Women to Watch: 2008
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 | LoriAnn LoweryPresident, North America Lloyd's Inc. New York 41 LoriAnn Lowery has spent approximately six months in her position as president North America of Lloyd's Inc. She is responsible for all business operations across the United States and Canada, including business development and distribution, communications and marketing functions. She has more than 20 years experience. Most recently, she served as managing director and national practice leader for risk management and financial products for Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc. Previously she held positions at Marsh Inc., Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. and Intercontinental Brokerage Inc. HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY: "Basically by accident. I had gone to a university on a musical scholarship. I thought I was going to be a fantastically wonderful musician. My father said, "I really appreciate the fact that you are a musician and want to be a singer but the reality of the world is that is probably not going to be the case so why don't we find a fallback position." I started taking finance classes and then when I got out of school, I went into...the finance side and investment banking side, working on structured financial products, and those products needed insurance. Then I thought, well, how easy would that be, so I jumped on the insurance side of that and really ended up falling in love with the insurance side, which was actually more difficult than I had anticipated in terms of finding capacity and partners. I realized there was a real need in the insurance market for creative, out-of-the-box thinkers." THE BEST ADVICE YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED: "I think the best advice I ever received is to realize a career in this industry is a marathon and not a sprint. It's a very cyclical industry as we're seeing at this time, and a cool head and leadership through crisis prevails. It's not what happens to you in your life that makes you who you are, it's how you respond." ADVICE FOR THOSE STARTING IN THE INDUSTRY: "My father used to always say two things that I've kept in my heart and one is to remember you're not better than anyone else and no one is better than you, and to always remember where you come from. Secondly, when difficulties arise, remember gold is refined by fire and if you want to continue to grow, there is always some refining that has to be done." WHAT YOU WANTED TO BE PROFESSIONALLY WHILE GROWING UP: "I wanted to be professional opera singer. I've sung all my life. I assumed it would be a pretty easy thing to do having no clue how difficult the opera world was." |
 | Holly MeidlManaging Director and National Health Care Practice Leader Marsh Inc. Nashville, Tenn. 46 Holly Meidl is responsible for directing 550 Marsh colleagues who provide daily service to more than 1,900 health care clients. With more than 20 years of brokerage experience, she now focuses on helping clients identify key industry issues and then works with colleagues to develop solutions to address those risks. Ms. Meidl earned her Associate in Risk Management professional designation and is a candidate for the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter designation. She is a member of the Vanderbilt Owen School of Management Healthcare MBA program advisory board, the American Society of Hospital Risk Management and the Healthcare Financial Management Assn. HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY: "I actually chose this as a major in college. I received my risk management and insurance bachelor's from the University of Georgia, and then I went on to get a master's in corporate banking and finance (from Golden Gate University in San Francisco). (Initially) I was a general business major and I took an insurance course as an elective. I had wanted to go to law school, but when I took that course I found it was a marriage between legal issues as well as financing, so for me it was kind of a perfect fit." THE BEST ADVICE YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED: "Keep your head down and work really hard. Everything you're hoping to achieve will eventually come to you if you do that." ADVICE FOR THOSE STARTING IN THE INDUSTRY: "Try and tap into as many different aspects of the industry as you can to find what really ignites your passion and stay with that. Stay patient and stay focused. There are so many aspects to this industry. It's challenging and interesting and always dynamic, so there are a lot of directions people can go." WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE PROFESSIONALLY WHILE GROWING UP: "I really wanted to be a lawyer." |
 | Martha OakesSenior Executive, Commercial Lines Westfield Insurance Co. Westfield Center, Ohio 44 Starting at Westfield right out of college, Martha Oakes has held numerous positions with the company. She is responsible for setting the strategy for the 150 people who sell and underwrite nearly $555 million in middle market commercial business in 17 states. Before she moved into management roles, Ms. Oakes held field underwriting and senior underwriting positions in commercial lines. In 2003, she created and was responsible for a separate department at Westfield to handle all its small commercial business. Ms. Oakes also is actively involved in Westfield's Emerging Leader Council, a cross-functional group of senior executives charged with identifying and developing the company's emerging leaders. She is on the executive committee of the Ohio Insurance Institute, a nonprofit organization representing the property and casualty insurance industry. In 2007, Ms. Oakes received the YWCA Women of Professional Excellence Award for her commitment to helping other women achieve. HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY: "I came to Westfield right out of college. I majored in marketing, and Westfield recruited (at my college). I took a job with Westfield in its marketing training program. I fell in love with the company because of the people and the culture. I figured it was going to be a great place to work, but I wouldn't be here forever. Now, I've been with Westfield 22 years, and I never expected that." THE BEST ADVICE YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED: "My dad always said if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. It's important to spend time on business planning, thinking about the big picture and figuring out where you need to go and how to get there." ADVICE FOR THOSE STARTING IN THE INDUSTRY: "Never turn down an opportunity to help someone else because you will always get more out of it than you end up giving. It's critically important that all of us nurture talent in the industry and develop people. In order to do that, you have to help people. I've come to view my job as preparing people for the next opportunity that comes their way. That's what we all owe the people we work with." WHAT YOU WANTED TO BE PROFESSIONALLY WHILE GROWING UP: "For the longest period of time I wanted to be a dentist. At the time I had a grandfather who was a dentist and who I very much admired. He cared so much about people and took good care of people. I viewed being a dentist as being someone who could help and take care of people." |
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