CPCU, CIC, CRM, AU, AAI, CRIS, ARM, MLIS, TRIP

Cathy Trischan entered the insurance business upon graduation from Rutgers University. After her first job as a claims adjuster for a carrier, she moved to the agency side of the business. She held various agency positions including Commercial Lines Manager, Producer and, most recently, Director of Commercial Underwriting. In 2023, she began to work full-time in her training and consulting business. In addition to her work with PIA, Cathy is a regular presenter for various agents’ associations and other organizations. She is a National Faculty member of The National Alliance, speaking in the CIC, CISR, Ruble and ProFocus programs. Cathy has also written numerous articles on various insurance topics. A firm believer that one should never stop learning, Cathy holds several professional designations including CPCU, CIC and CRM.

LUTCF

Mr. Fleming, entered the life insurance business in 1971 with the Boston Agency of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. After ten years of personal production, Doug was named to a management position as new agent training supervisor, a position he held for three years before joining Berkshire Life as an agency supervisor, a position he held for ten years. He is currently affiliated with the Boston agency of the Union Central Life, as a brokerage supervisor.Doug moderates licensing classes for PIIAM of New England and Educational Training Systems of Southborough, Massachusetts.In 1990, Doug was named to the associate faculty, Insurance and Financial Services of Northeastern University, Boston, Mass. and was also named to the National Faculty of CIC, Austin, Texas.

John Bennett began his insurance career in June 1977, as an assistant controller with Allstate Insurance Company in Roanoke, Virginia, immediately after graduating from Virginia Tech with a B.S. degree in mathematics. After 9 years in various management assignments with Allstate, John opened the John Bennett Insurance Agency in Leesburg, Virginia in March 1986. While 85% of his agency has been built in personal lines, John has consistently been a top life insurance producer for Allstate in each of his 27 years. He has also been a top producer in the Allstate brokerage business, focusing on retirement planning. In February 2012, John sold his insurance agency in order to focus full time on the retirement planning/financial planning needs of his clients as a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. John obtained his CPCU designation in 1984, and his CIC designation in 1994, and is currently working towards his Certified Financial Planner designation.

Bobby Shomo is President of Shomo-Madsen Insurance which is headquartered in central Iowa. Shomo-Madsen Insurance is a Best Practices Agency recipient for six years running and represents approximately 16 Insurance Companies with an agency mix of roughly 45% Personal Lines, 25% Commercial Lines, 20% Municipalities and 10% Life and Health. The agency has five locations and 25 employees with their main office in Marshalltown, Iowa. They continue to pursue growth through both acquisition and organic growth and are scheduled to close their next agency purchase on October 30th, 2020. Bobby is involved in the agency on a full-time basis as a managing partner, a producer specializing in schools and municipalities and the Human Resources manager. Prior to purchasing his first agency, Bobby spent six years on the company side primarily in casualty claims with rotations in underwriting and loss control. His MBA was earned with concentrations in Finance and Accounting and he received his CIC designation in 2012. Bobby has a passion for education as both a teacher and a student. His background brings a perspective from both the company and agency sides. In addition, his agency experience has developed from a relatively small, single owner shop with three employees and a handful of contracts to his current structure with a 50/50 partner, multiple locations and staff of twenty-five. Additionally, Shomo-Madsen Insurance has had to deal with three catastrophic weather-related events in 25 months. An EF-3 tornado in July of 2018 that hit main street; a major hail storm in May of 2019 and a Derecho (106 mph straight-line winds) in August of 2020.