On this episode of Nat Alliance NOW, Mitch Dunford is joined by guest co-host Kryzten Valerio and guests Ariel Rivera, CIC, founder and Agency Principal of Deer Insurance Agency; and Devin Delatorre, Executive Partner at Delatorre Insurance Agency & President of LAAIA.
Tune in as they discuss the “Sazon” the Latino community brings to the Insurance & Risk Management Industry, the weight of becoming a designee, and the growth and representation in the Latinx community.
Kryzten Valerio is The National Alliance’s very own Client Services Lead and Trainer, who brings six years of experience in client-facing roles to her position. She leads her team in developing new and strengthening existing relationships with our participants and vendors. She is passionate about Hispanic representation and brings that passion to all aspects of her life. Outside of her role at The National Alliance she is a photographer and runs a foodie blog with her husband: the ultimate foodie guide in ATX.
Devin Delatorre is the result of more than three decades of his family’s insurance business. After he acquired his Bachelors in Business Administration, he obtained his 220 licenses and CPIA designation. He is also the president of the LAAIA. He has served seven years as a board member. In his position as executive partner in Delatorre Insurance, he has strived for the last several years to grow his business and uphold his father’s legacy. In his leisure time, he loves to watch and play all kinds of sports and travel with his family.
Ariel Rivera, MBA, CIC, CPIA has been in the Insurance industry since 2004 when he began his career in the John Hancock’s Career Agent Program. That same year he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences with a double major in Economics and Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico. He also became licensed in Life & Health and Property & Casualty in 2005. As part of his college education, in 2001 he attended the University of Massachusetts (UMASS) in Amherst, MA as a member of the National Student Exchange Program. In 2005 he started his first independent insurance agency in San Juan, PR. Early in his career, he became passionate about teaching and coaching insurance and started instructing new agents at different agencies in Puerto Rico. While working in the insurance business and already an Independent Agency Owner, in 2007 he obtained his Master’s in Business Administration Degree (MBA) from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. In 2008, Mr. Rivera obtained his Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation from The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research. That same year, he founded Ariel Rivera & Asociados, Inc. Insurance Agency, specializing in Commercial Property & Casualty Insurance. His enthusiasm for insurance education and his passion for the industry led him to become a faculty member at The National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research. There, he teaches the Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR) program and serves as a mentor for new instructors entering the CISR faculty. Since 2015, he has served as the National Director of Professional Insurance Agents of Puerto Rico & The Caribbean (PIA of PRC) for the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA National). In 2018 he also joined the Board of Directors of the American Insurance Marketing & Sales Society (AIMS Society) where he works actively in insurance continuing education and is also a faculty member. In 2019 he founded Deer Insurance Agency, LLC, in Jacksonville, FL: a scratch independent insurance agency that specializes in home, auto, flood, and small business insurance solutions. At the end of 2020, he also founded Fun Insurance Solutions, LLC, a marketing and advisory agency dedicated to helping insurance professionals around the country, Puerto Rico, and USVI through education, podcasting, workshops, boot camps, and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A). In September 2021, he was elected to the PIA National Executive Committee, where he will go through the Executive Committee chairs until September 2024 when he will become the PIA National President.
