Influential Woman · Insurance

Tamara Hope

Enterprise Account Executive, Underwriting, Verisk

Jersey City, NJ

2Awards received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Master's in Law Cert Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Cert Master's in Law Member RISE (for young professionals) Member APIW (export insurance)

Her Story

About Tamara

As an account executive, I'm charged with and responsible for solving our clients' problems. My day-to-day involves daily meetings with clients from start to finish, identifying and assessing the strength of our partnerships, growing those partnerships, and identifying opportunities for us to engage on a long-term basis. I work cross-functionally across teams to get deals moving and to the finish line, while also managing all the administrative duties that come with sales - pipeline hygiene and health, forecasting for revenue purposes, and maintaining an accurate CRM system. I achieved my Lean Six Sigma green belt certification, which was really instrumental because it took a long time to get done due to the complexity involved and having to connect so many teams and parts. It was challenging, and once it was done, it was something I thought I'd never be able to do, so I felt really accomplished when I received my certification. I've also achieved President's Club.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Tamara

01What do you attribute your success to?

I attribute all of my success to the village that I had raising me up as a young person and going through challenges and learning how to navigate. Spending time with family is what keeps me alive, what energizes me, and makes all of the work that I do so impactful and so powerful. I think it's so important that you maintain your roots, or some type of connection to your roots. I really enjoy spending time with family, learning, reminiscing and thinking about the past and thinking about the future and what we want it to look like. It's really, really an important thing for me.

02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

Always bet on yourself. It's great to take advice and get information, but take the information and tailor it accordingly to what you know your worth and abilities encompass. Because betting on yourself, you'll probably always win, despite how tough it is and how much someone or others will indicate that you can't. You really can. Anything that you put your mind to, you can do it. Usually, if someone's saying you can't do it, it's because they probably know you can. Being a woman in sales is not easy. Being a woman of color in sales is not easy. I'd like to give back and open doors, to have others experience some of or skip over some of the challenges that I've had to overcome. I think it's so important to give to gain, almost - just opening the door and paying it forward, and paving the way for others coming up.

03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I think technology and that changing landscape will have an impact, but at the end of that is what you bring to the table personally, like what your edge kind of is. I think the desire to have a human exchange will still live on, so that's definitely an area where there should be renewed focus and attention, because I think it's important and it will matter as technology continues to evolve.

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