Abigail Whorton, chief operating officer at The Whorton Agency, Inc never saw herself working in the insurance industry, but her life took a different turn when her father Bill Whorton, founder of the agency, passed away in 2020.

“Life was never supposed to lead back to my hometown or this business," Whorton says. But “I'm grateful because I can't imagine being anywhere else."

Whorton is the recipient of the 2023 Big “I" Herndon First-Timer Scholarship Award. Presented each year to one young agent who is a first-time attendee at the Big “I" Legislative Conference, the Herndon First-Timer Scholarship enables the recipient to attend the conference free of charge.

The scholarship was established in 2003 to honor Maurice Herndon, who was named head of the Big “I" national's Washington, D.C., office in 1949. Herndon coordinated the Big “I" state associations and built the government affairs and grassroots operations via his extensive travel, education, passion and hard work.

As a small business owner, Whorton is well aware of the difficulties her agency and clients are facing in this hard market. She not only advocates for her clients from her agency but has also expanded her role outside the office and into the state Capitol when she spoke with district legislators earlier this year. 

She continues to expand her insurance expertise as a member of the 2024 class of Leadership Georgia, one of the nation's oldest and most successful leadership training programs for young business, civic, and community leaders that have the desire and potential to work together for a better Georgia.

“Clients are being pushed to a breaking point when it comes to the insurance premiums they are facing and I firmly believe that we are advocates for the people we serve," Whorton says. “Their trust and faith must be earned, and it's important that we as an agency, and as a greater organization, do all that we can to work on their behalf."

Whorton's belief and determination in carrying on her dad's legacy has been furthered by her involvement with the Big “I" association. Last year, Whorton was the recipient of the Independent Insurance Agents of Georgia (IIAG) 2023 Young Agent of the Year Award.

“I can say with full confidence that without the Big 'I' in Georgia, our business wouldn't be in our hands any longer," Whorton said. “Almost everything that I've learned in my crash course in business ownership and insurance on the whole over the last few years has come from Big 'I' members, people that I now call friends."

Attending the Big “I" Legislative Conference, Whorton intends to “expand my knowledge of what's happening in our country—and in turn, bring back the best parts of this experience to my team, our agency and our community."

“From my perspective, there's no greater job of service than insurance. We protect people on the worst days of their lives, and by telling the right and true story upfront, there is peace of mind for our clients when that day comes," Whorton said. “I believe that if we start there, we can withstand this market with little lost and move forward with a new way of doing business—the right way."

Olivia Overman is IA content editor.