Making new connections
When Lynn Doehring landed her first job as an 18-year-old insurance agent for Metropolitan Life three decades ago, her boss asked her which side of the business – personal or commercial – she wanted to pursue.
When she told him she wanted to work on personal accounts, she said, “He pushed the white pages telephone directory across the desk to me and said, ‘Go for it.'”
Thirty-two years later, Doehring, 50, who grew up in North Strabane Township before striking out for her insurance career in the Northeast and Midwest, tells the story behind her desk at her company, Bridge Insurance Group, for which she opened offices last year on Ansys Drive in Southpointe.
In the span of time since she began her career, she has made thousands of cold calls and knocked on doors in Massachusetts, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Chicago. Later, along with her ex-husband, she helped to run a large Chicago-based agency, with 680 agents in 28 states.
“I’ve gone into the South Side of Chicago, Gary, Indiana, and in Appalachia,” she said. “Most agents will not walk into these areas.” It wasn’t just a resolve to sell, but to serve those living at all levels of the economy, she said.
“I treat these people with the same dignity and respect that I do with my (upscale) clients,” she said, adding that regardless of where she does business, she finds clients “who are worth my time and experience and they provide referrals” for more business.
The Bridge Group, an independent insurance agency which has nine agents and an administrative staff of two, does business with about 1,300 clients in 10 states, focusing on health, Medicare and life insurance.
Doehring named her agency for the transition it represents from her old life to a new one. That journey began several years ago, when she and her husband divorced in 2013 and she returned to Washington County to be near family and put two of her four children through college. At the same time, she incorporated Bridge Insurance Group.
Another reason for naming her agency Bridge, is that Doehring sees it as a way for anyone to enter a career that can provide a good living.
“I learned a skill that helps me make money,” she said, adding that it is the type of work that others can learn without a myriad of degrees and at different stages of life.
She noted that most people are affected by one of several highly stressful life events – call them the three D’s – that often require finding a new career: death, divorce or downsizing.
“A lot of women in their mid-40s find themselves with no work experience or education,” she said.
Despite the fact that it doesn’t require a college degree, Doehring doesn’t downplay the fact that the insurance business requires hard work and a resolve to stick with it.
“There are 200 hours of certification, and it’s a two-year learning curve” after an agent earns a license, she said. But agents can earn $65,000 in their first year and by the third year can be earning into the six figures annually, she added.
While her agency focuses on health care, Medicare and life insurance, Doehring said that one of the basics that is often missing is simple management for a person who holds multiple policies, for home, auto and life, possibly with overlapping coverages.
“You may have too much coverage or you may not have enough coverage,” she said, noting the example of roadside service that could be included in someone’s auto policy but also part of their AAA membership.
Closer to home, Doehring sees insurance demand coming from both the agricultural sector as well as the industrial sector.
While some are growing crops or raising livestock on their land, in many cases their acreage has produced additional income from oil and gas leases.
With natural gas, as well as the county’s history in coal, steel and glass, “we understand what it is to make things and what it is to grow things,” she said. “It’s a good combination.”
And like any place in the country, the area has its share of baby boomers – the so-called sandwich generation – who still work full-time jobs, often help to support their grown children while also caring for aging parents.
The boomers’ “interest in long-term care insurance is growing because they don’t want to put the burden on their children,” she said.
While Doehring’s business doesn’t charge a fee for finding the appropriate insurance coverage for clients, she noted that she works closely with financial planners in the area who refer clients to her for their insurance needs.
Regardless of which clients she’s serving, she has found the perfect place to anchor her business.
“Southpointe is a gem; there’s no easier place to get to,” she said. “And with the addition of the restaurants and living space, it’s a great base for what we do.”
Despite heading her own agency these days, some things haven’t changed from the days when she was selling insurance door to door.
“Eighty percent of my clients I don’t see in my office,” Doehring said. “I’ll go to their home or wherever they want to meet. Most of my clients I’ve met face-to-face, but there are some I’ve never met. But I do like to have that personal relationship with them.”
And while she recently spent “a mind-numbing” period from October through December often working until 11 p.m. to help clients with Medicare coverage get through the annual open season for enrollments, Doehring must also wait to see what will happen with President Trump’s plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
“No one’s really sure if it’s still a mandate,” she said.
Bridge Insurance Group, 2400 Ansys Drive, Suite 102, Southpointe can be reached at 724-229-2987 or by accessing www.bridgeinsurancegroup.com
David J. Detrick, D.O., of McMurray, has been nominated to serve as 2017 president of the Allegheny County Medical Society.
His father, the late Richard E. Detrick, M.D., served as ACMS president in 1988. According to the society, it is the first time in ACMS history that two generations have served as president of the society, creating a family legacy dedicated to organized medicine.
Detrick received his undergraduate degree from Villanova University and graduated from the Kansas City (Mo.) University of Medicine and Biosciences in 1993. He completed an internship at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh and a residency at Bridgeport Hospital, Bridgeport, Conn., before returning to Pittsburgh in 1997. He is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and is board certified in both.
A member of Jefferson Women’s Health, he is on staff at Jefferson Hospital of Allegheny Health Network. He previously served as division director for University of Pittsburgh Physicians Women’s Health in the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UPMC Mercy Hospital, where he was department chairman.
A member of ACMS since 1990, Detrick served on its board from 2004 to 2011; was treasurer in 2013, secretary in 2014, vice president in 2015, and president-elect in 2016, serving on the executive committee during that time.
Marc J. Zmijowski of Charleroi has received his Pennsylvania Funeral Director’s License. A 2015 graduate of Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, where he was the recipient of the Memorial Award and the William J. Musmanno Award, he is a third generation funeral director, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Leonard M. Pavlic and his mother JoAnn Pavlic. After serving his internship with the Leonard M. Pavlic Funeral Homes Inc. in Charleroi and Bentleyville, he is now operating along with his mother the Pavlic funeral homes as well as Melenyzer Funeral Homes & Cremation Services Inc. in Roscoe and Charleroi.
Matthew Shorraw of Monessen has been accepted as a fellow into the Pittsburgh New Leaders Council, a nonprofit that works to recruit, train and promote progressive political entrepreneurs, trendsetters, elected officials and civic-minded leaders in business and industry who will shape the future landscape of the Pittsburgh region.
Shorraw, a graduate of California University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. degree in music technology and an M.Ed in technology education, is assistant band director for Monessen City Schools; president of Monessen Amphitheater; vice president of Monessen Communities That Care; and a member of Monessen Community Development Corp. He is the author of “Images of Modern America: Monessen.”
He was one of 20 fellows chosen from a field of 300 applicants to serve on the Pittsburgh NLC.
Myra Bernhart has been named workforce development manager for the Challenge Program Inc., a regional nonprofit program for all students connecting business and education. A Washington County native, Bernhart holds a B.S. degree in elementary education from California University of Pennsylvania, and has extensive background in job training policies and the development and implementation of programs especially in the area of youth employment and training. She will focus on career and technology education in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Washington counties to increase workforce connections between businesses and these schools. Founded in 2003 in Johnstown, the Challenge Program prepares students for future academic and workforce success by challenging them to compete in five categories directly linked with skill sets employers seek: attendance, academic improvement, academic excellence, community service and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).