Every International Women’s Day, GB recognises and celebrates the accomplishments of the inspiring women we work with. This year, we asked our people to nominate an inspiring female leader that they work with, and we were overwhelmed with dozens of very worthy nominations. After a tough process, nine women were selected to be profiled for 2020, based on their amazing accomplishments over the past 12 months.

All of the women featured in these interviews will represent GB at the Women in Insurance Leadership Summit in August.

Meet Karlie Clausen, an inspiring, supportive member of the Gallagher Bassett family.

Karlie joined GB in October 2017 as a mobile Return-to-Work Specialist dedicated to the Police, Fire and Emergency Services (NTPFES) portfolio. In 2019, Karlie was appointed to the Client Manager role and is responsible for liaising with Government agencies and addressing their needs, and investigating what improvements can be made to business practices to better support GB’s agency partners. Karlie has been recognised with the Customer Service Professional of the Year Award at the 2018 and 2019 Northern Territory Insurance awards, with these awards recognising the outstanding service she provided to the NTPFES.

Karlie was nominated by her colleagues, who is inspired by the way she raises the level of those around her in the team and has developed and maintained strong positive working relationships with the clients and providers that she manages. As a Client Manager, Karlie is an integral part of the NT leadership team. Although she does not have any direct reports, that does not stop Karlie leading, inspiring and training the team.

Karlie goes above and beyond in her commitment to delivering for clients and actively works with them to tailor reporting specific to their needs.

Karlie has been a consistent source of inspiration for her colleagues from moving across to the NT by herself to join GB; to winning the 2018 NT Customer Service Professional of the Year for her work as a Return to Work Specialist with Police - modelling on a daily basis the expected behaviours and the Gallagher Way; to her professional approach to her Client Manager role which saw her win the same award again in 2019.

We recently sat down with Karlie to find out more about her:

Do you have a standout career highlight?

My career highlight to date has been packing up my life and moving to Darwin on my own for the start of the NT contract. To walk into a company that has welcomed me with open arms and to have been able to be exposed to really inspiring people throughout my time here has been amazing. To be acknowledged for the work I do and continuously be supported to achieve more will be something I’ll always be grateful for.

To look back at one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and have absolutely no regrets but a smile on my face every time I talk about it will be something I will keep with me forever.

What motivates or drives your passion for the insurance/risk management industry? Why do you recommend our industry for the next generation of women entering the workforce?

I enjoy a challenge and pushing myself to achieve the best that I can. I love the fulfilment of completing a task to the best of my ability doing something that’s complex or new to me. I love that the sky is the limit and that the industry has so many different avenues you can explore and so many challenges that come your way.

I would recommend this industry to anyone who wants a longstanding, fulfilling and challenging career. It’s an industry that has so much versatility and exposes you to so many different things that other industries just wouldn’t have insight over. To be faced with challenges you can’t predict and to have achieved things you wouldn’t have imagined you could by discovering skillsets you didn’t know you had.

What do you like most about Gallagher Bassett in five words or less?

Your mission inspires your people.

How is Gallagher Bassett is helping you face your future with confidence?

Since commencing with GB, I have continually felt supported and that I’m a valued member of the team, GB accepted me for who I am with open arms. I believe in the GB family and I have learnt to believe in myself since working here. I am aware of my skills and how I can improve on those while having a huge support team behind me, I know where I want to be and how I can get there.

Who is your inspiration or role model?

I don’t have one particular inspiration/role model. I look up to those who rise above challenges they face and also help others to do the same.

I believe we all have our individual qualities and I try to learn from everyone that comes into my life or I’m drawn to at any given time. I believe that everything happens for a reason and at that stage in my life, I was meant to be drawn to that person/influencer to help me through my journey at that time.

What does equality mean to you?

Equality to me is everyone having the same rights and opportunities. There are no judgement/barriers based on your gender, race, sexuality, disability or age. For everyone to believe in one’s ability and to just really embrace that.

I’ll always make it my priority to use my platform and confidence to speak up and challenge assumptions and norms. To help those around me to understand that they are valuable and powerful in their own way and that we should all embrace our differences and pursue our dreams.

I want to be a role model for women and for my nieces, to show them they can be whatever they want to be as long as it speaks to their heart and they set their mind to it. I want people to look up to me, not to achieve the same but to be a better version of themselves and to see the sky really is the limit and to just go for it. Our gender is not a barrier, it is a gift.