"We thank Talman Howard" — former president of Brightway — "for his contributions to Brightway over the last seven years. He was instrumental in helping us rebuild our executive team, which was key to our transition from being a single-state franchise system to a countrywide franchisor," Michael Miller said in a statement.(Photo: Brightway Insurance)

Brightway Insurance announced co-founder Michael Miller will assume the role of president and CEO.

Additionally, the company is making other changes to its executive team to ensure it continues to be poised for growth:

• Leslie Kolleda-Wright, formerly vice president, agency growth & development, is now chief of staff. She will also continue to lead the company's marketing and communications functions. Kolleda-Wright has been with Brightway for nearly six years leading the groups that support franchisees and, prior to that, served as brand and communications business leader at two publicly-traded insurance companies for over 26 years.
• Scott Pollard, formerly director of agency development and carrier relations, is now vice president, agency growth & development, filling the role that Kolleda-Wright is being promoted from. He joined Brightway in 2018, bringing more than 25 years of insurance experience with him to the company.
• Chip Hyers has joined the company as vice president, sales. Hyers brings with him 15 years of experience in building, growing and managing sales and operations teams.

"Our strategy of offering a business opportunity with the lowest risk and the highest ROI remains the same. Aside from the co-founder and CEO assuming the role of the president and being joined by Leslie Kolleda-Wright… nothing has materially changed," says Courtney Heidelberg, public relations and communications manager at Brightway Insurance, responding to a question about how the new executive team changes the company's business model.

The new executive team

Brightway's executive team is now made of:

• Executive chairman: David Miller
• President and CEO: Michael Miller
• Chief of staff: Leslie Kolleda-Wright
• Chief financial officer: Bob Taylor
• Chief technology officer: Bob Hitchcock
• General counsel: Max Staplin
• Vice president, customer experience: Kris Azar
• Vice president, sales: Chip Hyers
• Vice president, business intelligence and technical support: Chinikqua Maddox
• Vice president, agency growth and development: Scott Pollard
• Vice president, accounting: Jess Spendley

"We thank Talman Howard" — former president of Brightway — "for his contributions to Brightway over the last seven years. He was instrumental in helping us rebuild our executive team, which was key to our transition from being a single-state franchise system to a countrywide franchisor," Michael Miller said in a statement. "Thanks to Talman, we now have an incredible team of experts driven to help our business partners achieve the greatest possible return."

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