JOE CHRISTIAN | Age: 36 Senior vice president, senior sales executive

Marsh LLC

San Antonio

Joe Christian didn’t have a family connection to insurance, but an internship at Wortham Insurance & Risk Management while at the University of Texas proved pivotal. After graduating, he worked at a startup, before joining Wortham in 2010 as a producer. When Marsh LLC acquired Wortham in 2018, he became a senior vice president, serving oil and gas, real estate and auto dealership clients.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the business?

Find great mentors and latch on to them. When I started as an intern in college, a few people in the Austin office really took an interest in me and ignited my interest in the insurance business. That really helped me. Secondly, think about our business with a long-term view. Finally, try to say yes to about everything, whether it’s happy hour with new colleagues or doing some research on this industry that nobody knows about.

How will your work change going forward?

The face-to-face interaction is hard to replace, but you can do a lot through a Zoom call. Most of my work has been focused in Texas, but it doesn’t matter where clients are located. It will broaden the territory for a lot of us as we think in a different way.

What should the industry do to attract more young people to work in it?

At the local level, we need to be more proactive about not only recruiting students but educating them on what a great industry it is.

What is something about you that would surprise people?

As a kid and teenager, my lifelong dream job was to be a high school football or baseball coach. I still try to live that out a little bit. I’m very active in coaching with my kids and their teams.

All-time favorite movie?

I’m a sucker for any cheesy inspirational movie, from “Braveheart” to “Shawshank Redemption,” “Forrest Gump.”

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