Meetings this week of our field leadership teams were an opportunity to celebrate recent progress and accomplishments, but also a chance for some bittersweet farewells.
Executive Vice President Ruth Smith, who will retire in August, was saluted. And so was John Vitt, our longtime general agent in Chicago, who has stepped down from leading the agency but will continue to work as an agent.
Both Ruth and John were celebrated for their many contributions during long tenures at National Life, with CEO Mehran Assadi leading the salutes.
Ruth has been with National Life since 1986 through several roles and helped position the company for its current success.
And John has been with National Life for 41 years, including 19 as general agent in Chicago, qualifying many times over the years for President’s Club and other achievements.
In addition to those recognitions, field leaders also spent a lot of time during the week delving into the business and hearing updates from throughout the organization.
They spent long days immersed in priorities and planning and implementation.
But, as is typical at any National Life gathering, they made sure to have some fun while they were at it. One of the highlights was a gathering of the field leaders and many home office employees, at a nearby bowling alley.
Word has it that there was only one real injury, not counting some bruised egos related to a few folks who discovered just how slippery bowling shoes are and ended up sprawled on the lanes.
