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Leadership Team
Originally from Seoul, Korea, Young immigrated to the United States when he was a child. He has called Denver, Colorado home since 1977. He graduated from the University of Colorado with a BA in psychology. He belongs to the Denver Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau. He was the man of the year for several insurance companies and he has sat on numerous insurance advisory boards. He is a dedicated family man consisting of his wife, Esme, and his son, Max, who has become the joy of their lives. He started his insurance career in 1993 with an emphasis on life insurance for the first 5 years and eventually developed Premier Group Insurance, Inc. in April of 1999. His vision for PGI was to marry quality insurance carriers with experienced insurance agents while providing ongoing training, support and guidance.
Today, the vision is being realized with hundreds of productive and profitable agents across the country balanced with superior internal support from the experienced PGI team. PGI’s success is directly connected to one statement: “We do what we say”.
Rex Hickling lives and breathes insurance. For over 25 years he worked for two fortune 100 Companies within the Insurance Industry. (Safeco and Travelers) Within those companies, he worked in every capacity you can imagine. He started as an Underwriter with Safeco in Southern California after graduating from Colorado University in Boulder. While working at Safeco and climbing the Leadership ladder, Rex attained his CPCU designation. Rex has worked with 1000’s of Captive and Independent agencies across America in Senior Leadership roles.
Today as President of Premier Group Insurance, he details the path to success for 100’s of prosperous agencies, the culmination of which is celebrated by carriers throughout the industry every year!
Shawn Michael Walker has over 20 years managing company resources on both the AGENCY and CARRIER side of the Independent Agency equation. While attending the U of U, he managed one of the largest independent agencies in Salt Lake City. Upon graduating he took a job in Sales Management on the carrier side. He was promoted to a Leadership role where he managed Personal and Commercial products and six Territory Sales Managers in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico (126,000,000 in WP). He returned to CO to team up with Premier Group Insurance. Today, as Senior Vice President, He works with our only client: our Agents, and our only stakeholder: our Carriers, to maximize growth and earnings.
Eric Blakeman has over 19 years of Personal Lines Insurance experience.(16-Liberty/Safeco, 3-PGI) Eric started his career in AZ, as a successful sales producer at Liberty Mutual’s DRC before moving into Lead and Managerial roles. Eric moved to CO in 2012, transferring to Safeco Insurance, where he successfully built and managed their License Sale Center until 2020, when he joined Premier Group Insurance. Eric has many responsibilities at Premier Group Insurance. He leads Premier’s PL Training Department, Service Center, HO Administrative team as well as acts as a POC for Premier Plaza’s operations and vendor relationships.
Areli Enriquez joined Premier Group Insurance in 2008 and has the distinction of being its first decade-long employee. Having started in an entry-level position, she has worked her way up the ranks to her current position as Assistant Vice President of Commissions, Accounting, & Licensing.
Hailing from Zacatecas, Mexico Areli came to the United States at 3 years old and holds an unwavering belief in the power of hard work and maintains that anything is achievable through commitment and perseverance. Her positive outlook and determination have served as an inspiration to her colleagues and peers and her dedication and work ethic has been instrumental in her ascent through the organization.
Beyond her professional pursuits, she enjoys exploring new destinations through travel and cherishes spending quality time with her family.
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Matt Genova has over 15 years of Commercial Insurance experience. Matt was a successful producer for many years prior to leaning into department and agency management. Matt has worked with large middle market accounts, small businesses, and specialty vertical programs, all across a wide range of industries. Utilizing his extensive experience, Matt has built a best-in-class training and consulting group here at Premier Group Insurance that is supporting our agent’s development of thriving and profitable commercial practices. Matt is a native of Massachusetts, an alum of the University of Colorado, and lives in Highlands Ranch, CO with his wife and two children.
Team
Chris is a born and raised Florida native.. Being in the industry for 19 years, he has worked in claims, underwriting, and most recently a captive Allstate agent. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and fan of the Florida Gators. He enjoys traveling, and sunny days on the beach and being on the boat in the Florida Keys. He has lived in Atlanta, Nashville, and Denver, and currently resides in Fort Lauderdale with his Partner and two dogs, Cooper, and Barbie
My name is Eric Fierro and I am a business development manager at PGI coming with over 15 years of management, recruiting, and sales experience in the insurance industry with companies like NY life, Farmers, Allstate, and Colorado Insurance. I am also experienced in mortgages, notaries, and selling real estate. I am a well-rounded business professional who has worn many hats and can easily connect to different professionals in the industry. I have accomplished elite goals such as President’s Council. I take pride in establishing long-lasting relationships with my agency partners. I am excited to be part of Premier with everything that this company stands for and believes in.
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Josephine emigrated from South Korea at age 11 and settled in Colorado. She attended University of Colorado in Boulder, studied abroad in Germany and then moved to Los Angeles. She met her husband in 2002 and moved to San Diego and started a family. Josephine’s previous employment includes Hyundai, PepsiCo, Commercial Real Estate Appraising and Property Management. She enjoys cooking, gardening and going to the gym.
Bertha has been living in Colorado since 2001. She loves to hike, watch movies and spend time with her family and friends.
She has been working at PGI since 2013 and in the licensing department since 2016.
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Misti Hipps is originally from Arkansas. In her spare time she likes to run, swim, ski, ride horses and spend time with her two kids. She is new to insurance but is loving working at PGI!
Trenny Dillon is a major component in the PGI operation. Her great caring and cheerful attitude, her sense of humor brighten everyone’s workday. Her vast knowledge and experience within the insurance industry make her a very special asset to PGI. Her desire to help others succeed is evident in the manner in which she interacts with new agents during training sessions and when they call with questions. She puts forth an immense amount of time and effort to ensure that each and every new agent has the best opportunity to be successful in their endeavors as PGI agents.
Trenny’s favorite activities are to take her dogs and go on a hike with friends on warm, sunny days. Spending time with her family is also most important to Trenny. Her lifetime dream is to one day be able to work with animals and children in need.
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John Strait was a successful business owner for many years selling wholesale annuity products through regional financial institutions. He sold his company in 2014 and decided to continue working on a new career in property and casualty insurance. John has a depth of experience in commercial lines carriers, products, and services, and his experience as a business owner will help PGI agents with business planning, marketing, sales, and a host of other agency related disciplines.
Jeff has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry with 17 of those years as an agency owner himself. As a captive agency owner Jeff built a multi-million agency that qualified for numerous awards including Championship which recognizes the top 10% of agencies in the company. After selling that agency Jeff moved on to be a sales director with one of the largest independent agencies here in CO. With that role he recruited, trained and mentored agents that were making the transition to opening their own Independent Agencies. In 2019 Jeff joined the PGI team as a business development manager to help with the recruiting and transitions for agents entering the independent world.
Shauna Bills has been a licensed insurance agent since July 1999. She worked as an independent agent for 16 years before moving to underwriting in the Excess & Surplus Markets for 5 years prior to joining Premier Group. Shauna has a wealth of experience and is more than happy to share all the things she’s learned along the way with all her agents.
Shauna is a native of Colorado who loves the high country, especially the Estes Park / Grand Lake area. She has two children and a grandson who keeps her busy when she’s not at the office. Shauna loves Zumba, and also has a passion for Hallmark moves “because they’re awesome”.
Samantha Novotny was born and raised in the rolling hills of Wyoming where her parents owned and operated an independent insurance agency for nearly 20 years. She dipped her toes in the waters of Personal Lines while working with her parents after school and during summer breaks.
Due to her adventurous spirit, she relocated to Colorado for college. After exploring other avenues and travelling to various corners of the world, she eventually found her way back to insurance and into Commercial Lines.
Since 2011, this has been her primary discipline. When not at the office you can find her planning her next trip, creating art, enjoying the outdoors, or working on the family farm.
Tala Mohamed an Information technology specialist. was born and raised in Sudan. Relocated to Denver 2016 with passion of being a successful tech. She is a graduate from MSU Denver with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information System. Outside of the work environment, she likes to write short stories and read fiction.
Born and raised locally in beautiful Littleton Colorado. Enjoys working on and repairing laptops and desktops. Loves going on walks with his dog Heidi and spending quality time with his family.
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Patricia Tong was born in San Jose, California and raised in Houston, Texas. She went to the University of Houston, where she graduated with a B.B.A in Finance and Marketing. After graduating college, she travelled the world working on a cruise ship in Hawaii, and then eventually working as a flight attendant for 5 years. Flight attending eventually brought her to Denver in 2013, where she fell in love with the mountains and sunshine. After deciding to settle down and retire her wings, she pursued teaching math at Denver Public Schools. After realizing teaching wasn’t for her, she went on to work at Premier Group Insurance, where she has been on the commissions and accounting team since the Summer of 2017.
Originally from San Diego, CA. I have lived in CO for over 20 years. I worked in the mortgage industry for many years prior to working in insurance. That was more than 10 years ago when I first started with State Farm, working my way up to office manager. Now I truly enjoy working at PGI – the company, agents and staff are outstanding! When I am not working, I love spending time with my family & friends. Since my son is a survivor, I have a special place in my heart for childhood cancer awareness in addition to animal rescues. Traveling, camping, horseback riding, boating, movies, and concerts are some of my favorite things to do.
“Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s real power”.
~ Clint Eastwood
Jeff Boivin has been with Premier Group Insurance since January 2017. Jeff enjoys working with technology to improve PGI, helping agents with their commissions, & working with a great team. Jeff’s career has also included work in mental health & special education. Jeff grew up in Illinois & went to the University of Arizona in Tucson before moving to Denver in 2012.
Olivia Parker is a Marketing Specialist at PGI and she assists with agents’ marketing needs. Her goal is to help our agents stand out and establish their brand. She was born and raised right here in Colorado and graduated from Colorado State University. In her free time, Olivia enjoys paddle boarding, hiking, and spending time with friends & family.
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Gardner is originally from Vermont, and has lived and worked in Boston and San Francisco. He enjoys traveling, and has been to every continent except for Antarctica. He enjoys long-distance backpacking, and has completed several long distance trails including the Appalachian Trail, the John Muir Trail, and Vermont’s aptly named Long Trail.
Now living a more settled life in Denver, Gardner and his wife have 2 young children, a back yard and an dog. They enjoy weekend backpacking trips in the mountains, mountain biking, fly fishing, and winter sports.
He joined the PGI Training team after having worked in the captive sales world, and is passionate about helping agents achieve their goals. He enjoys learning from agents, from carriers, and from the amazing staff at PGI.
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Alejandra was born in Chihuahua Mexico, but has lived in Colorado since age 4. She graduated from Metro State University with a degree in Finance. At PGI she enjoys working with numbers and assisting her agents with their commission questions. Although PGI is her first work experience in Insurance, she is excited to continue to learn and grow as a part of the Commissions and Accounting team. When not working at PGI she loves watching movies, spending time with friends and family, and going to concerts and Colorado sporting events.
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Tyler was born and raised in Littleton Colorado, is the administrative assistant at PGI, and works alongside Kharina. He and Kharina send out emails from the Notifications Department for your clients and transfer inbound calls to all of you! He started in 2022, is excited to learn about the insurance industry, loves to hear how agents ended up where they are and where they want to go, has extensive experience in the service industry, and loves leaving people in a better mood. Also loves sharing his passions for cars and watches.
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