Her Story
About Nicole
I've been in the insurance industry for 10 years, celebrating my anniversary on February 1st. I currently work for Unum as a quote specialist in production and operations. This wasn't the path I expected my life to take - I went to school for fashion merchandising and worked in retail management for years before transitioning to insurance. I moved back to Maine after living in Miami, where I was working through 3 jobs to survive in the city. I met my husband, we bought a house, and I needed something more stable than my retail position at Michael Kors in our local mall. I started at Unum in the contact center, dealing with people going through everything from having babies to stage 4 cancer, trying to make sure they could pay their bills. I was emotionally drained and bringing all these problems home, and I was about to leave the company when I landed in my current role eight and a half years ago. Now I love what I do. My client is the Unum sales rep, who communicates with brokers representing potential clients. I receive requests for proposals, build the plans, rate them, and get the proposals to the reps so they can provide them to the market. I produce quotes for groups throughout the entire nation, anywhere from 2 lives up to groups as big as Costco. I focus on product knowledge, internal partnership, and mentoring. I mentor new hires and anyone who needs to be rehabbed. I've really stepped outside my shell within my career over the last couple years, especially after becoming a mom during COVID. I maintained my career as a 40-plus hours a week employee while being a full-time stay-at-home mother dealing with postpartum problems. I would say my biggest accomplishment in my career is maintaining my career while becoming a mom and doing that, because I've never been so challenged in my life.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nicole
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my mom. My mom was a single mother doing it all on her own from the time I was young. I watched her work, I watched her struggle, we had fun. She was always real with me and made it clear that she couldn't do what other families were doing because there was only one of her. I never wanted to live that way. I always wanted to make sure that I was in a place where, even if I had to do it alone, I wouldn't be on the brink of really hardcore struggling. Everything I have done is because I've seen her go through what she's gone through to make sure I had a great life. She worked her butt off to make sure that if I wanted those Tommy jeans, I was gonna have those Tommy jeans, or if I wanted that J-Lo perfume, I was gonna have it. While also making sure there were boundaries and I had to earn things. She did a really great job for what she was working with, so everything goes to her.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was from my mom growing up: no one's ever gonna stand up for yourself like you are. You better get up to the front and stand up for yourself. I've done that in every area of my life, especially within my career. I'm very vocal, to a fault, almost too vocal, and it has never stunted me before.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say to any young lady running into the world of a career in work: not lose sight of yourself and to always stand up for yourself. Never be in a position where you feel like I'm just gonna shut up and do this, even though it went against their word or whatever the case may be. Always stand up for yourself. That's something that we don't do in our career. I am very vocal, to a fault, almost too vocal, and it has never stunted me before. No one's ever gonna stand up for yourself like you are, so you better get up to the front and stand up for yourself.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Maine
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.