Barbara Prosch was an underwriter for Diaryland
Insurance Company handling Washington State, Oregon and
California from her office in Southern California.
That was Barbara's introduction to the insurance industry
and from those underwriting days to her immersion in the
Foothill's B&B Cleaning and Restoration Services years
later her only experience with insurance was the monthly
premiums she paid.
However, just before working as B&B's office manager,
Barbara was left alone with two daughters in a drafty 400
square foot basement apartment with no kitchen; just a camp
stove, crock-pot, card table and chairs; no heat and no
child support. She was hired by Bill Prosch and adapted
quickly to the complexities of the insurance repair business
to Bill's exacting standards. B&B sent her to the
Xactimate training facility in Utah and she rapidly became
an invaluable asset to the restoration company.
B&B joined a management based franchise system and
changed the company name to El Dorado Service Team of
Professionals in 1992 (El Dorado STOP). Barbara began to
market for the company one day a week and her lively
personality and natural rapport with people made her even
more valuable to the company. She also became more
essential to Bill Prosch as their working relationship and
friendship blossomed into a deep respect and warm regard.
Bill and Barbara were married in June of 1998.
Barbara began marketing fulltime for El Dorado STOP in May
of 1998 and from the first month that she was out
interacting with the insurance community, El Dorado STOP
attained their monthly goal and continued to do so each and
every month thereafter. El Dorado Service Team ranked in the
top five of Service Team of Professionals Franchises in the
country for 5 years running, and two of those years was
selected as the "best of the best" &endash; top franchise in
the country.
Barbara and
Bill figured that they proved that well-planned marketing
and the highest business ethics are an unbeatable team.
Barbara and Bill are very grateful for the richness of their
lives and have been giving back to their community by way of
a scholarship to Independence High School in the name of
Bill's son Eric, who died in March of 2000. They award a
scholarship of compassion based on the recipient's will to
persevere through adversity and serious challenges in life
outside of school. These scholarships are not dependent on
academics alone. The funds may be used for a trade school
or college or any educational outlet, and is renewed as long
as the recipient stays in school.
Barbara has
been an integral part of the insurance claims associations
since she served as secretary for Sacramento Claims
Association for three years and was honored with the Member
of the Year Award in 2001. She also served as the golf
tournament sponsorship chair for 2 years. Not one to take a
rest she took on the very challenging golf sponsorship chair
for the Property Claims Forum and excelled at that
responsibility for three years as well. She worked
tirelessly for the Insurance Professionals of Sacramento
(formerly Insurance Women of Sacramento) during these years
and contributed time, raffle prizes, golf sponsorships and
moral support to the group. During this time she also took
on the secretarial duties at the CCNC planning committee in
1997, and after several years of behind the scenes work, she
became Vice-President and then President of CCNC in 2003-
concurrent with the Presidency of the PCF. During her PCF's
Presidential term, Barbara hosted and co-chaired the Year
End Ball at the Sutter Club in 2003. Barbara was
instrumental in bringing off this year's very successful
golf tournament for the Property Claims Forum as well. Along
with the memberships of Sacramento Claims and Property
Claims Forum, Barbara has been an active member of the IBA
West, and a sponsoring member of the CAIIA. Barbara was the
president of Network El Dorado, a local business group, in
addition to involvement with the El Dorado Film
Commissioners in Placerville provided restoration and
construction services for several movies filmed in El Dorado
County. Joan Barrett is owner of the
independent marketing firm, Market Share. She is
also past president of the Sacramento Claims
Association, 2004 President Claims Conference of
Northern, Inc., and a free-lance writer. Contact
Joan at: joanbarrett@yahoo.com.
The El Dorado County based full-service restoration and
construction firm has left the franchise system behind after
twelve years and all of their obligations fulfilled. Their
name has been changed to reflect the new direction and is
now El Dorado Restoration. A new part of their team is Bob
Gillett, a partner that shares their ethics and high
standards.
Barbara's new title in the renamed company is Director of
Business Development and she supervises the administration
staff as well. We just hope that she can keep that Wonder
Woman cape stuffed inside her business suit. Thank you for
all that you do for the insurance community, Barbara.
