While I enjoyed my experience as an insurance agent, I longed to work at something more creative, and I’ve always been a bit of a word nerd! In the early 2000s, I started writing the company insurance blog and eventually decided to make writing my full-time career. It was the best career choice I could have made. It’s been rewarding to elevate my skills to the level of excellence they are today. Since then, I have had the pleasure of working for companies around the world.
Here are a few more interesting tidbits about me.
I have the honor of receiving some prestigious awards in my professional and personal life including:
Angels in Adoption – Congressional Award
Agent Giving Award – Safeco Insurance
You’re a Hero National Award – Hanover Insurance
National Alliance on Mental Illness – Outstanding Member of the Year
Parent Advocacy Award – Family Defense Center, Chicago
I have also served on several boards of directors including:
- War Writers’ Campaign
- Hope Meadows Intergenerational Community
- National Alliance Mental Illness (NAMI)
- Community and Residential Services Authority (Illinois) – Gubernatorial Appointee
I am married with four grown children, and my husband and I are foster and adoptive parents. I homeschooled my children for eight years in the days before COVID made homeschooling popular.
In my spare time, I enjoy all things creative – drawing, painting, sewing, and cooking.
I have the good fortune of being able to work in a beautiful, fully equipped home office on the Cumberland Plateau in Monterey, Tennessee which provides massive inspiration for my writing. When I’m writing, I sometimes take a quick break to watch the deer or wild turkeys roaming through my yard.
Toni Hoy 