WHAT IS YOUR PRACTICE AREA AND/OR AREA OF EXPERTISE?
Health and benefits
WHAT LED YOU TO BECOME AN ACTUARY? AND WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO THE PROFESSION?
As a directionless business major, it was in a statistics class my freshman year. My grades were bad throughout the year, but in studying for the final exam, something clicked. I started to translate what previously felt like a completely foreign language. I was on track for a B in the class, and told my professor asking for extra credit opportunities that I wanted to change my major to statistics—but my parents wouldn’t let me unless I got an A in the class. He said “No” pretty early, but he got excited that I might have caught the mathematical bug and spoke to me for an hour about all the professions I could pursue with a statistics degree. That was the first time I heard the word “actuary.” He was convincing (though he thought I was already convinced), and I found myself intrigued that statistics clicked for me—and became fun—while all my classmates seemed to have disdain for the subject. I changed my major the next semester, took Exam P the next year, and followed my nose from there.
DESCRIBE A TIME WHEN YOUR PROFESSIONALISM TRAINING HAS HEALPED YOU IN YOUR CAREER.
Some of the best relationships I have made throughout my career have been from instances where I knew I was in over my head and reached out to another actuary for guidance. Creditable coverage and the IRA is an example that comes to mind. There was a lot of confusion when the legislation first came out with very vague guidance from CMS [the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services]. There was a bit of panic among our clients that their plans may fail this testing, leaving their employees who were over 65 vulnerable to lifelong penalties when they eventually enroll in Medicare. I was being pushed for answers in an area I was unfamiliar with. The foundation of professionalism instilled in me from my actuarial credentials allowed me to confidently and calmly stand my ground and seek guidance from those more knowledgeable—and finally communicate there was simply not enough information available yet to make a determination. That guidance I sought came from fellow Academy member Rob Schlau who has become a great mentor and friend of mine. CMS eventually released clarification reports, but I was not pressured to state a strong opinion when the information available was insufficient.
TELL US ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOUR ACTUARIAL EXPERTISE INFLUENCED AN IMPORTANT DECISION IN YOUR WORKPLACE.
The idea of having to have entry-level experience to be considered qualified for an entry-level role never sat well with me. As I grew through the early years of my career, I noticed the competition for actuarial roles had escalated to a new level. College students applying for our internship program had passed multiple exams and at least one internship experience under their belt—I felt for those, like me, who only had one exam and no internships coming out of college. I created our company’s first “Externship” which offered college students an opportunity to gain actuarial experience and allow them to put a relevant role on their résumé. I worked with a few colleagues to put together a curriculum, putting together hypothetical case studies using the very real tools that we used every day on the job. Before starting my career, it was always a mystery what a typical day in the life of an actuary was—with this externship, we were able to give a few students a taste of that and hopefully add some credibility to their résumé to get their foot in the door and start their careers.
WHAT’S ONE OF THE BIGGEST LESSONS YOU’VE LEARNED IN YOUR CAREER?
If I have a question in my head, there’s a good chance someone else has the same question and just doesn’t want to speak up. Our work is complicated, and things can move really fast without pausing to make sure everyone is on the same page. Even later on in my career I’ve found things I previously took for granted and just assumed were right, but when being pushed for clarification by a junior colleague, the issues were much more ambiguous. It’s important for us to remain aware of our own biases and limitations to accept that we rarely fully understand something, and that there’s always something further to explore. The responsibility is on all of us to speak up when we feel the pull and to remain open-minded to explore different perspectives.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU WISH WERE GIVEN AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR CAREER?
It’s OK to be confused—in fact, it’s expected!. This job is hard, and I’m consistently humbled by how knowledgeable more seasoned actuaries are. I felt that college didn’t exactly prepare me with the information directly relevant to the work and it took time to get up to speed. I put a lot of pressure on myself up a lot early on to be great at something I was brand new at. I almost wish I could just give my younger self a hug and say, “It’s OK—this stuff is hard, you’re supposed to struggle with it, and you’ll be fine.”
WHAT DO YOU VALUE MOST ABOUT YOUR ACADEMY MEMBERSHIP OR ACADEMY VOLUNTEER WORK?
The ability to collaborate with the smartest people I’ve ever met. Volunteering and attending conferences are among my favorite things to do in all of life. Sound nerdy? Well I’m a nerd and proud of it! Meetings and conferences give me an opportunity to let go of deadlines, to-do lists, billing time, and all the other regular workplace stressors and focus on learning and exploring. The health insurance industry is constantly changing, and the Academy provides me with opportunities to slow down to ingest at least some of it. The nuances need time to sink in, they need to be looked at from different perspectives to fully understand. There’s little room for that when paying clients are waiting for their quarterly IBNR [Incurred But Not Reported] reports and claim trackers. Volunteer groups and conferences are definitely times where my imposter syndrome can hit its hardest, but that’s an indicator that I’m in the right place. I love it when I’m nowhere close to the smartest person in the room. My deepest learning and growth has come from being a member of the Academy.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE ANYTHING ELSE WITH ASPIRING OR NEW ACTUARIES, OR THOSE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING FOR THE ACADEMY?
Actively volunteer, and start now! It’s more beneficial than I could have ever imagined. It took me a while to work up the courage to join a group, then even more time to participate—I was very intimidated being so visible in a small group of such smart people, but the discussions I’ve been able to be a part of have expanded my mind more than technical work and reading articles ever have. The workplace tends to be very practical in nature—do what we need to do to get the project done. The volunteer groups allow us to slow down, look at something from many different perspectives and take the time to think through all the downstream implications that are not immediately obvious.
BEYOND WORK—WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR HOBBIES OR OTHER PERSONAL INTERESTS?
I’m a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu brown belt and compete a few times a year. I coach a local wrestling team and run a leadership development program for captains. I play guitar (rock/blues/classical), and am forever not as good as I would like to be. I’m halfway through attaining my Certified Professional Coach designation to be a life coach. And, I love to cook, read, and smoosh my face into my dog Ella’s face.
