At a time when airports were like deserts, Jack Douglas and his wife, Vince, found themselves flying to Nebraska in the middle of a pandemic.
September 2020 was the first time the couple had ever set foot in the state.
But after several interviews over Zoom, Douglas wanted to see what Assurity — and Lincoln — had to offer. After some convincing from Assurity’s then-CEO Tom Henning, Douglas accepted a position as the company's vice president of worksite sales.
“I told my dad I was taking my talents to Nebraska, and he was shocked," Douglas recalled this month. “Nebraska?â€
Although Douglas and his wife were recent empty-nesters, it was still difficult to leave their families behind in South Carolina, where they had lived their entire lives and raised two boys.
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But what sold them was learning everything Assurity does for the Lincoln community.
One example Douglas pointed to was the company's plan to build an apartment complex that will include some affordable housing near its headquarters at 21st and Q streets, adjacent to Union Plaza.
"As a business we not only have a responsibility to our consumers but also to those around us," he said. "I think it's critical that businesses really provide a reasonable number of resources to the community to uplift it."
Douglas hadn’t even been searching for a job when he received a call from an employment recruiting company about the position with Assurity.
He initially asked whether the position could be remote, but as a company that prides itself on being involved in the community, Assurity wanted Douglas and his wife to be a part of it.
When he first arrived in October 2020, there were only 40 colleagues working in person at the Lincoln headquarters built for 300.
Although he wasn’t able to immediately meet everyone he was working with, Douglas said he's still managed to form meaningful connections with his colleagues.
"The company motto of 'helping people through difficult times' permeates through everybody," he said. "And not just in our work but with each other as well."Â
Douglas' latest role comes after nearly 30 years working in marketing and sales.
Shortly after graduating with a degree in actuarial science from The Citadel in South Carolina in 1992, Douglas began working with Colonial Life Insurance as its southeast regional development manager. After 18 years at Colonial, he was the regional director at Allstate for nearly 10 years.
Throughout his decades in sales and marketing, he’s learned that cultivating meaningful relationships is just as important as the work itself.
“You want to hire great people that push you to learn,†Douglas said.
His days at Assurity typically involve lots of meetings, most via Zoom, as the majority of his sales team works remotely.
Although navigating a new role and environment hasn’t been easy during a pandemic, Douglas has still gotten to know his new community more and more every day.
"The food here is different than what we're used to back home, so we're trying as many food places here as we can," he said.
He said he and his wife are still working on adjusting to Nebraska winters, too.
Reach the writer at emejia@journalstar.com