Shyla Lankford
Vice President ofOperations
Lipscomb & Associates
Dallas

Years at company: 5.

Falling into insurance: I moved toDallas in 1997. I had a 6-month old child, and I was working oddjobs — bartending, at a hotel — and I was ready for a steady 9-to-5job. A friend of a friend hired me as a receptionist at aninsurance agency, and six months later I had my license. Iunderstood insurance pretty well, I caught on quickly. I ended upoutgrowing that agency after two years, and I moved on to a largerone that had more opportunities for advancement.

Beating cancer and gaining a newoutlook: I'm a cancer survivor, ofHodgkin's Lymphoma. I was 31 at the time I was diagnosed. Icouldn't have beat cancer without the support of my husband. At thetime of my diagnosis, we had only been married for six weeks. Afterthe chemo and radiation process, I started looking at lifedifferently — thinking about what's important and what's not. Tenmonths after starting treatment, I received my “all clear” andrealized I needed to focus more on my career. I wanted to find anyagency where I could finish my career and set up my retirement.Life's too short to not be challenged. That's how I ended up at theagency where I am at today.

Developing the next generation ofleaders: In 2010, the Lipscomb agency was lookingfor someone with a commercial real estate background, who couldwork as an account executive. I liked the idea of coming in on theground floor of a well-established agency and helping them growthis book. I was promoted to vice president of operations about ayear ago. Overseeing professional growth is part of myresponsibility now. I work with the support staff and help themplan and work toward career goals. We talk about what they want todo next year, what they want to do with their careers, what classesthey will take, if they are happy in their careers, if they wantmore responsibility, and if their knowledge is helping them remaincurrent in the marketplace.

A job well done: About two years ago,we were referred to a toxic waste hauler in Houston. They werebeing non-renewed in their current market and their agency had noother markets to go to. They did not have a good loss history, andwe worked with them to get them connected to a safety consultingagency, so we could rebuild their insurance experiencemodification. They also had financial struggles and claims on topof that. We worked with one of our carriers so we could get thisaccount to a place where they could secure insurance again. It wasreally challenging, but at the end of working with them andimproving their numbers, it was very rewarding.

Related: 2015's best insurance pros under40

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