Highlighting Our Women Leaders at Clearcover
Written by The Clearcover Team | 5 minute read
At Clearcover, we want to make every employee feel valued and celebrated, and one of our core operating principles is to “empower others.” This year’s theme for International Women's Day is "choose to challenge," which encourages every one of us to call out gender bias and inequality, and to seek out and celebrate women's achievements to help create an inclusive world. We wanted to celebrate the success of women and at Clearcover this year by highlighting a few of our own women leaders and giving them the platform to amplify their own stories for the benefit of women at Clearcover and everywhere.
Roz Glanville, Head of Agency Distribution
Share your background. What is your story about how you got here?
I started working in the banking industry right after high school. I worked full-time and went to college full-time but as my career progressed, I took a hiatus from college. Over a 17 year period, I worked my way up from front desk receptionist to area vice president. As the banking industry shifted, I wanted to make a career change from banking to insurance but realized I needed to finish college in order to maximize my opportunities. As a result, I returned to college as a single parent and completed a BS in Business and an Executive MBA in strategy and global leadership. I also hold a CLCS designation, 3 investment licenses (Series 6,63, and 26), P&C, and L&H licenses. Since then I’ve worked for Assurant, Nationwide, and Travelers. I’ve been with Clearcover since October 2019.
What do you do here at Clearcover? Can you share a big project that you have led or contributed to?
At Clearcover, I am the Head of Agency Distribution. I helped grow our distribution channel from 84 independent agent relationships to almost 500 in less than a year. But I am most proud of the team I get to work with. Suzette Grant, Kaitlyn Taylor, and Sarah Hammerle help to create the powerful energy where I can bring my best self to work and just be….Roz.
Who is a woman that has inspired you in your career?
There are many women who have provided me with inspiration along my professional journey. Melissa Lovely is one that showed me that executive leadership as a single mom is possible. She also actively mentored, sponsored, and created seats at the table for other women. There are many women—including myself—whose opportunities came as a result of Melissa’s dedication to creating space at the table with her.
What is your biggest advice to women in your industry?
Being in the industry for 10 years, I’ve realized that there are not many women in Insurance or Tech leadership. As a result, It’s important that when we have the chance to sit at the table and we see there aren't enough seats (or enough women), that we become advocates for creating a bigger table. I believe in the power of women helping other women.
Heidi Craun, Head of Customer Experience
Share your background. What is your story about how you got here?
I fell into a contract Technical Writing role at a cybersecurity startup. I figured that it would pay my bills and be an interesting experience while I wrote my master’s thesis and applied to PhD programs (I had planned to become an English professor of Rhetoric and Technology). After a couple of months in the role, I was hooked by the energy of the team and knowing that the work we were doing had an impact on everyday people’s everyday lives. I kept finding more things that I wanted to learn, and within about 5 years, I found my sweet spot where I could add unique value to tech startups. I’ve been leading teams like that for the decade since and, even on hard days, love what I do.
What do you do here at Clearcover? Can you share a big project that you have led or contributed to?
I oversee the Customer Experience department. One of the big projects I’ve contributed to is setting the vision for our Servicing strategy and collaborating with the state of Michigan to build a team of Customer Experience experts in the city of Detroit.
Who is a woman that has inspired you in your career?
Although she never had a “big career” in the traditional sense, my mom inspired—and inspires—me the most. She passed away when she was just 30 years old and yet she had everything she’d ever wanted at the time: she was on track to become a nurse, she had the home that she’d wanted, and she had done the work in her personal life to truly enjoy her every day. That influenced how she saw the world and how the world saw her. So many people speak of my mom’s kindness, her sense of humor, and how she lit up any room she was in. I learned from her that if you live your life like the gift that it is—taking care of yourself inside and out and seizing opportunities that align with your values—your joy will overflow to others. And it’s in those everyday moments that we make an impact. People remember how my mom made them feel. That is her legacy, and that’s ultimately why I do the work that I do. When customers contact my team, I want them to walk away inspired by the way that our company made them feel.
What is your biggest advice to women in your industry?
Use your voice (even when it’s scary), trust your instincts, and when you find something that you’re particularly passionate about or good at, pursue it. Pull at the thread. Chances are that you’re uniquely positioned to excel at it and have a big impact.
Aletha Green, Coverage Consultant Manager
Share your background. What is your story about how you got here?
I had a career in education and decided it was time for a change. I moved my family from Indiana to Arizona and started my new career in insurance. I caught the startup bug with another company, and then I was brought on at Clearcover and haven’t looked back since. I have been with Clearcover for a little over 2 years. I started as a Customer Advocate, then became a Lead, and from there was moved into my current role, Coverage Consulting Manager. This role has brought me back to the Midwest, which makes my mother happy.
What do you do here at Clearcover? Can you share a big project that you have led or contributed to?
I am the Coverage Consulting Manager in Customer Experience. The biggest project by far has been rebuilding and working to expand my team. We were understaffed, facing a huge backlog of tickets, and quickly burning out. I was instrumental in helping two of the team members grow into next-level positions and then taking control of the situation to bring us back. We are now seeing some of the highest conversion rates and are still working to improve and evolve.
Who is a woman that has inspired you in your career?
My mother is my forever inspiration. She is strong, a natural leader, intelligent, and she never apologizes for being the smartest person in most rooms. The only time I thought I saw her afraid was when I decided to go so far away for college. Other than that, she might not be afraid of anything. She carries that mindset into her professional life. There is nothing that she has wanted to accomplish that she did not try and conquer. She is the definition of a warrior. Her spirit is infectious like her laugh and her smile. I am obsessed with her and if I could be half the woman she is, I have won in life.
What is your biggest advice to women in your industry?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, speak up, and don’t ever let your voice be silenced. You are where you are for a reason and it is not to sit in a corner silent.
Grace Meilen, Senior Software Engineer
Share your background. What is your story about how you got here?
I went to school not really knowing what it was that I wanted to do with my life or career. Slowly (way too slowly if you ask my advisors) I came to the realization that I loved programming. Because I wasn't a student in the Engineering school, I could only have CS as a second major, which led to me picking up Philosophy as my first major. From there I went on to an internship then eventually a full-time job as a Software Engineer consultant. When an opportunity at Clearcover came around, I was excited to try my hand at supporting a product long term and haven't looked back since. I dream about someday going back to school to study more Philosophy again.
What do you do here at Clearcover? Can you share a big project that you have led or contributed to?
I'm a Senior Software Engineer here at Clearcover and I got the chance to help architect the payments system for our in-house policy system. While most people probably don't dream about billing management, it was a phenomenal experience to have a hand in designing and building a system from the ground up. That sort of project pushes you to come up with creative solutions to problems that must be meticulously handled. I got to work with engineers I admire greatly and had a hand in shaping our approach to Kotlin based services at Clearcover.
Who is a woman that has inspired you in your career?
More than anyone else, my older sister has been the biggest inspiration in my career. She brings this passion and fierceness to her work as a STEM professional that has always set a very specific example: "You know what you are capable of and don't ever let anyone tell you differently.”
What is your biggest advice to women in your industry?
My biggest advice is to trust yourself and don't be afraid to say "I don't know.” Your perspective is valid and valuable. That doesn't mean you will always have the answers in every situation. But I've never learned more in my career than in the moments where I relieved myself of the expectation to have every answer and opened myself up to learn from the people around me. Your capacity to grow and learn is immense if you put yourself in situations that challenge you and surround yourself with people who support you.
Sree Talluri, Director of Engineering
Share your background. What is your story about how you got here?
I have a non-linear educational background. I did my Bachelors in Microbiology, Masters in Organic Chemistry, specialized in drug design and discovery, and got a Masters in Computer Science. Being compassionate comes naturally to me, so pursuing Medicine to be a Doctor felt like a good career choice. Due to personal conditions, I didn't get a chance to enter the medicine track. I came to the U.S to switch my discipline to pursue engineering instead. It's been 20 years, and I have been able to experience multiple roles, including leadership in engineering across consulting, Fortune 500 companies, and now startups. I strongly believe that each of my past experiences, regardless of good or bad, have made me a better leader, contributor, and person today.
What do you do here at Clearcover? Can you share a big project that you have led or contributed to?
I am the Director of Engineering leading Acquisition and Underwriting. It's been 4 months since I joined the company. While it sounds like a short period of time, the teams in my portfolio have successfully launched auto insurance in 5 new states and rolled out several features in our agent portal to help agents be more self-sufficient to sell and serve their customers faster. While the past is exciting, the future looks promising too. I am excited to be part of the journey that involves scaling our insurance platform to increase the speed, agility, and innovation of our customer, agent, and partner products and experiences.
Who is a woman that has inspired you in your career?
My personal conditions, past experiences, and failures have been the inspiration behind my own career and journey. Aside from that, I draw inspiration from anyone who is authentic, compassionate, confident, works smarter not harder, and takes calculated risks.
What is your biggest advice to women in your industry?
Don't let failures and setbacks stop you from improving your craft. I believe that failures are like teachers and opportunities are like guides. Believe in yourself, have a growth mindset, and internal locus of control. Remember, just because it was not your plan, does not mean it cannot be your destiny. Plans can change, it's okay to not know or not get it right the first, second, or third time. Persistence and grit are key.
We’re grateful to have so many incredible women working with us to develop an inclusive, empowering culture.
Promoting inclusion starts internally, so we’ve created a #womenatclearcover Slack channel for women employees to build community and share resources, words of encouragement, and guidance. We’re committed to making room at the table for marginalized people by making Clearcover a more diverse, exciting, and dynamic place to work.
