ADJUSTED
ADJUSTED
Rising Stars: Building Tomorrow's Insurance Leaders with Amy Cooper
"We're creating that room for people to be in the right place, to meet the right people, to grow their career."
From accidental beginnings to intentional leadership – that's the journey so many of us take in the insurance industry. This fascinating conversation with Amy Cooper, founder of RISE and VP of Carrier Practices at Gallagher Bassett, reveals how one organization is transforming the future of insurance talent development.
Like most professionals, Amy stumbled into insurance by chance. But what she found was an industry full of opportunity paired with a looming talent crisis. Her response? Creating RISE – now a thriving community of over 7,000 members across 14 countries dedicated to developing the next generation of insurance leaders.
The timing couldn't be more critical. As Amy explains, the industry faces a perfect storm: mass retirements accelerated by COVID-19 combined with remote work environments that eliminate organic mentoring opportunities. RISE addresses these challenges by providing free membership and structured development programs that complement technical training with crucial "human skills" development.
What makes this conversation particularly valuable is the practical advice for both early-career professionals and companies looking to attract top talent. Amy outlines specific strategies for getting involved with RISE's mentorship programs, educational series, and committees. She also shares insights on how companies can better attract Gen Z through mission-driven storytelling, technological innovation, and meaningful workplace flexibility.
The passion behind RISE shines through in Amy's gratitude for the volunteer mentors and board members who make the organization's work possible. Their collective commitment reminds us that while insurance might be an "accidental" career for many, developing the next generation of leaders requires intentional effort from everyone in the industry.
Whether you're just starting your insurance journey or looking to give back after years in the field, this episode offers valuable perspective on how we can collectively shape the future of our industry through meaningful connection and growth.
Season 9 is brought to you by Berkley Industrial Comp. This episode is hosted by Greg Hamlin and Mike Gilmartin.
Visit the Berkley Industrial Comp blog for more!
Got questions? Send them to marketing@berkleyindustrial.com
For music inquiries, contact Cameron Runyan at camrunyan9@gmail.com
Hello everybody and welcome to Adjusted. I'm your host, Greg Hamlin, coming at you from beautiful Birmingham, Alabama, in Berkeley Industrial Comp, where the skies are not blue today, it's a little bit rainy. And then with me is my co-host for the day, Mike Martin. Mike, if you'd like to introduce yourself to everybody, yeah, how's it going?
Mike Gilmartin:Mike Gilmartin, I am over at Key Risk in. Well now, high Point, north Carolina, not Greensboro. I always say Greensboro, we're right next to each other. Yeah, weather here is beautiful as well.
Greg Hamlin:Hopefully the pollen is stopping for you, greg, because it has been ridiculous up here. Yeah, it's pretty bad. My car's been like yellow every day from the pine, all the pine pollen. I bet you didn't buy a yellow car. I did not, so question Mike. Has the baseball season started in High Point?
Mike Gilmartin:It did. Yeah, I think it started like April 4th maybe, okay. So yeah, it is off and kicking man. I've not been to a game, but they are playing. They're the rocking chairs, they're the high point rockers. So close, good enough.
Greg Hamlin:Okay. So yeah, for those who don't know, mike's office is pretty cool. It like overlooks the minor league baseball field there in high point. So I need to sometime make it out there when there's a game, because I've only ever come on the off season so they don't want to invite me for any fun, mike.
Mike Gilmartin:You know, greg, you go where fun goes to die. That's your moniker. I guess I don't know, man. That should tell you something about yourself. You're still on claims Right.
Greg Hamlin:I know I'm a lifer Well super excited for this episode. We're going to talk today about building the future of insurance professionals and we have a special guest and friend of mine, Amy Cooper, who is the founder of RISE and also vice president of carrier practices at Gallagher Bassett. So, Amy, if you could say hello to everybody.
Amy Cooper:Hey everyone and thank you so much, Greg, for having me on. It's awesome to be here today, Well.
Greg Hamlin:I'm glad to have you, amy and I've had the chance to meet up at different conferences over probably the last five or so years and I was thinking about RISE recently done some work to help out them from time to time on their trainings that they do and thought this would be a good opportunity to highlight everything you've been doing in the industry. So, amy, I know this was probably your dream to end up in the insurance industry when you were in elementary school, on career day, so tell me how you got into it.
Amy Cooper:Well, like most people, it's by accident, but I am glad that I'm here. I was with a legal tech startup that had pivoted over into the insurance industry and I just remember showing up and seeing the opportunity and being really excited actually, because I kind of felt like I hit a ceiling in my career at that point. And then I showed up in insurance and really excited actually, because I kind of felt like I hit a ceiling in my career at that point and then I showed up in insurance and was like wow, look at all this opportunity. I am definitely going to build my career here. So it was by accident, but it was a happy accident and very happy that my CEO at the time had the foresight to want to move into the insurance industry because it worked out so great and I just kind of started networking and built my career here from there.
Greg Hamlin:So talking about Rise a little bit when did you decide that there were? How did you get inspired to start Rise? I know you've been in the insurance industry for a while, but what made you go that direction and how did you start that?
Amy Cooper:It was almost right. After that pivot into insurance with my former company and we showed up together at a big insurance conference. My first one saw the opportunity, but also heard people talking about this talent gap that was coming in like five years or so and we're living that today. But they basically were talking about how there's a lack of young people in the industry. There was obviously a huge focus on it and so I started looking around for a young professionals group or where are, where is everybody? And try to figure that out and I couldn't find one.
Amy Cooper:So I decided to start Rise and it took me maybe nine months or so to polish the idea and bounce it off a bunch of people before I finally pulled the trigger. But we just had our eight-year birthday at Rise so that was eight years ago. And then everyone that I talked with about the idea of Rise was very excited about what it could be and what it can mean for the industry. So I took a chance and invited my friends, built the first website, decided that we needed to recognize young professionals. So I launched the group by announcing the first Rise Awards and we were going to recognize rising stars in the industry. That's how it got started so much bigger. Today we have over 7,000 members. Now We've got 12 or 14 different countries that are represented in our membership, even though we're pretty heavy US still and growing and quickly growing, with four committees. We have an ambassador program, a huge mentorship program, our annual leadership summit, lots of education series and training and certificates, and it just keeps growing.
Mike Gilmartin:That's exciting. I think had that been around when I was starting in insurance it would have been helpful. But for those who don't know, I mean, I know what RISE is, but for those who don't know, can you kind of walk through what it is, what its purpose is and why you?
Amy Cooper:created it. Yeah, we are an insurance community that's dedicated to helping young and rising insurance professionals, so we focus on the early career. We also help attract students to the industry. But we're really meant to be this aggregator of resources and network to support people through their career in insurance and help keep them in insurance. So it's networking, it's educational resources, it's our mentorship program plays a huge piece of that. It's offering all of the human skill development side of the industry, where a lot of organizations are there to support you in your technical skills or what you actually need to do in your job. We focus on emotional intelligence. We focus on moving from peer to manager or supporting you through transitions of what you need to do to help make better decisions or how do you work on your public speaking skills, your presentation skills. So the other skill set that you need that's what RISE is for, plus the network, because you need to be in the right room to meet the right people to grow your career. So we're creating that room for people too.
Mike Gilmartin:That's really cool. I wish this was around when Greg was younger because he would have done better in his career. Sorry, greg, but that's cool. Right. And I think we talk about insurance because we're all in insurance but, like, this applies to any industry and I don't want to broaden your business because it's really really good.
Mike Gilmartin:I think the reason it hits home so much at least for me in insurance is a lot of people kind of stumble into insurance and I think that's less now because you see some of the majors and different things from colleges that offer insurance programs but frankly, some of those don't talk about claims, they don't talk about risk management, it's mainly underwriting. So I think this is a really cool ability for people to have like-minded people around them and to kind of challenge themselves and have a community, because I know when I started I was the youngest person on my team by far. We all came from different places and different areas and kind of I don't want to say making friends, but getting to know people and having those mentors is a tough thing to do and it's a tough thing for companies to do. I don't think all companies do it well. So this is a really cool program. I commend you on it.
Amy Cooper:Thank you. It's even especially tough nowadays that a lot of jobs are remote or hybrid and you just lack the opportunity to organically meet people. So Rise is creating that space. Like you need to meet people, you need to get mentors, you need to find out about other things going on, so we're trying to fill that gap.
Mike Gilmartin:Yeah, learning by osmosis, sitting in a cube next to somebody and hearing how they talk to people and what they do and how they interact in their conversations. A lot of that is missed this day and age and it's a shame because that's a big way that people learn. So, yeah, your point's very valid.
Greg Hamlin:So how do folks get involved? Amy in RISE, if they're listening to this episode and maybe they started at a different carrier, how would they get involved and what are some of the resources that they can get through your organization that will help them grow their career? I think you've touched on a few of those, but what are the next steps?
Amy Cooper:Yeah. So if you want to join Rise, you go to riseprofessionalscom and you click join and it's free for you to join, which is amazing. So once you're there, you can click on online community, you can get into the community, you can chat with other people, you can check out what brands are going. There's different space groups for different interests. But then, in terms of like, really getting involved outside of just starting and getting in the community is joining the mentorship program. Applications are open every fall and spring the spring program is getting ready to end. The fall program will be open. Apply for the mentorship program. It's a great resource. It's only a three-month commitment. It's only six meetings. We pair you, we give you guided questions, you get training. You go through the program. A lot of people continue on after on their own, but it's just a great way to teach you how to start a mentorship relationship and if you're looking for one, you can get one.
Amy Cooper:Then we've got tons of educational series. We've got Wisdom Wednesdays you can tune into. We've got oh, we also do a Mentorship Monday series. So even if you're not in the program, you can listen in on our guest speaker for that with the theme of mentorship. And then we've got webinars that are coming out all the time.
Amy Cooper:You can apply to be part of a committee. We have innovation education, a student committee and a DEI committee. They all have their member run. They all have their own agendas and different cool things that they're putting out. You can also get involved in our ambassador program. You can show up at some of our networking events. We do pop-up events around the country. But really, if you're just getting started, or even if you've been part of RISE, the big annual leadership summit is coming up in June coming up in June and so I would highly recommend, if you have any way to get down to that it is in sunny Fort Lauderdale on the beach, but that would be the best way to dive in if you're looking to get started, because that's two solid days of leadership training, two different tracks to pick from, and you get all the networking and the in-person pool surprises that we have planned.
Greg Hamlin:That's great, amy. I feel like this is one of the areas that there's a huge gap, especially since COVID. I think you know we saw in COVID two things happen. One was we had a whole generation of people who were like I don't want to do this anymore, I'm just going to retire, and maybe they were hanging on, you know, but COVID kind of was like a reevaluation of their life priorities. But COVID kind of was like a reevaluation of their life priorities and so we saw a lot of people who had not retired suddenly retire. And then on top of that we saw all the remote work happening. At the same time, a lot of people closed offices that never reopened and so a lot of those organic opportunities to grow, like Mike was talking about, disappeared. Have you noticed from your perspective at GB, at Gallagher Bassett, have you?
Amy Cooper:noticed some of the same issues as far as finding talent that Rise maybe can help support. I think everyone's kind of had that challenge in terms of the perception of the industry and like the awareness of what insurance is and what is the job that you know like. Where could I fit in? Even if you get somebody convinced on working in insurance, sometimes it's hard to figure out where to start. I think at GB they've done a good job with bringing back their trainee program, so that's a great feeder of okay, it's hard to find good talent but we can create our own. So they do a good job of that. So do a lot of other insurance carriers have brought back these trainee programs, which I love. I think most of them are pretty successful. There's rotational ones, there's apprenticeship programs coming back. I love Tokyo Marines program. There's a few different ones that are like pretty standout in our industry that I think have done a great job.
Amy Cooper:I think RISE aims to be an aggregator of these resources that exist. So, yes, we want to help polish and train professionalism, but also we want to funnel professionals and rising stars into some of these opportunities that the industry is putting out and maybe help just amplify what programs are out there, what are the cool things being done? You know you're interested in underwriting. Okay cool, here's five programs that you can get involved with. And those are some of the resources that we're trying to post in our community. So if somebody is a student, I go to the student center and I go find out what are some of these entry-level programs I can get involved with. Or where's an internship list? We publish a list of the top 50 internships the elite 50 every year we put internships and jobs on our job board. So we're trying to be like this aggregator of resources and help anyone who's looking for stuff find out about the good stuff that's happening.
Mike Gilmartin:Do you guys work with and just because I brought it up earlier, I don't know the answer to this question, so sorry if it's a loaded question Do you guys work with any of the universities that have like the risk management programs or the insurance programs, so like get kids who are interested in insurance but still not there yet? Is that an area you guys work with?
Amy Cooper:We do so. We send out the elite 50, that top internships list, to a whole huge, long list of professors and universities and colleges we have relationships with. So we're constantly sending that to go out to their students. We also send out scholarship opportunities and so we've gotten to build some good relationships with different schools because they like to tell their students. I also have a good relationship with there's a professor over at St John's and he has his entire class join our mentorship program as part of their course. I mean so it's pretty cool to see the students because every year they're graduating and now they're in the workforce and now they need RISE. We are right there, basically at the base of the tree. For the rest of the growth of the industry, they're going to come in through school. They're going to start with RISE. We're going to help them grow and then we're going to show them all the different ways they can go.
Amy Cooper:Oh, you're interested in SIU? Here, here's a scholarship to this conference that focuses on that. Go learn about it. Make connections, see if you're interested. Or you're interested in tech? Cool, here's a partnership with ITC. Here's a scholarship. Go find out. Go get excited about what's cool and new and exciting in insurance.
Mike Gilmartin:No, that's really cool. I think you make a lot of really good points. Hiring talent is like the number one thing any company can do right, whether it's insurance or anybody else. Hiring the right people and finding the right talent is one of the hardest things you can do but beneficially you can do for your company. And I feel like in insurance historically we were so I don't want to say bad, but we, like you, hired someone for underwriting and that's all they. And it was like, frankly, out of college you learn more about what you don't like to do than what you do like to do in your first position.
Mike Gilmartin:I've always said that to people that are interviewing is like go in and realize what you're good at, what you like, what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are, what you want to work on. And it's cool that there's something like Rise that can help them see different tracks within the industry, different avenues, different things to do, because I feel like too often it's like well, I hired you as a claims person, so you're a claims person, that's what you do, and I feel like that's detrimental to people and that's detrimental to continuing a career when you're either told that's all you can do or you're like this is where you are and I don't want to lose you to this group or this group. It's finding the right talent and putting people in the right seat to be successful, and so it sounds like you guys are doing a lot of that, which is pretty awesome, because I think, historically, we have not done a great job of that. Greg, I don't know if you agree.
Greg Hamlin:Yeah, I think people sort of find their way into the industry. Like Amy had said at the beginning, we all sort of accidentally ended up in insurance and I think that the industry could do a lot better job being intentional. A lot of companies could do a better job being intentional on just getting folks into the industry, helping recruit, helping give them opportunities to figure out where they really can shine. Amy, when you're looking at different companies out there, what would be some of the advice you would give them when they're looking to add the next generation of talent to the industry? What are some things they could do that would really help them find those people?
Amy Cooper:along with connecting to Rise, so I think one of the biggest things and it applies to anyone is mission-driven storytelling like really getting behind why what we do matters, why this is a good industry, and then telling our story. So if you're a company and you've got your personal lines focused, talk about how it relates back to their life. And if you're a company and you've got your personal lines focused, talk about how it relates back to their life and how you're trying to make their life better, or their family's life better and easier, or how you're there to support them through different incidents. So figure out a way to tell that story and I think that we can get more people on board with the industry. I think leveraging whatever you're doing in tech as a cool way to attract talent is definitely important. I mean, ai is what everyone's talking about now, but if people are excited about that and your company is one of those like oh, we haven't upgraded anything since 1965, you're going to have a hard time. So figuring out how to leverage or give people the autonomy to make suggestions for innovation or let them use tools that are going to help them in their job and keep them moving quickly. I think companies that embrace that kind of innovation and forward thinking are definitely going to have a better time, flexibility and work schedules.
Amy Cooper:Most of Gen Z for the most, most part actually want to be in person. As a generalization from what we've seen or what we hear, even like on the rise team, we get together once a week in person because people want to be together because of that whole learning through osmosis and having camaraderie. But being flexible and not forcing people like you must be here five days a week, you're going to not be able to attract the top people, because the top people want to be trusted. They want to be treated with respect and be able to create their life around what makes the most sense. Most of the future leaders. They're focused on I want to be impactful, so don't have me come to the office and sit on Zoom calls all day Now. I just have to have a more inconvenient day.
Amy Cooper:If you're going to be in the office, make the interactions meaningful. Create team days or create reasons why people should be there so that we can collaborate. Like let's put time together so that we're actually talking and working together while we're in. There's a lot of things. And then, in terms of like partnering with Rise, we have corporate membership. Companies that partner with us partner with us for a lot of different reasons. It's for getting their brand in front of these rising stars and creating that visibility. They also partner with us for thought leadership, for creating opportunities, for developing their own staff and creating loyalty. I've got all of these employees that want growth and want opportunities. Well, what if my opportunities are only so limited? I can get them involved with Rise and I can give them the ability to grow, to learn leadership, invest in them without having to give them a promotion every six months to keep them interested and engaged and loyal.
Greg Hamlin:I think those are really good points, amy, and I think that's something that we could do. You point at something that's really easy to do, which is giving people opportunities to grow, and a lot of times we get caught on that. Well, it has to be a promotion which is giving people opportunities to grow, and a lot of times we get caught on that, well, it has to be a promotion. But there's so many ways to grow and learn different things, and some of the positions that I've been in throughout my career even some of the ones one time I was switched over to GL for a little bit during a reorg those were growth opportunities.
Greg Hamlin:And it probably wasn't my specialty right, but I learned a lot from that and it stretched me. So I think anything we can do to help stretch and grow our people is great. It really helps them find what they're good at and where their passion is. You had mentioned some about this leadership summit coming up in June. If you could talk a little bit about what's going to happen there and who is that for? What's the right person to go to that?
Amy Cooper:So the Leadership Summit is June 16th through the 19th in Fort Lauderdale, florida. It is a two full days of leadership training. I think I mentioned before there's two different tracks, so who should be coming? We have one track made for, like, more entry level. So if you're less than 10 years in the industry, or you're just started, or you're focused more on your professional development personally, like my presentation skills or manage a team, you could be a director, an AVP, vp, whatever.
Amy Cooper:We've got this management track. That's a higher level track that's made to focus for how you're leading your team through change management, through different pieces that are relational to someone managing a team. So it's not just for young professionals per se. There really is something for everyone. Because leadership you could be a leader without the title Like, leaders come in all shapes and sizes, but the conference is really meant to pull together the top rising leaders of our industry have happened. The companies that are sending folks like we have a lot of carriers and even brokers that are sending groups of like five or 10 of their employees. They're doing contests and sending their top people. So it's basically you want to be in the room with all the top people in the industry, all the rising leaders. That is the place to be.
Greg Hamlin:That's awesome. I feel like that's how we learn. At least for me, is a lot of the different people that I've had the chance to meet that I would have never known. I even think about this podcast. I've met so many cool people that have given me new ideas. Then we have the opportunity to try some of them out and see how they work for us, and I think when you are with a group like that of people who are talented and are young and come from different places, there's so much growth that can happen. So it sounds like a really cool opportunity. That makes a lot of sense.
Amy Cooper:Oh, you guys are invited. You better be.
Mike Gilmartin:Amy, I have a quick question for you. It's not on this list, but if you've been in the industry a long time, how do you come to be a mentor for Rise? You have a lot of mentees, I'm sure. But, like, how do you if someone's listening to this? Like man, I'd be interested in working with somebody. How do you become a mentor?
Amy Cooper:You go online to riseprofessionalscom, go to mentorship at the top and the application will open again, I believe in July, for the fall program. We train our mentors, so you have to go through our mentor training. But if you're looking for a way to give back, that is a perfect thing to do is go apply to be a mentor. People continue to grow their careers, Like we've been around for eight years and, while it was slow taking off, you know people are getting promoted. They are now more senior as they are members of rise. Their roles with us change. So maybe you start off being a mentee but then you know it's been five years and now you want to give back and be a mentor and maybe you're mentoring someone who's brand new or a student. So there's a lot of ways to interact with us.
Amy Cooper:I think, yeah, that's the perception. It's like, okay, well, Rise is only for young professionals. Well, we focus on that. But we need everyone involved and maybe your role with us is being a mentor, maybe your speaker, maybe you're one of our Wisdom Wednesday speakers, sharing lessons that you have from your career or just even skills, and giving back. In that way. It's going to take everyone to pull this industry forward. We together are shaping the next generation of leaders. It's not like Rise doing a. Rise is all of you, Everyone volunteering, giving back, making it happen.
Greg Hamlin:That's fantastic. That's very cool. Yeah, I would just encourage folks to take a look at what Rise has going on and look for how you could get involved. Amy, on your end, what's something you're most excited about with Rise upcoming? I assume the leadership conference is the most upfront thing. But what are you excited as you look forward for Rise's future?
Amy Cooper:Definitely the leadership summit this year, because it's just less than two months away. But I also would have to say our growing corporate membership is what I'm really excited about. We have over a thousand companies that are involved with Rise and last year we launched corporate membership, which is giving companies a way to join and get involved in a more meaningful way. And because that just started and it's just taking off, I'm really excited to see where that goes, because, having so many big companies that are supporting our mission, I really think it's going to give us the momentum boost to make big changes.
Greg Hamlin:That's awesome. Really appreciate having you on this episode, Amy. I've known you for several years and you're just an amazing person and I appreciate your passion for helping move the industry forward. One thing that we've been doing, or I've been doing on every episode for several years now, is ending with asking every one of our guests something they're grateful for, and the main reason for that I feel like there's just especially during COVID, I felt like there was just a lot of darkness, a lot of people who are struggling, and for me anyway, one of the ways I stay positive is to think about all the things that are going well and the things I'm really grateful for. So I would love to ask that question to you, Amy what's something you're grateful for?
Amy Cooper:When you first started asking, the first thing that came to mind is I was just thinking about all of these mentors, board members, supportive people that have been helping me. I am so grateful to have all the support, and it's for RISE and for our mission, but also me personally. I think you're right. Things can get dark sometimes it can be challenging and focusing on that can get dark sometimes it can be challenging and focusing on that. I could not do any of this without the support of the RISE team, my partner, all of our board members, all these people that have taken the leap with me and jumped and believe and give their time. I mean, when I think about the number of hours of volunteer time that goes into making everything that I just talked about with Rise happen.
Greg Hamlin:Wow, I'm so grateful.
Greg Hamlin:That is awesome. It really is. It's amazing how many amazing people there are in this industry who give their time up to help others, and that's for sure where it's at, and I really appreciate you sharing that with us. I know, like I said, gratitude is huge. Man, I'm on a mission to make a part of my life and everything I do.
Greg Hamlin:I was driving to work yesterday morning and I was stopped at a light and just you know no normal morning traffic and I looked over at the median which had all this grass that hadn't been mowed and there were like a bunch of wildflowers that just had popped up there and I thought you know what? That is something really small. It's like the smallest thing ever, but I was like that's actually really beautiful this morning and I'm just coming into work and thinking about all the things I need to do on a Monday morning and it was a gift. So I love you sharing about people. I think that's where it's at is the people who we work around, the people in our Rise, and I would encourage folks to take a look at the Leadership Summit, take a look at how you could get involved, whether that's wanting to be mentored or being a mentor or taking part in some of the resources that they have available and trainings that they offer, and just remind our folks to do right, think differently and don't forget to care.
Greg Hamlin:And we'll be releasing episodes every two weeks. We always release on Mondays. We hope you'll join us and we also hope that, if you like this episode, that you'll take a couple of minutes and leave us a rating, a five-star rating, and share this so that other people can find their way here, just like folks are finding their way to rise. So with that, we'll catch you next week. Thanks, everybody.