After 17 years of working with animals in pet shops, shelters, and zoos, Christian Kalinowski decided it was time for a change. He considered a sales career in a few different sectors before finally settling on insurance and financial services. He wanted to help educate people on a topic he didn’t learn much about growing up—personal finance. So, in 2021, he joined Dipaola Financial Group as a financial service professional.  

Jeremie Latremore, CIC, grew up in the insurance industry. His grandparents started an insurance agency in 1965 that his father and uncle went on to work for, but Jeremie didn’t plan on joining the family business until he realized in college, “insurance was in my blood.”

Jennifer B. Barthol, CEP, has been in the financial services industry since 1986 but found her niche working with estate planning attorneys and CPAs as a paralegal. Now, she’s a certified estate planner and helps her clients find solutions that fit their life-long goals. 

Nicholas “Nick” Romo knows the impact life insurance can have and works to protect families every day.

Romo didn’t start out in the insurance and financial services industry, but he was drawn to it by two factors. First, he saw two of his friends who opened successful insurance offices. They were helping people who weren’t being served by large investment companies, and he knew that he, too, could make a difference. Second, he saw the real-life effects of not having insurance, as several family members passed away unexpectedly without life insurance—or without enough coverage. He knew that, if they had been covered, it would have been much easier for their families. “I thought it could be my role to help people in those situations,” he says.

Monique Fanfan, a native of Haiti who came to the United States to have her shot at the American dream, began her career in financial services working in a bank. She then went on to work for a financial investment firm out of New York and later she spent 15 years as an accountant.