Meet the NYCREW Member: Christine Chipurnoi

Christine Chipurnoi may have come to the insurance industry through a misunderstanding, but her 30-year career since has been the result of education, hard work, relationship building skills, networking and leadership skills. The senior vice president of Wells Fargo Insurance Services also is president elect of the New York Chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women's Network, and was elected the first female president of the Insurance Brokers Association of New York (IBANY) in its 117-year history in 2012. But insurance wasn't exactly in her blood, at least at first. "I was a young single mother and needed a job. I saw a listing for a Gal Friday for a small insurance agency and thought that meant I only had to work on Fridays," said Chipurnoi. "But my boss saw some potential in me, and immediately and continually gave me more and more responsibility, and I fell in love with the challenge and the industry." Today, she develops, places and maintains insurance programs for regional, national and international clients, specializing in property, casualty, professional and loss sensitive insurance programs with special focus in construction, real estate, hospitality and retail. She is also a member of Wells Fargo's National Real Estate & Construction Practice, The National Hospitality Practice and Retail Practice groups. "I strongly believe that the financial stability of a company is based on the three key relationships; legal expertise in the space, a strong accountant and a qualified, engaged insurance professional. This protects the company from unforeseen problems and reinforces their bottom line. We are engaged as a "trusted advisor" to our clients and work closely with them as they develop plans for expansion, new products, new territories, etc." she adds. "And that personal touch also has been important to my involvement with NYCREW and IBANY." Under Chipurnoi's watch NYCREW has almost doubled its membership and IBANY has re-invented itself to be more in line with the needs of NY's growing insurance community. At NYCREW, she oversees the membership committee and serves as the chapter's delegate to the national organization, CREW. She also teaches, serving as an adjunct faculty member for the Practicing Law Institute. And through it all maintains top performance as a senior sales executive for Wells Fargo Insurance Services, a job that remains as challenging as ever.