Hold the Elevator!

Chelsea's Writing Prompt #5: What's your elevator pitch?

This was tough. In preparing these last few posts, my plan has been to read the prompt and give myself the day to think of answers. It was while driving to work this morning that I hit on an iteration of my answer below. I thought about it, then thought about it some more.

It's especially fitting that I expected to have my quarterly performance appraisal today (it was pushed to tomorrow), so I really wanted to find an answer that, for now, at least somewhat resonated with me. So here it is, my minimum viable pitch: 

I study the ways individuals and society interpret and respond to our bafflingly complex and ever-changing world.

Right now, that role happens to be in insurance. But, if I started with that, I'd have definitely lost you. On one level, I see how people cope with damage to what is likely their most valuable asset, their home. I have talked to people after their house has been up in flames, others after their whole street has been flooded, and still others after someone has broken into their home and stolen some of their most prized possessions. Each person and situation is different. 

From a higher perspective, I see how the industry shapes and adjusts its policies to a dynamic environment. It can be comical (and by that, I mean insanely frustrating) to work in a system that tries to define everything in black and white when our reality is a swirl of blending colours. 

This is just the tip of the brush though. I think of capital markets, city design, and how we forecast weather. There are countless ways to see the world! But, for now, my focus is on insurance.