Miranda Hammel Sieg

I've had a lot of great mentors throughout my life and throughout my professional career in insurance. To this day, I appreciate the patience and guidance those individuals provided me. One thing that's always stuck with me is 'sell the problem you solve, not the product you have.' I really attribute my success to the people I work with - whether it's my sales team, my direct leadership I’ve had over the years, or colleagues. Even early in my career, I learned from different people - figuring out who I wanted to be like and surround myself with, and who I wanted to create space for. My parents have also taught me a lot about hard work, and about what it means to be a trustworthy, reliable, honest person. Stay focused, stay humble.

To be a kind person - that's really all there is to it, whether it's in a professional career or your personal life, that genuine behavior goes far.

The best advice I ever received was from my first mentor and friend, and it's stuck with me and guided me into being the person that I am today. She told me something I can loosely remember - it's about three things: Is it kind? Is it helpful? And is it necessary? It's basically a think before you speak - is it true, helpful, necessary? That has really guided me into being the person that I am today.

Keep your face toward the sunshine, and the shadows will fall behind you. Don't doubt yourself - you're capable of so many things, and you're smarter than you think you are. I think the biggest roadblock for young women entering insurance or the agriculture space is ourselves. We can become our own roadblocks without realizing it. You have to put yourself in uncomfortable positions in order to grow as a person. I'm consistently and gently reassuring the ladies I'm mentoring right now, helping build their confidence, and letting them know it's okay to make mistakes, it's okay not to know everything. The biggest thing you can do is be upfront about it - whether you're talking to a client on the phone or your manager or team member, it's okay to say you don't know the answer, but you will get back to them. There's no shame in that. You're not going to grow if you don't experience being uncomfortable.

Right now, agribusiness insurance feels a bit like trying to predict the weather while riding the storm. There’s pressure coming from every direction but also some surprisingly powerful tailwinds if you know where to look.

We have the obvious challenge which is climate volatility, extreme weather isn’t just “a risk” anymore, it’s the risk. Then there’s rising costs + thin margins giving us coverage pressure; Farmers are getting squeezed from both sides, input costs remain high and commodity prices are volatile or stagnant. There’s affordability and accessibility gaps for smaller farms and so many more challenges. On the flip-side there are some opportunities I believe like tech-powered underwriting in some areas. AI, satellite imagery, and precision ag data are improving risk assessment. There’s also expanded coverage across the value chain and increased demand for risk advisory. Clients don’t just want policies, they want guidance and they want that guidance in person.

Compassion, respect, and honesty are my top three values, both professionally and personally. They go hand in hand with each other. I also value kindness and empathy, being a kind person is really all there is to it.

I have a plaque in my office that says 'be somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody,' and when I look at that, it just makes me smile and continue to do just that, it’s simple and to the point.