When the Federation of Insurance Women tapped Lisa Hull for its annual Community Service Award during the association’s annual meeting held virtually last October, it honored someone who embraces community service as her hobby. Hull was installed president of the Metroplex Insurance Professionals on May 11 and has lots of community service options to offer the 20-member local association.
Hull spends numerous volunteer hours regularly with the local animal shelter, Pat and Emmitt Smith Charities, Susan G. Komen, and the Nuestro Hogar retirement community center. She also participates in the annual North Texas Motorcycle Toy Run to benefit the Salvation Army of Fort Worth.
Members of Metroplex will become familiar faces at some of these charities, along with the usual Metroplex beneficiaries, including the Alzheimer’s Walk, Ronald McDonald House, Mission Arlington, and TangoTab, if they follow Hull’s lead.
FIWT President Wendy Rhoden’s charity choice of animal shelters has benefitted lots of humane societies across Texas, said Hull, who was active with the local shelter even before it became an FIWT-thing to do. Along with fellow Metroplex member Rhoden, Hull considers herself a dog lover and looks forward to resuming shelter visits and accumulating FIWT community service points alongside other members of the local association with party events at the shelter, volunteer hours, donations and possibly a pet adoption. Hull expects Metroplex Insurance Professionals to be a strong contender for the state community service award when it is announced at the FIWT Annual Convention in San Marcos, Oct. 21-24.
Hull, who joined the local association in 2001 when it was officially Insurance Women of the Metroplex, held the president elect office for two consecutive years prior to rising to president as Metroplex members kept all officers in place for a second year when the pandemic put so many of the association’s activities on hold. With a fairly small membership, Metroplex has recycled Hull through leadership roles before; she served as secretary, vice president, president-elect and president two times before the current term, most recently president in 2012-2013.
Hull sees value in active membership in FIWT and the local association not only for the service they give to the community, but also for everything the members receive in the form of formal continuing education offerings, a network of competent, reliable insurance professionals always ready to help each other, and a circle of caring friends.
During her term as president, Hull hopes to increase awareness of the local and state associations and increase membership. “We need to spread the word. So many more can benefit by being a part of Metroplex,” she said.
Hull got her start in insurance when she was a junior in high school. She enrolled in the InVEST Program offered at Western Hills High School, sponsored by the local association of the Big I. It was there that she met Bill Riley who offered her a part-time job at the Myerson-Riley Insurance Agency in 1977 while she completed high school. Hull recalled that the 26 or so students enrolled in the InVEST class received simulated on-the-job insurance agency training, fielding questions from applicants and rating policies. She is one of three classmates who went on to insurance careers, even though there may have been more that she simply lost touch with, said Hull.
From the start, insurance became a career that fascinated Hull, as she looked on it as a true service. “Insurance is a service industry,” Hull said. “We make sure to educate those we take care of. Our service is what people need, not what they want,” she added.
“It’s especially important for us to be empathetic when a client has a loss,” said Hull. “All claims, whether fairly routine to us or devastating, are tough emotionally on our customers.”
Hull serves as office manager of Robert Nelson Insurance Agency. She is a licensed agent and handles all the commercial insurance for the agency. The Nelson Agency in Arlington represents Farmers and serves clients in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, Denton and Johnson. Hull has been with the Nelson Agency for nine years, with prior experience on both the retail agency and company sides.
Hull is pleased by her solid relationships with clients and her peers, and she is constantly gratified by referrals, especially those who come through Mary Roth, who Hull considers a leader in the insurance business. Roth, a member of neighboring Tarrant County Insurance Professionals, is president of Mary Roth Staff Training, which provides pre-licensing and continuing education training for agents. “It’s very gratifying to have earned a quality service reputation from someone in the industry I admire,” Hull said.
The 2021-2022 officers and board of the Metroplex Insurance Professionals were installed at a dinner meeting held at the Texas Star Golf and Conference Center in Euless, the same site that hosts the association’s monthly meetings that resumed in person last November. Metroplex meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m.
Joining her as officers of Metroplex are President-elect Debbie Stirm, Robert Nelson Insurance Agency; Vice President Katie Bennett, Alliant Insurance Services; Treasurer Tanya Hull, The Parks Group, and Cheryl White, secretary, retired.
Installed on the board of directors were Immediate Past President Janet Grenvall, USG Insurance Services; Teri Jones, retired, and Sheryl Watkins, Insurica. Rhoden, Patterson and Associates, and FIWT Corresponding Secretary Janet Dawson, Higginbotham, installed the officers and directors. Lori Chadwick, gotoPremiumFinance, served as mistress of ceremonies.
Cindy Condron, who has chaired the Community Service Committee for two years, was presented with the association’s Member of the Year Award at the event.
The Metroplex Insurance Professionals’ theme for the 2021 installation, We’re Doggone Crazy about MIP, complete with dog paw prints on the invitation and publicity materials, drew from FIWT’s charity designation for the year of animal shelters. Room and table décor were all items that could be donated to the Richland Hills Animal Shelter, to which members and guests provided additional donations.
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