Belle Ives is a financial advisor and high school field hockey coach with a passion for supporting women and serving the LGBTQ+ community.

Ives entered the financial services industry by way of serendipity. Her father was a member of a gym in the same building as Northwestern Mutual’s Boston office. Knowing that athletes tend to be well-suited for financial services, her father’s gym acquaintances suggested Ives apply to work with Northwestern Mutual. It turned out to be a perfect fit.

Angie Hughes, LTCP, is a 22-year insurance veteran and long-term care insurance expert with Producers XL in Salina, Kansas.

Hughes began her insurance career selling property and casualty insurance, but found her true calling in educating agents, advisors, and consumers about long-term care (LTC) planning. “No day is ever the same,” she says, and she thrives on sorting through the complexities of the LTC world to find solutions for her clients.

For Scott Johnson and Tim Johnson, insurance runs in the family. The brothers followed in the footsteps of their father and grandfather and now work together at American National in Bountiful, Utah.

A Shared Mission

Scott and Tim share a passion for building relationships with their clients and their community. Being able to maintain relationships with clients is what keeps them motivated. “We're not a one-and-done community,” says Scott. “You don't go work with somebody and never see him again here.” This connection is what makes a good agent, the brothers agree. Tim adds that persistence, knowledge, discipline, and enthusiasm also play a critical role in an agent’s success.

When Bailey Baker was recruited to work at State Farm by a family friend, she had no idea what she was getting into. So, she did her research. Looking for a career she could retire from, she interviewed State Farm agents and others in the industry, to see if insurance was a good fit. What she found was her calling: helping people protect their lives and livelihoods.

Baker and her team offer a wide array of products, from home and auto insurance to life insurance to pet insurance, and her clients are just as varied. "We have a pretty big range: all generations, all areas. Texas is our client, basically,” she says.

Robert Quinlan, MBA, LUTCF, LACP, has been in the insurance and financial services industry for over 35 years and plans to stay for many, many more.

A Family Tradition

Quinlan is the second in a three-generation tradition of military service. After college, he followed in the footsteps of his mother, who served as a U.S. Army Captain in World War II. Quinlan served three years as an active-duty Field Artillery Officer. His daughter, NAIFA-CO Past President and West Point graduate Kathleen Owings, also served as a U.S. Army Captain, earning the Bronze Star Medal for her service in Iraq.

Loyal member Robin Landers, CLU^®, has been a member of NAIFA since 1984 and is based in Florida. She grew up in the business—her parents owned a brokerage agency—and vowed to never work in the insurance field. With a degree in advertising, and some challenging circumstances, she ultimately ended up joining her family in their insurance business. After working with her family for a few years, she received an offer to double her salary and returned to the TPA that had employed her as a sixteen-year-old file clerk. Years later, when her parents were ready to retire, she and a partner opened Landers-Stein & Associates, the next generation of that original agency’s legacy.

Shane Grau is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of families and small business owners in his community.

Grau got into insurance and financial services at a young age. He moved from Mayetta, KS to Topeka in his early 20s and worked in sales for a short time. However, after losing his father to a heart attack and helping his mother form her financial plan after a terminal illness diagnosis, he realized the need for better financial literacy in his community. He highlights the difference between his prior career in sales and his current work in financial services. “I knew that I wanted to work for myself, or at least companies that represent what’s in the best interest of people they’re helping,” he explains. “I wanted to be a resource for friends, family members, and community in helping them through the same type of process that I dealt with, with my own parents.”

Patricia (Trish) May is a third-generation NAIFA member and the Young Advisor Team (YAT) Chair for NAIFA-PA. May and her sister, Carina Hatfield, followed in the footsteps of their father and grandfather and now run Weigner Insurance.

As a child, May thought the world of insurance was boring. With her father in the office and her mother raising the children at home, on Take Your Child to Work Day, May chose to stay home and help her mother clean rather than spend time at her father’s office. However, May’s opinion changed in adulthood, as she realized the importance of insurance and financial planning. 

Meet Taylor Collins, CEBS, CLU^®, RHU, President of Professional Benefits Inc., and a loyal NAIFA member since 2007. Collins is a native of Florida and holds a BA in Risk Management Insurance. Her career path was unclear until she took a risk management insurance class as an elective in college and fell in love with the industry.

Blake Gillies, DIA, a loyal NIAFA member since 2012, NAIFA-LA President, and national Young Advisor Team (YAT) Co-Chair, is living his dream of serving in the insurance industry after following in his father’s footsteps. He currently practices with Acacia Financial Group in Metairie, LA, where he specializes in insurance, disability insurance, and income protection products and services designed to meet his client's needs. He also provides disability insurance expertise for the Southern Medical Association.