CHRISTINE BEAULIEU | Age: 29 Assistant vice president, team lead

Lockton Cos. LLC

Los Angeles

Rather than say she fell into insurance, Christine Beaulieu instead says she “faceplanted” into the industry. After graduating from Texas Christian University in 2016, a referral from a family friend led her to Lockton’s training academy. Since then, Ms. Beaulieu has moved up from account manager to serving as a commercial team lead, focusing on complex middle-market and national accounts.

What’s your advice on navigating the current insurance market?

It all boils down to communication. We’re being forced to get more creative and think outside the box in ways we’ve never really had to before. But when every stone is overturned and every option is exhausted, it really comes down to communicating with both our carrier partners and our clients.

What’s a problem that needs fixing in your sector?

For many years, we’ve been delivering bad news to clients on the property front. It’s been a lot of years of back-to-back rate increases, albeit some years larger than others, and the messaging is the same. We have to get better at explaining the complexities of the insurance market to our clients, because it can’t just be, “It’s a tough market out there — you’re getting a rate increase.”

What do you wish more people knew about insurance?

How dynamic it is. The term insurance has a bit of a stigma, and not a lot of people understand what it entails. Once you start to peel back the onion you realize it’s risk management, it’s consulting, it touches many of the business industries like accounting and finance. It’s much more dynamic than it gets credit for.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A sports broadcaster for college football.

Favorite song?

I love singing Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” in the car.