Diverse Pathways into Insurance – Dylan’s Story

To celebrate our 10-year anniversary and to highlight our ongoing work to help improve social mobility, we’re bringing you a series illustrating diverse career pathways into insurance.

This month we’re excited to tell you about Dylan’s journey into insurance, which is a testament to his resilience, passion, and infectious positivity. His story is one of overcoming obstacles, embracing opportunities and helping others.

Dylan’s journey into the insurance industry has been shaped by resilience, determination, and the mentorship provided by the social mobility charity upReach. His path was anything but straightforward, marked by significant personal challenges and a need to navigate an often unfamiliar and complex professional landscape.

Dylan’s life took a profound turn when he lost his mother at just 15. This loss not only took away a vital source of emotional support but also left him without the guidance many young people rely on when making important life decisions. “Before that, I enjoyed the privilege of having a loving family who was supportive,” he reflects. “Afterwards, it became a lot harder to find direction.”

The resilience and perseverance Dylan has since shown, stems in part from his first role as swimmer, ultimately competing at the national level. This competitive spirit has helped him tackle the often-challenging world of insurance with determination and focus.

It was as Dylan pursued his studies in biomedicine at university that he first became aware of the insurance sector’s critical role in enabling innovation and research. During his research projects, he often encountered the limitations imposed by insurance policies, which piqued his curiosity about the industry. “At the time, my only understanding of insurance was car or home coverage,” he recalls. This initial spark led him to investigate the industry further, uncovering a world of complex risk management and financial security that appealed to his analytical mindset.

This exploration eventually led Dylan to upReach, a UK-based social mobility charity that supports students from less-advantaged backgrounds in achieving their career goals. upReach provides mentorship, skills training, and networking opportunities to help individuals overcome barriers and achieve professional success. The charity’s programmes offer tailored support, helping students build the confidence and skills needed to access competitive sectors like insurance, law, and finance.

Through upReach, Dylan connected with industry mentors, including a senior underwriter at Axis, who helped him understand insurance cycles and risk management. This mentorship proved invaluable, providing him with insights that would later help him secure an internship at Aspen, where he gained hands-on experience in cyber underwriting. His journey continued to AXA XL, where he has deepened his understanding of insurance and underwriting. Today, Dylan is building a successful career in insurance, driven by a desire to contribute to the sector’s innovation.

His experience has fuelled a deep commitment to breaking down barriers for others from similar backgrounds. As he continues to develop his career, Dylan remains determined to demonstrate that with resilience, curiosity, and the right mentorship, anyone can overcome the most difficult of beginnings to build a promising future.

At IICF we believe that the industry can be a united force for good. Through our focus on social mobility, we are helping to unlock potential, open doors and changes lives by uniting the industry in grants, volunteer service and leadership while helping build a more inclusive industry. We hope this story inspires you to pay it forward and help change a young person’s future, perhaps as a mentor or volunteer with an IICF charity partner.

Learn how you can support IICF and make a difference: www.iicf.org.uk/10