Written by: Bentley Laytin and Ally Momot
Welcome to the Field Pros Direct Team Spotlight blog series! As part of our team’s anniversary celebrations, we want to highlight them on a deeper level. This Q&A blog will be our way of introducing you to our team on a deeper level and proving how we put into action the creation of an empowering and fun company culture.
To kick-off our Team Spotlight series, we are interviewing our Chief Operating Officer, Bentley Laytin. In March 2020 he celebrated his one-year anniversary with the Field Pros Direct leadership team. Leadership plays a large role in cultivating the type of culture we want to provide to our company. By the end of the interview, you will clearly be able to see why Bentley is such a great leader!
What is your role at Field Pros Direct? What does your day-to-day look like?
I am the Chief Operating Officer (COO) who handles day-to-day operations. This ranges from client solutions, internal coaching all the way to technology innovation. My day generally starts off by looking at inventory and reports to see what’s going on within our platform and to ensure that our clients' needs are being met. Throughout the day I work closely with a majority of our team members. I really enjoy speaking to clients not only to check in, but to collaboratively seek innovations for our platform that will help them solve a problem.
Over the past year, what was your most rewarding experience?
That’s easy...working with my team. I’m heavily involved in our onboarding process and stay connected with each team member as much as possible. We are still at the size where I’m able to have a personal connection with each team member and I love that. Everyone is so committed to FPD! It’s amazing to see them work through challenges because everyone comes together and raises their hand to pitch in. They really are the most rewarding part of each day.
As a leader, how did you decide that culture would be at the forefront of Field Pros Direct?
Company culture has always been important to me, even before I was in a leadership position. Culture helps align the company. I’ve been in the insurance industry for over 25 years serving various positions within each company I worked at. Saying that you provide culture and actually acting on it are two completely different things. I would see culture come and go within a company, but when you do it right it empowers your team. An important part of culture here at FPD, and a critical part of our success, is collaboration. This gives people the opportunity to really take ownership of ideas and advance within the company.
What is your favorite benefit or feature of the Field Pros Direct solution?
Because I’ve been in the industry for a long time, I’ve experienced a lot of different technologies and witnessed, first hand, different parts of the claims process. My favorite feature is that our technology is so flexible and scalable. It can be whatever you need it to be. We started with claims, but we can take that same model and replicate it to so many other aspects of the insurance industry. I love being able to go to a potential client or existing client being able to say that our platform can actually deliver a solution to an issue they are having. I’ve sat in their shoes, so I know how the power of finding a trustworthy partnership can serve as a sigh of relief for executives.
Over the past year, what is the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
Like most startups, when I first started we did a lot of short term strategizing because we needed to get things done quickly. Sometimes this worked to our benefit, while other times it caused us more work down the road. I would say my biggest lesson is to do your best to think long term and ensure that you have alignment with your strategy - whether it’s a technology strategy, business strategy, etc.
In 3 words, how would you describe Field Pros Direct?
Fun. Collaborative. Versatile.
Fun is a big one for me personally because I love what I do and I try to share that enjoyment with others through laughing. We all will put our heads down and work hard, but we also enjoy laughing. Whether it is a meme in our Slack channel or a good belly laugh on a call, we try to keep things fun.
What is something that people may not know about you?
One of my proudest accomplishments (aside from my son) was work that I did with the Special Olympics in college. I was playing baseball and our coach encouraged us to volunteer. My freshman year I chose the Special Olympics and ended up working with them every year throughout college. It was incredibly humbling. I realized how fortunate some of us are to have the ability to do simple things that we often overlook.
To connect with Bentley some more, you can find him on Linkedin