GSD Factor Podcast

Be Influential with Dr. Michelle Morkert

We explore the GSD Factor attribute Be Influential with Dr. Michelle Morkert.
 
The connection to Be Influential - you lead by example as an actionable leader, you look to the future and also bring along the next generation alongside you and mentor them so they can stand on your shoulders.
 
Dr. Michelle Morkert partners with women leaders around the world to level-up their careers, have an impact on their professional field, and work with joy.  She is a women’s leadership coach and strategist with a Ph.D.  Because she spent nearly 20 years investigating the ways patriarchy operates in the lives of women around the world, she has also witnessed powerful feminist disruptions to those systems.
From interviewing war widows in the Western Highlands of Guatemala and researching militarism, gender-based violence, and peace studies to consulting with trailblazing non-profit leaders in Poland, and teaching in Croatia as a Fulbright Scholar with the U.S. State Department, she has seen women leaders in action.  She has synthesized her academic research, obtained her advanced certification in confidence coaching, and incorporated her own lived experiences into individualized leadership coaching so that you can show up, stand up, and speak up in any room.  
 
Michelle's Website
Michelle's LinkedIn
 

The Art of Storytelling ME with Jenny Emerson and Randy Ford

One of the foundations for the GSD Factor is knowing who you are and how to share your story.  We explore this concept of The Art of Storytelling ME: Who Am I and How Do I Share My Story? with Jenny Emerson, Integrative Therapist and Randy Ford, Strategic Storyteller.
 
Jenny Emerson has over a decade of experience assisting clients heal and find peace from trauma, loss, anxiety, and depression. Her background in the healing industry includes a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy and a Certification as a Licensed Massage Therapist.  Jenny works from the belief that what has happened in your life is part of your story, but it is not what defines you.
Connect with Jenny Emerson
 
Writer & Storytelling Strategist Randy Ford helps nonprofits, membership associations and individuals use storytelling to talk about the impact they have on the people around them. He began his career as a journalist and then spent 10 years as a senior aide to a member of Congress. He later served as Vice President of Strategic Communications for LRG Public Affairs before starting First Story Strategies in 2016. Randy also performs in live storytelling shows across the Chicago area.
Connect with Randy Ford
 
 

Be Resilient with Suzanne Coker

We explore the GSD Factor attribute Be Resilient with Suzanne Coker.
 
The choice to Be Resilient - the stamina, grit, and perseverance to acknowledge that life can be shit but how do we learn and grow and turn the negatives into positives.
 
Suzanne is a self-motivated and progress-driven Sr. Sales Executive with an extensive background in the insurance industry. With a long-standing record of initiative and innovation, she has developed and executed strategies that bring value to her Agent and Carrier Partners.  Suzanne balances her insurance career in Rockwall, TX as a Wife, Mom, and Nana. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, volunteering at church, and shepherding one of eight butterfly gardens in Rockwall. 
 
Connect with Suzanne on LinkedIn

Living out Confidence and Resiliency with Your Cultural Heritage with Henry Martin and Edwin Moreno

We explore the GSD Factor attributes of Be Confident and Be Resilient with Henry Martin + Edwin Moreno as we dive into their stories about how they each approached the workforce with their culture heritage.  
 
Be Confident - The power in knowing your true authentic self.  You lead by example with confident assertiveness.
 
Be Resilient - The choice to persevere, to dig deep, and turn life’s negatives into positives.
 
Father and husband, Henry Martin worked most of my life in the hospitality industry before successfully pivoting into an insurance marketing position in corporate America. Solo traveling to 30 countries before he was 30 years old, he learned how to be comfortable with himself and confident in his decisions.  He is a faithful believer that new experiences broaden the mind and new places grow the heart.  Henry has had addresses in Tennessee, Guatemala, Spain, and Denmark, all in order to spend his life being part of another culture, learning something new every day, and living through experience.
Connect with Henry Martin on LinkedIn
 
Edwin Moreno is a producer for LR Windsor, an independent insurance brokerage in Chicago. He is dedicated to his personal and professional development. Edwin is currently a student and volunteer with the Wright Foundation to discover more about social and emotional intelligence. His 13+ years of experience in the insurance industry drove him to discover new skills and find ways he can express and connect more in a historically rigid industry. Edwin is fluent in Spanish, happily married  and has a daughter, who is an amazing student and teacher. He is passionate about cooking, family, music and gaining/spreading knowledge.
Connect with Edwin Moreno on LinkedIn

Be Present with Meg McKeen

We explore the GSD Factor attribute Be Present with Meg McKeen.
 
The ability to Be Present - to keep showing up, even if for a moment, it’s the art of starting to do something, anything, and trusting that process even when it seems that there are more pivots than plans and we live with the attitude of progress not perfection.
 
With roots in both underwriting and sales, through Adjunct Advisors, Meg McKeen holds space, at the crossroads of personal and professional development, for insurance professionals as they grow their confidence - and careers - through private coaching, consulting engagements, and the podcast she hosts, Bound & Determined℠.
 
Connect with Meg McKeen on LinkedIn

Courage, Resilience, and Becoming a Mom with Christine French

A story of courage, resiliency, and becoming a Mom.  Christine is a corporate finance professional learning to balance her career with navigating new motherhood.  With that comes a wide range of complex feelings, from trusting daycare, staying present in her marriage, becoming more secure in the decision to have one child, and discovering her new identity as a mother.  These feelings are made even more nuanced because her journey to this point has involved an early loss as well as delivery and postpartum complications.  She is passionate about sharing her joys and struggles openly in the hope that it can help other moms feel less alone.
Connect with Christine on LinkedIn or Instagram

Be Connecting with RGirls-GSD

Meet the RGirls who GSD!  Bobbie Shrivastav, Laurel Jordan, Jes Vargas, Meg Duty, Kelly King, and Misha Bleymaier-Farrish. 
That's right, our group was brought together because of our common love of Rothy's shoes, encouraging and empowering one another in the insurance and technology industries.  
We met at a conference, noticed that we were all wearing our Rothy's shoes and it was an instant connection now turned friendships and the rest is history as they say.  We now have a book club, connect at conferences throughout the year and the list goes on.  
When living the GSD Factor life we talk about surrounding ourselves with two groups of people, your GSD Factor Clan which is for more of your personal growth and your Insiders Board which is for more of your professional growth.  
We hope by sharing our story you remember to always be present in the moment and be open to who you may CONNECT to.  It may surprise you!  

Be Imaginative with Lori Pon

We explore the GSD Factor attribute Be Imaginative with Lori Pon.
 
The determination to Be Imaginative - To dream big, never be satisfied with the status quo, be the innovating solutionist, to continue to break down barriers and say I’m here, what can we improve, what is impossible that we can make possible.
 
Lori Pon is the Assistant Vice President of Claims Transformation at The Hanover Insurance Group, where she oversees innovation, business case development, program management, organizational change management, and post-implementation evaluation. She is an insurance industry veteran of more than 20 years, and over the course of her career, she has successfully led the building and implementation of core platforms and integrations. Before joining The Hanover Insurance Group, she served in multiple leadership positions with The Auto Club Group, where she developed a holistic vision and roadmap for seamless service delivery leveraging innovation and process redesign.
 
Connect with Lori Pon on LinkedIn.

Be Inquisitive with Melanie Husk

We explore the GSD Factor attribute Be Inquisitive with Melanie Husk.  
 
The capacity to Be Inquisitive - We are always learning, always students of life.  To walk in humility knowing that you are not the smartest person in the room but know how to mobilize the right team and people ensures that you are open to the fullness of life.
 
Melanie A. Husk, AAMS™, AWMA™ is the founder of MEL Consulting Co., a boutique fee-only financial planning and investment management practice. Her focus is on educating and empowering bada$$ GenXY women. She believes in acting in her client's best interests ahead of her own.  She's also the founder of the Women In Tech & Their $ Stories Series. When she's not working, you can find her sailing around the world.
 
Connect with Melanie Husk on LinkedIn
 
 
 

”She’s a Bit Much” with Lisa Wardlaw

Reference Lisa Wardlaw's LinkedIn Post:
Today, I overheard someone say this exact phrase “she’s a bit much” and I was disappointed. To think that this one statement can unravel of all of the decades of progress towards understanding, amplifying and embracing differences, including those women who are strong. I also reflected in that moment of how many women also heard the same statement yet few stepped up and ensure that we do not sit silently by. We all have a duty to change the narrative.
 
We invited Lisa to lean into this experience and conversation so that we may all learn what to do and in this case what not to do.  We have made great improvements, but we can do better.
 
Lisa Wardlaw is an innovative, highly-experienced insurance executive who combines her deep decades of experience serving as CXO, CFO, COO, CSO for some of the largest insurance institutions (MunichRe, Famers, ING, Voya) with her entrepreneurial drive to rapidly help your start up succeed in the insurance industry.  Lisa supports companies that she believes have a unique perspective and want to authentically usher in innovation insurance marketplace. Her thought leadership, ability to create innovative and ingenuitive insurance solutions across P&C, life and health insurance marketplace is leveraged to provide innovative guidance and solutions for all insurtechs across North America and globally.
 
Connect with Lisa Wardlaw on LinkedIn