The Embrace Team
The reason we got into the pet insurance business was to change it. We couldn't do this without the outstanding team that makes Embrace, well, Embrace.
Laura Bennett Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder
Laura has over 16 years of insurance industry experience. She worked for The Canada Life Assurance Company in Toronto, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland, with a number of different leadership roles in asset-liability management, strategic planning, and business development. Her last position was the CFO of the Canadian individual life and health businesses.
Laura holds an honors mathematics degree from the University of Western Ontario, is a qualified life and health actuary, and holds the chartered financial analyst designation. Laura received her MBA, with a concentration in Strategic and Entrepreneurship Management, from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, where she graduated with several university and peer awards. She was also part of the team that won first prize in the Wharton Business Plan Competition in 2003 with an entry for a pet insurance company.
She is a wife and mother in her second job, and when she isn't thinking about family or pets, Laura delights in experiencing different cultures though food and travel and allowing others a view into her life through her multiple blogs.
Alex Krooglik Chief Marketing Officer & Co-founder
Alex has over 3 years experience in the insurance industry, with roles in direct and internet marketing and product management, and 7 years in construction, where his roles included designing workflow and data mining systems for large, billion-dollar projects. His international experience is extensive and he has worked and lived in England, Chile, the United States, and Australia.
Alex holds an honors degree in chemical engineering from the University of Melbourne and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in marketing. While at Wharton, Alex was part of a team that won first prize in the Wharton Business Plan Competition with an entry for a pet insurance company. Alex enjoys visiting unusual places around the world with his family and is easily swayed into buying the latest gadgets and digital toys.
Alex's family shares their home with a shelter kitty, Milla, who holds two local awards, one for largest amount of food eaten in one sitting and another for most number of mice brought to the back doorstep.
Michael Butler President
Michael has extensive experience with business development and creating partnerships with other organizations. He spent the last 20 years with Nationwide Financial (the financial services arm of Nationwide Insurance) where he led numerous sales teams and was responsible for the distribution of a variety of financial products.
Michael has an undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Ashland University, and he has earned the following designations; Certified Public Accountant, Charter Life Underwriter, Charter Financial Consultant, and Certified Fund Specialist. Michael and his wife are the proud owners of an Old English Mastiff, Baby (and an Embraced pet too).
Heather Carleton, DVM Veterinary Consultant
Dr. Heather Carleton is a veterinarian at Springcreek Animal Hospital in Jackson, Wyoming. She graduated from Colorado State University's veterinary school and then continued on with a medical and surgical internship in Bend, Oregon. Her work experience has taken her from Montana to Vermont to Wyoming in a variety of practices where she has seen everything from emus to bison, not to mention a lot of cats and dogs! She also founded a small animal emergency clinic in Missoula where she honed her skills in critical care medicine.
In her spare time, Heather is known to volunteer at the local Humane Society and is also on the board and medical advisor of the Animal Adoption Center in Jackson. Heather recently made her first annual trip to Thailand to volunteer her services to the Soi Dog Foundation, a non-profit whose mission is to reduce the suffering of stray dogs and cats while also working to humanely control the stray population in that country.
Jan Ols Veterinary Clinic Specialist
Jan has a winning combination of sales experience and pet veterinary care experience. Her sales background includes personal and business to business sales in education, real estate and healthcare. Actively involved in animal rescue for cats, birds, horses and wildlife, Jan has worked with local veterinarians to treat severely injured and neglected animals with a wide spectrum of conditions. Jan's most recent rescue is a seven year old mustang, Legend.
Jan enjoys reading, riding (horses and bikes), and the arts. She loves hiking, swimming and golfing with her family and children; and loves Ohio seasons – including notorious northeast Ohio snowstorms. Most of all she enjoys her Embrace family, and working with a such a great team of animal lovers!
Michael Masello Director of Internet Marketing
Michael brings over 7 years of Internet Marketing experience to the Embrace team, with previous positions at The Step2 Company and American Greetings Interactive. Some of his prior roles included customer service, marketing, and brand management. Mike was drawn to Embrace because of the team's knowledge, passion and customer-centric focus.
Growing up, Michael had a miracle pet goldfish that lived four years despite a water changing incident during which the fish found a temporary home on the carpet floor. His interests include several different sports including basketball, volleyball, and rock climbing and finding new music from friends, the radio, and pandora.
Kayla Wrona Marketing Assistant
Kayla joins us from Chick-fil-a, where she was a manager, but before that she worked at her father’s computer repair and web design business for 4 years as a receptionist/office assistant. Now she assists the Embrace marketing team. Kayla has 2 dogs, a miniature Dachshund named Rocky and a miniature Schnauzer named Stubby.
Kayla was homeschooled from Kindergarten through high school, during which she focused on social studies and writing. This passion for writing has inspired her to be an amateur poet and author. Recently, she went on a mission trip to Alaska and climbed a glacier the size of West Virginia.
Shawn Brown Senior Analyst
Shawn has over 8 years experience in the auto insurance industry. Prior to joining Embrace, he worked at Progressive Insurance in various analytical roles including pricing, product development, and direct marketing.
Shawn holds a bachelors degree in mathematics from John Carroll University and minor in economics. In his spare time, he enjoys watching sports and has endured many painful seasons in Cleveland.
Laura Hay, CPA Controller
Laura graduated with both a bachelors and masters degree in Accounting from Miami University of Ohio. Since then, she has also earned her CPA. Laura used to work for a resort on Middle Bass Island called St. Hazard’s, but after finishing graduate school she worked for Plante & Moran, a regional public accounting firm, specializing in audits of mid-sized manufacturing and distribution companies. Now we are happy to have her on the team at Embrace!
She grew up in Avon Lake and as a kid, loved dogs, cheerleading, and camping. She and her boyfriend are avid Indians fans and she loves to travel. In the past few years she has been to Seoul, Beijing, Dubrovnik, Montenegro, Cozumel, Oahu, London, and Scotland.
Christopher Hagesfeld Customer Care Embracer
Chris has spent the last several years answering people's questions which is what brought him to Embrace. If he was going to answer questions, it might as well be about something he loves. And, even though Amadeus (a Collie-Shepherd mix named after the popular 80s song his brother was singing on the way to adopt her) is gone, he's looking forward to the day he takes his sons to pick out their new 4-legged family member.
Before joining Embrace, Chris studied sociology at The Ohio State University. He then worked in a call center for one of the largest manufacturers of promotional products in the country.
Lea Jaratz Customer Care Embracer
It's often said that you don't find a pet, a pet finds you. Little did Lea know that finding Lyger, her Lab mix, in the street during a thunderstorm would change her career. Lea started her career studying animal nutrition and behavior. She served in area animal shelters as a foster care coordinator, later helping develop foster programs nationally.
Her passion for pets expanded into a role that gives Lea the opportunity to educate pet parents about pet healthcare and she shares info about trendy pet products through the Embrace Pet Community blog. While she started with Embrace in a full-time role, Lea now splits her time between Embrace and her Early Childhood Learning degree studies.
Lea enjoys Lake Erie, the local music scene, and Mexican restaurants she finds with her husband, and she also loves to hear about your pets.
Kate Zirkle Customer Care Embracer
Kate found her way to Embrace much in the same way that she started fostering dogs, by following her heart. After a harsh layoff, Kate decided to pursue a career with her lifelong love, animals. She honors the memory of her beloved dog Solo each day by educating pet parents on the benefits of pet insurance. Kate now has a feisty beagle named Buckley, a black cat named Midnight and there’s always a foster dog around to care for as well.
Kate has a Bachelors degree from Kent State University.
Tenisha Lovelace Customer Care Embracer
Tenisha was probably destined to work at Embrace Pet Insurance. An avid and lifelong dog lover, pet parent of two Guizmo (Malti-poo) and Champ (American Pit bull), a bubbly personality, and former Progressive Insurance claims representative, equals an awesome Customer Care Embracer! Tenisha started her career in the banking/financial field where she’s held positions from mortgage loan officer to investment operations specialist. She is currently pursuing her Associates degree in Human Resource Management which she will receive in May of 2010, and going on to pursue her Bachelors in the same field.
Tenisha loves to shop, travel, movies, hanging out with her boy friend of two years, and play in the park with her dogs.
Christine Wrona Claims Supervisor
Chris is the emulation of the true meaning of Embrace. Last time she was at a dog show, she had as much "fuzz" on her clothes from "Embracing" all of the pets that came near her as the dogs themselves. Chris's passion is veterinary medicine, and animals and their care have consumed her world for over 15 years. With 3 dogs, one guinea pig and much volunteer work at a horse farm, it is hard to imagine she has time for Embrace; however, she is continually reading and learning more about how this industry grows and helps animals in ways it could not 10 years ago.
She has a 2-year certificate in an animal care program, experience in grooming and boarding kennels, and was a veterinary technician for over 6 years in areas ranging from emergency medicine to Internal Medicine. Prior to Embrace, Chris most recently worked in a vet technician role at the Shaker Animal Clinic.
Carrie Harviel, RVT Claims Embracer
Carrie attended North Dakota State University and received her Bachelor of Science degree in Veterinary Technology. Her veterinary career has taken her to the Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital in Akron Ohio where she worked in the Ophthalmology, Cardiology, and Emergency specialties. Carrie is a Registered Veterinary Technologist and keeps a hands-on clinical role by working once a month at Metropolitan on weekends.
Apart from her two young children and husband at home, Carrie has two kitties, a Quaker Parrot, and two fish that keep her hands full.
Sandra "Sam" Adkins, RVT Claims Embracer
Sam is a Registered Veterinary Technician with over 13 years of experience in a wide variety of settings including 6 years working in emergency and referral practices. Always believing in doing what was best for her patients, she continues her strong belief in patient advocacy here at Embrace.
Sam attended school at the Bel-Rea Institute in Denver, Colorado, obtaining an associate degree in veterinary technology. She shares her home with her ever patient husband Tom, three mixed breed dogs; Einstein, Maxwell and Zippopatomus, two cats; Oliver and Puck, and two Spanish Mustangs; Rita and BoGo who we are training to pull a cart in addition to be riding horses. She also finds time to combine science and art in her life, and her illustrations have been published in text books, periodicals and presentation materials for veterinarians and doctors.
Adrienne Schlott Claims Embracer
Adrienne has 18 years of experience as a veterinary technician, predominantly in emergency and specialty medicine with a focus on soft tissue and orthopedic conditions. She also worked in Processing Solutions for 3 years at Fifth Third Bank.
Adrienne has been involved in Search and Rescue for 10 years. She has a trained SAR dog and is now a training officer for her SAR group, helping to train dogs and their owners to find missing persons. Adrienne is the proud owner of a Pomeranion therapy dog named Andre, and she is an avid photographer and an outdoor enthusiast.
Sonya Harris Claims Administrator
Sonya started her career in the nursing field as a S.T.N.A. and later changed her career to coaching girls’ basketball, softball, and volleyball. She has her Associates in Liberal Arts and is pursuing her Bachelors in Sports Management from Cleveland State University.
Sonya is an avid bowler who has bowled a high game of 299, so close but the ten pin denied her. She is very athletic and is on a semi-pro softball team that travels to different states for tournaments. In her spare time she loves being active and watching her daughter be a “mini” her.