Monique Zinn
Monique Zinn is the Founder and CEO of Zinn Insurance Agency, a San Antonio–based benefits firm specializing in humanized employee benefit strategies and customized insurance solutions. With more than 25 years in the industry, she leads a growing team dedicated to designing comprehensive health, life, and executive benefit programs for businesses, individuals, and seniors. A Certified Healthcare Reform Specialist (CHRS) and Small Group Specialist (SGS), Monique is widely recognized for her expertise in Affordable Care Act compliance, health savings accounts (HSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs), Medicare planning, and complex executive benefit structures.
Monique’s entrepreneurial journey began in her teens, working in a general insurance agency before eventually launching her own firm. After relocating to Texas, she rebuilt her business from the ground up, starting in a small apartment and growing it into a thriving agency with a 12-person team serving clients statewide and nationally. As CEO, she serves as visionary and brand leader, balancing strategic growth initiatives with hands-on client engagement. Her leadership philosophy centers on operational excellence, accountability, and scalable systems designed to deliver both margin protection and long-term sustainability.
A graduate of The University of New Mexico with a background in Fine Arts and Business, Monique combines creativity with analytical expertise to craft benefit programs that empower employers and ignite employee success. She is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program and an active member of Vistage, continually investing in executive development and strategic growth. Passionate about mentorship and team building, Monique is committed to developing future leaders within her organization and ensuring that as she climbs, she creates opportunities for others to rise alongside her.
• Medicare certified
• Coaching and leadership certification (in progress)
• CHRS (Certified Healthcare Reform Specialist)
• SGS (Small Group Specialist)
• Leadership award through Vistage
• Rotary awards
• Women's leadership award
• Best places to work award
• Fastest growing organization award
• Vistage member (8 years)
• Downtown Rotary Chapter of San Antonio
• Rotary International
• Goldman Sachs 10k SB
• Rotary International programs including mentorship
• International support for girls' school in India
• Scholarship fundraising
What do you attribute your success to?
God. My faith and my family. My success is there, you know, without my faith and my family I wouldn't have the health and the opportunities, and I just feel very grateful that I was chosen to be able to do this and I have been rewarded because I'm supposed to be doing the work that I was set out to do.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
There are so many different things. You get different points of advice in different stages of your career. I think people come into your life for a reason. They come in like a wave, and then they can move out. Some people are there to stick around, and you're learning different life lessons at different times. What is the most important one? There's just been so many at different points in my life that just rang true because it was what I needed at that moment in my life and my career. I just would say be open when someone provides you guidance or advice, because they're trying to come from a place of trying to help and you may not need it now, but that information was given to you for a reason at that time, because you may need that later, either now or at a different time but just to be open, to be gracious for the information.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't give up. It's not easy and people think that you need to know everything in 90 days. People want instant gratification. This is not a sprint, this is a marathon and if you do the work you will get the rewards. Find people who can mentor you and see your potential, and you lean into it, and if you continue to want to be a curious learner, you're going to be successful. It just takes time and patience, and I think many people are just rushing through life because everything else in our world is much quicker. People become more impatient. So, you know, you have to ride the wave before you really get you those achievements, but they will come.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The challenge within our field is that insurance is becoming more and more complex. It's becoming more expensive to obtain care and while there are areas for it to be easy to obtain or making programs available on a virtual basis, there's still a lot of miseducation and just navigating through the system is kind of where I see some of those challenges. Another challenge is to attract and retain talent. We're looking for people within our organization that don't just want a job, but they want a career and I think sometimes that mindset, jobs are easier to obtain than careers so I would say that is a big challenge. Opportunities. Well, being in the business that we're in we have an opportunity to touch any type of business. We are able to help from small business, mid-sized to large organizations at any industry. So, that's one opportunity.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say trust, being honest, doing your best to be transparent. If you raise your hand and go, I messed up, I am more willing to help someone who says I've made a mistake, how can I fix this, than someone who tries to cover up. Just trying to be authentic. It's just to be oneself and not trying to placate or to be something that they're not. Loyalty is also important.