Profile
Kelly Smith is a Regional Vice President at FirstChoice, a MarshBerry Company, where she leads growth, strategy, and agency development across the MidAtlantic region. With nearly 20 years of experience in the property and casualty industry, she specializes in helping independent agencies scale through aggregation, market access, operational efficiency, and carrier alignment.
Smith oversees one of FirstChoice’s largest multistate territories, guiding membership growth, onboarding quality, retention, and carrier partnerships across MD, NJ, DE, VA, DC, and NC. She is known for her ability to build trusted relationships while driving measurable performance, coaching agencies on profitability, staffing, technology adoption, and long-term strategic planning.
A lifelong student of the business, Smith holds CPCU and CRIS designations and earned her MBA in Insurance in 2025. Her achievements include being named PIA Company Representative of the Year and Rookie of the Year at FirstChoice/MarshBerry. She contributes actively to the broader industry through leadership roles with PIA, the Richmond CPCU Society, the IIAV Legislative Council, and the Frederick Mutual Agency Council, and she mentors students through the VCU School of Business.
Smith is passionate about developing future leaders – particularly women in insurance – expanding diversity and inclusion and strengthening the independent agency channel. Her blend of frontline agency experience, advanced education, and regional leadership makes her a trusted advisor and an influential voice in the evolving insurance landscape.
28601 Chagrin Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44122
440 804 5536
meghan.hanrahan@marshberry.com
linkedin.com/in/kelly-smith-mba-cpcu-cris
marshberry.com
Kelly Smith
Regional Vice President FirstChoice, a MarshBerry Company
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Bio
Milestones
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
Joined Grange Insurance as Middle Market Underwriter
2021
Promoted to Territory Sales Manager
2022
Completed CPCU
2023
Promoted to Senior Territory Sales Manager
2024
Joined FirstChoice, a MarshBerry Company as Regional Vice President
Completed MBA
2025
Milestones
“By focusing on doing the best possible job for every client, they naturally tell their friends and family. That organic growth has been very rewarding”
Alan Borthwick,
DUX Financial Services
“Our goal is not to speed up transactions but to slow down where it matters, taking the time to truly understand each client’s situation and deliver thoughtful, personalised guidance”
Alan Borthwick,
DUX Financial Services
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For Borthwick, satisfaction means delivering the result the client set out to achieve while keeping the process smooth and low stress during what can be an emotional time, such as buying a home. He says his greatest strength is cutting through complexity to find the best path forward, staying calm no matter how challenging the lending scenario.
While he has celebrated plenty of loan approvals that others said could not be done, the achievements that mean the most are different. What stands out most to him is helping clients pay off their mortgages far faster than they expected. “Seeing the real difference this makes to their financial freedom and peace of mind is incredibly rewarding,” he says.
Looking ahead, the targets are not about volume. Borthwick is aiming for higher client satisfaction and stronger long-term financial outcomes, with an ambition “to be known as the adviser clients can rely on for calm, considered advice in an increasingly digital world.”
It is an approach summed up by the team’s shared commitment: clear, practical mortgage and financial advice that reduces stress and builds lasting financial resilience for New Zealand families.