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. 

Mardi Woods is dedicated to promoting financial literacy in her community, from her work with youth organizations to her insurance and financial practice at New York Life. She is an Agent with New York Life Insurance Company and a Registered Representative with NYLIFE Securities LLC (member FINRA/SIPC), a Licensed Insurance Agency and a New York Life company.

Woods entered the insurance and financial services industry in 2018. After spending time in the corporate world and taking time to raise her family, Woods wanted to find a career she could retire from. She was looking into several options when a friend at New York Life encouraged her to apply.

Stephanie Tulley is all about helping others reach their full potential.

Tulley, like many, got into the insurance industry inadvertently, but she soon grew to love her work. Starting as a receptionist at a State Farm agency in 2015, she soon moved to sales, management, and consulting. Now, she manages one of the top State Farm agencies in the Tampa Bay area and runs her own consultancy agency, The Insurance Advisory, to edify other insurance professionals and help them move forward in their careers.

Martha Shanks has been a loyal member of NAIFA since the fall of 2019 and has been helping her clients with reverse mortgage loans at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation since 2018.

Martha started her career in real estate in 2005, continued her journey through many different positions, and is now 100% focused as a reverse mortgage planner. She has always had a desire to help people solve their financial problems, and her current role allows her to do just that. She loves helping her clients, typically people over the age of 60, to understand how a reverse mortgage works and how it can help them to live a better retirement with fewer financial worries.

For Danielle Humphreys, helping Americans protect their families is a way of life. 

Humphreys has been in the insurance field for over 15 years. She was introduced to the industry by her father, a lifelong State Farm agent, and started her career in his office. What started out as just a job quickly became her calling. “I just had this passion for making complex things simple,” she says. "It doesn't have to be overly complicated.”  

Allen R. Bruce, CLU, ChFC, is this year’s winner of the Lang Dixon Leadership and Excellence in Achieving Diversity Award. Bruce has been in the financial and insurance industry for 52 years and has been a loyal member of NAIFA since 1973. He was the first African American to complete a full term as president of the District of Columbia Life Underwriters Association (now NAIFA-Greater Washington, D.C.) and the first African American president of the Million Dollar Round Table Foundation. 

Rock Planck has been an affiliate member of NAIFA since 2020 and is today helping clients set up financial strategies for their future. With 30 years of experience in the business, Rock was first attracted to the field as a loan officer and reverse mortgage planner due to the belief that mortgage planning should be incorporated into every financial plan (although it often is not). As Rock says, “not enough people really consider the impact that having a mortgage has on their financial picture.” Rock believes in providing knowledge to people, rather than focusing solely on having the lowest costs or rates—he is, as he says, “another tool in their toolbelt.”

Charlie Calderwood, CLU^®, ChFC^®, has been a member of NAIFA since 1977 and today is eagerly helping clients set up financial strategies for their future. Charlie enjoys the freedom and finances that he was able to obtain as an investment advisor, however, he points out that “with the freedom gained, there is an increased requirement for motivation and discipline.” Charlie emphasizes that his self-discipline and willingness to put in the hours required to be successful is what helped build him up as an advisor. Charlie has been working in the insurance and finances field since he completed college at Tulane University, quickly and steadily working his way up until now, where he owns his own very successful RIA firm.

Nicholas MacDonald got into the financial services industry by an uncommon route. After completing his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and political science, he found a financial research firm looking for philosophy majors. He applied and became the office's Asia specialist. Soon, his interest in China led to an international move.

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.