What kind of career did you have before Steele? I worked in the benefits industry for 15 years in California prior to joining Steele. For 10 of those years, I managed an Employee Benefits Department at a P&C agency and for five years I was a carrier rep assisting brokers in providing medical benefits to their clients.
When and how did you get involved with Steele Benefits? We moved from California to Indiana, and after spending a few years at my most difficult job to date, a stay-at-home Mom, I decided it was time to venture back out to the workforce. I found Steele in the classified ads of the local newspaper 17 years ago.
How has your role evolved since then? I started as the office manager. There were five people working at Steele back then. I did accounts payable, payroll, and managed enrollment processing, I did a little bit of everything. I have been involved in every aspect of this company. When Steele began evolving into a benefits technology company, I changed my focus to Technology.
How would you describe your role in one sentence? My focus is to ensure carriers, payroll providers and clients have all necessary eligibility and payroll deduction data.
What does a typical workday for you look like? There is nothing typical about this role. Every day is something new, but most days are focused on anything and everything eligibility file related. There is also a lot of behind-the-scenes planning and review taking place to ensure our cases are built to accommodate carrier reporting requirements.
Outside of work, what kind of hobbies do you have? My number one hobby is my grandson. I make sure I have weekly interactions with him.
What is an interesting fact few people know about you? My family heritage is Portuguese.
If you wrote a book about your career so far, what would you title it? Why? Never pre-determine your career. I never once thought I would work in insurance.
What did you want to be when you were small? In High School, my plan was to be a CPA. That is how I ended up in this field. I worked as an accounting assistant for a Property/Casualty agency. I held many different positions during my 10 years there but became interested in Employee Benefits.
Who would you like to meet for a cup of coffee – I had a lot of great teachers, but I would love to meet up with Frank Hamasaki and Frank Farr to show my appreciation for never giving up on a rebellious teenager. They saw my potential and encouraged me every day. Unfortunately, Mr. Farr has passed, but hopefully, someday I will get to Hawaii to meet up with Mr. Hamasaki.
If you had a warning label, what would it be? No filter.