Leadership

Day to day, Paul does what most insurance agency presidents do: establish long-term plans, business goals and organizational structure; identify talented employees who will be our next agency leaders; maintain a high level of interaction and collaboration across the agency; and ensure client and carrier satisfaction.

But when all is said and done, what he’s really doing is cultivating a company culture where trusted teams, shared vision, collaboration and a standard of excellence coalesce into superior client service —earning him the more important (though nonofficial) title of “CIV” — Chief Insurance Visionary.

As our employee benefits practice leader, Cooper oversees the entirety of our benefits practice at all branch locations. Based in Birmingham, he has built a “beyond benefits” approach to solving the most complex people problems through a high-touch, high-results, holistic approach to benefits. His leadership, guidance and influence touches every area of our agency.

Kurt is a transformational executive who brings both deep technical experience and keen leadership that touches all aspects of the agency’s sales, customer service, carrier marketing and value added teams across all branches. He works closely with our President to set and execute vision and culture, while building new revenue streams and the highly driven teams needed to achieve operational excellence. In addition, he serves as the integrator for the agency’s management team.

Hawkins brings a wide lens of experience to our Employee Benefits team, having previously managed employer health plans for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and led the corporate HR department for Mrs. Stratton’s Salads. His combined employer and carrier perspective is highly regarded among our clients, as he delivers strategies and results that require navigating both worlds effectively.

Sonia lives professionally by this one motto: “Be the bacon.” Because bacon takes everything to the next level, and that’s exactly what she does for our agency in her role as vice president of marketing and corporate communications. Plus, watch out – she leads her own cardio kickboxing and hip-hop workout program. Jab, Cross, Hook, y’all.

Brandon works closely with our leadership team and all aspects of the agency—employee benefits, property and casualty and personal lines—to maintain financial and operational due diligence. With a background in mergers and acquisitions and banking, Brandon also leads the agency’s accounting team.

If employees are an organization’s greatest asset, then Leticia’s desire to cultivate a culture of growth and development inspires our team to “Be the Difference”. Leticia joined Valent Group in 2018 to recruit talented insurance professionals and provide day-to-day strategy and consultation to our management team on HR related issues; ensuring our talented team have the tools and resources in place to be successful.