Randi Glazer is an underwriting consultant whose vast and varied industry experience has served her incredibly well in her current role and has created significant demand for access to her unique professional insight and expertise. Glazer, whose career began as a property package and inland marine underwriter, has served in a variety of leadership roles throughout her career in the insurance industry and has also been frequently called upon for her international business expertise.
Regardless of her role or responsibility, Glazer has always found time to assist any colleague in need of professional guidance. As a newcomer to the insurance industry, Glazer was hardly shy about asking questions and therefore had little trouble in becoming a highly effective and well-respected underwriter. With the guidance of several different mentors, Glazer honed her leadership skills very early in her career and was clearly poised for a long and successful career in the insurance industry.
While Glazer quickly grew as a professional, she also realized that not every newcomer was outgoing enough to seek out a mentor on their own and therefore could benefit from the outreach of an industry veteran. As a result of this realization, Glazer began reaching out to industry newcomers by offering to serve as a mentor and has since assisted countless professionals still relatively new to the industry along with others experiencing difficulty in adapting to an unfamiliar role.
Over the years, Glazer’s mentorship has taken on many forms, ultimately leading to requests from professional publications for articles providing similar insight. Granting these requests, Glazer has published a number of articles and books covering many subjects of great importance to anyone working in the insurance industry or considering a career in the industry. As an underwriter, a consultant and an author, Glazer’s career has always included a clear focus on helping others in any way possible.
1. What was your best/favorite subject in school?
In both high school and college I felt that any courses involving statistics and probability represented an area of strength, and I absolutely enjoyed taking part in those kinds of classes throughout my academic career.
2. What was your first job?
I got my start in insurance as a property package and inland marine underwriter, which was an excellent starting point that really helped me build a strong professional foundation.
3. Where and how did you first get into the industry you currently work in?
One of my first professional mentors actually recommended that I consider consulting work given my unique skillset, and eventually I decided to do just that.
4. How have those jobs prepared you for what you do now?
Having held a variety of positions within the insurance industry has provided me with a unique perspective as a consultant. I am familiar with every aspect of the industry and understand how each individual will be affected by a specific decision.
5. Describe the best day of work you’ve ever had.
I was working with a referral underwriter who had some inefficient professional tendencies that were having an effect on some of our other team members. It wasn’t that he was doing anything poorly, but he was just using an unnecessarily time-consuming approach that created the slightest bit of frustration in the office. After sharing some methods I had used in the past, he began to implement these new strategies and the whole office started functioning so much more efficiently. The day he expressed his thanks for my help was certainly among the best days I’ve had.
6. How do you keep yourself motivated?
Just being aware of the fact that my decisions and responsibilities affect so many others drives me to be a highly effective professional at all times.
7. What kind of business ideas excite you most?
I like to see business ideas that draw on best practices from the past that have faded away for one reason or another. While some practices are certainly outdated and are no longer useful, I have seen many wonderful concepts brought back with great success with just a few simple updates.
8. Have you ever tried any unorthodox techniques to attract attention to your business?
Unorthodox marketing strategies are not exactly my area of expertise, but I have always been open to any idea as long as it has the clear potential to generate positive results.
9. What personal achievement are you most proud of?
I am quite proud of the fact that I have worked so hard to share what I have learned with others in any way possible.
10. What wisdom you would have liked to share with yourself when you first started out?
I think I passed up on an opportunity to travel abroad for business very early on, so I would want to have that specific decision back. International business eventually became an area of expertise, and I would have loved the opportunity to travel abroad much earlier in my career.