Q&A with
SARA PAYNE Sara Payne is Chief Financial Officer and an agent with Edward L. Sanders Insurance Agency, a full-service independent agency Mike Thomas is principal located in La Plata, MD. of Lighthouse Insurance Services, a full-service independent agency in Gambrills, MD. He is also a member of the IA&B Board of Directors. Q. Your agency is approaching its 120th anniversary! Tell us about its history. A. The agency was opened by my great grandfather, Ed Sanders Sr., in 1903, and the primary focus in the early years was on life insurance. He took on his first fire insurance carrier in 1913, which began the shift from life to property and casualty. Each generation has put its mark on the agency. Ed Jr. finalized the shift from life to property & casualty, and my father (Larry) developed relationships with regional carriers. My brother (Michael) and I are fourth generation and have navigated through the fast-paced changes in technology within the insurance industry. Fun fact – Ed Sr. started the agency in a building located at 1 Washington Avenue. Almost 120 years later, we’re still on Washington Avenue, just one block away from the original office location. Q. You and your brother are the fourth generation to work in the agency. Was it always your plan to join the family business? If so, what drew you to the industry? And if not, what changed? A. If I’m being honest, joining the family business was the furthest thing from my mind! My original plan was to plant roots in North Carolina after graduating from East Carolina 10
University. Just before graduating, I met my (now) husband who was living back at home in Maryland. I came back home and took a job doing commercial lending with a local bank. Not quite a year into that job, my father called me in for a meeting to discuss my grandmother’s retirement from the family insurance business. He asked me to replace her as the bookkeeper for the agency. We agreed that I could leave anytime if insurance wasn’t a fit for me. After careful consideration, I accepted, and here I am 18 years later! Q. What does your typical workday look like? A. I could wear a number of hats on any given day. My main focus within the agency is running the day-to-day operations and finances; however, I also manage some commercial lines accounts and am the producer for others. Once I got my feet wet in the business, I decided I wanted to learn how to do each role within the agency, so I’ve spent the last 18 years doing just that. Q. What’s your favorite part of your job? What’s the most challenging? A. Insurance is never boring! There is constant change – whether that’s the coverages, carrier computer systems, etc. I like that even after working in the business for almost 20 years, I am still learning.
AUGUST 2022
