Welcome, Genevieve Cardona
We proudly welcome Genevieve Cardona as the newest member of our Burnham family. Genevieve will serve as an Employee Benefits Consultant, empowering clients with the repertoire of tools, resources, and directive strategies she’s acquired over the last 20+ years. Throughout her career, Genevieve has held and succeeded in a variety of roles with major carrier partners, a general agency firm, and most recently a TPA. While Genevieve’s portfolio is highly diversified, her unyielding support for her clients and their employees remains constant.
This unyielding support is revealed throughout Genevieve’s leadership philosophy:
“I seek to understand, which allows for optimal collaboration between clients, carrier partners and colleagues. I believe that it’s not necessarily about treating others how I’d like to be treated, but rather, how they would want to be treated. The bottom line – sincerity, demonstrated guidance, and passion must be conveyed to foster the level of trust we need to be industry leaders.”
Genevieve shares in our commitment to securing better results for our clients by developing deep relationships with them. We are eager to see how Genevieve will continue to set and exceed expectations in all aspects of employee benefits consulting, and even more eager to learn from her breadth of expertise.
Join us in welcoming Genevieve to the Burnham family!
Genevieve can be reached at GenevieveMarie.Cardona@BurnhamBenefits.com
Full Interview:
We sat down with Genevieve Cardona and Regional President Kris Allison to talk about her past experience, why Burnham, and just to get to know her more. A transcript of our interview can be found below:
Tell us a little bit about your past experience and how you got into the benefits industry.
I literally fell into the industry! Often, I find that many of us never planned to enter our industry – many of us were guided here from many different backgrounds, which is what makes this industry so unique. In addition to my drive, being bilingual in Spanish and typing 115 words per minute at a young age earned me the job to assist the VP of Sales of a local HMO. I then began conducting open enrollment meetings in Spanish only, then was promoted into various sales roles with a variety of carrier partners. Following that, I joined a general agency firm that allowed me to branch out into other lines of coverage, and lastly moved to the TPA world that certainly rounded out my knowledge base. It’s been a journey that I would never change, and because of it, I am now a member of the Burnham Family!
What are some noteworthy accomplishments from your career?
This is a tough question as I don’t care to boast about accomplishments! I prefer to see them as goals that I have met and surpassed. For example, I placed more HDHP business in 2008 with a carrier partner in the small group segment and surpassed quotas year after year. I earned a specific award created within my first year at the general agency for exceeding goals and earned a spot at the annual celebration trip. The list goes on. At my core, I believe that my biggest accomplishments were attained throughout the relationships I have held with clients and their employees, providing them with a better understanding of the meaning of the card(s) they possess in their wallets. When someone comes to me to thank me for taking the time to help them understand, it makes me want to do it all over again.
What aspects of Burnham’s culture were appealing to you and how did you hear about Burnham?
What’s not to like? There are few organizations that do a phenomenal job at coaching, teaching, acknowledging, and instilling collaboration. This is Burnham, however, on steroids. I seek leadership that is conveyed in the manner that Burnham has done in my short tenure here. I’ve concluded that while leadership is a term loosely used by many, it is rarely exhibited. However, it’s apparent the executive team exhibits leadership daily.
Tell us a bit about your leadership philosophy. What do you think is the key to professional success?
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have been led by those that display humility and passion. As a member of the Leadership in Life Institute (LILI) Class of 1995, I was exposed to different leadership teachings such as those of John Maxwell, Jim Collins, Stephen Covey, Robert Greenleaf, and many more to expand my understanding. I seek to understand, which allows for optimal collaboration between clients, carrier partners and colleagues. I believe that it’s not necessarily about treating others how I’d like to be treated, but rather, how they would want to be treated. The bottom line – sincerity, demonstrated guidance, and passion must be conveyed to foster the level of trust we need to be industry leaders.
What do you look most forward to or what are you most excited about in your new role at Burnham?
I look forward to learning! I look forward to building the Burnham brand further in the Central Valley and among other regions. I’m elated to be here and for this to be my last stop in my career. As an advisor, I now have the opportunity to be in the driver’s seat and consult, advise and direct future clients by empowering them with the tools, resources and direction needed to succeed. I can’t wait to prove to our clients how they deserve to be served.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
During my free time, I truly enjoy quality time with my husband, David, and our eight children that may include our five grandchildren. I love traveling with my husband, and I enjoy spending time as well as my great friends. Aside from short travels here and there, I particularly look forward to our bi-annual family trip that always results in priceless memories, which makes the time it takes to plan a foreign trip all worth it! Through the years, I’ve discovered that quality time with loved ones is crucial to remember and simply make happen. I truly believe a healthy personal life only catapults the professional life and vice versa.