Rebecca Cooper, VP & Premier Insurance Specialist, Harbour Insurance, has been in the insurance industry for over 20 years, starting as a claims handler in life & health before transitioning to P&C. She worked for one of the largest independent insurance brokerages before moving over to Harbour. Rebecca is both P&C and Life & Health licensed through the state of Florida.

The steadfast leader has various qualities that have influenced the company and its culture, starting from her eagerness to learn attitude regarding changes and educating those around her about the same and her never give up mindset. Rebecca’s clients benefit from her determination and dedication. “In Florida it has been increasingly difficult to place a client’s insurance and we get a lot of “no’s” from insurance companies. When most people stop, I keep going. One client was told by 15 insurance companies “no,” but I was determined to find coverage for them, so I reached out to a friend of mine at another insurance company and showed her that it was a good risk for their company to take. In the end we were able to place the insurance for my client,” explains Rebecca, how her never giving up mindset and determination have helped hundreds of clients get the insurance coverage they deserve.

Being a dedicated leader, Rebecca leads by example. Being vision-driven, strategic thinker, and goal-focused with a proven history of international team leadership and achievements, Rebecca has been setting the standards and maximizing returns to harnessing her team strengths to improve corporation-wide performance. For the pioneering leader, collaboration can build consensus among executive teams and stakeholders to promote transparency and influence positive change, which has been repeatedly proven. “Clear and effective communication with a wide range of stakeholders, including employees, customers, shareholders, and regulators, is the key,” she explains. “As stated, I lead by example, by being myself and true to myself, being aware that I am being observed and sometimes seen as a role model to other women.”

She has been promoting learning and creative thinking to keep curiosity for leading-edge trends in the industry, self-development, and striving for change that builds and rebuilds the organization that serves the customers well and performs at its best. Rebecca advises everyone to be willing to take on new things even within their current role – gaining expertise in several areas will serve them well down the road. “I started my insurance carrier as a young 18-year-old at UNUM handling claims. I processed their life insurance claims of their loved ones. It was a delicate job that required lots of empathy,” she adds. “Another advice I would give is you have to put in the time and effort. And that time and effort will pay off. Stay educated on your specialty. Clients like working with someone who has put in the “10,000 hours” to be an expert.”

Rebecca’s inspiration has been her mother, who was also a leader in insurance. Growing up, Rebecca watched her bring her claims home at night to help close them. “I would watch her at the kitchen table and talk with her about her clients. Her hard work piqued my interest in insurance,” elucidates Rebecca. “Juggling being a mom of 5 and an expert in insurance, is hard and that too being a good mother and a good insurance advisor, but looking at my mother, I knew I can do it too! I am so proud of my children and their success, my oldest is a nuclear engineer in a branch of the armed forces and I am so proud of him and that my determination rubbed off on him.”

When Rebecca was 13 years old, she was diagnosed with cancer of Adenoids Cystic Carcinoma. The doctors had classified it as terminal and gave her till 18 to live. But Rebecca knew she had to fight, and she started the traditional approach to therapy and did holistic therapy. After this, she became very interested in biotechnology to help find a cure for others. “I took classes at Montgomery County community college and discovered that I was great at technology but not as good at biology. I pursued technology in school after that which I found to be so helpful in insurance,” she says. “I was one of the first in insurance to embrace technology and I continue to embrace this tool. Recently we took a course in Chat GPT, and we are using it with our agency. It is amazing where embracing technology will take you.” 

Armed with this excellent outlook, Rebecca has been taking the company to new heights. Harbour Insurance is an independent agency offering all types of insurance for individuals and businesses, allowing them to combine their coverage needs. Clients can benefit by having: one insurance agent, one premium, one bill, and one renewal date. While located in Naples, Florida, the Harbour Insurance team has a combined 86 years of experience in the insurance business. It has licenses in 25 states, allowing them to help clients wherever they are.

One of the company's and Rebecca's most significant achievements was helping clients during Hurricane Ian. “We were ground zero to one of the most damaging hurricanes in US history. Focusing and caring about our clients was so important. The day before Ian hit, I flew out to Nashville and rented a hotel room so I could start taking claims immediately for our clients,” she states. “I knew SW Florida was not going to have phones or internet for weeks, so I spent time away from my family to help them during this traumatic time. The people at Harbour Ins. are extremely diligent about keeping their clients apprised of any and all updates and info on all worrisome weather conditions, and other elements of our policies that we have trouble understanding.” 

Wendy H., a loyal client since 2007, says, “They were very informative, friendly and patient. I truly feel safe being a client of Harbour Insurance.” This shows that Harbour’s culture is just different, and they care about the clients and the outcomes of claims. 

For the days to come, Rebecca will continue her learning and work on her ARM (a risk management designation) designation. “I know and teach that knowledge is power. Hence, every leader needs to keep themselves abreast in the industry of the occurrences around them.”