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What initially attracted you to QBE and the insurance industry as a whole?

Like many young business graduates, I stumbled into the world of insurance without much foresight. Now, I love the industry. We get to work in what’s known as ‘temporal balance’. A state of time harmony. We appreciate and use the past, tackle today’s problems, all while looking forward and solving challenges of the future. Why QBE? Well, what’s the one thing you want when navigating a rapidly changing and uncertain future? Great people.

Can you share a pivotal moment in your career journey that significantly influenced your development?

There wasn’t a single development moment, but rather many small 1% improvements/course corrections, which I can only attribute to the people around me. A personal moment I do remember is when I passed one of my harder earlier exams. Up until that point, I still had all the doubts around if I’ll be able to pass the Actuarial exams, or if I’ll be good enough to work in a high performing team.

Passing that exam, changed the voice in the back of my head from cautious doubt, to actually, everything seems scary when you’re far away from it, but with a bit of exposure and effort, you may just surprise yourself!

What emerging trends or innovations in the insurance industry excite you the most, and how do you envision them shaping the future?

There’s obviously so many, and that is part of the joy of insurance! But two key things that jump out at me are:

The threat – climate change. We fundamentally need to understand the changing climate and its impact on risk. Understanding the threat of climate change can allow us to protect capital appetite for insurance risk as well as protect the availability of insurance.

The opportunity – automation and AI, and digital transformation will shape the future. Companies can leverage this technology quicker, will have more people, spending more of their time, solving real-world insurance problems.

How do you approach continuous learning and skill development to stay ahead in this dynamic industry?

I’ve been fortunate to have a formal exam pathway that has had me studying for insurance exams bi-annually. It’s one of those things you loath when the time to study rolls around, but once the exam is done, the feeling is unreal. Not only do you get a dopamine kick from pushing through something that’s tough, but you also get to add another arrow to your quiver of career skills.

Outside of formal exams, it’s always good to read about what’s happening in the industry, and there are also a few interesting general insurance podcasts I like to listen to, which touch on various emerging challenges, new innovations, and interview people working in interesting areas of insurance.

How do you maintain a balance between embracing traditional insurance practices and exploring new, disruptive ideas?

This is where diversity is awesome. Fresh people in a team who don’t know traditional insurance practices, combine beautifully with a group of experienced people who have dialled in their approach over the years. If you put this in an open environment, with good communication and ways of working, you will be surprised by how much the situation self-balances. So, on a personal level, I trust and rely on the feedback from people around me to help balance exploring some wacky new idea with the tried and tested. I believe innovation should not just be top down, but more bottom up. Exploring new ideas should ideally happen on the ground – by the people who are closest to the problem.

As someone with a keen eye for innovation, what advice would you give to other professionals looking to make an impact in the insurance sector?

Try to get a breadth of experience throughout your career. Understand how all teams interconnect within the company. Aim to understand what moves the insurance needle, from both the shareholder and customer ends. What are things that materially affect customers outcomes, and their satisfaction with the product and service? What are things that materially affect insurance risk and return and hence shareholder outcomes? Any part or innovation you play in the company, can then be balanced against this backdrop – you can see/anticipate how what you are doing will impact both ends of the spectrum, and to what extent.

Lastly, what personal goals or milestones do you aspire to achieve in your career, and how do you plan to work towards them?

Whenever I mention that I work in insurance, I notice people lose interest. But imagine this: a stint in Bermuda. Which other industry can boast about teleporting capital across the globe from a tiny island, all in a mission to shield people from the world’s toughest challenges? Then, there’s the allure of working at Lloyd’s – it’s like stepping into the prequel, the origin story. Picture the early days, where capital, customer, and real-world risk converge, perhaps over a simple cup of coffee (almost like a Teams meeting, but let’s save that’s a story for another time).

• Steph Wigg

What drew you to the insurance industry and how did you get your start?

I started working in the insurance industry when I was 20 years old – at the time I was an assistant manager at a retail clothing store and was looking for something that would give me the ability build a career.  My first job was an admin role in a broking firm which a friend recommended to me after expressing I was looking for a change.

You’re a specialist in motor insurance – what are the most exciting/challenging new developments in the category?

The most exciting thing for me is how much we are doing in the risk management space and all the things on offer to our customers, such as access to industry events. The most recent event – Transport leaders forum – was one of the best events I’ve been to since working at NZI. It had an amazing theme of looking after your people and their mental health, because putting people first creates a good culture and in turn will lead to success in the business.

What do you consider to be the biggest changes in the insurance industry since you started out?

The biggest change would be the way we look at risk, and the changing risk landscape in general. We now have a lot more information available to us which means we can be more considered and prudent when it comes to what we insure.

What has been the biggest professional challenge in your career so far?

The biggest challenge in my career so far would be overcoming the fear of not been taken seriously. The motor industry is still heavily male dominated, which in itself isn’t an issue for me as I grew up with five brothers! But when you don’t see yourself represented, it can make you feel like you don’t really belong.

My team has been fantastic in helping me overcome these thoughts and grow my confidence that I deserve to be in this role.

What is your approach to both personal and professional development?

I have a huge passion for people and understanding why we do what we do and what drives us to be who we are.

I love learning and challenging my own thinking, so I am always seeking out ways to be better – whether through life coaching, leadership courses, listening to podcasts or putting myself in challenging scenarios to build my confidence in areas that don’t necessarily come naturally to me. Like doing this profile for example!   

Who are the people who have influenced your career choices and professional development? What form did that influence take?

I have a handful of people to who have influenced my career choice, but the main one is Mike Davis who heads up the commercial motor underwriting team at NZI. I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for Mike seeing my potential and giving me an opportunity to join NZI as a Senior Underwriter, back in 2015. I often wonder if he hadn’t taken a chance on me where I would be now and how different things could have been. I will be forever grateful for Mike’s support and ability to see what I was capable of before I could.

We understand you have taken part in a mentoring programme; can you tell us about that experience – how the mentor/mentee relationship works and the benefits you gained.

I am lucky enough to have many mentors in my career so far and every single one has given me something different. It’s important for me to have a variety of people to look up to and be inspired by. My mentors within a workplace are very different to the mentors I have for my personal life. I also think it’s important to take the bits you want from the mentor and not take everything as gospel – at the end of the day they are also human and make mistakes, the most effective mentors are ones that lead with vulnerability and also share their struggles for you to learn from.

They can also help you see the things you don’t see in yourself, which is a huge confidence booster, particularly if it’s something you would have doubted or not even thought of because of having a fixed mindset.

You are a NZI Jeremy Bold Scholarship recipient, what does that involve?

The award is designed to recognise outstanding performance and to develop NZI’s emerging leaders – something JB was incredibly passionate about. As part of the award you receive a $5k scholarship to contribute towards your professional development and mentorship from Gary Taylor for 12 months.

It’s a been a huge privilege to be selected for this award.

What would be your two/three key pieces of advice to young professionals starting out in the insurance industry.

Always continue to build relationships and be kind to everyone, because you never know when they may pop up again in your career (as we know the industry is small). Also, if you don’t have a mentor or two, get one. I have a couple of incredible mentors and I have grown so much by having their support. Having people in your corner encouraging you and challenging you is invaluable. 

What do you do to maintain work-life balance?

I have a huge passion for dance-fitness and in 2023 I started my own dance fitness company – so this definitely keeps me busy outside of my day job. It’s an outlet for my creative side and connecting with people which is my absolute passion.

You’re about to embark on your biggest challenge yet – parenthood. How are you preparing yourself for life outside of ‘work’?

I’m not ha-ha, I’m still in a bit of denial at this stage. Can you really prepare for having a year off work? I guess you just deal with it! 

And some light-hearted ones

• What’s your top recommendation for a place to eat – Dan-Dan Noodles at Basu lounge in Takapuna – the BEST noodles I’ve had in my life!
• Your favourite holiday destination – Barcelona is my favourite place in the world.
• What did you want to be when you were 10 years old?  A forensic scientist – I soon realised you needed to be good at science so that dream quickly fell off the radar!

Authors, Natalie Laidlaw and Ashlee Sherman, Barry Nilsson

In the latest episode of The Checkup, BN’s Natalie Laidlaw and Ashlee Sherman talk to Sally Ryan and Carly Schrever; psychologists and the directors of Human Ethos, about the complexities of vicarious trauma, empathy-based stress, burnout and compassion fatigue in the workplace. Together, they explore how we can recognise the symptoms of stress, both in ourselves and our colleagues, as well as some strategies to effectively manage and prevent vicarious trauma.

Listen here