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GradGuard Spotlight: Kaylyn Manning

Published Date
Author Natalie Hubertus

Account managers serve as the liaison between companies and their customers or clients. Their main priority is to develop and maintain strong relationships by addressing customer's needs and concerns as quickly and effectively as possible. 

GradGuard's account managers play an integral role in the company, and we're taking the time to highlight each one of ours. 

Get to Know GradGuard's Kaylyn Manning:

- Joined the team in Aug. 2019

- Works as a Senior Campus Development Director

- Licensed P&C insurance agent

- Leads TouchNet partnership and integration

In Kaylyn's role as a Senior Campus Development Director, she manages tuition insurance partnerships with colleges and universities. 

Over the past few years, Kaylyn became a P&C licensed insurance agent and has helped train and coach new employees and team members. She believes being a licensed agent lends her an upper hand in managing the relationship with the college and university administrators. 

Understanding insurance jargon and legalese is one positive aspect, but another is also being able to simplify that language so it's easier for a student, parent, or college official to understand. 

Once a college or university becomes a GradGuard Tuition Insurance partner,  Kaylyn is one of the team members who will take over the account and manage the relationship from thereon out. 

Ensuring GradGuard partners have their existing wants and needs heard and addressed is an important part of her job, Kaylyn says. She works to make the onboarding process as seamless as possible and to help the school understand best practices for program success. 

"We want to make sure that their relationship and experience with GradGuard is a positive one," Kaylyn says.

Empathy and confidence are two important aspects of her role. Kaylyn focuses on listening to each institution's needs to determine what's best for them. If a problem comes up, even if she hasn't experienced it before, Kaylyn works to take care of the school, knowing each school is different.

"I know I'm trying to do the best for them," Kaylyn says. "So even if I have to be a little tougher or give them bad news, at least they know I'm coming from a great place, too. I can be confident I'm giving good advice."

As GradGuard grows and the network of colleges and universities expands, Kaylyn carved out a recent addition to her role as she leads the TouchNet partnership and integration. When school partners were able to integrate the tuition insurance program into their TouchNet software, Kaylyn caught on with the technology and functionality quickly. 

"It became a natural fit for me to lead this relationship," she says. 

Prior to joining GradGuard, Kaylyn played softball for 25 years. She was a catcher on the Arizona State National Championship Softball team and a Division I All-American athlete in 2011. 

After completing her undergrad at ASU in Marketing, Kaylyn received her master's in Liberal Studies.

Fun Facts about Kaylyn:

  • Honored as a First-Team All-American 
  • Won the NCAA Softball World Series in 2011
  • Played professionally in Japan for four years

What Kaylyn likes best about her job is being relatable, responsive, and reliable for GradGuard's school partners. She knows that relationships with colleges and universities are invaluable to the company and its mission of educating and protecting students and the investment their families make in higher education. Getting to know administrators on both a personal and professional level enables her to provide the best experience for the school and the program.

As a former All-American softball player, Kaylyn says her best competition is herself. 

She keeps her trophy nearby while she works to bring the same drive and determination to her partners, the same way she did on the softball field years ago.

“I keep it on my desk to be an All-American not only on the softball field but also in the corporate world," Kaylyn says. "I always bring that mentality. I’m competitive with everybody but in a good way. Especially in our environment with GradGuard. That’s what truly drives me to be the best account manager I could be.”

Kaylyn lives in the Phoenix, Arizona area with her husband and two dogs, Deuce and Dozer.