From her first internship to her latest leadership role, Janet Zeaiter (MBA ’14) has made lasting impacts across the independent agency sector of the insurance industry.
At Liberty Mutual, she’s launched and marketed new products, built a field support team from the ground up, and earned the company’s President’s Award in 2019 for leading the successful execution of a $230 million book transfer—one of the largest in company history.
“It’s an industry that’s really welcomed me,” she says.
After starting her career a commercial underwriter, Janet came to the Wisconsin School of Business to pursue an MBA with a risk and insurance specialization. She appreciated that even at a sprawling university like UW–Madison, the MBA program felt personalized and intimate. “You really get the chance to get to know your classmates and professors, and develop really deep connections,” she says. “I cannot say enough good things about my experience at Wisconsin.”
After graduation, Janet joined Liberty Mutual’s leadership development program, where she spent two years crisscrossing the country, working on personal and commercial insurance consulting projects. Her career eventually led her to Cincinnati, opening the door to new leadership opportunities, including a promotion to a brand-new AVP role in early 2025. She’s now tasked with profitably growing the Safeco brand in her region. “That means advocating for our agents, getting the right product, and getting the right pricing for us to be successful in market,” she says.