By Loretta Worters, Vice President, Media Relations, Triple-I
When Karen Griswold graduated with a B.S. in advertising from Penn State University, her first foray into the enterprise world was to grow to be an govt retail purchaser in a big division retailer. It didn’t take lengthy earlier than she realized it wasn’t a path for her.
She took an informational interview with somebody she knew on the Marine Office of America Corp. who steered she take into account taking part of their marine insurance coverage coaching program.
“I didn’t have a maritime background, my family didn’t even own a boat, what did I know about marine insurance?” Griswold stated.
“I started as an underwriting trainee assigned to the marine unit,” she defined. “I did 18 months rotating in inland marine, cargo, hull and marine liability and then generalized insurance training through their professional training program and was assigned to a cargo unit in New York as an ocean cargo underwriter.”
It was an interesting journey, in response to Griswold.
“As part of the training I learned about mechanical supplies, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and livestock. There was no box you could put yourself in, it was changing all the time.”
Cargo itself was completely different, Griswold discovered she needed to have a geopolitical sense.
“One day China, another day Brazil, and I had to look at how cargo was shipped weighing variables, such as the value of freight, the price of the boat, whether it will operate inland or on the ocean, and the laws and regulations of countries where the vessel might travel,” she stated. “It was fascinating.”
Her profession spanned every thing from cargo to hull and legal responsibility to tugboat and marine services. She discovered about completely different courses of marine enterprise, too.
Thirty years later, Griswold is an govt vice chairman in Chubb’s Ocean Marine Division, and he or she nonetheless finds she learns one thing new every single day.
“It’s a vast insurance world, that’s what I find so exciting and interesting, whether it’s the political impacts of shipping, to global trade laws, different issues in distinct ports, it’s constantly changing and evolving,” she stated.
In her present function, Griswold abroad all of it: ocean marine, hull, cargo, liabilities, and marinas enterprise. Depending on the day, one may be extra fascinating than the opposite.
“That’s one of the things that challenges me the most in my position. “I pick up the paper and find out what’s happening in the world, the political complexities, and how that impacts the way we transact business.”
Education is essential to Griswold, which is why she has been concerned with the American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU) because the starting of her profession. She began attending their academic applications as a trainee. Over the years, she has sat on the hull and finance committees and at the moment serves as AIMU’s Director of Finances.
“AIMU’s President John Miklus has been a great champion of women, and for the industry in general,” she stated.
Griswold is also concerned with the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) and sits on their coverage discussion board committee that displays all the worldwide marine points impacting the business.
“I believe it is a great privilege to be a woman in the maritime industry; there are not a lot of us,” she defined. “There’s a natural camaraderie between us. For a while, I was the only woman at various events, different organizations, and committees. That has changed throughout my career. It’s an incredible field for people. The gender diversity has increased over the last couple of years and has been encouraging to see.”
Griswold, who celebrated her twenty-fifth anniversary with Chubb, attributes her success to the mentors and sponsors all through her profession – each women and men.
“We need to raise women, not only in the marine industry but in business overall,” she stated. “Just being a female in a heavily male-dominated group is a challenge. I’ve been lucky; I’ve been treated fairly, and my experience has largely been positive. Though it has been challenging as a mother, raising children in a male-driven industry, finding that balance. But I’ve had a tremendous amount of support.”
Griswold, who spends a good period of time sponsoring ladies inside and outdoors the business, famous that extra range is required.
“Being a champion is important, to showcase some of that talent,” she stated. “When women see others like them, it’s more empowering to have that bond, that ability to see people like themselves and develop and grow and consider safe spaces. It’s important to showcase those women and their talent.”
While Griswold didn’t get pleasure from sponsorship amongst senior ladies, she did have nice male sponsors alongside the way in which.
“Those men helped me find my voice and my path forward,” she stated. “We must help other women to find their voices. We must help each other, empower ourselves, and not create a competitive environment.”
Griswold pointed to the worth of Chubb’s enterprise roundtables, that are worker useful resource teams that provide mentoring and networking.
“We need to find compatibility, friendship, mentoring groups,” she stated. “Women need to forge their career paths and find their niche in this field. There is strength in numbers.”