Meet Sarah Prince, CEBS | CBIZ Employee Benefits Insurance President, CA

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Prince, CEBS and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
There are a million ways to answer this question, and likely an equal number of ways to be ‘successful’ in life. For me, the fundamental starting point has always been simple: Show up. Put another way, as I tell my children: Say YES to life. A long time ago when I was early on in my career, I was invited to join a board for a nonprofit. After the first meeting I was speaking to a long-term board member, asking for advice. I had a million questions- what should I be doing? How can I help? What can I contribute? (Unspoken: How do I overcome this imposter syndrome?) As he walked away, he said the least profound thing I ever heard: “Just show up to every meeting.” At the time I was non-plussed. I thought he was blowing me off, and maybe he was. However, I continued to do just that, and ever since then I have thought over and over about how much of life is about ‘showing up’. Whether it’s showing up at the gym every day to maintain your health, showing up for your family and friends, and of course showing up for your job. The consistency inherent in that phrase is the key. When we make the commitment to ourselves to say yes to things, and then follow through on those commitments, whether we love it all of the time or not, we exhibit who we are to those around us: someone to be trusted and counted on. Success starts with showing up. The opportunities to grow, learn, fail AND succeed, begin with that commitment.

What should our readers know about your business?
When I tell people I’m an Employee Benefits Insurance Advisor they don’t always know what that means, and if they do, I might quickly find myself in a conversation lamenting the state of our healthcare system. With that in mind I’d like to start at the start: What do I do, in simplest terms? I help Employers shop for, administer, and stay legally compliant when offering the Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, etc. that they provide to their Employees. Put another way, in more technical terms: HR and Finance Teams call me when they are looking for more than just great service; they are looking for fresh ideas, actionable recommendations, and benefit programs aligned with their overall company strategy for employee engagement, education, attraction, and retention. I enjoy working with clients who value outside the box thinking to achieve innovative solutions, with results around cost control, knowledge around Carrier and funding solutions, employee communication and engagement strategies.
I love what I do!
Admittedly, our healthcare delivery system is complicated, messy, and in need of significant changes. If Cinderella’s fairy godmother waved her magic wand and fixed everything tomorrow, I do not know what that would look like, but I do know I would happily be out of a job.
Until that happens, I get to meet fascinating people who are leading and managing companies, working in all kinds of different industries, and I partner with them to create and communicate programs to their employees. Then my teams get to make sure those programs are working for those employees the way they are supposed to. I often say, health insurance is 100% of my life, and hopefully less than 1% of yours – let me make it easier for you!
As a woman in what has historically been a male-dominated industry I have had a lot of challenges along the way. I have never forgotten walking into an appointment with the owner of a machine shop who, before I even sat down made a lewd remark about me, to which I replied “I don’t need your business THAT bad” and I turned around and walked right out again while he protested “I was just kidding!” As if that was an appropriate joke. I also endured working at an agency as the only female sales partner where I was denigrated and my presence was ‘tolerated’ at best, even though I was consistently a top performer. While it felt easy to walk away from clients or potential clients that didn’t respect me, I burdened myself for years with the job of trying to prove myself to people in my own workplace and attempting to change their minds. It sounds cliché, maybe because it’s true, but there are unfortunately still a large number of people out there who are not comfortable with a strong woman. To quote Adam Grant: “When a man speaks assertively, people trust him: he’s confident. When a woman does it, men dislike her: she’s a b*tch. It’s outrageous that women have to tame their tongues to protect fragile egos. Don’t punish women for challenging stereotypes. Challenge the stereotypes.” When I finally recognized that I was in a losing battle I would never win, I began my job search with a clear intent: Find a workplace that will respect me, provide me opportunities for growth and mentorship, and give me the space to succeed the way I know I can. After 6 months of searching, I found CBIZ, and I cannot express how happy I have been with this change. The leadership at this company clearly understands that diversity means growth, and investing in employees not just professionally, but personally, has an outsized ROI. CBIZ offers an incredible array of programs for employees ranging from volunteerism and scholarships to their internal resource groups such as CBIZ Pride, BIPOC CBIZ, and CBIZ Women’s Advantage. I am extremely proud to now be able to work at a place where I get to bring my whole self and feel supported and empowered. I don’t want to believe that we have to go through hard things in order to appreciate the good things, but in my case that’s the direction the journey took. Today, I’m more excited than ever about what the future has in store for me.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I was born in Van Nuys, and I still live in the Valley, so I call myself a “Valley Girl” at heart. I love Los Angeles! There are so many things I love about this town, but 2 of my highlights are:
1. What kind of food are you in the mood for? Mexican, Thai, Indian, Persian…the list can go on forever. You can find authentic cuisine from almost anywhere in the world in this town. Most cities in the world cannot make that same boast, and I credit the unique diversity we have here for that good fortune. I cannot tell you how many evenings my family of 4 has sat around and debated ‘what do we want for dinner’, in the sense that the options feel endless, so we have to know what we’re in the mood for to even begin the conversation.
2. There is so much to see and do in this city, one can never claim to have ‘done it all’. I have lived here most of my life and 2 weeks ago attended an event in Glendale at the Shoseian Tea House where I had the privilege to attend a performance of a Traditional Japanese dance team, and at one point they combined their traditional dancing with a Bruno Mars song! Not only was the dancing fantastic, but I realized I had been working less than 2 miles from this location for 20 years and never knew it existed. There are always new nooks and crannies to be discovered in this town, and that makes it very special to me.
That said, when friends come to visit for the first time, I have a stereotypical itinerary of things I like to do with them:
1. We start with lunch at Olvera Street and browse the shops. The oldest street in L.A., to me this epitomizes a big piece of L.A. culture. Growing up, I loved that you could barter with the people in the stalls, but of course that era has long passed, however I still love buying things here to decorate my house. Last year I bought a fantastic Dia de los Muertos papier mache hombre, roughly 3 feet tall, that I hang in front of my door in October. I love him. I need to go back this year to get him a lady friend. While we can pick up food at any one of the restaurants in the row, we are required to stop at Mr. Churro after lunch for dessert, because: CHURROS.
2. I like to do a combo, visit to Venice beach for a walkabout, then hop on some bikes (you can rent them on site) and ride up to the Santa Monica pier. The scrambler is a must for my daughter, but I love the Sea Dragon ride. Once you’ve taken in the view and think you’re done, hop on the historical carousel for a quick spin and reminisce about your childhood for a minute. Then grab a chocolate dipped soft serve cone and bike back to Venice.
3. For the friends that want to see *Hollywood* I’d check out what’s playing at the Hollywood Bowl. I’d probably leave early to show them the hand prints etc. at the TCL Chinese Theatre because that’s fun, but nothing beats a summer evening of picnicking outside followed by seeing a great band at the Hollywood Bowl. It’s…*chef’s kiss*
4. Last but not least! Depending on the Season I’d take them to a Dodger’s, Lakers, Clippers, or King’s game. I enjoy going to all of those but my favorite by far are Dodger’s games. Because what could be better than a sunny afternoon spent watching baseball while eating a Dodger dog and drinking an oversized beer?

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My Father founded his own local Insurance Agency back in 1962, so I was raised by a man who called himself a ‘simple peddler’. The youngest of 4 children, it was always understood that Dad was working very hard to take care of all of us. He worked long days, and it was not uncommon for a road trip to include a stop at a client where we all sat in the parking lot while Dad took a meeting, or for a call to the house in the evening to be a client who needed help. It felt natural to begin my career working with him 23 years ago, and as I began knocking on doors myself, and learning the ropes of how hard this business is, he was very generous with his time and advice. To be clear, he was also one of my harshest critics, which presented its own challenges, but I decided and found early on that if I presented my proposals to him before I met with prospects or clients, I was extremely well-prepared for objections once I had my actual meetings. If I could get his stamp of approval- everyone else was easy! His mentorship was often a tough pill to swallow, but ultimately, prepared me very well for a job that includes more rejection than anything else. Additionally, 24 years ago I married a man who has unequivocally supported me in every endeavor I have taken on. My husband has provided me a foundation at home, and help raising our kids, that has enabled me to say YES to my work life. If that meant traveling for work meetings, conferences, studying for my CEBS (Certified Employee Benefits Specialist from the University of Wharton school of business) while 6 months pregnant, whatever the need was, he told me “Go for it! You can do it!’ His unwavering faith in my potential along with his support and assistance with the kids, has empowered me to reach for that next level of success every time.

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