Warren Blanchard has come a long way since taking classes in room 108 of Jacobs Hall. He returned to the classroom in Jacobs last week to speak with economics and business administration students about his career journey.

Blanchard’s talk was the first in a series of Society for the Advancement of Management lectures this fall. Now a broker with McGriff Insurance Services, Blanchard explained the role of an insurance broker and offered advice to students as they look forward to launching their careers.

A soccer player while at PC, Blanchard said being a student-athlete has helped him in his career.

“You have to have some type of competitive nature to do this because you’re not going to win every day,” Blanchard said.

Blanchard majored in business administration while at PC but noted that insurance brokers he works with earned degrees in a variety of fields, including history and Christian education.

He explained that the role of an insurance broker is to serve as a liaison between an insurance company and a business.

“The goal is to be a trusted advisor,” Blanchard told the students.

Blanchard told students that they’ll learn much of the job on the job itself, but that PC prepared him for a successful career.

“If you get into this business,” Blanchard said, “you need to have a good general knowledge about how the business world works. The business curriculum here at PC gave me the big picture I needed.”

He said that PC’s Honor Code prepared him for the business world.

“There’s a lot of room for corruption. If you’re dishonest, you’ll be found out,” Blanchard said. “Ethics and integrity are an important part of business. Going to PC, where we abide by the Honor Code, taught me the importance of ethics and integrity early on.”