A curious workplace: Dispelling myths of the insurance industry
When Emily Schultz joined BrokerTech Ventures as managing director in August 2023, she learned that the largest technology conference of the year would be held over Halloween. Her manager gave her the option to miss the conference if she needed to be home for her two small children during the holiday, introducing her to an industry that was more inclusive than she anticipated.
“I felt very grateful and validated that she gave me the choice, even if there ultimately wasn’t a conflict,” Schultz said.
Schultz had spent many years in revolutionizing industries prior to joining BrokerTech Ventures, a broker-led InsurTech ecosystem that convenes insurance industry players to support innovation, ideation and investment within the industry. She taught New York City public school teachers to integrate technology in their classroom. She spent years in publishing as it moved from traditional to digital methods.
BrokerTech Ventures was hiring at a time she was ready to make her next move, so she reached out. Her three years at the company revealed to her that the insurance industry is not what she expected.
“I had always been involved in tech, but I was curious what it was going to be like being in insurance,” Schultz said. “One of the challenges the industry has is that there’s this perception of it being like a 1980s style boardroom with a bunch of men in suits. It’s a myth that we haven’t done a great job of dispelling.”
From her first touchpoint with the company, Schultz found an environment that valued diversity of thought and didn’t think twice about championing women. Her two main contacts in the beginning were women who were of her same generation. Before accepting her position, she explained that she had two young children, one with higher medical needs.
Her manager told her that her family comes first and they’ll work around her needs.
“Women, men, young adults, older adults – every stage of life, you’ve got your own kind of challenges. They make an effort to really look at them from the person level, as opposed to the corporate level,” Schultz said.
Schultz said that human-centric value system will become even more important for insurance industries as they face an exodus of talent. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.37 million insurance professionals are age 55 or older, while only 214,000 are between ages 20 and 24.
More and more of those with industry knowledge are approaching retirement, and the industry needs to appeal to younger and more diverse talent.
“I don’t think there’s a luxury of just looking in the same talent pools that have been the historically easy ones to look into,” Schultz said.
Curiosity and an innovative mindset are assets in the insurance industry when it comes to solving problems, and that includes recruiting and retaining talent. Schultz said most people understand that a transformative industry needs all kinds of perspectives.
“If you have an idea, this community wants to hear it,” she said. “The insurance industry is probably one of the most curious groups that I’ve been a part of, where they’re really just interested in ideating and brainstorming and trying to figure out complex problems together.”
BrokerTech Ventures works with a wide variety of partners from all around the world, ensuring diversity of thought within their work. They have relationships with other accelerators in Israel, Ireland and several Latin American countries. Schultz said that they work with 25 of the largest brokers and insurance carriers in the US, and more of the heads of technology are women than she expected.
People with diverse career backgrounds tend to find their way to the industry, as well.
“There’s kind of an in-joke in the industry that there’s not a ton of 6-year-olds that dream of being in insurance,” Schultz said. “A lot of people come from different career backgrounds, like acting.”
One of BrokerTech Venture’s company values is placing the person at the heart of everything they do. That means considering the needs of the insurance policy holder, the insurance broker and the employees that make their company run. As the industry and its technology continues to transform, that person-centric atmosphere continues to be key to solving problems and growing into the future.
“Inclusivity comes from curiosity,” Schultz said. “Looking at the person, as opposed to an employee, and then being curious about the people around you. I’ve been really touched by the relationships that I’ve built during my time here. I think that the industry gets a certain reputation that we’ve been working hard to try to dispel. It’s honestly been a really welcoming place for me, and I think that curiosity and person-focused approach is at the heart of it.”
RELATED: See other perspectives on diversity in the workforce in this story from dsm magazine’s newest Inclusion issue.
