BIP Winter 2025

Ongoing Education

Building credibility through REBC

For three NABIP professionals at different stages of their careers, the Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (REBC) designation reflects a shared belief in the importance of continued education and professional growth. Andrew Martin has worked in insurance since 1988. He joined NABIP a few years later and always intended to complete the REBC. “I’ve wanted to get it since the early days,” he says. “I kept putting it off. I finally said, ‘You’re 62, you’ve got to do this thing.’ It feels great to have it done.” Martin says earning the REBC felt like reaching a new level of professional accomplishment. “It feels like I earned a master’s degree in what I do,” he says. “The REBC and the CEBS are the top designations in our field. You have to keep learning. If you stop growing, you start declining, because things are always changing around you.” For John Heerwagen, employee benefits consultant at McGriff Insurance Services in Dallas, completing the REBC strengthened his ability to serve public sector clients. “I’ve been in healthcare and group benefits for almost 14 years,” he says. “My clients have high expectations for the

consultants they work with. The REBC helps show that commitment to being a student of healthcare and of health and welfare plans.” Heerwagen completed the program over the course of a year while balancing work and travel. “It was all online, and I found it easy to navigate and stay engaged,” he says. “There was a lot of real-world applicability to the content. As brokers and consultants, it’s our job to keep up with healthcare and evolve with the landscape. This is a great way to do that.” The REBC marked the start of Virginia Lindsay ’s career. She began the REBC about six months after earning her insurance license and finished it within a year. “I was really excited about getting it done,” she says. Lindsay recently accepted a position as a benefits administration technology specialist with Savoy Associates in Chicago. “In my interview, they were very familiar with the REBC,” she says. “It helped me a lot in getting the role.” Martin is proud to have finally crossed the REBC finish line. Heerwagen says it made him sharper for his clients. And Lindsay, who’s just getting started, sees it as proof that she’s on the right track.

Andrew Martin (& family)

John Heerwagen

Virginia Lindsay

AUGUST, SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER 2025 REBC GRADUATES Lori Alala Rachel Amundson

William Snowden Jared Stanley Meagan Stokley David Stoltz Lynn Strate Natalie Streifert Nicole Triplett Melissa Wade Ashley Wells Hailey Williams James Wright Marie Young

Whitley McWilliams Jessica Mendoza Erin Moran David Mordo Chandler Motzel Samantha Moyer Challis Muniz Christopher O’Dwyer McKenna Pleus Jacob Raine Courtney Rempfer Michelle Santiago Cole Skelton

Benjamin Hatcher John Heerwagen Elana Johnson

Leslie Barlow Warren Bass

Tiffany Kirby Alexis Kohls Lawson Korita Ann Katherine Ledyard Jacob Lee

Christine Brooks Jenna Campbell Taylor Carney Katherine Caserta Patricia Clark Hannah Cotros Matthew Dawson Leia Eldreth Mary Pat Hardin

Marina Lerner Thomas Lewis Virginia Lindsay Andrew Martin Clay McKinney

48 bip magazine Winter 2025