My early years were spent with companies such as Shell Vacations and MCI Worldcom. I received the best of the best training in phone marketing and in person marketing. When I moved from the Phoenix Metro area to Prescott I soon realized that I needed to find something different. There were not many marketing positions in Prescott and working from home was not an option 13 years ago. So I went back to school. I have a degree in account from Yavapai Community College in Prescott, AZ and then continued to further my education through ENMU. Eastern New Mexico University. I began my insurance journey later in life, at age 30. In 2012 I was hired by a local Farmers Agent. Early on I knew I wanted to own an agency but I was a mom of 2 children and pregnant with my 3rd. My husband and I (at the time) were trying to make our way to New Mexico. My mom and step dad had moved to a tiny own called Cloudcroft, NM and we just loved it there. Once I had my 3rd son I really needed my mom as well. Yes I am that sappy lol. The world works in mysterious ways and within 7 months of working for my Farmers Agent in Prescott, I was offered a position with an agent that had 2 offices close to my parents! 2013 changed our lives forever. 2 weeks before our move Prescott experienced a catastrophe that would forever stick with me. A wildfire whipped through Yavapai County demolishing the town of Yarnell and also killing 19 firefighters. Farmers Insurance was fast to the catastrophe and allowed for us to be on the ground helping, mourning as we went. Then 2 weeks later I moved to Cloudcroft, NM and began working in insurance in Ruidoso, NM. Little to my knowledge I was stepping into another Wildfire Hot Zone. Ruidoso had just experienced the Little Bear Fire in 2012. It devastated the area and left a huge burn scar that was seeming to just pull its bandages off when I arrived. The pain was still there, the trauma visible in the foundations that were left standing solo. Early on I realized that Prescott and Ruidoso were similar and wildfire would continue to be a hurdle for us in the office. Fast forward 11 years and wildfire risk has not succeeded but is more prevalent than ever. Southern New Mexico is experiencing the wildfire crisis due to increased temperatures, higher winds and dryer than ever conditions. This year it is estimated that we only received 35% of the snow compared to 10-20 years ago. On top of this teh community is growing and people are building further and further out in wildfire zones than ever. The last 11 years the community has experienced many fires. In 2021 insurance companies began to give our community negative ratings. Me being a numbers person was not appeased by the phrase “your high risk, it just is what it is.” Why, how can we fix it? When we do make changes how can we speed up the reporting to the insurance companies. I wanted to know more. That led me here! I reached out to the Bureau of Land Management, local fire chiefs, State Department of Forestry, Forest Service. I began attending wildfire events and conferences to learn more.n Then in April of 2022 Lincoln County, NM experienced 3 fires blazing all at one time. The largest being the McBride fire which took 250 structures and 2 lives. My agent alone had 35 total losses. What I learned the weeks following that wildfire changed me forever. I was already determined to learn what was happening and how our climate and wildfire atmosphere was changing, but the catastro[phy fueled a fire within me to help our community and others. What I learned is WE ARE HIGH RISK and our community and members needed to hear more. Along that journey it also became apparent that people in our community as well as across the nation do not understand the data, statistics or what they even look at to deam a community as a wildfire risk. It is my intention to advise, guide and educate homeowners, insurance agents as well as communities on things to combat the wildfire crisis. I have an incredible team of 7 people that are just as passionate as I am about advising needs and being honest with people about the wildfire crisis and help advise their individual needs. Everything from coming to take photos to reviewing what trees may be an issue as well as items around the home that lead to a decline of insurance coverage.
I grew up in a small town in which my mom was a volunteer firefighter. There were times that my sister and went along with to fires. Fire Safety was talked about often in our home. Fast forward and I again live in a small community that experiences wildfire. As an insurance agent the wildfire crisis started to wreck havoc on my business. In 2021 I started to question the statistics, our communities PPC code, firelines and down the rabbit hole I went. During my research I met with the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, Fire Fighters, Scientists, heads of territory in insurance and found that there is a gap between the data being used by insurance companies and clients knowledge of the data and understanding. Also found that not many agents understand the data, maps and question terms such as PPC, Fireline and Wildfire score. I also found that locally we were struggling with wildfire and the impression that I had “the date must be wrong” was real. It is my intention to educate homeowners locally, agents across the US and bring understanding of the new technology being used to rate communities in the united states. All while I was researching my own little community of Ruidoso, NM had 3 fires at 1 times. 2022 was a tough year with 250 structures gone, 2 lives taken and a community struggling to overcome the wildfire crisis.
We offer Home, Auto, Business, Life Insurance, Annuities, Umbrella Insurance, Medicare and financial planning. We focus on finding insurance solutions for Wildfire areas and advising the needs of the insureds that are experiencing declines due to wildfire risk or conditions of the property that lead to a decline of coverage. Fire Safety Consultations: Services offered, such as home fire risk assessments and business fire safety planning. Home Fire Risk Assessments, Business assessments. Educational Workshops: Information on workshops and seminars Ashley hosts or participates in. We have been educating while joining forces with local officials, county officials and local fire emergency services. Online webinars, continued social media risk posts, speaking at the Urban Fire Summits, Realtor Associations, Community meetings for local engagement. It is our intention to bridge the gap between the data, the usage of the data, how the data affects everything from a County Level to a town level and to a homeowners level. or service you'd like to show.
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