2023 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
Belen Tokarski President, chief operating officer
Mylo LLC
Chicago
Belen Tokarski planned to be a school psychologist, but after graduating from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Illinois, and being accepted into a requisite program, she decided she wanted to do something different.
She liked working with people and problem solving, so she joined a 401(k) provider, working in customer service. In 2002, she completed her Master of Business Administration degree at DePaul University in Chicago, across the street from CNA Financial Corp., where a friend worked.
That friend convinced Ms. Tokarski to interview for a job at the company. She ended up spending 15 years there, eventually working on the team that created CNA’s first carrier portal.
“I didn’t understand the products themselves when I started but focused on what can I do, what can I bring to the table because of my ability to listen and understand problems and bring people together toward the delivery of different solutions,” she said.
She was vice president of automation strategy and agency solutions at CNA when she left in 2015 to join Insureon, ultimately becoming president of the online insurance marketplace.
Four years ago, she joined Mylo as chief strategy officer. The digital insurance agency provides personal and business lines products, as well as life and health, and is working toward also becoming an insurance agency technology solution provider.
Mylo CEO David Embry said Ms. Tokarski has played a critical role in the company’s growth over the past several
years.
“The efficiencies she’s delivered using technology in our business have allowed us to grow in a much more profitable way,” he said. “Her skill set is unmatchable.”
Ms. Tokarski said there is so much technology that the industry hasn’t leveraged. She believes agents are a vital part of the industry and is committed to advocating for better technology tools on their behalf.
“I’ll never be done tirelessly looking for the next thing we can do to keep making progress in the industry,” she said.
Amy O’Connor
