Q&A with
KATE DAWSON Kate Dawson is president of Ferri Dawson Insurance Group, an independent agency based in Murrysville, PA. She is also the recipient of IA&B’s 2021 CISR Designation Scholarship. Q. You’ve worked in the industry for 10 years. Tell us how you got your start and what led you to begin a scratch agency. A. Out of college, I took a job as a Relocation Housing Specialist, where I worked with customers and adjusters from various insurance companies. Working with their Loss of Use, I found clients housing and furniture, and guided them through their temporary housing process until their home was habitable. I grew increasingly concerned with how many clients were significantly underinsured, with not enough Loss of Use coverage to comfortably provide for them. I realized that I would rather be the one preparing them with appropriate coverage than the person picking up the pieces afterwards when it became clear they would exceed their limits. After nearly a decade in the industry, with experience on the claims side, followed by years with both captive and independent agencies, my inherited entrepreneurial streak pushed me to go into business for myself. My father’s side of the family is full of business owners, and my maternal grandfather was an insurance agent, who spent 17 years as a Prudential Insurance agency owner, followed by another 18 with Nationwide. I have his wooden, painted office sign displayed in my office and his achievement pins from the ‘50s in my desk. My family’s entrepreneurial drive, mixed with my Pap Pap’s love for insurance, is in my blood. In hindsight, opening my own agency seemed like a natural step. I was lucky enough to have an ideal example of entrepreneurship in my father. Spending my childhood 10
working for my dad at his restaurant, I learned business management and ownership. But I also watched how he operates, understanding business-owner logic. My dad teaches without realizing it. I had picked up far more than I realized as I embarked on beginning a scratch agency on my own. I chose to name my agency Ferri Dawson Insurance Group recognizing my maiden name, as a tribute to all that I have learned from him. I had a vision of reinstating the old-fashioned relationship between a client and insurance agent. So much was lost with the departure from the tradition of a consultant being welcomed into your home to assess your situation and guide you with recommendations, so I’m taking the old-school approach of sitting with clients at their kitchen table, getting to know them. From my experience, the relationship is what the client values. Particularly with first time homebuyers who are seeking guidance and education. Q. You opened your agency in November 2019 – the calm before the storm! What lessons can you take away from navigating your new business through a pandemic and economic crisis? A. While 2020 brought much uncertainty and a seemingly endless string of setbacks, it taught me confidence. It forced me to be open to new ways of interacting with customers and proved that flexibility was paramount. In 2019 I attended a session at the IA&B Futures Conference on video, and last year I forced myself to use this medium. In times when I could not meet with customers face-to-face, I could interact and show personal touch through educational and promotional videos. While we couldn’t sit across the desk from each other, I provided online consultations via Zoom.
APRIL 2021
