YIPs supports ANZIIF for annual Rising Stars in Insurance event

Tahlia Rogers-Brown likes to get stuff done.

Apart from being a client executive in the Affinity Professional Risks team at Marsh New Zealand, she is also the Australasian sponsorship and partnership manager for Young Insurance Professionals (YIPs).

YIPs New Zealand has experienced substantial growth over the past 12 months, attracting the interest of numerous companies eager to become more involved. Rogers-Brown is a key driving force behind these recent sponsorships within the industry.

“While I would say I was definitely a significant contributor, it would not have been possible to achieve this without the YIPs team in New Zealand and Australia," she modestly says.

“We are lucky to have such excellent executives on our YIPs committees and it's a testament to their hard work that the industry has thrown its support behind us to help deliver meaningful opportunities and events for young professionals.”

A formative experience

As a big people person, Rogers-Brown loves giving back to the insurance industry, especially by providing engagement opportunities for younger professionals — and this is also one of her proudest achievements.

Born and educated in Dargaville and Whangarei, Rogers-Brown entered the industry early, straight out of high school at the age of 17.

“I finished high school on a Thursday and moved down to Auckland over the weekend to start at Tower Insurance’s call centre on the Monday,” she says.

While she didn’t think about it much at the time, the experience was formative, and she quickly discovered that she loved insurance more than university and decided to commit to her job full-time. She remembers the call centre as one of her favourite jobs.

“I love creating solutions for customers and [at the call centre] you were continuously learning about the company’s products, and then you could move into claims or get involved in other opportunities,” she explains.  

Over her career, Rogers-Brown also took the opportunity to travel and experience working within other sectors overseas, including Australia, London and Amsterdam.

On her return to New Zealand in early 2023, she joined Marsh’s new professional risks team.

Closing the generation gap

According to Rogers-Brown, the insurance industry’s overall intergenerational gap is small and consistently narrowing. As a young professional, she believes that age diversity has enormous advantages.

“There will always be differences between the generations,” she says, “and both younger and older generations bring a huge variety of skills and experience to the workplace table.

“The magic happens when we embrace our differences, rather than trying to bridge them. It’s about creating an environment where different thoughts, perspectives and values are all represented.

“I think it’s equally important to recognise and have compassion for the fact that we also face similar challenges, such as financial or personal pressures and working towards building a rewarding career. We all desire to feel valued at work. My view is that we need to keep listening and learning."

Say yes to everything

Rogers-Brown argues that the most effective performance and outcomes arise when insurance companies hire with diversity in mind, ensuring the full spectrum of skillsets is covered.

“Everybody likes different leadership styles, and leaders need to use different styles for people at different levels,” she says.

“For example, when you’re new to insurance, you might need a little extra direction and you might not fully appreciate how appropriate that was until a little later in your career.”

Her advice to young people in the industry is to “put yourself out there, say yes to everything and don't be afraid to talk to people you don't know”.

“It could be in your own lunchroom, or even at events. It’s so plain and simple to sit with people and learn about what they do,” she says.

The value of workplace wellbeing

Having started her insurance career at a young age, Rogers-Brown is very proud of achieving balance.

“Learning the importance of and taking responsibility for my wellbeing did take some time for me,” she shares.

“I’m now intentional about booking in my leave for the year and I always pay for additional leave to take extra time off during the year.

“I don’t think taking time away needs to be anything fancy like an overseas holiday. Sometimes it's just about taking a step back to reconnect with your family or go camping somewhere with zero to one bar of service.”  

Practical strategies 

A new member of the ANZIIF Rising Stars in Insurance Committee, Rogers-Brown encourages companies to send their people to this year’s events being held in Brisbane and Perth, as well as Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.

As a participant last year, she learned practical strategies in the workshop that she implemented in her day-to-day job.

“The theme last year was mentoring, and the biggest takeaway for me was that if you want someone to be your mentor, you need to be proactive and make it happen,” she says.

“If they don't have capacity at that time, be patient, your time will come. This happened to me. I met someone I had contacted previously at an event. We ended up getting along really well, and we now regularly keep in touch.”

She adds that professional development is one of the most important tactics for keeping staff engaged.

“Sending them to an event like Rising Stars in Insurance is such an easy thing to do, for a very small cost and the benefits are massive.”

Marsh is a platinum sponsor of Rising Stars in Insurance 2025.

Find out more about Rising Stars in Insurance in 2025