KRISTINSWANSON SCOTT

Best part about being an independent agent?

It's allowed me to live the life I want. We work hard, but it allows me to have flexibility for my family I'm totally fulfilled in my work because of what we do for people They think there are no other options, but we have them.

Goals for the future?

My overall goal is to make our office so appealing to my daughter that when she comes of age, she isn't running away from it the way I did. That means investing in as much technology as we possibly can to streamline things. We're reinvesting in our internship program, and we're going to have three interns this year.

Role model or mentor?

Clarissa Preston, the senior state relations executive at National Council on Compensation Insurance, has been a saint in my life. She's done so many things in the industry It's my first hard market I've never seen anything quite like this before but she's always in my ear reminding me

Continued from page 28 that things do get better. She always talks me through how to address these things and has got me involved in the legislation processes so we can better the industry as a whole for our clients.

Work-life balance?

It has to be created. There's always something to do. I used to work like crazy, but now I mandate my weekends for my husband and daughter. You need to create those boundaries, not just with clients but with staff You need to empower and delegate It has to be a serious emergency if someone is calling me on a weekend.

What do you love about insurance?

On the commercial side, I can touch so many different industries in one day. I recently got into the medical marijuana space. When you're learning a risk, you need to learn it from top to bottom, which is amazing and really fun. And then I can turn around and talk to somebody about stormwater management, which is booming here.