Sabrina Sales is an executive management liability underwriter for The Hanover Insurance Group. She has more than 15 years of experience as a management and professional liability underwriter, with most of her career spent working with agents and brokers in New England and upstate New York.
Sales is currently responsible for a portfolio that includes underwriting directors and officers liability insurance, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability, crime insurance and kidnap and ransom insurance for nonprofit organizations and private companies.
Sales is also the founder and owner of Sassy & Inspiration LLC. Her company creates custom specialty gift baskets for all occasions. All products in her baskets are from Fair Trade Organizations, women-owned and local businesses.
What have been your biggest professional accomplishments so far?
The insurance industry was slower to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and when the opportunity presented itself, I became a change agent. I’m also one of the founding members of the Association for Professional Insurance Women (APIW) – Boston Chapter; a committee member of the APIW Hartford Chapter and vice president of the National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA) – Boston Chapter.
I created the DEI Council for the Northeast region at Philadelphia Insurance Companies and was co-team lead for the Philadelphia Insurance Companies.
What’s the next big goal you want to accomplish professionally?
I want to continue to be a change agent for DEI and a mentor to new underwriters within the industry with a focus on women and minorities.
I want to support and encourage my mentees to forge their own path, assist them with creating their own personal brand and provide guidance on being successful in the insurance industry based on my experiences and lessons I learned.
What’s one of the biggest professional challenges you’ve overcome?
I have spent most of my life in a predominately white male-dominated industry and have had to overcome various obstacles as an African-American woman and single mom. I studied and learned my craft and took advantage of all available opportunities for leadership, management, navigation of corporate politics and career development.
It was challenging early in my career because there was a lack of awareness/empathy for work-life balance. It often meant traveling and being away from home and my daughter. I understood this sacrifice would open doors and provide a comfortable life for us.
Who has been your most important mentor and why?
My most important mentor is my mother. In her career, she had to overcome adversity, make sacrifices, and broke the glass ceiling. I was able to see all she achieved and appreciate she never told me what I wanted to hear but instead told me what I needed to hear.
No matter what the situation – personal or professional, she would listen, was empathetic and provided guidance for navigating the situation.