How does technology fit into your work strategy? Technology plays 2 critical roles in my work strategy: first, it allows me to work anywhere, at anytime. This goes a long way in my ability to maintain that ever elusive work/life balance. It also affords me the ability to provide nearly instant service to my clients. Second, technology is essential for the efficient and profitable management of client relationships. Using automation to take care of back-end servicing frees me up to spend time with current clients and winning new ones.

Who do you look toward as a mentor in this industry? Currently it is the COO of my company, Eamon Springall. Even though he is only a few years older than I am, he has built an amazing empire, both inside and outside of the insurance industry.

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What are your future goals in this industry? I would really like to help steer the recruitment efforts for young talent. I also want to become more active in legislative issues. Other than that, building my own empire is the only thing on the agenda.

How do you balance work and personal life? This is, by far, the most challenging part of my life as a wife and mother of 2 young children. And to be honest, I am not convinced that I have perfected the secret formula just yet. But, for now, I take a “balanced scorecard” approach to strategically planning and managing my daily activities so that they align with the vision and goals that I have for myself, my family and all of the other areas of my life. I often evaluate the commitments I keep to ensure that they are congruent with my master plan and adjust accordingly.

What is an important lesson you learned when joining a professional working environment? It is actually a lesson I learned as a child that I never really embraced, but got smacked in the face with as a professional: it’s not what you say, but how you say it. Sometimes when you are young, you are passionate and forget to think before you speak. In an epic fail moment, I realized that there is always a nice, calm way to get your point across. While I cannot profess to have yet perfected this skill, it is a lesson I will never forget.

What do you see GenY/Millenials struggle with in a professional environment? What advice do you have? As an advisor for one of the sororities at UNLV, I see a tendency in these folks to either quit when things get tough or find a back-door, band-aid solution to a problem. In most professional environments there is little tolerance for this type of behavior. Life is tough, business is tough, and there are a lot of instances where the decisions you have to make take full, long-term commitment. Know that we all have a role to play that is unique and different. Your actions and input is an important contribution for the people that are depending on you.

Where do you hope to take your career? What direction would you like your career to go? As with most people, I get bored staying at the same level for too long. That being said, I don’t have any big ideas for what the next step or the destination at the end of my journey should be. For now I am enjoying the ride and allowing my career to unfold naturally. This has always been my approach. I guess it is the Buddhist in me that trusts that the universe will present to me the next step when the time is right.

What skills do you think young agents will need in 2012? A willingness to do what is right, even if that means losing will be essential for surviving 2012. People are going into survival mode and doing things that are unethical and immoral to secure new business and keep existing business. Maintaining your sense of ethics will ensure that the client you once lost will return to you once they have been burned by the deal that was too good to be true.

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What skills do you think young agents struggle with in their first years in this industry? What advice do you have? For me it was finding my own selling style. When you start out, everyone has advice for how you should go about your business. At the end of the day you just have to do what feels right to you. That is not to say that you shouldn’t push yourself to step outside of your comfort zone, but you also shouldn’t pretend to be someone or something you aren’t.

What sales strategies worked for you in 2011? Focusing on the client rather than on the competition is how I got through 2011. As an independent agent there is always going to be a feeling that you are swimming in a proverbial shark tank, but when you focus on what everyone else is doing rather than what you are bringing to the table, you lose more often than not. Clients don’t care about your competitors until and unless you aren’t focusing on their needs.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in 2011 as a young agent, and how did you handle it? I started my career over 10 years ago, working my way up through the ranks. Back then, the more seasoned producers only focused on “big business” leaving the smaller accounts to the young folks to “cut their teeth” on. In 2011, with the economy the way it was, the gloves were off for every size of account. Again, in this situation I focused on my clients and our relationship rather than worrying about the competition. I also played my cards a little more closely to the vest.

How does your agency, or any of your committees/associations, reach out to high school or college students? Unfortunately, there isn’t much reaching out going on in general in Nevada. This is definitely an area that we need to focus on. I would like to eventually see agencies and carriers partnering with the Nevada universities to recruit and provide internships so that young folks get exposure to our industry and a feel for what we do.

What are your main priorities as a young agent? At this stage in my life, my priority is work/life balance. To me this means devoting adequate time to growing my book of business, spending time with my family, participating in industry associations and events, as well religious and charitable organizations.

Rachael Rizzi was featured in the March 2012 issue of AA&B. She is a senior sales executive, commercial insurance at Orgill/Singer & Assocs.