In today's podcast our presenter, Lis McDermott talks to Jess Walters of Howden Insurance. This is the new name for A Plan, and Jess points out that Howden Insurance is not the kitchen company – that is Howdens with an S.

They were A Plan for over 60 years, so it’s not so easy for people to remember the change.

Jess talks about how she got into insurance, because it wasn’t always the thing she wanted to do. She shares a secret not many people know – that she was planning to go to music college, but in the end that didn’t happen.

She loves working in the industry, which is good, because she knows that many people find it really boring, and it’s not something they want to deal with. There’s too much jargon too but the more she learns, the more she loves it. Jess particularly loves working with clients who visit when they need their insurance sorting out. She enjoys helping people who feel completely baffled by it all.

She also explains the difference between advised and non-advised companies, which is interesting to learn about.

Jess does a lot of networking, including Businesswise. On her first visit she was subbing for someone else from her office who couldn’t make it, and straight away she felt welcomed when she walked into the room. She knows that if she needs business advice, or even personal advice, she could ask her Businesswise friends.

Although networking for many people is scary, Jess’s advice is that it is one of the best things you can do for your business, in terms of confidence and self esteem.

If you’d like to know more about Jess and Businesswise, visit: https://businesswise.org.uk/ and if you’d like to visit email [email protected] – we do have to check first that your seat is vacant. If it’s not you can be put on the waiting list.