Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Rodriguez.
Hi Susan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
From Protecting Businesses to Uplifting Communities: My Journey of Purpose
For over four decades, my professional life was defined by a single mission: taking complex risk management issues and translating them into clear, dependable protection for my clients. As a Senior Vice President with Brown & Brown Insurance on California’s beautiful Central Coast, I was fortunate to build a rewarding career specializing in business insurance, workers’ compensation, and surety bonds. Throughout those 40-plus years, I dedicated myself to mastering my craft—earning my Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Construction Risk Insurance Specialist (CRIS) designations, maintaining multi-state licenses, and even serving as an accredited instructor for the California Department of Insurance.
I loved what I did. But when I retired on March 1, 2023, I knew my journey of service was simply entering a new, more personal chapter.
Having lived and worked in Santa Barbara County for more than 40 years, this community has given me so much. Retirement wasn’t an invitation to step back; it was my long-awaited opportunity to step up and give back to the place I call home. Today, I am channeling the leadership, strategic planning, and risk management skills honed during my corporate career into a new kind of protection: safeguarding the dignity, well-being, and resilience of our neighbors and animals.
Championing Human Dignity and Resilience
Several years before retiring, I stepped into a leadership role on the Board of Directors for Unity Shoppe, Inc. This incredible organization represents everything I believe about community support. We don’t just provide a safety net; we build a springboard. Unity Shoppe is dedicated to helping local residents who have been blindsided by temporary poverty, natural disasters, or unexpected health crises.
By providing vital resources like groceries, clothing, and basic essentials, we ensure that families don’t have to choose between asking for help and keeping their pride. Our guiding stars are Dignity, Respect, and Choice. In my board service, I am incredibly proud to help steer an organization that actively encourages self-sufficiency and independence, helping our neighbors stand tall during their toughest moments.
Under my leadership as Chair of the Board of Directors, we instituted term limits for board members for the first time. After 15 years I have stepped off on June 30 of this year. My heart will forever be grateful for my years of service to this incredible nonprofit organization.
If you would like to learn more about Unity Shoppe, please visit the website and further, you can request a tour to see firsthand the important services offered in our community, keeping in mind always to be provided with Dignity, Respect, and Choice to its clients. www.unityshoppe.org.
Advocating for Our Most Vulnerable Companions
My passion for protection extends beyond our human neighbors to the animals who enrich our lives so deeply. I am honored to serve as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Santa Barbara Humane.
Our mission is simple yet profound: to be champions for animals and the people who love them. Every day, we strive to create a happy, healthy community where no animal is left vulnerable. Leading this organization allows me to live out our core values—Work together, Think big, Care deeply. Whether we are navigating strategic growth, improving local animal welfare infrastructure, or supporting pet owners in need, I find immense joy in ensuring that our community remains a safe haven for all creatures.
Continuing its legacy of service as a local non profit since 1887, SB Humane has an ongoing capital campaign to renovate its 1960s campus into a place focused on reducing stress on animals during their stay, providing much needed additional dog training classes, and expand veterinary services. This new campus will be a community-centered campus that will bring people and animals together to learn and connect. I encourage anyone who loves animals to visit the campus, take a tour, and see firsthand how this transformation will impact our entire community.
If you would like to learn more about Santa Barbara Humane, please visit its website. www.SBHumane.org
The Next Chapter
Looking back, the thread connecting my past career to my present nonprofit devotion is clear. Whether managing corporate risk or strengthening community safety nets, my focus has always been on taking care of people.
Retirement has given me the ultimate gift: the time and energy to invest 100% of my heart in the community that nurtured my career for 40 years. Through my work with Unity Shoppe and Santa Barbara Humane, I am discovering that the most rewarding business of all is the business of giving back.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Balancing the roles of a wife, mother, and rising executive in a high-stakes industry is never a simple, smooth road. It requires constant recalibration and resilience. However, the true “struggle” of my early career wasn’t just managing the clock, it was learning how to break new ground.
In a competitive corporate landscape, building credibility takes time. But I was fortunate to have a powerful secret weapon: mentorship. I didn’t navigate the climb alone. I was surrounded by forward-thinking colleagues who didn’t just offer advice; they actively invested in my growth. With their guidance and belief in my capabilities, I earned a seat at the table, ultimately becoming a stockholder in our private insurance agency.
That milestone set the stage for a major career pivot in 2003, when our agency was acquired by Brown & Brown Insurance, a premier NYSE-listed firm (BRO). Navigating that massive transition from a private stakeholder to a Senior Vice President taught me invaluable lessons in scalable strategy, institutional trust, and long-term risk management.
Looking back, that era of my life entirely shaped how I approach philanthropy today. The mentorship I received taught me that true leadership is about lifting others as you climb.
When I look at my work today with Unity Shoppe and Santa Barbara Humane, I realize I am using the exact same toolkit. The strategic planning required to manage a NYSE-backed portfolio is the same planning needed to steer a nonprofit through modern economic challenges. More importantly, the faith my early mentors placed in me is the exact same faith I want to extend to our neighbors in crisis and our most vulnerable companions. My career taught me how to protect assets; my retirement is teaching me how to uplift communities.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Since I am retired now since March 1, 2023 my work is doing things that I love to do with my family and friends. But, mostly important to me is to give back to my community by volunteering my time and energy to a mission that is dear to me.
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