By Scott Wooldridge // Photography by Stephen Gosling
It started as a conversation with a patient.
Elsa Glorioso was an oncology nurse, seeing daily some of the most emotionally draining illnesses possible as a health care provider. “It provides you with a ton of perspective,” she says.
One of her patients had leukemia, but on a bad day, Glorioso found herself venting about her own challenges—“Here I am complaining about my life problems,” she remembered. “But she said, ‘I love this because these are everyday problems where you don’t have the cloud of cancer overshadowing everything.’”
The two became friends, and her patient—a banker—suggested a deal: “Get me the hell out of this hospital, and once I get back to my job, I will help you if you want to get into banking.”
With a young daughter and work schedule that kept her away from home too much, Glorioso was ready for a change.
The two friends stuck to their bargain, and Glorioso began to work at a bank, quickly climbing up the ladder to commercial banking. One of her first jobs was landing a client the bank had been chasing unsuccessfully for ten years. With the help of a more experienced partner, Glorioso succeeded in winning over the elusive client. The achievement drew the attention of another top executive, this time someone in insurance. The executive tried to recruit her to the insurance industry.
“I said, ‘no way, I’m never going to do insurance,’” Glorioso recalls. “’I used to fight with those case managers all the time!’”
But the opportunity proved too good to pass up, and Glorioso exceeded expectations again. “I think I’m blessed, really,” she says. “I’ve had such great people around me, who helped me so much.”
A new kind of company
Today, Glorioso works for PeopleStrategy, an all-in-one HR technology suite, where she is vice president for insurance services.
“The goal of PeopleStrategy, and one of the biggest reasons I came to work here, was to build a frictionless program for the client,” she says. “To take advantage of technology to really provide folks with more flexibility.”
The platform works with small and medium-sized businesses and creates a one-stop-shop of tools for businesses with limited HR resources. “Through technology, we’re making their lives a little easier,” she says of her company’s relationship with employers. “At the same time, we want to make sure that everybody knows that we prioritize people so that folks know our entire organization is on their team and supporting them.”
A need for more diversity
Glorioso knows all too well that the brokerage industry has been slow to embrace diversity. “Years ago, it was difficult to break through because I am not only a woman, I’m also a Latino,” she notes. “It was definitely difficult; the percentage of female brokers is still so small.”
She adds that women’s traditional role as family caregivers also has inhibited some women from seeking careers as insurance brokers. “Sometimes you just live off commissions, and that can be a scary feeling,” she says. “As women, we’re the moms, the caretakers, so lacking that sense of security can be very scary.
“Again, we have to wear all these hats… insurance can be very demanding, especially during our busy seasons,” she says. “I don’t think organizations have done a really good job in helping people understand how to have flexibility, how to have that work/life balance.”
But women can also use their experience as caregivers to help clients—as she has. “For clients that work with women, they quickly realize how important it is for us to maintain that relationship,” she says. “When things go wrong, my clients know they can call me or email me… and I’m going to put on my solutions hat."
"My goal is to build lasting loyalty. It’s not a churn-and-burn kind of mentally.”
Leading by example
According to Shaneetra Keno, Solutions Consultant at PeopleStrategy, the nurturing side of Glorioso is one reason why she’s had success as a broker. “She’s definitely a momma bear,” Keno says. “She protects everyone that’s under her. She’s so protective and kind, and so open and honest. Elsa puts her heart at the forefront of everything she does.”
Keno says Glorioso is a “lead by example” type of person. “She is the first one to roll up her sleeves and get down in the trenches with the rest of the team and do whatever is needed to be successful. She knows how to meet people exactly where they are, based on that nursing experience.”
Glorioso agrees that her nursing background gives her some advantages and tools to help clients. “It’s kind of the nurse in me; when something goes wrong, I just take over.” She recalls a client who was concerned about a mass that his wife had. “I said, ‘send me a picture,’” she remembers. “When I saw it, I said, ‘you need to go to the hospital now.’”
The client later called her to thank her, saying Glorioso’s quick advice might’ve saved his wife’s life.
Lessons from the pandemic
Glorioso is one of many who see the COVID-19 pandemic as an inflection point, a time that changed the workplace in significant ways. “I think the pandemic shook all of us,” she says. “It forced a conversation about ‘what am I doing with my life?’”
She adds that employers now have an opportunity to connect with employees in ways they might not have before. “People are longing for understanding, empathy, for grace,” she says. “People want to work for a company that will have their back, no matter what.”
Technology and the human touch
As a self-professed data nerd, Glorioso knows technology will never replace the need for human contact. But the use of AI in insurance holds promise. “It provides flexibility, a way for us to use this volume of data and contextualize it,” she says. “AI is necessary to create a more modern insurance experience for all of us. If you don’t have the data, we can’t start building more transparency around billing and claims.”
In her current position, Glorioso says there’s something different every day to challenge her. “I compare being a broker to being a doctor, because you never stop learning, and the information never stops coming,” she says. “There’s always something new to learn.”
There are so many stories that have moved Glorioso as she has continued her career. “I thought my storytelling would end in nursing, but it has only gotten ten times better in benefits—it really did,” she says, adding that she tries to maintain a mindset of serving others. “That’s why I’m so passionate about what I do. Giving back to your community is so important.”