Q
Tell me about your small-town upbringing in Virginia, near the North Carolina border.
A
I think most people who are from small towns consider it maybe the most defining feature of who they are. It’s two parts of being from a small town, right? You think you can do anything, but you’re also fairly humbled because everybody around you knows you and knows your story. So you’re not allowed to be too big for your britches. Your best friends are generally still the people from that small town. They never leave your heart.
Favorite Beatle: George Harrison (“I thought that was a given.”)
Favorite Beatles Song: “Golden Slumbers”
Favorite Vacation Spot: Montana (“That majesty of the mountains, that stillness, being on horseback and just stopping and hearing nothing but forest, and just the beauty of it all. And the people are absolutely lovely.”)
Favorite Movie: “I feel like my movies are a little embarrassing. I love Moonstruck, but I’m equally embarrassed to admit that I love Talladega Nights. I can go high-brow to low-brow on movies.”
Favorite Actors: Nicole Kidman and Daniel Day Lewis
Favorite Books: Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden); Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger); Band of Brothers (Stephen Ambrose);
Boys in the Boat (Daniel James Brown)
Favorite Richmond Restaurant: Stella’s (“The best Greek in all of Richmond.”)
Favorite Dish At Stella’s: Crab-and-mushroom bisque (“Also, the spanakopita and tzatziki is just terrific.”)
Q
You told me that whenever something needed to be done in school, you were the one who raised her hand. You said your mom called it the Eject-a-Hand.
A
Yeah, she said it was a disease I was afflicted with to eject my hand and take on whatever it might be—an after-school party or dance at the house, a bake sale. The football team is going away—who’s going to bring five dozen ham biscuits? It didn’t really matter.
For some reason, I thought my family could just provide it.
Q
When you were growing up, who were your heroes?
A
Oh, my mom. That’s easy. We were a bit of a different family. Dad was in the Navy, and it was the ’70s. He was on a nuclear sub, and it was the Cold War. My mom was at home a lot by herself. And here she is, this petite woman who was the CFO of a large company, and she would drive almost an hour into Virginia Beach every day. She started out as an accountant and worked her way up. There’s nothing that I can’t look at and say today that she wasn’t the genesis.
Q
I’m wondering how those lessons from your mom may have carried over to what you do now.
A
She always said, “Look, it’s not about quantity; it’s quality. When you’re with the kids, are you giving them all of you? Or when you’re with your office, are you giving them all of you? You can actually leave home at home and leave the office at the office and give both of those worlds the best of you.” So, yeah, the library my mom gave me to be a business leader, as well as a mom, it’s every day of my life.
Q
You’re in what historically has been a male-dominated industry. What sort of role model/mentor do you feel you need to be?
A
I love this industry for women. It’s the secret that nobody talks about. That problem-solving characteristic, the empathy, someone who can listen, someone who wants to assist a client through a claim—I do think some of those skills are inherently female.
Q
What is something your co-workers would be surprised to learn about you?
A
I’m a huge Beatles fan. If I get in my car, I have the Beatles on Sirius XM. It’s pretty much what I listen to all the time. I sing the songs really loud in my car. I can still cry to a great Beatle song.
Q
What three words would your co-workers use to describe your management style?
A
Energetic, passionate and empathetic. They would tell you I listen, I seek to understand.
Q
If you could change one thing about the insurance industry, what would it be?
A
Oh, I’d add a lot more women. We’re good at this. We’ve got to get more women coming to this industry. It’ll be good for the industry.
Q
Has that been a specific initiative of yours at PCF?
A
We have something called Women of PCF, and we use it not for networking but really to help answer their challenges in their work.
Q
What do you think gives you your leader’s edge?
A
I think being the person that asks the best questions in the room makes you smarter than the people with the best answers. I’m very proud of my question-asking.
