Derek Hayden

In September of 2021, Derek Hayden exploded onto the insurance influencer scene when he was announced as the winner of The Protégé, an insurance sales-based reality show. An insurance sales producer from small town America, Derek made waves by utilizing the tools and strategies he learned on the reality show to lead the competition in sales and ultimately take home the title of The Protégé.

As an insurance and risk management professional with over a decade of sales experience, Derek understands that insurance professionals often struggle to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. By expanding on the concepts he learned throughout The Protégé, Derek aims to solve this problem by giving agencies and producers a proven roadmap to a lucrative insurance sales career in 2024 and beyond. His focus on modern sales techniques will give new and seasoned agents a refreshing view on how to build their books of business and gain the success they desire.

Derek has been a property & casualty and life & health producer at Dansig Inc. for over a decade. He works out of their Shelbyville Insurance office in Shelbyville, IL. Derek’s professional focus is middle market commercial and employee benefits production. He earned his CIC designation in 2020. He is an active committee member of the Illinois Young Agents and has been named to the Illinois Big I 40 under 40 insurance professionals to watch.

Paul Houska, CPCU, ARe

Senior Vice President, Holborn Corporation

Paul joined Holborn Corporation in September 2019 and is based in the Kansas City office. Prior to Holborn, he held several marketing, underwriting and management roles at General Reinsurance Corporation (A Berkshire-Hathaway Company) since 1987. His experience covers many key functional areas including client management and business development, individual risk, program and treaty underwriting, reserving and pricing, product line management, new product development, talent development, strategic planning and execution, and company operations. From 1986-1987 he served as a commercial lines account underwriter for Liberty Mutual in Chicago. He holds a BSBA in Finance from the University of Missouri-Columbia and the CPCU and ARe designations and attended the NAPSLO E&S school. Paul is originally from Bloomington-Normal, Illinois.

Quentin Harris

Quentin Harris is a senior financial analyst in AM Best’s property/casualty ratings division. Since joining AM Best in 2022, Quentin has been responsible for analyzing and providing credit ratings for a variety of local and regional mutual and stock carriers.

Prior to joining AM Best, Quentin made significant contributions at Chubb Insurance, where he held various roles in finance and accounting. His experience encompassed strategic financial analysis, comprehensive reserve evaluations, and critical balance sheet analytics across North America and the Global Casualty business units.

Quentin holds bachelor’s degree in finance from Temple University.

Scott Howell

Originally from Hamilton, Alabama, Scott is a graduate of Birmingham Southern College where he earned a dual degree in both Business Management & Marketing and was a two-year letterman in men’s basketball. Additionally, Scott served four years in the United States Marine Corps, both in Security Forces in London, England and in the Fleet with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion/5th Marines and was part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. While in London, Scott completed the British Royal Marines All Arms Commando Course. This distinction makes him one of only a handful of U.S. Citizens to complete both U.S. Marine Corps training at Paris Island and the Royal Marine Commando training at the Commando Training Center in Lympstone.

Scott began his insurance career in May of 2008 as an associate agent with State Farm Insurance where he completed the State Farm Agency Owner Program. In 2010, he joined the Nationwide Insurance Associate Agency Executive Program. In May of 2013, Scott purchased the servicing rights to an existing book of business in Athens, AL. Over the course of the following 7 years, Howell became one of the fastest growing Nationwide Exclusive Agencies in the country. In July 2020, Scott Howell and iPROTECT Insurance & Financial Services, Inc. (www.iprotectinsurance.com) transitioned to a Full-Service Independent Insurance Agency. In 2023, iPROTECT created a separate division known as 9 Blades Risk Advisors specializing in risk management services for businesses in the Cannabis Industry. www.9bladesinsurance.com

In addition to operating a successful insurance agency, Scott co-created The Insurance Guys Podcast in the summer of 2017. The podcast is designed to provide, “infotainment” to insurance agency owners & insurance professionals. Today, it is the most popular insurance industry podcast in the world with an average of 58,000 downloads per month. The Insurance Guys Podcast is featured on iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, iHeart Radio and Audible. The mission of the podcast is to help insurance agents develop and grow their agencies and to introduce new industry technologies. www.TheInsuranceGuysPodcast.com.