Illinois Mutual – Celebrating Women in Leadership

I'm Katie McCord Jenkins, President and Chairperson of Illinois Mutual. And this is up close and personal with me.

My first job with Illinois Mutual was, when I was 17, 18 years old. Just about to start college. I was doing summer work. Working in the mailroom and then in underwriting and then in sales. I love that. That I've had that opportunity to have that perspective. I still remember so vividly how people made me feel. And that is, I think something that really has stayed with me. Right?

When you're talking about a work environment, that's obviously really important. And, it speaks to the culture of an organization. And, I always felt welcomed. I always felt, people genuinely wanted to help me, get to know me, teach me, but not make it easy for me. There was an expectation, of course, to do the job and do it well and, when I went to college, I don’t know that I really knew what I wanted to be. I enjoyed, business. I did enjoy writing and, communications and that type of thing. I wanted to explore the world. I wanted to get outside my hometown, because I felt like there's a whole world out there that I wanted to see and experience. It gives you perspective on the things that are wonderful and great about, where I grew up and where I live now, and what are the opportunities. I love that.

My dad, he had a huge heart and he loved people. And he was the kind of person that he would walk into a room and he would light it up. He really connected with people. People felt seen by him. Those are some of the things that I take with me from his example.

When I became President of Illinois Mutual, that was in 2011. In 2008, there was a great financial crisis or recession that took place and so when I took over as President in 2011, we were still contending with a lot of challenges. And so it was not necessarily, you know, this high point in our company history.

And so I think that added to, perhaps a sense of pressure. What I know is I know who I am, I know what I think I'm capable of, and I know this team and I know what this team is capable of. And if we remember that, we will get through whatever challenges come our way. And we did. We've flourished and succeeded and accomplished a lot since that time. And of course have faced other challenges in that time, but have had a lot of other wins and successes along the way as well. That I'm really proud of. And I'm proud of our team for.

People do ask me, “What was it like? You're the first woman, to run Illinois Mutual, in it's over 114 year history.” And to be honest, when I became President of Illinois Mutual and as the fifth generation of my family, to take on that role, I didn't think about the fact that I was the first woman very much.

Throughout my career leading up to that, I found myself in a lot of spaces where I was the only woman. Most of the time, that was external to Illinois Mutual. I think we've been fortunate, to have, many women leaders in our workforce. And so I felt really fortunate that I had a career leading up to that point, that internal to Illinois Mutual was fairly, diverse from a gender perspective. And I think that helped, create a confidence and a sense of belonging. I felt more when I became President of the company, more the element of I am the fifth generation, and this is a lot of responsibility. There are four other generations that came before me.

You feel there is a sense of pressure, that I think any leader will feel when they take on an important role. And so I certainly, felt that at that time, but I did also feel, supported and, had people around me that had known me throughout my career and that I had great relationships with, that, I knew I was still a part of a great team.

I think one of the things that is fantastic, and beautiful about our industry is that we're designed to be companies that stand the test of time. Our business is making promises to people that we're going to be there for them five years from now, ten years from now, 20 years from now, 50 years, from now. And that means that we have to take a long term view on our business, and we have to run our business and plan for the long term. Right?

And that means thinking about what are those ups and downs going to be, what are the challenges and changes, and what are some of the things we need to do to be prepared to be able to adapt and move with those changes, deal with whatever those challenges might be. And I think Illinois Mutual's done a fantastic job of accomplishing that because we've weathered, all these changes in the world and here we are.

We're still doing what we do and we still do it phenomenally well. And to ensure that we're going to be there for our policyowners. Because at the end of the day, that is what matters. That's the most important thing. Agents have a tremendous opportunity. They've got clients that rely on them. And I think it's important for agents to know that they can rely on us. Of course, in the industry, we've seen other carriers change, come and go.

What stayed the same is Illinois Mutual. We have consistently been a carrier that they can count on. That will be there to provide them with products, service, training that they need and that they can count on and that will be there for their clients. Right?

We have a track record of being the kind of company that delivers, an experience to our policyowners that can't be matched. You want to sell with a company that you know is going to be there for your clients and is going to deliver on that claim experience with compassion and understanding.

I know from my years and years of experience in this business, we've got a lot of agents out there that know that about us. And, it's time that more do as well and that they come to Illinois Mutual because there's no other place that they'll be better served.

Illinois Mutual has been around for nearly 115 years. It's an exciting history, but what's even more exciting is what's to come, because the best is yet to come.