How This Farmers Insurance® District Manager Found Her True Calling in Servant Leadership

For Chelsey Stecken, a career in insurance wasn’t part of the original plan.

Growing up, she thought she would go into medicine. Helping people had always felt like a calling. But at 18, while working as a waitress and attending college, an unexpected opportunity to sell life insurance introduced her to an entirely different way to make an impact.

Today, Chelsey is a district manager for Farmers Insurance, where she leads a team focused on coaching new agents and tenured entrepreneurs across her district who are building businesses of their own.

Her path into the industry was shaped by personal experience, resilience, and a strong belief in helping others succeed. Now, she’s focused on helping to create opportunities for the next generation of Farmers agents through mentorship and programs like the Protégé Agency Producer program.

We spoke with Chelsey about her career journey, what makes the work meaningful, and why she believes the biggest opportunity in the industry is to help others grow.

I always laugh and say I got into insurance by accident.

My original goal was medical school. Helping others has always been important to me. When I was 18, I was working as a waitress while going to college and I met a district manager from another insurance company who talked to me about selling life insurance.

It seemed like a great opportunity while I was in college to earn income and continue progressing.

But as I started learning about life insurance and the philosophy behind it, I really fell in love with the work.

When I was 13, I lost my dad. My mom raised four girls on her own, and we didn’t have life insurance. Seeing what my mom went through had a huge impact on me. When I started learning about life insurance, I realized how much of a difference it can make in someone’s life.

So even though my original goal was medicine, I realized I could still help people in a meaningful way through this industry.

I became licensed at 18, went through an agent training program, and then worked as an agent for about nine years.

At my previous company, we were captive, meaning we could only sell that company’s products. Over time, I started looking for something with more opportunities for growth.

When I was around 27, I began exploring other options and learned about Farmers Insurance.

Originally, I was actually looking at opening my own agency. But during that process, I also learned about the district office role, which I had never seen before.

Early in my career, I signed my contract and was basically told, “Okay, go.” There wasn’t much support. You learned a lot the hard way.

When I saw the district model with Farmers and how much support it offered to agents, it really stood out to me. It was something I wished I had when I started my career.

I began my career with Farmers working in the district office on the management side. Pretty quickly, I moved into agency business consulting, and that really fueled my passion.

Instead of only seeing the impact I could have directly, I realized I could help create that impact through other people.

Actually, no.

When I first joined the district office, I didn’t have any plans to become a district manager. That wasn’t my original goal.

But as I worked with agents and started helping people grow their businesses, it opened my mind to the idea that I could do even more.

I really believe in leading from a servant heart and a servant mindset. As I saw the progress of the agents we were supporting and the growth within the district, it made me realize that stepping into a district leadership role could allow me to help even more people succeed.

That’s what ultimately led me to the role I’m in today.

It definitely comes down to the people.

The role itself is challenging, and I actually like that. I enjoy working toward something and continuing to improve and refine what I’m doing.

But the most rewarding part is seeing other people grow.

When agents succeed, when they build their businesses, when they reach milestones—that’s what makes me happiest.

I also really appreciate that Farmers continues to evolve and provide opportunities. For example, at my previous company we didn’t have the opportunity to obtain financial securities licenses. With Farmers, that runway exists for people who want to keep growing.

That opportunity to keep developing and learning is really special.

It’s funny because every day really is different.

That’s one of the things I love most about the role. Every day I’m meeting different people, working with agents, or focusing on different priorities across the district.

One of the things I prioritized when opening my district office was creating a large open training space. Every week we bring groups in for training sessions on different topics that help agents and teams grow.

A lot of my day also involves communication. Phone time is a big part of the job because strong communication is essential in any relationship—personal or professional.

If our agents aren’t calling us, that’s actually a problem. That means they don’t trust us enough to reach out.

Every Monday, we also hold a team meeting where we map out the week ahead. Everyone on my team carries specific goals and responsibilities, and then we work together to move those initiatives forward.

Some days I’m visiting agencies, coaching and training their teams. Other days I’m working with my internal team to prepare new training sessions or strategies.

The culture is very centered on servant leadership.

I truly love serving others, and I believe that’s what makes the district manager role such a great fit for me.

Of course, achievements and recognition are great, but what really excites me is seeing agents succeed. When they reach their goals or build something meaningful, that’s what makes me the most proud.

Servant leadership also means being honest. Sometimes we have hard conversations, but those conversations are about helping people move forward, not putting them down.

It’s about showing the path forward and helping people improve rather than focusing on the problem.

I absolutely love the Farmers Protégé Agency Producer program.

To me, it represents an opportunity for people who may never have had that chance before.

If someone is willing to bet on themselves and work toward their goals, we’re going to run as fast as they want to run to help them get there.

Programs like that help people to build something meaningful for themselves and their families.

And that’s really what drives me—being able to support those opportunities and help people achieve things they may not have believed were possible.

There’s one story that has stayed with me throughout my career.

Earlier in my production days, a family had purchased a $2 million umbrella policy that included uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.

Their son was in Navy boot camp and was out celebrating with friends the night before graduation. During the evening, a driver nearly hit one of the young women in their group. Their son pushed her out of the way and was struck by the vehicle. The driver didn’t have insurance, and tragically their son passed away.

It was every parent’s worst nightmare.

Because of the umbrella coverage, we were able to provide the full $2 million payout to the family.

But what made the story even more meaningful was what the family chose to do next. They used the money to create a scholarship that they now give out every year in their son’s name.

Moments like that really change you. They reinforce why the work matters and the impact insurance can have in people’s lives.

One of the moments I’m most proud of happened in 2025.

During my first year as a district manager, we had five participants in our Protégé Agency Producer pipeline. All five of them graduated from the program, opened agencies, and reached bonus performance milestones.

Seeing all five succeed like that was incredibly rewarding.

Another meaningful moment was when one of the agents in our district nominated me to speak at the Women of Wisdom conference. That meant a lot because it showed that the people I work with believe I have something valuable to share.

For me, those moments are the most meaningful—seeing others succeed and knowing you helped play a small role in their journey.