A Broker's Voice interview (Andy Neary with Whitney McDannald) in which Whitney explains her role as a 'workforce strategist'—an expanded approach beyond traditional benefits brokerage that connects benefits, wellness, engagement, and DE&I to attract and retain talent. Whitney describes a ~20-year career in insurance, a master's in public health, growing up with a broker mother, based in Atlanta, and confronting the industry's male-dominated culture. She recounts a period of burnout while handling large 'jumbo' accounts (several-thousand-life groups), then intentionally changed her approach and personal brand to win different clients and improve fit.
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Welcome back to the Broker's Voice. I cannot tell you how I'm excited, how excited I am for this one. I have got a female powerhouse in the insurance industry on today and I'm excited for her to share her story. Many you may know who she is. I have the one, the only, Whitney McDaniel joining us live on the Broker's Voice. Whitney, welcome aboard.
Hey there. I'm so glad to be here, Andy. It's been a long time. Overdue.
You bet. And. And Whitney is a workforce strategist. And I really like that because I'm going to let her explain what that is because when you hear me, she's. When you hear me say she's a woman in the insurance industry, you'd be like, well, is she a producer? Account manager? No, no, no. She's a workforce strategist. So let's just get out of the gate. Whitney, what the heck is a workforce strategist?
So, okay. People ask that all the time because they're used to seeing people in my capacity and it's kind of like one of those things. They're like, oh, you're an insurance. And then I kind of chuckled to myself because, you know, times have changed. Oh, boy. So I grew up in this industry. I've been around for 20 years, you know, which is a long time in my life. And my mom was a broker and she really did have that title of like insurance agent and that kind of deal. And, you know, one thing I really realized is that this industry is severely broken and I didn't think I would be in this industry, but I went on to get my master's in public health. And then I really started doing a lot of engagement with just organizational leadership. Adam Grant is like one of my favorite all time heroes. So that world just has really fascinated me and what it takes to attract and retain talent. And so benefits is created to. To do that, to attract and retain. Right. But with the complexities of where the world is today, it's so much more than just shopping for benefits. It's really having an all encompassing strategy that connects pretty much all the things that touch the people part of your business. Whether that's, oh, we need wellness or we need engagement or we need a progressive option to have a DE&I strategy that's actually working and not checking a box. And so that's why I've really kind of coined that title of workforce strategist and not just really being a insurance broker. Right. So I'm like taking it a step further because it's so needed.
I'm glad you said that because I. I remember I just gave a talk this morning down in Denver for a industry event. And I remember back in 2015, everybody at that point was a benefit advisor, consultant, broker, you name it. Right. And I read an article by Dave Chase and it was article titled the job that could Save America. And it was talking about our job as an advisor and how important it was. And it was the next day I went on my LinkedIn profile and I changed my job title from benefit consultant to healthcare strategist.
Yeah.
I'm like, I gotta be different. I gotta do something different. You've kind of done the same as a workforce strategist.
Sure.
You know, when you think about what now we failed to mention you're down in Atlanta.
Yeah.
Working for a large insurance firm. And.
How have you. I really want to go here with you today because you have built a really cool brand and we're going to talk about that. And it's built upon your own story.
Yeah.
So maybe we just start there. Let's go back, you know, maybe three, four years.
Right.
You were kicking ass.
Well, let's challenge it. I'll even go back a few years prior to that.
There we go. Because. Because I know since I've known you, you've been kicking ass. Everything looks great on the outside.
Yeah.
But. But that's not always the case on the inside. So. Yeah. Let's go back six years and introduce us to Whitney McDaniel back then.
Absolutely. So when I got my start.
I mean, this is a boys club. It really is this industry. And so when I saw my mom really, like, taking charge and just really being this awesome, you know, just force, I was like, oh, I want some of that. Because I saw that there was a need for it. And I'm a huge proponent of, like, women advocacy and just really making sure that we have a different lens on all things because I think it's so important to be able to, you know, serve everyone. And men don't make up the whole workforce. Women do as well. And actually, numbers are showing that there's going to be some shifts in that coming in the future. But, you know, when I started, it was a boys club, and I thought in order to succeed that I really needed to kind of encompass the things that they encompass. I was like, ah, I'm gonna have to learn how to play golf and all this kind of stuff, because that was really how people were winning business. And I was like, I really don't know how to do that. And so, you know, after many years of really trying to do it their way and being almost embarrassed to like have a voice of a different perspective, I just woke up and I was like, you know what, I can't do this anymore. I need to share where I'm coming from because I think that's important and even more so in today's world. And so after running myself ragged, that's when I kind of met you. And thank figured out that I wanted to take a different approach. And I think I participated first in a Mastermind, but I really wasn't like all in on that. I was just kind of like, oh, I'm going to try this thing and maybe I'm going to see what happens with it. But there was a time when I really kind of hit the bottom. I was like, you know what? I'm burnout. I've got two kiddos under the age of two. I've got a husband that works in the film industry and that's extremely demanding. And so I really wanted to be able to take what everyone thought. I was so successful on the outside because I was writing large cases and I getting in the door with all these really great employers, but I was dead inside. And really Andy, that moment where I decided to truly invest in being totally okay with me, totally okay with having a different approach, showing up in my all my hair and my lipstick and the whole deal and not knowing a damn thing about golf. Then I was okay with saying things were not right or maybe we should look at it this way. And I started getting a different kind of client and I started really winning even more so. So I think to your first question of like, let's go back to the Whitney a few years ago that was the moment where I knew I was done with where I was, but I didn't really know what to do next. And that was a hard moment. I think a lot of us there.
Right now and let's go a little deeper there because there might, you know, there's probably a lot of women from the industry listening to this and you know, it is a, it is a truth that this, for, for a long, long time this has been primarily a male dominated industry.
Sure.
And let's not don't get around. I don't want you to be humble. You're talking about winning base big cases. These are massive cases. So let's talk about, you know, the success you've had because I think a lot of women in the industry, even when they are successful and everybody's success is defined differently, that outside success does not always match the inside happiness as, as you talked about. So talk about the fact that even, even though you were winning, like, and again, let us. What are, what are some of these cases? We're talking about size.
I mean, I tend to jump in the jumbo space, so I like working with those several thousand life groups. You know, complex has always been something that I do well. I like to really figure out how to fix something that's broken, and I find that there's a lot of holes in that area. So I do feel that small group has a lot more complexities these days. That's just kind of been what lights me up inside.
