Women in Insurance

This post is part of a series sponsored by IAT Insurance Group.

Women make up nearly 60% of the insurance industry’s workforce.^[1] Yet a successful insurance career is different for each one. Meet two female IAT team members with two unique backgrounds, each building a successful career in insurance: Angela Rimgaila and Starr Taybron.

As a college student in the middle of the 2008 Great Recession, Angela Rimgaila was drawn to the idea of a career where she could expand her professional network, find leadership opportunities and land a solid job post-graduation. The insurance program at Temple University touted 100% job placement, so Angela chose to major in risk management and insurance and join Gamma Iota Sigma, the insurance industry’s professional fraternity. She now serves as IAT’s Assistant Vice President of Management Liability.

“There are so many professional organizations and networking groups that helped me build a network in the industry at a young age,” said Rimgaila. “Insurance is an important part of the economy. It helps the world go around and it’s not going away. I know that I’ll always have a job and that’s very comforting. The industry gets a bad rap, but we keep people in business, help during disastrous times in life, and keep people employed.”

In 2022, Angela was honored as a Rising Star by Insurance Business America – recognizing up-and-coming professionals who are making their mark in the industry under 35.

Starr Taybron also spent her time at Michigan State looking for a career that offered leadership opportunities. Post-college, Taybron began her career in law enforcement with the U.S. Marshals and eventually became a Chief Probation and Parole Officer at 27 years old. At the top of her career when most officers would retire, Taybron accepted a position as an investigator in the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) at IAT. She later led the unit as AVP and was honored as a Break-Out Award Winner in 2019 by Business Insurance – recognizing next generation of insurance industry leaders. Today, Taybron is the Vice President of Auto/Casualty Operations.

“For me, it’s about justice. I actively investigated people who were committing theft, arson, and insurance fraud, and I like being able to do the right thing by the people who trust us to protect them,” said Taybron. “Whatever your passion is, you can find it in the insurance industry. If you start in insurance you get to see other departments, and different positions that may keep you interested in a long-term path for growth. Insurance is always evolving, and there’s always room for innovation.”

To learn more about insurance career opportunities at IAT, click here to view our current openings.

By Angela Rimgaila and Starr Taybron

[1] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics “Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey,” 2021.