Month: April 2023

Blue Shield recognized D&D as the top Medicare Producer!

April 24, 2023

Earlier this month, Blue Shield recognized D&D as their top Medicare Producer for Northern California.

We want to recognize Catherine Lumsden and Linda Hoang-Chao for their tireless work in this area. Thank you very much ladies for your incredible work. We’re proud of these two and their accomplishments at D&D!

Happy Retirement, Linda Doust!

April 24, 2023

We’d like to acknowledge Linda Doust, who is retiring after nearly 11 years as one of D&D’s Customer Service Representatives in the San Luis Obispo office. Linda, we are grateful for your years of dedication to our team and our clients and wish you all the best in your retirement!

Thank you to all who celebrated with us at San Luis Obispo Golf & Country Club.

UPDATE – Personal Lines Staffing & Primary Backup

April 14, 2023

Good morning,

Sharing few updates…

We added a new member to the Personal Lines team back on March 13, 2023.  Her name is Ronica Mireles and she is based out of our Lodi office part-time and remote part-time.  For the folks in Fresno, if you didn’t get a chance to say “hi” when she was in Fresno, she will be back to the office to continue her training and education.  Please take some time and extend a warm welcome.

With the addition of Ronica, we’re also making some changes to the “Back-up Pairings”. 

  • Lynda Castillo (Fresno) will now be paired with Valerie Arteaga (Oxnard/SLO)
  • Vivian Gallegos (Bakersfield) will now be paired with Kathy Devine Streich (Taft)

You will note, Anita will continue to backup Shannon and we’re adding in Ronica.  Anita White has been asked and accepted a leadership role in the Personal Lines department as Team Leader, which includes onboarding/mentoring Ronica.

Special “THANK YOU” to Anita.  Without her support, kindness, generosity, and unlimited amount of patience, I could not do what I need to do.

Also, thank you to ALL OF YOU for all your support and managing the growing pains.  A lot has been accomplished with much more to be done but very happy to say we have a blueprint. 

With gratitude,

Sue S. Long
Vice President of Personal Lines/Chief Operating Officer

Welcome to the team, Rene Sanchez!

April 12, 2023

We’re excited to announce that we have a new family member amongst us in Fresno.  Rene Sanchez will be working with Dirk and team in the P&C Marketing Department.

Prior to joining the DiBuduo & DeFendis family, Rene Sanchez worked for over 15 years at Van Beurden Insurance Services, Inc. and their subsidiary, Inter-Pacific Insurance Brokers, Inc.  During his tenure he earned the trust to be responsible for workers compensation claims as a consultant, MGA program broker/manager, and E&S broker/underwriter/manager, and Commercial Lines Marketing Manager. He also worked for State Compensation Insurance Fund for 6 years as a Workers Compensation Claims Adjuster / Workers Compensation Claims Liaison. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Business Administration from St. Mary’s College of California in 1994. He has been designated a PWCA (Professional Workers Comp. Advisor) and CWCA (Certified Workers Comp. Advisor)

He married his beautiful wife, Luisa Parra-Sanchez, on December 16, 2000. They have two daughters. Evania is 19 and is a Freshman who plays volleyball at CSU Dominguez Hills. His youngest daughter, Sofia, is 16 and a Sophomore at Clovis North High School. She also plays volleyball for her school and Valley Volleyball Academy. His wife is an MFT and has been working for the County of Fresno Children’s Behavioral Health Division for the last 24 years.  

Rene enjoys spending his free time enjoying quality time with his wife and daughters. His family loves to take vacations in Mexico to enjoy the food, culture, and beaches!

Please say hello to him at the Fresno office, thanks!