My NCMIC Story

It’s been nearly 30 years since I moved to Greater Des Moines (DSM) from the beautiful beaches of San Diego. I’d only planned to stick around for four years until I graduated from Drake University, then head back to California, but that’s not exactly how things worked out.

I found DSM to be rich with opportunity. It was transforming into a place geared toward keeping people like me around for as long as possible. So instead of moving back home after graduation, I stayed here. I took a job at Des Moines Radio Group (where I worked for 25 years), and I built a life here.

But life changed dramatically when my mom suddenly passed away a few years ago. I began questioning everything. Was I happy doing what I was doing? What else could I do? Where else could I go? How else could I make a difference?

Finding a Home at NCMIC

That’s when a friend first told me about NCMIC, and I researched the heck out of it. I spent time on NCMIC’s social media pages. I read articles. I talked to people who knew people. I didn’t just want a place to work. I wanted a place to belong — a place with heart.

I went back to my notes from that time, and here’s some of what I found:

• A group of chiropractors couldn’t get the malpractice insurance they needed, so they founded the company and NCMIC was born.
• NCMIC has grown to become the largest provider of chiropractic malpractice insurance in the nation.
• Their social media pages are filled with employees volunteering for a diverse group of nonprofits all over DSM.
• Employees matter!
• They like people with fresh ideas and are not afraid to innovate
• This might just be your last and best career move.
• There’s lots of opportunity to grow!
• It’s an incredible place to work.

So, I applied, and after meeting with the NCMIC team over several weeks, I found myself driving past the building more and more, with fingers crossed. I started seeing myself pulling into the NCMIC parking lot, starting and ending my day there and writing the next chapter of my career. After I joined their team, I found everything they told me to be true — and so much more.

Less than a year in, I was asked to assemble a committee of people and lead the efforts to celebrate an important milestone for NCMIC — its 75th anniversary. What an honor!

We decided early on to celebrate in three areas: With our employees, in our community and within the profession. Then, COVID hit and I wondered how we’d pull it all together.

I marveled at how quickly the company embraced change and created a flexible work environment — and continued to find ways to focus on culture, inclusion and wellness all while celebrating employees at every turn.

I admired how this small, but mighty, team worked tirelessly to become an SBA approved lender for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), ensuring our doctors got the critical resources they needed, when they needed it most.

And, with each and every one of my fellow NCMIC employees, we rallied to ensure the most vulnerable in our community could move forward, even in a pandemic, by raising a record amount of money for our annual United Way effort.

I remember having a conversation with our CEO, Mike McCoy where he said, “I can’t unknow what I now know and what I know is that for nearly a year, our 215 employees have worked from home, and done so flawlessly. Now, it’s up to us to determine what working at NCMIC looks like in the future.”

That’s leadership.

This year, we’ve been celebrating 75 years of helping our doctors. Today, we insure more doctors than at any other time in our history. And, even in the middle of a pandemic, NCMIC still finds ways to deliver on its promise of “taking care of our own.”

• Our employees have led the way in giving their time, talent and resources. On average, each one of our 215 employees volunteer 50 hours per year. And, together, we’ve supported more than 75 organizations with hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations.
• We’re supporting our local communities through our annual “Battle of the ‘Burbs” 5k, 10k and kids fun run, directing dollars right back into West Des Moines, Clive, Waukee, Urbandale and Johnson. Shameless plug: Save the date for next year’s Battle of the ‘Burbs, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. 
• Just this year, we’ve been named a 2021 Inclusion Award winner, a Top Workplace both nationwide and regionally, chosen among the Best of Des Moines, an Inspiring Business for Women and, most recently, the Best of the West.

This just proved to me that time and time again, NCMIC shows up.

NCMIC truly is a special place to work. When describing it to my friends, I often say that working at NCMIC is like winning the lottery. I can see why people join NCMIC and then commit to being part of this amazing team until retirement.

Are you interested in moving to Greater Des Moines (DSM)? Relocation Packets offer information on everything from neighborhoods and shopping to parks and local attractions. Or, kick start your career by checking out the DSM USA Career Center. It has over 10,000 jobs listed!