Emerging Leaders

RHODE ISLAND EMERGING LEADERS

New Leadership

I sit here today as the newly appointed Chair An Event Horizon of the Emerging Leaders. A big thank you goes out to outgoing chair Kelly Townsend for paving the way and to Mark Male and Denise Smith for believing in me as I take the reins for the next year. The truth of the matter is that an effective and productive leader is only as good as those that they surround themselves with and in that regard I am truly blessed. We have a talented group of individuals from all different backgrounds within the industry and they each bring their own blend of talent that has made the Emerging Leaders

Executive Committee a force to be reckoned with. Add in staff liaison

Marcia Berthiaume and my position as chairman is pretty easy with my hardest challenge keeping the monthly meetings on time and on task.

In the past year we re-branded from the ubiquitous and exclusive sounding “Young Agents” to a much more inclusive and forward thinking name of “Emerging Leaders”. I was happy for this transition because as a veteran of 15+ years in the industry I certainly don’t feel young anymore and many of my friends and colleagues would poke fun at me and question how I could still be considered “young”. As Kelly has noted in previous issues we have had a productive year with our events and charitable efforts and we recently just helped run and host the IIARI Fall Golf outing, which as a committee was our first time in this position and was universally looked upon as a rousing success with 90+ golfers and money raised to benefit The Nathans Angels Memorial Foundation.

Looking ahead I want to keep this train moving forward and on track. As Bill Belichick once said “ If you sit back and spend too much time feeling good about what you did in the past, you are going to come up short next time”. With that thought in mind looking ahead we have some excellent events planned so I ask everyone to get involved, be involved, and stay involved. If you have any questions or concerns of any kind I ask that you contact your IIARI representative, Marcia or myself, and let us know what we can do to add value for you. Why aren’t you coming to an event? What is holding you back? I also challenge you to recognize if you cannot come up with a reason to go ahead and attend one. Come see what we are all about and help us build a better network of emerging leaders.

Lastly, a big thank you to all those who support us from Agency Principals, Carriers, Vendors, the list is endless and we appreciate all the support and guidance.

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