Today we’d like to introduce you to Tamara Chhay.
Hi Tamara, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started working in the insurance industry as a medical coder and biller in 2012, then transitioned to a large national employee benefits brokerage in 2014 as an account coordinator/account manager. I decided to pursue my own agency in 2019 and wanted to provide a “one-stop shop” for our clients. We started with supporting small business owners such as mom & pop shops while also being able to provider administrative services for our clients to manage their “office” without the need for them to hire full-time help.
In 2021, we opened our doors to offering ACA/Marketplace plan options and helped navigate enrollees who were not offered benefits, were between jobs OR were solo-entrepreneurs. We are a team of 4 including 2 sales leads, an account manager and an office admin on the insurance side. we are a team of 5 on the Admin/Operations side of the business which was branched out as it’s own LLC in 2024 (VOM Collective).
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Business wise, I would say it has been a smooth road for the most part. We are slowly growing but it’s a good way of slow that allows us to be able to keep up and still provide exceptional client support which is what we love to do. The struggles we’ve encountered more so this past year has just been all the compliance changes and confusion that is happening on the ACA/marketplace side which just makes it difficult for consumers to fully trust any agent with their healthcare needs. I feel like we hit a roadblock when it comes to fully serving our clients as CMS requires a little hands on experience with the consumer and it’s all insurance language which makes it difficult for them to navigate on their own.
On a personal level, 2025 was a huge hit to our family with the caring and then passing of my dad earlier in the year, my husband’s blood disorder diagnosis and then shortly after that I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I finished chemotherapy treatment right before ACA open enrollment started, then had a double mastectomy during the middle of open enrollment. I’m gearing up for another surgery here in a couple of weeks and then finishing out the year with radiation and a milder chemo/targeted therapy. All things are working for the good though! We are super blessed and thankful for all that God has conquered for us as we went through this season of life.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think I may have touched base on most of this in the previous sections. We truly want to help consumers understand the importance and need of health insurance even though it may be considered expensive. Nothing is more expensive than a major medical diagnosis midyear and not being able to be treated until it’s too late. 🙁 We love to take the time that is needed to fully explain how their plans work, we want to be available throughout the year as life changes are happening or if things are needed such as ID cards, network concerns, etc..
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Tee (my husband) and I took a major financial risk in 2016 by opening up a local donut shop. it was a very popular place and we even had people drive in from out of town just to check us out because of all the great things they have heard. Unfortunately, the cost of a store front was difficult to stay open so we eventually sold our business right when Covid was hitting the US.
In the middle of our donut shop days, that’s when I quit my job with the large benefits broker with no plan in place and we weren’t making any money with the donut shop. That was a huge risk but everything aligned exactly how it was supposed to and we are super thankful for the connections we had with our customers to be able to get our insurance agency up and running.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chhayinsurance.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chhayinsurancesolutions
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chhayinsurance
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chhay-insurance-solutions
- Other: https://tamarachhay.com/
Image Credits
These images are either taken from my phone, a file of my logo or screenshots from our website. We don’t have many images to use.
