Name: Jayshree Patel Firm: New York Life Location: Lincolnwood, IL Total Value of Policies: $6.4 billion Background: Jayshree Patel grew up in a small village in India with her widowed mother and four sisters, facing early hardships after her father passed away. She moved to the U.S. in 1993 after college and joined New York Life in 1997, building her career initially around life insurance—the foundation of financial planning. Over the years, her practice expanded to serve multiple generations, adding retirement planning, estate strategies, and long-term care. Today, she runs a $6 billion assets firm with her husband and two…

Name: Chelsea Maeda Firm: Winged Keel Group Location: New York, NY Total Value of Policies: $105 Billion Background: Chelsea Maeda was born and raised in Hawaii, the youngest of three children. After attending Columbia University, where she studied statistics and music, she interned at Winged Keel and joined the firm full-time in 2008. “I never expected to end up on the sales side,” she says. “But I saw the impact we were having and wanted to stay.” She rotated through analytics and design roles before moving into a client-facing position in 2012. In 2020, she became a principal and joined…

Name: Joshua Waite Firm: Waite Financial Group / Northwestern Mutual Location: Peoria, IL Total Value of Policies: $1.1 billion Background: Joshua Waite grew up in a small farming town outside Peoria, Illinois—just a mile from the family farm where his grandfather, one of his childhood heroes, helped shape his values of hard work, humility, and integrity. After earning a finance degree from nearby Bradley University, he joined Northwestern Mutual in 2003, where his father had long been a policyholder. Although he describes himself as a natural introvert, Waite found success in sales by asking thoughtful questions and listening carefully—traits that…

Name: Lorrie Baldevia Firm: AssuredPartners Location: Seattle, WA Total Value of Policies: $6.3 billion Background: Lorrie Baldevia describes her connection to insurance as deeply personal. The eldest of five children, she lost her father in a tragic construction accident at age 12 in Guam. Her mother raised the family on her own and was able to do so thanks to a life insurance policy—an experience that would ultimately shape her career. “It gave us a kind of financial security we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” she says. Baldevia moved to the United States at 17 on a full scholarship to Seattle…

In today’s economy, business leaders are navigating a familiar yet complex tension: uncertainty paired with opportunity. News continues to drive market volatility, interest rates are holding, and the regulatory environment is evolving, but across sectors, one thing is clear – businesses that can scale their strengths are positioned to succeed. That’s the lens through which we should view recent activity in the banking sector, particularly the return of thoughtful, strategic mergers. ConnectOne’s recent merger with The First of Long Island Corporation wasn’t just about growth, it was about readiness and filling a need in a market. In today’s dynamic business…

The Federal Reserve needs to be hit with the intellectual version of a B-2 bomber or a DOGE-like intervention. Our central bank is behaving badly. It won’t reduce interest rates, in no small part because it’s angry over Donald Trump’s loud calls to cut rates and his consistent carping at Fed boss Jerome Powell. The proof of the Federal Reserve’s animus toward President Trump is that the central bank cut interest rates twice before the presidential election—which would have presumably helped the Democrats—and it has resisted cutting rates since the beginning of Trump’s second term, even though inflation is lower…

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK Chime launched its IPO with a splash. Shares jumped as much as 59% above the $27 offering price—opening at $43 and closing near $37—marking a bold public debut for the US’s largest neobank. With a valuation hovering between $11.6 billion and $15 billion—well below its 2021 private peak of $25 billion—the surge raises the question: Will this trigger renewed investment in neobanks and fintech? Pro: A Strong Chime IPO Reignites Fintech Interest Chime’s IPO follows strong debuts from fintechs like Circle and eToro. PitchBook’s Rudy Yang framed Chime as “a strategic breakthrough—marking a return…

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK Chime launched its IPO with a splash. Shares jumped as much as 59% above the $27 offering price—opening at $43 and closing near $37—marking a bold public debut for the US’s largest neobank. With a valuation hovering between $11.6 billion and $15 billion—well below its 2021 private peak of $25 billion—the surge raises the question: Will this trigger renewed investment in neobanks and fintech? Pro: A Strong Chime IPO Reignites Fintech Interest Chime’s IPO follows strong debuts from fintechs like Circle and eToro. PitchBook’s Rudy Yang framed Chime as “a strategic breakthrough—marking a return…

The world is finally catching up to a simple fact: you cannot solve the ocean plastics crisis in the ocean alone. You need to solve it on land too. As we mark World Oceans Day and gather at the UN Ocean Conference next week, that truth has never been more urgent, or more investable. For years, the most visible focus on ocean plastics has centered on what happens after waste enters the water, from cleanup technologies to capture devices. These efforts play a valuable role in addressing the plastic already polluting our oceans. But the larger, investable opportunity lies upstream:…

The antidote to bad tech is good tech. That line comes from the new movie Mountainhead, the latest from Succession showrunner Jesse Armstrong. I’ve been thinking a lot about that statement since I heard Armstrong repeat it in a recent interview. Armstrong’s observation landed with me because I’ve been spending a lot of time lately worrying about technology’s impact on young people and how those effects will play out in business and society. Although I’ve worked in technology for my entire career, people will tell you I’m a salesperson, manager and leader at heart. I’m at my best when interacting…