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Intro (00:03):
Welcome to the Why Alliant podcast, the show that takes a deep dive into what makes Alliant not only a great place to work, but a company that is laser-focused on putting our clients first, by investing in the best people, removing barriers, and delivering the best outcome and every possible competitive advantage. Here is your host, Bledion Dizdari.

Bledion Dizdari (00:29):
Welcome back to another episode of Why Alliant. With me today, I've got the pleasure of having Holly Ragsdale out of our Washington D.C. office, an account manager with Alliant. We'd love to hear a little bit about her journey and how she got here.

Holly Ragsdale (00:44):
Thank you so much. I appreciate the introduction, and I'm excited to be here. A little bit about my background, I was a finance major at the College of Charleston, and my mom, she suggested that I really consider risk management as a career path. With that, I interned at Zurich my junior year of college and was a sales and distribution intern and got a feel for the industry. I felt like it was the ideal industry to combine both my skillsets because I really enjoy the analytical side of finance, working with numbers, but also I'm very much so a people person. I love talking. I can really talk to anybody, so also the relationship aspect of working with clients and underwriters was great. From there, my senior year, I graduated right into COVID, so it was a weird time, but I interviewed with Alliant my senior year, and they went on a hire freeze. Then, I ended up getting a job in D.C. as a fiscal and economic analyst for a little bit and worked on custom fiscal impact software for cities. Then, I joined Alliant in 2021 on the new business side of Alliant's Conserve-A-Nation Program as a marketing specialist, and it's been a ton of fun over the years, and I'm very happy to be with Alliant. It's a tremendous firm.

Bledion Dizdari (02:01):
Awesome, Holly. That was a really nice introduction. Thank you for that. Speaking about, it sounds like you had a couple stints of trying to get on with Alliant. What attracted you to Alliant before joining?

Holly Ragsdale (02:11):
Yes, it's such a great firm. I'd always hoped of working with a large brokerage firm, and it's appealing to be with a company that's aggressively growing, and that is exactly what Alliant is doing. It鈥檚 extremely impressive just to see the amount of talent that the company is continuously attracting, as well as actively expanding our presence through acquisitions. Another huge factor, why I chose Alliant, is really because of the people. I remember my senior year walking in for the interview, and I was so nervous. Within being in the Alliant offices for 30 minutes, you really got a feel for how great the people were. Everybody that I came across was incredibly nice and encouraging and smart, and I've heard you say it on one of these podcasts before, but the one P&L structure at Alliant is really thought of as a financial function, but I've found it to be also such a large cultural driver. Everyone is always willing to help each other and also happy to help with that.

Bledion Dizdari (03:13):
That's amazing. We鈥檙e lucky to have somebody of your skillset and talent, and I think that's what Alliant is made of, is a bunch of entrepreneurs that get together and all row in the same boat. Let's get to know you a little bit. What was your first job?聽

Holly Ragsdale (03:29):
Oh gosh. My first job, I was a swim coach. I was a swimmer growing up. I'm very lengthy. I'm super tall, so it fit me. Then, also, I want to say my first job, I worked at Jimmy John's my junior year. All my high school friends worked at Jimmy John's, and you had to take a sandwich test to get on the line, and it was actually really difficult. There's so many different sandwiches, so I literally remember making flashcards for the sandwiches my sophomore, junior year. It was hilarious, but it's funny. Yes, Jimmy John's.

Bledion Dizdari (04:02):
I like that. How has your experience at Jimmy John's prepared you for being a high-powered insurance broker?

Holly Ragsdale (04:09):
Yes, that's a good question. Working with customers of course, being client facing, really being able to grow relationships, talk. Talk through the menu, talk through the different coverages and really network and build relationships I'd say. Tough one to tie together there.

Bledion Dizdari (04:28):
No, you did a good job, and I think you can tie all experiences together. Tell us a little bit about what you're working on day in, day out.

Holly Ragsdale (04:36):
Yes, I work on the new business side of Alliant's Conserve-A-Nation program. So what that is, is we work with mainly 501(c)(3) nonprofits dedicated to land preservation and conservation trusts. I am on the new business side along with Meghan Mullee, and I'm the marketing specialist. We do have a propriety program with Chubb, but we write off for all lines of business, but if it doesn't fit Chubb, we approach other markets as well, but it's a tremendous team. I've learned a lot, and I really enjoy it.

Bledion Dizdari (05:08):
That's amazing. Have you found that Alliant's got a bunch of niche business like that nationally, a lot of specialized folks everywhere?

Holly Ragsdale (05:17):
Yes, absolutely. Yes, Alliant is such a huge company, and I feel like they really have their foot in the door in so many niche little things as well as major lines of business.

Bledion Dizdari (05:28):
What is your involvement with the Young Risk Professionals organization?

Holly Ragsdale (05:32):
Yes, so I'll give you a little spiel about YRP and how I got involved. YRP was founded in 2013, and the organization's mission is to empower the next generation of leaders in the risk and insurance industry. Today, there are 23 YRP chapters, which is crazy. It's grown a ton, located in several major cities, and I know there's also aggressive expansion goals in 2025 with hopes to expand domestically and hopefully internationally one day as well. YRP has three main pillars, networking, education and mentorship, which are extremely important components for any young professional's career. The way that it works is it's a grassroots organization, so there is a national board, and then each chapter is responsible for forming their own 501(c)(6) nonprofit. From there, the chapter will build out their own local board. I believe there's 10 board positions, and then really take it. It's pretty flexible. Local chapters can handle it how they want, reach out to different companies, get different sponsorships and host as many or as few events as they'd like throughout the year. Some example of events are networking events, happy hours, educational panels. I've seen hops and headshots, lunch and learns. I started the D.C. chapter when I moved here during COVID. One of my friends and I, he's at Gallagher, we decided to start the chapter together, and it's been absolutely incredible how many people that I've met through the chapter. I've gotten super close with a lot of my Chubb underwriters that are on the program that I work for. Not only have I built my D.C. network so much, but I've also gotten to meet a ton of other people in other chapters throughout different states. It's been absolutely incredible. I definitely encourage young people to get involved and get out there and build a network because this industry is such a relationship industry.

Bledion Dizdari (07:32):
That's great. That sounds like fun stuff, and it sounds like the future of the insurance industry is in the right hands. It鈥檚 refreshing to know that young folks like yourself are within the Alliant platform that's going to continue to skyrocket and blast off like we have been over the years. It's also refreshing, Holly, that most people at Alliant, from my perspective, have been at another shop, at a competitor, and have come here and then get to appreciate what an awesome platform we have. But the fact that you appreciate it without ever having been at a competitor is even more refreshing and rewarding from my perspective. Let's talk a little bit about you. Let's go deeper, some personal stuff. What is your guilty pleasure and something that not a lot of people know about you?

Holly Ragsdale (08:23):
My guilty pleasure. That's a good question. I'd have to say I love looking on Zillow at super, super expensive mansions that I cannot afford. In D.C., there's a ton of open houses. I went to one last weekend, and I get all dressed up like I can afford the mansion, and then I walk in and there's fresh cookies, there's champagne. I go through this luxurious house, and it's fabulous. I love it, so yes, hopefully I'll be able to afford it one day.

Bledion Dizdari (08:55):
That's awesome. You should document that and put it on LinkedIn one day. That would be fun to watch.

Holly Ragsdale (09:01):
Make a little YouTube channel, for sure.

Bledion Dizdari (09:04):
Alright, and what was your proudest moment?

Holly Ragsdale (09:06):
My proudest moment? I would say probably graduating college. That was a good one. It was very strange though because I graduated right into COVID, but it was good. We had a graduation thing at my house, and I lived in Charleston, so we were near the beach, so it was funny. You weren't allowed to go onto the beach unless you were working out. Whenever the cops would come by, I'd just do a couple sit ups. It wasn't too bad during COVID, but yes, probably graduating college with a finance degree.

Bledion Dizdari (09:40):
Well, Holly, it was a pleasure getting to know you, and thank you for your time.

Holly Ragsdale (09:45):
Thank you so much.

Intro (09:50):
Thank you for listening. For more information, visit us at www.alliant.com/WhyAlliant.