Agent Profile: Trust Produces Mutual Benefits for Pennsylvania Advocate and Her Clients

Make no mistake about it, insurance is a trust business. And with medical malpractice among the costliest forms of coverage, the personal and professional stakes are especially high when a practitioner puts their trust in an agent and a carrier to protect their career and livelihood.

So how does the narrative shift when the stakes and trust are reciprocal for the agent?

As Catherine Fox, National Healthcare Practice Vice President for Brown & Brown, will tell you, it only intensifies the strength of her client relationships.

“My youngest son was diagnosed with severe autism at 18 months,” said Catherine. “Now he’s five and going into kindergarten, which is a big, big transition for him. Navigating the world of special needs is challenging—to say the least—and meeting with all of these physicians and specialists who help guide me through it, I just think they’re angels on earth. These doctors are constantly trying to do what’s best for their patients, and in this case, my son, and it just breaks my heart to see them at times get caught up in an overly litigious environment. So I do all that I can in my position to make sure they’re protected in the event of an unexpected adverse outcome.”

Seeing Firsthand

Catherine’s admiration for medical professionals and interest in healthcare developed long before the birth of her children. A native Pennsylvanian, Catherine double-majored in economics and communications at the University of Pittsburgh, where many of her friends were enrolled.

“I completed two internships as a financial reporter at ACE Insurance in Philadelphia and realized finance was not my passion. Most of my best friends from growing up were all going into healthcare and would later become medical professionals like physicians, anesthetists, nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse assistants, physician assistants, and speech pathologists. I can’t stand looking at blood, but I was interested in being in healthcare in some capacity because that’s all my friends ever talked about in college—I just needed to figure out how.”

A door into the industry opened up in 2011 for Catherine.

“I’ve always been a people person, very social, so I explored doing sales during my senior year. A course I took had an assignment to profile a successful business person. So I picked my father’s brain about who I could possibly profile, and he introduced me to one of his good fishing buddies who was the principal of a medical professional liability insurance agency.”

Catherine met with three leaders of the agency—Chris Zuccarini, Regina Wintz, and Scott Palde—in a team setting, and as she asked questions, it became more and more apparent that she was hitting it off with the leadership team.

“They had me come back to do a formal interview, and next thing you know, I was given a phone and a list and was told, ‘You’re going to learn by doing.’ But I never felt like I was on my own. The team was so supportive, and they gave me the opportunity to attend client meetings. I was so impressed with how they ran those discussions. Physicians are some of the smartest and most altruistic people I’ve ever met. And to see our team sit across the table from these doctors who talked about the struggles they faced, and how they trusted us to negotiate great coverage at a competitive price on their behalf, it just felt natural for me to become an advocate in the markets for them and relieve some of their burdens.”

But it didn’t come easy.

Coming Together

“I split my time between phone work and boots on the ground. Much of the time I was going door to door, walking around all of South Jersey, just trying to get my name and the agency’s name out there. Then, as I grew, and we entered the New York market, I’d be walking all over Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, eager to tell our story and how we could help physicians. Being in a commission-based role at age 23, you learn real quick you must have thick skin because you’re going to get a lot of rejection. I’m grateful that our team took a 23-year-old right out of college and helped shape me and be patient with me while I grew my book. They noticed how hard I worked and persevered; and eventually, I earned the nickname ‘the cold-calling queen,’ which we joked about in the office quite a bit.”

It wasn’t just her professional life and relationships that took shape over the next few years—Catherine was also preparing to start a family.

“I got married on August 4, 2017. The day of my wedding I was literally carrying my dress down the street in Philadelphia, and the principal was texting and emailing me to no end, asking me about my clients. I’m thinking to myself, ‘Why is he thinking about this today?’ I couldn’t understand his sense of urgency—the entire office was attending my wedding! And then after the wedding, I’m driving back to the office my first day back from my honeymoon, and he started urgently texting me again asking me to call him before I arrive.”

It turns out this was all for good reason: The agency was being acquired and consolidating with a much larger, national brokerage.

“The transition was seamless for us,” Catherine explained. “Their National Healthcare Practice is fully integrated, and there’s a real culture of collaboration across teams. I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Sharon Scheuermann, a professional liability and P&C producer, and together we’ve partnered on a number of accounts over the years with great success. We work well together and complement each other’s strengths, and that genuinely comes through in our meetings. When we meet with physicians, practice administrators, and larger healthcare organizations, clients can see that we trust and respect one another—and that authenticity tends to build the same trust and respect in return.”

Protecting Each Other

In 2019, Catherine and her husband had their first son. Then, COVID-19 hit.

“I feel like major moments in my life seem to come in pairs. I graduated from college and started a career. I got married and our agency was acquired. And now, I had my oldest son and months later we’re sent home in March of 2020. At the time, with my colleagues, it was like, ‘Alright, I guess we’ll see each other in a week or so.’ But as we all know, that didn’t happen. So, that was interesting trying to work with a one-year-old and both my husband and I at home, all while trying to serve my clients who are on the front lines as well as the hospitals having to deal with the scariness of what was going on, particularly in New York. A lot of physicians were panicking about how they were going to pay their premium and keep their practices afloat. And for me, it was difficult having a phone in one hand and holding a baby with the other, but I never let it jeopardize any of my client relationships. I’ve always kept the mindset to be thankful for each client, and treat each and every one of them like they’re my only client.”

In a couple years, as the world adapted to what became the new normal, Catherine and her husband were met with their biggest challenge in life yet.

“I was pregnant with my second child, and the night before I delivered, I had a big meeting. I was actually taking client calls and sending emails from the delivery room while I was in labor—making sure everyone was taken care of. Probably a little crazy, but I truly care about my clients. As I mentioned, my youngest son was later diagnosed with autism, so I’ve spent a lot of time on the other side of things—as a patient’s parent, navigating that world myself. I’m incredibly grateful for the practitioners I’ve come to trust through some genuinely challenging times. That experience is exactly what drives me to do better for them from an insurance standpoint.”

Just last year, the agency was acquired by Brown & Brown as part of ongoing widespread industry consolidation. For Catherine, consolidation provides her with an opportunity to give back to the healthcare industry.

“As more physicians move into hospital systems, groups, or private equity–backed practices, the risk is getting more complicated. AI now has a seat at the table, telehealth is rampant, and everything is changing so fast. But I do think, with my team, as long as we remain responsive, honest, and dedicated to our clients, and our clients trust that they can call, text, or email us for immediate guidance, our relationships will only keep getting stronger as we take on challenges in the future together.”