WHAT IS YOUR PRACTICE AREA AND/OR AREA OF EXPERTISE?
I am a property and casualty actuary, specializing in ratemaking for personal lines insurance. My main focus is homeowners insurance, but I’ve previously worked on other personal lines, including automobile. As an Academy volunteer, I am the vice chairperson of the Homeowners Insurance Task Force and a member of the P/C Extreme Events Committee.
WHAT LED YOU TO BECOME AN ACTUARY? AND WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO THE PROFESSION?
Originally, I wanted to be a neuroscientist! I was interested in scientific thinking and the brain, so it seemed like an interesting career. When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to intern in a neuroscience lab. I was so excited to be the best intern they had ever had and to improve my résumé. Instead, I found out that I was too extroverted for laboratory work. I wanted the excitement of working alongside other scientists, but most of them were perfectly content to run their experiments with little day-to-day interaction.
I went back to the drawing board at the end of the internship. I was in economics class in my senior year of high school, and the lesson that day was about the value of installing a traffic light or a stop sign at a tricky intersection—a difference with a hefty price tag. The teacher explained that the government used the “statistical value” of human injury prevented to decide between the two interventions. I raised my hand and asked, “How do they determine the statistical value of an average person?” Apparently, that was not what was on everyone else’s mind! My teacher said that if I thought like that, I should be an actuary.
I looked up this new-to-me profession and realized it might be exactly what I wanted—a blend of statistics, math, and business sense. Even better, no one worked alone in a lab!
DESCRIBE A TIME WHEN YOUR PROFESSIONALISM TRAINING HAS HEALPED YOU IN YOUR CAREER.
I was on my first-ever call with representatives of an insurance department, and was nervous. Before I met with them, I reviewed the actuarial standards of practice [ASOPs] to make sure I would communicate all the relevant, required, and recommended information. The representatives were kind and professional, and the call went well. Reviewing the standards
reminded me that I had done all my work in accordance with our professional requirements. It gave me additional confidence to speak to my work with the knowledge that I had made decisions that were not just reasonable, but in accordance with actuarial professional standards.
In the years since I have presented my work to many stakeholders inside and outside my workplace. Accuracy and professionalism are paramount in those situations—and I still take the time to review ASOPs when I need a confidence boost!
TELL US ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOUR ACTUARIAL EXPERTISE INFLUENCED AN IMPORTANT DECISION IN YOUR WORKPLACE.
Actuaries have a unique mindset to approaching problems. That viewpoint focuses on the importance of quality data, well-reasoned assumptions and analysis, and the big picture outside the actuarial bubble. Actuaries can be successful in so many roles because of our skillset that we apply to every problem we encounter.
Often, that combination of detail-oriented and long-range thinking can be missing in a discussion based on the people and roles represented. I always try to bring whatever is “missing” in the room to the discussion. If everyone is discussing the expansive strategic view we can project from some data, I try to ask questions or probe the data directly to add context. When we’re focused on the minutiae of a problem, I inject the high-level questions we are trying to answer. Actuaries, by virtue of being able to think in both modes, are important to have in the room for such decisions.
WHAT’S ONE OF THE BIGGEST LESSONS YOU’VE LEARNED IN YOUR CAREER?
It’s about the numbers, but it’s also not about the numbers. Working at a large company has given me a great view into how actuaries wield enormous decision-making influence, and how we are just one part of a larger strategic puzzle.
People don’t make decisions based on just numbers, because numbers are all about how you interpret them and the context around them. Growth is great—unless it’s in the wrong place! It’s easy to think that because an interpretation is evident to you from the data, it’s evident to everyone. As actuaries, we need to wear the hats of all our colleagues so we can uncover their perspective and give them the context they need. We have a consistent vision, underpinned by our professionalism, that we need to share with others.
Our ability to use emotional intelligence skills to understand our audience, communicate with them effectively, and support our point of view with data are the critical actuarial skills we all
need. Everyone said this was a data-driven profession, but I think it’s really a communication-based one!
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU WISH WERE GIVEN AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR CAREER?
The most important thing you can do is meet people and connect with them. No one is an island. Working relationships enrich your professional network and your impact. Being an actuary can sometimes feel isolating. No one at parties knows what I do, and when I say I work in insurance … the conversation usually turns to ask the next person in the group what they do! Having strong working relationships with people who understand what I do is valuable. I have found ways to make a social impact through both the Casualty Actuarial Society [CAS] and the Academy in volunteering on issues I care about, like climate change and public policy, which combine my professional skills and personal passions. None of that would be possible without the colleagues and friends I’ve made as part of the journey.
WHAT DO YOU VALUE MOST ABOUT YOUR ACADEMY MEMBERSHIP OR ACADEMY VOLUNTEER WORK?
Actuaries join our profession for many reasons. Some people love examining data or creating new methodologies. Others want to dig into the financial impacts of actuarial decisions, or catastrophe modeling or business decisions. I like that too, and I’m also passionate about making a difference in the world. Actuaries who work on lines like homeowners have seen the effects of a changing climate and patterns of human development on billion-dollar disasters in the United States, but actuaries aren’t the only ones who have taken notice. We have a unique set of skills and business knowledge that give us influence and credibility. I want to use our reputation for professionalism, thoughtfulness, and candor to raise awareness around key issues in our society, like climate change, and help policymakers make the right decisions.
Volunteering with the Academy has already let me use that influence, whether it’s through visits to Washington, D.C., to provide public policy stakeholders information on flood and wildfire risk, or through connections to other actuaries interested in those issues through committee work.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE ANYTHING ELSE WITH ASPIRING OR NEW ACTUARIES, OR THOSE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING FOR THE ACADEMY?
Volunteering with actuaries is a joy! It’s fun to meet other people and collaborate on a project—it’s what group work in school should have been like. Often, actuaries practicing in the U.S. are more connected to the CAS or the Society of Actuaries as the organization where they earned their credentials, rather than a cross-functional organization like the Academy. The Academy is focused on issues that extend beyond our professional bubble into the realm of public policy issues that affect us all. I’m grateful that I have been able to volunteer with the
Academy. The Homeowners’ Task Force works on the kinds of issues that interested me in volunteering in the first place—I will add that the task force is always looking for new members!
BEYOND WORK—WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR HOBBIES OR OTHER PERSONAL INTERESTS?
I love to run and hike in the extensive county park system near my house, bake cookies and cakes, and host parties. When I’m not outdoors, I like to work on embroidery or knitting pieces and listen to pop culture criticism and science podcasts.
