Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Association Leadership Radio. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Association Leadership Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Lisa Hardin, who is the president of the International Association of Insurance Professionals. Welcome.

Lisa Hardin: Thank you Lee.

Lee Kantor: So excited to learn what you’re up to. For folks who aren’t familiar, do you mind sharing a little bit about the association? How you serving folks?

Lisa Hardin: I would love to. So International Association of Insurance Professionals,IAIP or the easy way insurance professionals, is an organization obviously serving insurance professionals from our name. We actually go back to 1938. We had a group of forward thinking ladies out in Colorado in the 1940s that decided, hey, you know, we need to get together to support each other, to help each other as far as networking and leadership skills and education, kind of a response to the good old boys network, so to speak. And so in they started this organization, they had a couple hurdles getting people to join, and then at that time, convincing employers that this is not a union, this is just a support group. We just want to support each other and learn and and promote people within the insurance industry. So in 1940, 187 women met and formed the National Association of Insurance Women and in 2000, in 1967, an international was added to the name to recognize the fact that we had members in Canada and other countries. And in 2011 we updated our name to be International Association of Insurance Professionals to reflect the diversity of our membership. So our membership has always been open to anyone in the insurance and risk management industry. So we wanted our name to reflect that, and we provide professional education and an environment to build business alliances and the opportunity to make connections with people of differing career paths and experience within the insurance industry. So we have anyone, you know, CEOs, agency owners to people starting in entry level jobs.

Lee Kantor: So the membership could be an entrepreneur that has their own kind of brick and mortar store, and it could be somebody that works for a large corporation insurance. It’s for everybody in the industry, everybody.

Lisa Hardin: That has a connection to insurance or risk management. So if you work for an insurance company, if you work for an agency, if you’re a broker, that type of thing, or if you work in an industry that serves the insurance industry like your Proclean and Dura clean. And you know, the the companies that come in and clean up the mess when there’s a fire or have to, you know, independent adjusting firms, glass companies like Safelite. Paul Davis restoration is one of our big partners.

Lee Kantor: Uh, so so it’s evolved then from support group for a handful of people to now a pretty sounds like a pretty diverse membership.

Lisa Hardin: Oh, definitely.

Lee Kantor: And then how do you go about what are some of the challenges when you’re serving that diverse of a membership?

Lisa Hardin: It’s it’s everybody’s always, you know, looking for CE and looking for the next big education opportunity. So in the last few years we have focused on developing leadership skills. So we want to be the premier, um, association to provide leadership skills, not only training, but also the opportunity to put those leadership skills to the test, to, um, practice. But your job is not on the line, so it’s a safe place to to, you know, take on a leadership role that you may not be, um. Comfortable with and kind of stretch your legs a little bit before you, you know, put your, your career and your livelihood on the line. And then the next time you go in for a promotion, you can say, hey, well, I took this leadership course. I have this designation, a certified professional leader. But then I’ve also done, uh, I led a task force for a year, and I had to do the scheduling, and I had to do, you know, run a meeting and do an agenda and do all this stuff so that you can say that in your next interview and hopefully, you know, that’ll set you aside and you can get the next promotion.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you have chapters around the country or around the world, or is it kind of one central and everything’s done virtually?

Lisa Hardin: Um, it’s a little bit of both. So, um, the original organization really started out as a grassroots organization with local associations. We do have a few local associations still, um, around. So it’s one of those things that you just kind of have to be in the right place at the right time. Um, as with a lot of associations, that local membership has been difficult to maintain with people’s schedules and a lot of things happening virtually. But then we also have the international organization, and we say that you’re a member of Insurance Professionals first. A member is a member. And then if you’re lucky enough to have a local association and have that support, that’s an extra bonus.

Lee Kantor: So the main way you get together, you have an annual or regular kind of conferences.

Lisa Hardin: Uh, yes. So we have um, we have weekly or not weekly. We have monthly webinars through our website that address different topics such as education or leadership or, you know, what’s the what is the next big thing that we’re going to be doing? We, uh, also have we’re divided into regions. So the regions are typically, you know, a group of states. So there’s, there’s one that’s, uh, in, you know, like northeast, uh, the United States and then southeast United. It’s kind of the Midwest and then the West Coast. And so each of those regions has, um, their own separate conference. And then we have an international conference. So, um, we’ve got, uh, opportunities to attend things virtually, uh, every month, whether it’s, uh, a virtual town hall meeting or if it’s one of our, uh, local associations teaching one of our designation classes. And then at the regionals, those are typically in-person meetings. So we have a little bit of both.

Lee Kantor: Now, in your membership, you a portion of the members are kind of part of enterprise organizations, and some are kind of part of mom and pop entrepreneurial organizations. Can you share a little bit about the makeup, like what portion is kind of working for a large organization and what portion is working for kind of an entrepreneurial organization?

Lisa Hardin: Um, it’s a pretty good mix. Uh, we have it’s so we have a lot of people that are working for your, your insurance companies, your Vermont mutuals, your Liberty Mutual’s, your Nationwide’s, um, that type of thing. But then, like you said, on the other side, we have, you know, family owned insurance agencies that have, you know, they’re on the second or third generation owner. So you’ve got that kind of legacy as well. And, you know, the mix. I don’t really have, you know, percentages, but it’s it’s pretty close, probably a little bit more on the agency side versus the company side right now. You know, employer support is another one of those things that, you know, we have to start drumming up again. It’s like, okay, yes, this is what we can provide you. And we do that with our corporate partnerships as well. So the Certified Professional leadership designation that I mentioned is um, of course there’s 17 courses and we offer it to, uh, our corporate members where they can sign up, you know, 10 or 15 people that they would like to go have them go through this membership course, and then they become members of the insurance professional while they’re taking those courses. And that kind of gives the company a way to do those soft skills, because a lot of companies have their training internally on, you know, insurance topics, you know, how to be underwriting, doing claims, all their systems, all that kind of stuff. But it’s the soft skills. And then some of those agencies as well, you know, they’re smaller and they don’t have that internal training. So then we can help provide that leadership training for them.

Lee Kantor: And do you have any advice for other, um, association leaders when it comes to engaging, uh, a national group like this where there isn’t as much kind of chapter in person, regular, you know, face to face contact, but you’re having to engage a membership that is all over the place.

Lisa Hardin: Right? Um, it’s it’s basically repetition. Um, they say you have to see something three times to, to make it stick. So use all of your resources. Uh, you if you have like, we happen to have what we call a blast email system where we can, you know, send out an email to all the members. They all get the same information. Posting on social media, posting on LinkedIn. Uh, we have a YouTube channel where we have recordings of our town halls. So if you missed that town hall, you can go back to the YouTube channel and, uh, watch it. We, our members are very good at sharing, at sharing and reposting. So each each individual region has a Facebook page. And then, um, a lot of those local associations also have a Facebook page. So again it’s just reposting and you just keep sharing it. You may think you’re overdoing it but you’re not.

Lee Kantor: Yeah I think that’s a mistake that a lot of people make is they think that they’re oversharing, when in reality most people are so busy they don’t see things as often as you think they do. They don’t feel like they’re being bombarded. They miss most of the stuff that most people send out.

Lisa Hardin: Right. And we thought we apparently there’s a survey that says emails are opened more likely on a Wednesday. So we’ve we’ve actually used that. And um, we have two newsletters that goes out. One is for our, um, uh, the organization itself. It’s our connections newsletter. And then the other one is for our NCW Legacy Foundation, which is our uh, 501 C chapter, uh, scholarship organization. So that Legacy Foundation provides scholarships for our members that they can apply for. So if they’re, you know, taking a college course or taking a designation course that their employer is not going to reimburse them for, they can apply for a scholarship to get money towards that, um, additional education, or they can apply for a scholarship to attend the international conference for that registration. And then we also do grants for, uh, the either a local association or a regional. So if they’re trying to get a keynote speaker, uh, they can apply for a grant through the foundation to help assist with that keynote speaker. If they want to put a class on it, their conference, they can do a grant for that. And we also have a couple of, um, it’s called the Norm Ziegler Scholarship. And it is. We did it for $1,000. Scholarships for, uh, college aged. Well, you know somebody who’s in college in a risk management or insurance program. So that is a big part of our, uh, organization as well.

Lee Kantor: Now, how about some advice around I think it’s an advantage of having regional, uh, kind of the way that you have it delineated in, in regions. Are you able to do you have any systems that enable, uh, when something’s happening in a regional level or even in a local level that you’re able to kind of bubble up that best practice and then share it with everybody because you’re getting a lot of intelligence from boots on the ground all over the place. And if you have the right systems, you can kind of affect quickly and effectively share something that someone’s learned, uh, with everybody.

Lisa Hardin: Right. So each region has what we call a regional vice president. So there are seven regions, seven regional vice presidents. They make up our board of directors. In addition to the executive officers, each of those regional vice presidents has um a, a director. So there’s a membership director, there’s a marketing director, there is an education director. And then there is what we call a member at large director. Those are the people that don’t happen to have a local association near them, or wish not to be part of a local association, so that that director team and the regional vice president, their jobs then are to do that, delineate the the information and, you know, keep in touch with the members, keep in touch with the local associations, find out what everybody’s doing. They do a quarterly newsletter where they promote, you know, oh so and so got a designation or so and so was recognized for this or this local association did this fundraiser. So there’s a lot of, um, you know, self-promotion. And it’s one of those things that we do need to get better at.

Lee Kantor: Right? Because there’s so much intelligence that’s happening that, um, you might be able to miss it, but by you having so many people out there paying attention to stuff, I would imagine that a lot of good stuff can bubble up and be shared. And, uh, and it can improve kind of the lot for a lot of folks. Can you talk a little bit about, um, I know that, um, kind of giving back is an important part of your, your life, but also how how you, uh, you choose kind of which charities to support. And you mentioned the scholarships, which is super generous. And that seems like it’s helping a lot of people in the industry. But do you how do you kind of choose which charities to get involved with as an association?

Lisa Hardin: So typically what we do is, um, when we host our international convention, which next year in June 2026, will be in Norfolk, Virginia. The president kind of, you know, chooses a charity. So we kind of look to that particular area to see, you know, where need might be. So last year we were in Oklahoma City and we chose Toby Keith’s Kids Corral. So he raised money for them. We had people that brought books and toothpaste and, you know, essentials and stuff like that. So the specific charity is kind of, you know, a perk of being president, I guess you could say. Um, so we kind of look to, to do something in the community that we are holding our convention in.

Lee Kantor: And then for the upcoming convention, what’s the charity?

Lisa Hardin: So for the upcoming convention, I was really excited because, uh, Norfolk, Virginia has a, uh, local chapter or a local, um, uh, coordinator for a group called lasagna. Love that I’ve been involved with for almost four years now.

Lee Kantor: And for folks who aren’t familiar, do you mind sharing a little bit about lasagna love?

Lisa Hardin: I would love to. So, um, but like I said, about four years ago, Lasagna Love popped up on my Facebook page, and I looked at it and I’m like, oh, this is this is really a neat organization. They were looking for lasagna chefs and I’m like, oh, I could make lasagna. That’s no big deal. You know, lasagna is lasagna. And what it is, is it’s an organization where, uh, you’ve got the people, the lasagna chefs and the people that support the organization that make lasagna. And you’ve got the people on the other side who are receiving lasagna. And it’s not it’s not a financially based system. Yes. There are people that are requesting lasagna that are, you know, I’m elderly, I’m on a fixed income, I’m a single mom. But it can also be, you know, somebody’s going through cancer treatments who just doesn’t have the energy to make a dinner or a new mom. Again, same thing. I don’t have the energy to make a dinner or somebody again. It’s just, hey, you know, I could use a good hot, fresh meal type thing. So that’s the the the most exciting thing about it is even myself. If, you know, if I find myself in a situation where, you know, I’ll all of a sudden I’m overwhelmed, I could go and and request a lasagna. And so we’ve been doing that for about four years. My husband is a chef, so he took over the cooking of lasagna. And I’m the admin person that makes the contact with the recipient and schedules when we’re going to deliver it and whether they want it hot or cold or whatever. So yes, I was very excited that lasagna love has a connection in Norfolk. So that will be our charity.

Lee Kantor: And, um, and you don’t have to be a professional chef to, to participate, right. Like, like if, you know, it’s just I mean, lasagna is one of those meals that it’s not that complicated of a recipe and it’s not and, uh, and, and pretty much anybody could do it, if you’re so inclined. And then, um, and there are lasagna love. I don’t know what they call it, but coordinators all over the country, it’s a pretty substantial organization. It’s grown organically, um, over the years. But I think it’s in a lot of places. It’s not just in a handful of places.

Lisa Hardin: Yes, it’s nationwide, it’s everywhere. And they definitely, you know, I know in our area we’ve got a backlog. So, uh, you know, look it up and, you know, it’s like you said, it’s easy to, you know, just make a lasagna and you go out and help somebody. And the the responses that we get back when we deliver it, people are so appreciative. They’re excited. They’re like, thank you, thank you, thank you. Um, because my husband is a chef, he doesn’t understand portion sizes. So the people that are lucky enough to get us to make them lasagna definitely have leftovers.

Lee Kantor: So and you can just go to lasagna love, To find one near you. Whether you want a lasagna or you want to make a lasagna.

Lisa Hardin: Make a lasagna, or if you just want to make a monthly donation that goes, you know, for ingredients, you can do that too.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, it’s a great organization, and it’s such a generous, clever way, uh, to allow people to help the other people in their community. I mean, it’s it’s just a wonderful organization. And kudos to you for really, um, making me aware of it and also letting our listeners know about such a wonderful group and and your association. I mean, it kind of goes hand in hand about insurance. I mean, there’s a lot of generosity and kindness in the insurance industry. I mean, you’re valued members of all the communities you’re in.

Lisa Hardin: Well, yes, it’s it’s it goes to, you know, we gotta we gotta boost our image as insurance people. You see the, you know, especially when you see the attorney commercials. Oh, don’t trust the insurance company. They’re out to get you. But, um, you know, we like to be the the positive force of insurance. And we’re out there. We’re serving community. We are professional. We are there to you know, I’m in claims. So I meet I meet people on their worst days because they’ve been in an accident or, you know, something happened and they don’t know what to do. And so part of my job is to, uh, guide them through that process and, you know, take away the stigma of, you know, I’m just out to get you, and I’m going to sell your claim for as little as I can. So the whole organization is working to put a positive spin on the insurance industry as well.

Lee Kantor: Right. And I think that everybody understands that an insurance person should be part of your trusted advisor team. I mean, it’s definitely it’s not something that you cannot have and just hope, like insurance is just part of the deal, you know, as you kind of go through life and in your career, you have to have insurance and you have to have a trusted insurance person and a trusted insurance organization in order to kind of have a successful life. So, um, you know, I’m sorry that you’re having to deal with the stigma issue, but, I mean, the facts are the facts. I mean, insurance is important, and you better have somebody you trust watching your back because that’s their job. Mhm. So, um, if somebody wants to learn more about your association um, where should they go.

Lisa Hardin: Um you can certainly go to our website if you go, um, the easiest way to do it is to do IAP in your Google search. And we typically come up first. We’re International Association of Insurance Professionals. And uh, that’s the easiest way to find us.

Lee Kantor: And then if you’re in the insurance business, you should be a member. Right. Like this. This this sounds.

Lisa Hardin: Like.

Lee Kantor: This is a kind of an association that is, uh, should be a priority if you’re in the insurance business.

Lisa Hardin: Yes, we we, like I said, we promote the education of our members, the leadership development of our members, networking, working with corporate partners. And, like I said, giving our members that safe place to expand their skill base so that when they go for that next promotion, they have something that sets them apart.

Lee Kantor: Right. And everybody needs that. So. Well, Lisa, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work in so many areas and we really appreciate you.

Lisa Hardin: Well, I appreciate you having me. Thank you very much.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Association Leadership Radio.