves. I'm worried about my daughter who's an accountant - I'm thinking, you sure you want to be an accountant? I want women to be prepared for the future and not let this opportunity pass them by. Definitely start learning AI. There's platforms like Coursera that offer 15-minute daily lessons. Do any of those things - it's gonna give you an idea of what your potential is. I want to make sure women get excited about AI, that they're not afraid. Whoever wants to amplify themselves, let's do it, because you need to make yourself pertinent and relevant with AI somehow.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge I ever faced was getting laid off at 56. I left all my customers who were my family - these were people I had relationships with for years, some clients from 1968 that my father had. That was the hardest thing, and I think a lot of women are going through that in their lives. They're in their career, and all of a sudden they're let go. I hear it constantly, and I hope it's the same for men, but I'm not hearing that. Here we are, and I was the breadwinner. The hardest thing is trying to figure out where to go next, how do you recreate yourself, and how do you get your confidence back. When you sell your business, you need to find the right culture that matches. It wasn't the right culture for my clients or my staff, and that makes it very hard. Coming in as a leader who ran my agency, suddenly I was one of 8,000 people and no one cared what my knowledge was. I didn't have a seat at the table anymore. Insurance has always been a lot of men, and the women are doing the service in the background. I was the leader because I was the owner, and now I wasn't, and no one listened. It was weird. I wonder if being a strong woman is what did me in.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Massachusetts
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.