Kate Terry is the Cofounder and Chief Operating Officer for Surround Insurance, a startup launching in November. Kate discusses her extensive career in insurance and what made her cross over into founding her own startup. In this week’s episode, she discusses how women tend to be shut out of common decision-making circles because they often do not share the same interests as their male counterparts. She also discusses how companies can build a better culture around diversity and inclusion.

 

Key Takeaways

• A little bit about Kate and how she got her start in insurance.
• What lessons has Kate learned so far with Surround Insurance?
• In the Insuretech space, there’s fewer than two percent of women in these circles.
• The reality is, Kate is not going to get invited to certain social circles (golf course, cigar bar) that men frequent and network in.
• What can companies be doing better to get more diverse thoughts?
• So many times Kate has seen decisions made on the golf course and whoever wasn’t there was simply not part of the process.
• The women can’t hang out with the other women because they simply aren’t there.
• Sometimes the insurance industry is so risk-averse that we don’t step outside of the box to modernize the industry and the way we do our jobs.
• Where is the future of the insurance industry headed?
• Success comes from being more of yourself, not from trying to blend in.

 

Keep Getting Better

Surroundinsurance.com

Kate on LinkedIn