Bound & Determined℠ with Meg McKeen

Heather Stoffer joins host Meg McKeen for a conversation recorded in front of a live audience during Ohio Insurance Agent's 2025 LeadHERship Collective. Heather describes her career like a hurricane: Hurricane Heather took a few sharp turns – from her service in the Air Force into municipal government and manufacturing, before she fell – or was she pulled? - into insurance four years ago. As she’s grown in her career and her life, Heather’s core values, rooted in the same values she learned during her experience in the Air Force, have shaped her beliefs and her decision-making. 

Growing up in Southern Louisiana, Heather's career took a variety of turns before she found insurance four years ago, where she currently works as a Business Account Executive with Hummel Group in Ohio. She's a proud veteran, a mom, and wife, whose core values, Integrity, Service, and Excellence, guide her in all she does.

• Special thanks to Ohio Insurance Agents for including this experience in your 2025 LeadHERship Collective. Learn more about OIA here
• Connect with Heather on LinkedIn
• Catch up on past conversations with Erin Keller and Mercy Komar
• Join Meg for one of the eight live podcast recording events she'll be hosting in 2025. Learn more about Bound & Determined℠ Live.
• Have a question for Meg? Submit it here and she may answer it on a future episode.

To learn more about this podcast, and the work Meg McKeen does to support insurance professionals, visit Adjunct Advisors. To receive To Taking the Risk, the monthly newsletter Meg curates, including updates on her #digitalnomad adventures, subscribe here.

Love the podcast? To show your support, consider leaving a positive review here, sharing this episode with a friend, or making a financial contribution here. Thank you for listening!

Listen in as host Meg McKeen is joined in conversation with Adrienne Lieberthal. Together we chat through the decision Adrienne and her husband recently made – for him to leave his job and become the primary caregiving parent, and how they got there. We share more about what it looks like to thrive in values aligned relationships – both personal and professional – and the first step you can take to get there - if that’s what you need to hear today.  

Adrienne Lieberthal is the CEO of ATHENA Actuarial Consulting, an actuary, business leader, wife, and mom dedicated to driving innovation in actuarial and strategic advisory services. With a passion for taking the road less traveled, she has built a firm that prioritizes excellence, collaboration, and forward-thinking solutions while balancing the demands of leadership and family. She is committed to creating a life of fulfillment and purpose, inspiring others to chart their own unique paths to success.

• Connect with Adrienne on LinkedIn
• Learn more about the work Adrienne does through Athena Actuarial Consulting
• Join Meg for one of the eight live podcast recording events she'll be hosting in 2025. Learn more about Bound & Determined℠ Live.
• Have a question for Meg? Submit it here and she may answer it on a future episode.

To learn more about this podcast, and the work Meg McKeen does to support insurance professionals, visit Adjunct Advisors. To receive To Taking the Risk, the monthly newsletter Meg curates, including updates on her #digitalnomad adventures, subscribe here.

Love the podcast? To show your support, consider leaving a positive review here, sharing this episode with a friend, or making a financial contribution here. Thank you for listening!

Did you choose insurance or did insurance choose you? Listen in as host Meg McKeen is joined in conversation with Whitnee Dillard and we go to the way, way back, sharing more about our insurance career origin stories - and the responsibility we have as professionals here to support the next generation as they find their own place in the industry.

Whitnee Dillard is the executive director for Invest - a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to educating, preparing, and attracting diverse new talent to exciting insurance opportunities and career paths. Whitnee's own insurance career began in 2012 as a licensed property and casualty insurance agent. Before she joined us here, Whitnee managed multiple nonprofit programs focused on youth development and college preparation in partnership with both middle and high schools, along with the foster care and juvenile justice systems. Whitnee is a graduate of the University of Michigan. 

• Connect with Whitnee on LinkedIn
• Learn more about the ways you can support the next generation of insurance professionals through Invest
• Join Meg for one of the eight live podcast recording events she'll be hosting in 2025. Learn more about Bound & Determined℠ Live.
• Have a question for Meg? Submit it here and she may answer it on a future episode.

To learn more about this podcast, and the work Meg McKeen does to support insurance professionals, visit Adjunct Advisors. To receive To Taking the Risk, the monthly newsletter Meg curates, including updates on her #digitalnomad adventures, subscribe here.

Love the podcast? To show your support, consider leaving a positive review here, sharing this episode with a friend, or making a financial contribution here. Thank you for listening!

What if we aren't climbing career ladders but playing career hopscotch instead? Listen in as host Meg McKeen is joined in conversation with Laura Rauba - a conversation sparked by this very question. Laura shares more about the sense of curiosity that led to her latest career move and how timing - and knowing yourself - really is everything when we're deciding which part of our life will be our priority - and how that priority can change.

Laura has been with The Hartford since 2020 and has been involved in the industry for 15 years - including majoring in Insurance at Illinois State University. Laura is Mom to three young kids (ages 6, 5 and 2) who keep she and her husband busy. Laura enjoys working out at F45, listening to all different types of podcasts and coming up with home renovation projects she doesn't have time for.

• Connect with Laura on LinkedIn
• Read the post that sparked this conversation here
• Translate insurance jargon using Insurance Nerds' Simplest Insurance Glossary
• Join Meg for one of the eight live podcast recording events she'll be hosting in 2025. Learn more about Bound & Determined℠ Live.
• Have a question for Meg? Submit it here and she may answer it on a future episode.

To learn more about this podcast, and the work Meg McKeen does to support insurance professionals, visit Adjunct Advisors. To receive To Taking the Risk, the monthly newsletter Meg curates, including updates on her #digitalnomad adventures, subscribe here.

Love the podcast? To show your support, consider leaving a positive review here, sharing this episode with a friend, or making a financial contribution here. Thank you for listening!

Listen to a recording of Bound & Determined℠ Live in Phoenix, where podcast host Meg McKeen was joined in conversation by Elissa Kelly. Recorded in front of a live audience, Elissa shares more about her definition of success - and how it's changed over time - and the choice she made to shift her perspective from employee to business owner. 

Elissa Kelly is a solopreneur business coach who guides experienced business leaders as they transition from corporate roles into thriving, strategic, risk-savvy solopreneurs. She is also the Founder and CEO of Surya Partners, a successful professional development firm focused on elevating diverse talent, as well as a mother of two amazing kids, bookworm, avid hiker, and reformed Fortune 100 Risk Executive. 

• Connect with Elissa on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook
• Learn more about the ways Elissa supports executives as they transition to self-employment here
• Special thanks to the folks at Valley of the Sun United Way in Phoenix for use of their lovely space.
• Have a question for Meg? Submit it here and she may answer it on a future episode.

Bound & Determined℠ Live is an intimate, in-person gathering curated to provide connection and support to women in the insurance industry in a highly accessible way. It is open to a woman regardless of her role or title or tenure, is low-cost, hyper-local, and does not require extensive time away from work or family. Join us as we take the conversations we're already having on the podcast and invite you to participate in them, too. Learn more about the 8 events planned in 2025 and consider supporting these events financially here.

To learn more about this podcast, and the work Meg McKeen does to support insurance professionals, visit Adjunct Advisors. To receive To Taking the Risk, the monthly newsletter Meg curates, including updates on her #digitalnomad adventures, subscribe here.

Love the podcast? To show your support, consider leaving a positive review here, sharing this episode with a friend, or making a financial contribution here. Thank you for listening!

Listen to a recording of Bound & Determined℠ Live in Columbus, where podcast host Meg McKeen was joined in conversation by Ash Fitzsimmons. Recorded in front of a live audience, Ash shares more about her journey to motherhood and the challenge it can be to ask for help. We talk about fear and change - and the importance of honoring where we are in each moment. 

Ashley Fitzsimmons: Millennial. Beyonce of Insurance. Director of Professional Development & autoimmune disease badass (both literally & figuratively). 

• Connect with Ashley here on LinkedIn
• Catch up on Ash's past appearance on Bound & Determined℠ here: 5.06 | Giving Grace with Ashley Fitzsimmons
• Learn more about the Ohio Insurance Agents’ 2025 LeadHERship Collective, coming up in Columbus on March 18th and 19th
• Special thanks to the folks at Studio 4980 in Westerville, OH, for use of your lovely space.
• Have a question for Meg? Submit it here and she may answer it on a future episode!

Bound & Determined℠ Live is an intimate, in-person gathering curated to provide connection and support to women in the insurance industry in a highly accessible way. It is open to a woman regardless of her role or title or tenure, is low-cost, hyper-local, and does not require extensive time away from work or family. Join us as we take the conversations we're already having on the podcast and invite you to participate in them, too. Learn more about the 8 events planned in 2025 and consider supporting these events financially here.

To learn more about this podcast, and the work Meg McKeen does to support insurance professionals, visit Adjunct Advisors. To receive To Taking the Risk, the monthly newsletter Meg curates, including updates on her #digitalnomad adventures, subscribe here.

Love the podcast? To show your support, consider leaving a positive review here, sharing this episode with a friend, or making a financial contribution here. Thank you for listening!

Listen to a recording of Bound & Determined℠ Live in Cincinnati, where podcast host Meg McKeen was joined in conversation by Colleen Heister-Miles. Recorded in front of a live audience, we share about imposter syndrome, loneliness - even when in community - a scarcity mindset and the chance we have to honor the past while we create a different future.

A Cincinnati native, after several years on the carrier side of the insurance business, Colleen moved her focus to her family’s insurance agency in Cincinnati, where she has worked for the last 16 years. Her family’s agency is a 4th generation independent insurance agency, founded in 1901. Colleen is in the process of purchasing the agency from her father and is excited to become not only the 5thgeneration family owner, but first female owner of the agency. When not binding insurance and over-explaining the complexities of the hard market, she enjoys growing her vegetable garden, strength training, cooking, traveling and, of course, spending most of her time with her husband and 3 children.

• Connect with Colleen on LinkedIn
• Catch up on past episodes of Bound & Determined℠ with Tiffanie DeMasters and Erin Keller
• Learn more about the Ohio Insurance Agents’ 2025 LeadHERship Collective, coming up in Columbus on March 18th and 19th
• Special thanks to the folks at The Living Room in Norwood, Ohio, for the lovely space, to my friend Myranda Joseph and Westfield for so generously providing breakfast for attendees, and to Tiffanie DeMasters (photography) and Kellie Rubenacker (breathwork) for their impromptu support.
• Have a question for Meg? Submit it here and she may answer it on a future episode!

Bound & Determined℠ Live is an intimate, in-person gathering curated to provide connection and support to women in the insurance industry in a highly accessible way. It is open to a woman regardless of her role or title or tenure, is low-cost, hyper-local, and does not require extensive time away from work or family. Join us as we take the conversations we're already having on the podcast and invite you to participate in them, too. Learn more about future events and consider supporting these events financially here.

To learn more about this podcast, and the work Meg McKeen does to support insurance professionals, visit Adjunct Advisors. To receive To Taking the Risk, the monthly newsletter Meg curates, including updates on her #digitalnomad adventures, subscribe here.

Love the podcast? To show your support, consider leaving a positive review here, sharing this episode with a friend, or making a financial contribution here. Thank you for listening!

Host Meg McKeen welcomes Adrienne Fazi to the podcast to share more about her experience as an advocate for breastfeeding - and for women as they advocate for what's right for them. A subject Meg admittedly knows little about, listen as we talk through the option that is deeply personal for women, and can come with challenges in the workplace. Free from shame or judgment, Adrienne shares her recommendations for employers supporting breastfeeding women. This isn't a conversation for those who are breastfeeding - it's for the rest of us.

Adrienne Fazi is a mother of 5, a wife, and a gardener.  Outside of work and raising tiny humans, you can find Adrienne, coffee in hand, enjoying the outdoors and advocating for neurodiversity awareness and breastfeeding support.  Adrienne holds a CIC designation and has served the insurance industry in several capacities over the last 13 years, including sales, service, underwriting, and management.  

• Connect with Adrienne on LinkedIn
• Learn more about The Milk Bank
• Have a question for Meg? Submit it here and she may answer it on a future episode!

To learn more about this podcast, and the work Meg McKeen does to support insurance professionals, visit Adjunct Advisors. To receive To Taking the Risk, the monthly newsletter Meg curates, including updates on her #digitalnomad adventures, subscribe here.

Love the podcast? To show your support, consider leaving a positive review here, sharing this episode with a friend, or making a financial contribution here. Thank you for listening!

Host Meg McKeen welcomes Amanda Dorsett to the podcast. Amanda shares all sorts of lessons learned following her search for her latest role in the insurance industry during this past year. Together we chat about ghosting, ageism, and the risk (and reward) of sharing vulnerably on social media. We highlight the importance of culture in our decision to join, and stay, with an organization. Amanda weaves practical advice for women on the move throughout our conversation, too.

Amanda Dorsett has worn lots of hats in during her 20 year career in the insurance industry - but it's her role as mom to her two sons that's been the most rewarding.  A lover of travel and the outdoors, Amanda recently relocated from Seattle to Denver for her role as the Field & Operations Director for the Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Colorado.

• Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
• Have a question for Meg? Submit it here and she may answer it on a future episode!

To learn more about this podcast, and the work Meg McKeen does to support insurance professionals, visit Adjunct Advisors. To receive To Taking the Risk, the monthly newsletter Meg curates, including updates on her #digitalnomad adventures, subscribe here.

Love the podcast? To show your support, consider leaving a positive review here, sharing this episode with a friend, or making a financial contribution here. Thank you for listening!

Host Meg McKeen welcomes Tye Threats to the podcast and together we chat about building a business alone – but not feeling lonely as you do – and the "both/and" we often feel, craving both support and control in different proportions. Tye reminds me of the power of both using your voice and also saying…nothing.  We celebrate the fake entrepreneurs out there – we’re two of ‘em – and warmly welcome the next generation of leaders to the industry. 

Tye Threats is the CEO and founder of WTV Consulting Group. Based in Dallas, WTV specializes in technology transformations, operational excellence, and business strategy, and through her leadership, Tye helps businesses scale while fostering strategic grown and inclusivity. This is year 22 for Tye in the corporate space and she will forever be dedicated to empowering women and building our next generation in the workforce. 

• Connect with Tye on LinkedIn and Instagram
• Learn more about Tye and the work she does here
• Have a question for Meg? Submit it here and she may answer it on a future episode!

To learn more about this podcast, and the work Meg McKeen does to support insurance professionals, visit Adjunct Advisors. To receive To Taking the Risk, the monthly newsletter Meg curates, including updates on her #digitalnomad adventures, subscribe here.

Love the podcast? To show your support, consider leaving a positive review here, sharing this episode with a friend, or making a financial contribution here. Thank you for listening!