Amanda McPhee | Acera Insurance

Amanda McPhee, Commercial Team Lead (Vancouver Island), Acera Insurance; Vice President, Insurance Brokers Association of B.C.

When Amanda McPhee returned home to Victoria, British Columbia, in 2005 after pursuing a degree in Criminal Justice, she wanted to be a forensic investigator, but she needed a job. She secured work as a receptionist at a local brokerage and within two months found herself taking licensing courses and selling insurance.

“I never looked back,” says McPhee, now commercial team lead for the Vancouver Island region of Acera Insurance. She is also vice president of the Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia (IBABC). “I had a son at 23, and it’s been such a flexible and supportive industry.”

After a three-year stint at her initial brokerage, she returned from maternity leave to discover eight of the women she had worked with had moved to a different firm.

“Our brokerage was very much a boys’ club,” McPhee explains, “and they weren’t giving opportunities to the intelligent women working for them. I heard great things from my colleagues who had left, and I was lucky enough to move with them.”

She moved to Megson FitzPatrick Insurance Services, where she started in personal lines. A decade later, she moved into an account manager role on the commercial side before shifting into underwriting for a while. Finding it a bit too singular, she moved into a team lead position in small business. Two years ago, she was promoted to her current role.

“Opportunities were always coming up,” she says, “and I always went for them. I’m motivated by my curiosity and love of the industry.”

Her love of the industry led her to volunteer with IBABC in 2021. The idea of making things better appealed to her, along with the chance to continue to learn and to grow. When she becomes IBABC president this June, she is excited about launching an emerging brokers committee, especially since British Columbia is the only association in the country without one.

She is also focused on industry promotion. “That’s the lane I’ve been in with IBABC since joining, bringing recognition to the broker industry and bringing new people, young people, in.”

That includes women, who, in McPhee’s opinion, need the industry to provide a clearer path for them to elevate their careers beyond administrative roles.

“I’ve been lucky to have mostly female leadership my entire career,” says McPhee, “But I think that is still lacking at most brokerages. In my experience, it’s still easier for men. Women really need to prove themselves and be the squeaky wheel trying to get that next position.”

McPhee feels fortunate to have had a lot of support and few obstacles to overcome thus far. She is, she says, especially thankful to her mentors.

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“I don’t know what we would do without [area president] Laura Bolster,” she says. “She has been such a strong, steady, and brilliant person to follow and direct us on the island through various mergers [including Megson Fitzpatrick’s transition to Acera Insurance in 2024]. Her positivity has been invaluable.”

Throughout her time at IBABC, McPhee has connected with many women in leadership roles across the province. That has been a huge inspiration for McPhee. “They want to help, they are always available for questions, and being one of the younger people on the board, I have looked up to all of them so much.”

Mentorship and the myriad avenues people can take in the industry are true perks for McPhee. There is a place for everybody to showcase their skills and do what they are happy doing, she says.

“If you want to succeed in this industry, you will. You just have to go for it. Make it known where you want to be and people will help you get there.”