DAVID WALTERS | Age: 34 Growth officer and principal

Gibson Insurance Agency Inc.

South Bend, Indiana

David Walters was looking for scholarship opportunities for college in his junior year of high school when he came across a full-ride opportunity to study risk management and insurance at Indiana State University. Winning one of the three scholarships offered, he enrolled in the program thinking he’d eventually move into another line of business. But his experience during various internships hooked him on insurance broking.

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

You’ve got to start early in the process. Attention to values and program nuances are more important than ever. If you want to get the attention of an underwriter who is inundated with a lot of submissions, you have to create ways to stand out, and most of that is achieved through effective risk management programs.

How are technological advances affecting your job?

It’s largely enhanced the brokerage experience. Some of the day-to-day tasks that should have been and could have been automated years ago finally have been.

What do you wish more people knew about insurance?

It’s amazing all the career paths that somebody can get into. It’s also amazing the number of people I talk to that fall into insurance.

What’s something about you that would surprise people?

I thoroughly enjoy theater — Broadway, plays, musicals — but no participation.

Favorite hobby or pastime?

I love to travel. We’re big into investing in experiences for our family.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

For the longest time, I wanted to be a physician and then I did an internship at Riley Hospital for Children, and I fainted three times in one week.