Connecting through loss — With Danielle Chesney

When Danielle Chesney was 14 years old, her mother died of breast cancer.

Her family didn’t suffer only an emotional loss; they also faced a mountain of expenses.

“Her death really inspired me in so many ways,” Chesney said. “Her loss was significant in that it was emotional, but it left my family with such a big financial burden. We were not only dealing with the loss of my mom, but we were struggling with finances because she did not have life insurance. So that was kind of the beginning of my journey here.”

Chesney is a life insurance executive and marketing director with Byrne Insurance Group, based in Louisville, Ky. She has been in the business only about a year, but she is driven to help families avoid the struggles her family faced after her mother’s death.

“My mom was a stay-at-home mom,” she recalled. “I recently asked my dad why mom didn’t have life insurance, and his response was, ‘I honestly did not think that anything could happen to your mom.’ That was such an honest response; it did not cross his mind that anything could happen to her. And that is the case for so many people.

“I totally understand his perspective. When my mom got sick, it was way too late to get life insurance, and there was nothing we could do. But without life insurance, the cost of the funeral and all of the hospital bills was so expensive. Luckily, my dad was able to pay them, but it wasn’t easy.”

Chesney graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in family science in 2019 and originally planned to become a marriage and family therapist. She was also on the university’s gymnastics team, having competed in the sport for 14 years.

“Gymnastics is very demanding, and it starts at a very young age. I learned so much from the 14 years I competed,” she said. “You get out there to compete in an event, and if you fall, you have to get right back up. That’s kind of something that I’ve had to apply in my personal life as well.”

After college, she coached gymnastics and eventually met Ben Byrne, president of Byrne Insurance Group, through a mutual friend. “It felt like this would be a great fit for me. And I’m really enjoying it so far,” she said of the insurance business.

 A combination of experience and skill 

Chesney said she combines her college degree with her family’s experience and her coaching skills to work with clients on the best solutions for their needs.

“I learned so much in my major, and I’ve applied a lot of it here, building relationships and understanding people’s needs,” she said. 

As far as her coaching experience goes, Chesney said she applies it in her insurance career as well. 

“In coaching gymnastics, I try to get to know the individual as a person. I try to understand who they are as a person before I understand who they are as a gymnast,” she said. “I try to employ that mentality in my insurance role. I want to get to know you, get to know your story. Are you married? Do you have children? Where do you live? I want to make sure I can best serve their needs for life insurance so that they have all that taken care of in the event of their death. 

“Gymnastics is a very challenging sport, and I try to provide the best support for the athletes that I can. In the same way, it’s also important for me to support my clients and for us to connect on a level that enables me to meet their needs.” 

Chesney said she serves a clientele that is mostly older, but she is doing her best to make inroads with younger consumers. 

“It is challenging to promote life insurance for young adults, especially for those who aren’t married or who don’t have kids,” she said. “But I do try to convey the importance of it. Because the best time to get life insurance is when you’re young. Then if you do get married or have children in the future, you’re covered.” 

Helping others with their grief journey

Chesney’s experience with her mother’s death inspired her to reach out and serve children who have suffered a similar loss. After graduating from college, she began to mentor a boy whose mother died. By 2021, she had expanded her mentoring to establish Young Hearts, a nonprofit organization that provides mentoring and emotional support to children who have lost a parent. 

“It’s a very small organization serving a few kids at this point, but a lot of people have supported Young Hearts, and we’re helping those children on their journey of grief,” she said. 

Young Hearts provides group activities for the children it serves, and Chesney said she often takes the children out for dinner as a group. The organization also has peer support events where children can connect with others who have experienced the same type of loss. “It’s important for the kids to be able to find others they can connect with,” she said. “We also do some individual activities with the kids, and sometimes we just all hang out and spend time together.”

Growing with the agency 

Byrne Insurance Group is a family-owned insurance company employing several family members. “Everyone here has a connection, everyone has a story,” she said. “I’ve truly enjoyed every bit of my experience here.” 

“We’ve brought in eight new insurance agents just in 2023. There is such a big growth factor here. And I see me using my marketing skills and my connections to help grow the agency — that is our primary goal.” 

Chesney said that her mother’s death continues to influence her insurance career.

“Losing my mom when I was 14 forced me to grow into the person I am today,” she said. “I really had to struggle through that emotional pain and emotional loss. But I connect with people today through my life insurance career. I see the importance of life insurance because I’ve been through the loss of my mother. I’ve seen how not having life insurance really impacted families financially. So I try to express that to my clients, highlight the importance of life insurance to them and build that personal connection.” 

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].