Blog Post: Ask the Alum: Kristine Kassel

Name:  Kristine Kassel
Job Title/Employer: President, Benefits by Design, Inc.
Year of Graduation: 1991
Degree/Major: B.S./Liberal Arts

What is your favorite part of your current job?
That I own my own business.

What career path did you follow from your ASU degree to your present job?
In college, I started working with an insurance agency part time and once I graduated, I went full time in a job that was my major, which was management at a retail store. 

After a few months, I realized that retail wasn’t for me and I leaned on my prior connections in insurance to get another full-time job.  This was where I learned the tools I needed to start my own agency six years later. I have had my own business in insurance for 11 years.

Describe one skill learned at ASU that you use daily in your job.
People skills.

Were any ASU-affiliated persons helpful to you in advancing your career?
Not any one person, but it is truly all the contacts that you meet that you will continue to see and work with throughout the rest of your career. You get out of relationships what you give.

What advice would you give to current students or job-seekers about finding work in your field?
The insurance industry is a great field that will be around forever and everyone needs it!

As to how to find work in this field, I would start contacting experts in the field and they could help mentor you and give you direction. Also, there are several associations, such as the National Association of Health Underwriters that offer online classes and programs for new agents.