I wanted to take a moment to write about the most important part of our agency. It is our tight knit staff/family here at the office. We often say that we really should write a book around here. It’s true. This blog might turn into a book. Let’s see.

Let’s start with the “big man” Craig. I’m sure many know him as the honest businessman that is knowledgeable about insurance. While this is very true, he is much more than that. He has been the founder and the glue within this office. He started this on a wing and a prayer back in 1981. He left his old job and stopped at nothing to form his own business. He took risks, grew relationships, and truly let nothing stop him. It is very admirable, and I look up to him every day. Things are very different these days, and I really don’t think I would have been able to do what he did now. While we are here at the office, he is known for his one-liners and quick-witted humor. He started a laid back yet driven atmosphere for us all to grow and succeed together.

Then we move onto Sue (or Suzie-bell as I have named her). She was the true first “non-family” member to come to our office. She is family now, but technically not by blood. She sits in the second desk when you come into the office which used to be Jeanette’s desk, Craig’s baby sister. I always say it’s interesting that it happened that way. Jeanette was known for dropping hilarious quick comments when you least expected them. The type of comments that make you full out belly-laugh. Sue is the exact same way. We will all be having a conversation, and she says something that cracks us up and lightens the mood. It’s normally coming out of left field, and we all get the laughing jag. Aside from the giggles she gives to us, she is also one of the most hard-working individuals I have ever met. I like to call her the “task master” in this office. You could give her an entire stack of things to do and magically an hour later they have been done quickly, correctly, and efficiently. The truth is, she gets way too many of those large stacks of things to do, but somehow, she pushes through every time and gets things done. The personal and professional growth she has shown within this office in the last 5+ years is amazing.

The next lovely addition to our office is Alena. She is the first person to greet you when you walk in the door, at Sharon’s old desk (Craig’s older sister). She is someone that has been with us for two years now, and to say we were incredibly lucky to have her on our team would be an understatement. I like to call her our “little ball of sunshine”. She has a very good outlook on life in general and it shines through to us and the clients. There have been many times where someone comes in that seems to be having “one of those days” and she turns them around every time. They leave her with a smile on their face and brighter day because of her. It really is a superpower that not many people possess in this world. She is a true team player and always looking to jump in when needed. She took on a lot of responsibility when coming to our office. She had to jump in headfirst and learn all the company underwriting guidelines (and fast)! This is the type of work that you normally learn as you go. She is a spreadsheet queen and loves to be organized. I make sure to tease her about it on a regular basis. Our brains work VERY differently. I’ve come to the realization that my brain works in VERY different ways than a lot of people (haha). I probably drive her crazy on a regular basis, but as with everything else… she takes it in stride and keeps pushing.

Kristin is our “back office” processor and advertising/social media queen. She is my “sister from another mister” and someone that my mother has metaphorically adopted as her own. Kristin will jump in and answer phones from time to time, but many times her work is behind the scenes. We have officially nicknamed her “OZ” within the office. She is regularly emailing us to look for things, double check our work, and is normally 5 steps ahead of the curve. She also knows how different each of us work. I don’t really want to admit how many times she follows up on my items in comparison to everyone else in the office. She has begun to love the advertising and social media path she “fell” into within our office. There are times I know she feels as though she is off in Never-Never Land and her hard work is something that you can’t see/touch. However, this could not be further from the truth. She has not only taken on processing all of our behind the scenes work that we truly didn’t have time to do, but has take on this huge project of growth through marketing. She regularly sends me ideas and we plan the next steps together. I have thrown so much her way and she has never once batted an eye. She is willing to take the ‘bull by the horns’, and if she doesn’t know…she will find out. We are honored to have the all powerful “OZ” in our corner.

Then we move onto Kelli. She has been handling the Motorists Mutual/Encova book transfer. If you are insured with Motorists/Encova she may have reached out to you already, or you may be hearing from her later this year. You all may remember her as she has also worked at Snyder Insurance for 10 years back in the day. She is also my sister! We have her working remotely for us to handle the special project of transferring their book into their new system. This is something I knew we would need help within order to accomplish what we wanted without sacrificing good customer service. We threw her in and had to answer questions here and there for a couple of weeks. She took it upon herself to learn, research, and get back into the insurance world. I believe her exact words were “It’s like riding a bike.” She has called/texted me on multiple occasions saying that she is loving talking to our clients and is having so much fun with this book transfer. I would say that her biggest strength is her ability to listen, teach, and relate to our clients. She knows how to put people’s worries at ease and make them feel comfortable with the process. She is also very straightforward with us in the office and tells things exactly as they are. It is a refreshing quality to carry. We would not be able to keep moving forward without her taking on this large project.

I could not be prouder of this group. If you knew me, and how I work, it is quite comical that I am leading this place. I don’t say that in a bad way about myself or to put myself down. However, I am a very right-brained thinker. I have my degree in art education, and I have always thought outside the box. I normally come to the same conclusion as others, but take a very colorful and windy path to get there. I could have 52 ping pong balls floating in the air, and feel comfortable with the fact that I’ll get them all in place and where they need to be. I do believe that would be my strength in this office. There are a million moving parts that need to be worked at every day. I know that little by little if you keep scratching away at the problem, the problem will become smaller and smaller until it’s gone. I believe that was passed down from my Dad, and I am grateful for it. Outside of that, I would like to think that I have also built upon Craig’s laid back yet driven atmosphere. We have fun here, but we also work so incredibly hard. You have to have the freedom with the hard work for it all to balance out in the end. I hope to keep growing this place so we can stay around for generations to come.

I do believe I wrote a book after all. I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about the Snyder Insurance Family. There will be more to come in future! ????

-Katie aka “Boss Lady” as they have nicknamed me.