Rich DeMartis, CLU, ChFC, CIC
Facilitator, Independent Performance Coach to The Institutes
Rich DeMartis joined the Polestar team as a Performance Consultant and Coach after a 35 year career in the insurance industry. He spent his last 11 years as a successful Field Sales Leader for Encompass Insurance. In that role, he recruited, appointed, trained and consulted independent agents across the states of Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.
Prior to Encompass, Rich worked for Nationwide Insurance where he led a territory of exclusive agencies in Michigan, assisting them in growing their personal lines and commercial accounts. During that time, he also partnered with internal and external consultants to assist his agents with IA acquisitions.
He started his career in upstate New York with Allstate Insurance Company. He served in numerous sales leadership roles during a period of 17 years, including Exclusive Agency Sales Manager and Independent Agency Sales Manager. He was promoted to Regional Independent Agency Manager for the states of Michigan and Indiana where he led a team that rebuilt the IA channel in those two states. In that role, he was recognized for developing “best in class†processes for agency deployment, onboarding, and annual business planning. His experience also includes providing independent agencies with full consultation services in the areas of marketing, operations and financials through industry benchmarking. His “hands-on†agency field experience will be a great asset to those he coaches under the various Polestar programs.
Rich holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the State University of New York, College at Oswego. He has earned the insurance designations of Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC).
He has always had a passion for coaching, as he spent 15 years as a volunteer baseball and basketball coach at the middle school, high school and travel/AAU levels. Rich resides in Michigan with his wife Gina, and they have two sons, Dan & Joe.