For some women in insurance, the decision to enter theindustry is a no-brainer. Family businesses with a longstandingtradition are the most frequent entree to a viable careerpath.

Others stumble upon the industry by accident–or by chance. Someseek to step away from the family business to make their ownpath, but despite their intentions, end up coming back toinsurance. Each has a unique story to tell.

As part of our August issue of American Agent andBroker, we interviewed top insurance women whoshared stories about their early days in the industry. Thoughsome were reluctant to enter the field, others knew from the startthat this career path suited their professional needs. Despitetheir different experiences, these nine women have all foundsuccess in the industry they have come to love.

Click through the following slides to read their stories.

Read our previous installments:

* How 6 Top Insurance Women Succed in the Industry

* Top Industry Women Find Success at Work and at Home

* 8 Stories of Mentors and Sponsorship

Angelyn Treutel, president, SouthGroup Insurance – GulfCoast

“After graduating college, I began working in finance andtechnology for a major oil company. Then I had the opportunity tomove into an insurance agency to handle the office management andtechnology. At first I didn't want to get involved with sales, butwhen I realized that the main job of an insurance agent was to helppeople, I jumped in with both feet. I love the entrepreneurialspirit of running an agency, which involves handling operations,finances, clients and personnel. I enjoy implementing newtechnologies and building relationships.”

Sharon Emek, director of operations, CBS Coverage GroupInc.

“I got my start in the industry with a consulting assignment fora large insurance brokerage in New Jersey. It was the mid-1980s,with the advent of the first computer systems in agency offices.Both Cigna and Aetna (no longer in the P&C space) gave theirkey agencies computer terminals, and agencies at that time hadminimal management procedures, let alone an understanding oftechnology. At the time, I was a consultant to closely heldcompanies, helping them develop management and technologyprocedures. To help them, I recognized that I had to learninsurance, which I did. I became a licensed insurance broker and aCIC. I'm now a 25-year CIC.”

Donna Pile, owner, A.G. Perry InsuranceAgency

“I got started in the business of insurance when my dad offeredme to come to work in his small agency, still located in his home.It started out as a part-time job because I had two small children.I had always wanted to go to law school, and my undergraduate workwas aimed at that goal. I still think I would have loved the law,but with having two small children, it was a bit hard to fathom. Ifelt like insurance was the closest I would come to studying law.So I packed up my babies and went to work in my father's agency. Mysons went to many a company meeting and clients' houses with me,and stayed in the agency with me for their preschool years. It wasunique, but it worked, and I was able to keep my ambition andmotherhood in close proximity to one another.”

Michelle Rupp, owner/president, NRG Insurance

“Easy… [I was an] insurance brat. My grandfather had an agencyin his home in Hays, Kan. My dad worked in insurance companies andbrokerages. We moved to Seattle from Colorado and he bought NRG inthe early '70s. I worked for Safeco and after I graduated fromcollege I worked for the agency. My dad was a victim of his era. Iwas a personal lines CSR, and talked to him about long-term careerplans. He said that I couldn't manage because I was too young andthe staff wouldn't respect me. Commercial lines clients wouldn'tdeal with a woman. So, much to my mother's dismay, I decided to goback to school to get another degree in design. I was working inManhattan as a designer when Dad died suddenly….And here I am. Dadalso thought I would be bored. Bored? Ha!”

Laura Deeley Bren, president, Atlantic/Smith, Cropper& Deeley

“My father had been in the business since the late '70s, and asa young girl, I had no idea what my father did. He was a brilliantentrepreneur and built a successful organization in the '80s and'90s. While 'finding myself' before I went to college in Colorado,my father had asked me to prepare executive summaries of sales andleadership books in exchange for compensation. This introduction tothe rewards and challenges of the business world left animpression. Upon graduation, I immediately went to work for theagency, and I spent my first several months as a telemarketer, coldcalling for our producers. Over the next several years, I rotatedthrough every position in the company to get a comprehensive viewof the operation. By the summer of 2002, I began to build acommercial book of business. In 2003, the death of my father'spartner placed agency perpetuation in the forefront of our minds.The decision was made for me to begin mentoring and training withour executive vice president to assume overall responsibility ofagency president. I assumed this role in January 2006.”

Linda Rey, principal owner, Rey InsuranceAgency

“My dad started the agency in 1978. I worked for him throughschool and swore I was going to get out of the insurancebusiness.

“Lo and behold, even when I moved to Atlanta to get out of NewYork and out of insurance, I ended up at a reinsurance corporation,which actually was not a bad gig at all. I was an ocean marineunderwriter for one of the top reinsurers in the country for 9years.”

June Taylor, owner, Wilkinson Insurance AgencyInc.

“My grandfather started our agency in White House [Tennessee] in1956. I have lived and worked in the White House community myentire life. I joined the agency in 1977 after Igraduated from Middle Tennessee State University. I am a thirdgeneration.” Nancy Mellard, executive vice president andgeneral counsel, CBIZ Employee Services Division

“I was a lawyer by profession. About 2 ½ years out oflaw school, I took my first and last generalcounsel position in coordination with a large insurance trust,where I had the opportunity to work with all 50state Departments of Insurance on consumer complaints, just onthe other side of ERISA. It was 5 ½ years of'baptism by fire.' I left the industry for about 3 years but endedup realizing I loved insurance. I've been with my currentorganization for 22 years.”

Rebecca Korach Woan, principal andfounder, Chartwell Insurance Services

“My family owned a retail insurance agency and my father wasclose to retirement. He said he had an offer to sell the businessand decided I should try to learn the business before I missed theopportunity. It turns out he was bluffing about the retirementpart, but that's another story.”

Read our previous installments:

* How 6 Top Insurance Women Succed in the Industry

* Top Industry Women Find Success at Work and at Home

* 8 Stories of Mentors and Sponsorship