Most recently, as Senior Vice President and Profit Center Head for New York Life's direct marketing facility in Tampa, Florida, starting in September 1994 and over a period of nine years Tom was responsible for building and managing the overall activities of the AARP Life Insurance Program from New York Life, plus all NYL's corporate direct marketing and agent lead generation programs. Tom was recruited to New York Life to start the business and assume total responsibility for this new venture. He was responsible for both strategic development and tactical implementation of the direct-to-consumer business model. Under his guidance the AARP Life Insurance Program has gone from zero to $360 million in revenue, with 900,000 customers.

Immediately prior to joining New York Life, Tom was President and Chief Operating Officer of Dependable Insurance Group, a specialized personal lines company providing property/casualty and life insurance products and services to financial institutions through direct marketing and field sales distribution systems. He held this position from 1991 to 1994, returning the company to profitability through a restructuring that eliminated unprofitable programs, consolidated three operating companies, and refocused marketing direction to capitalize on the "core" business strategy of providing products and services to the financial institution marketplace.

At Colonial Penn Group, Tom developed extensive experience in direct marketing of life, health, and property and casualty products. During his 12-year career at Colonial Penn, Tom held a number of officer-level positions, including Senior Vice President of National Sales and Operations. Among his responsibilities were sales and operational functions for all product lines, countrywide; management of the full-service regional operations, in Philadelphia, PA, Tampa, FL, and Phoenix, AZ for property/casualty product lines and a centralized life/health operation in Philadelphia, PA; plus development of corporate marketing strategy for life, health, and property/casualty product lines that utilized direct mail, print, television, and telephone marketing programs. The operating units included the sales, underwriting, customer service, and administrative functions with a total of 2,100 employees and an operating budget of $120 million. New annualized premium volume increased from $35 million to $200 million.

Tom began his insurance career at Allstate Insurance Company where he spent ten years and held a variety of management positions in sales, operations and human resources. As Operations Manager, his responsibilities included servicing the agency force and policyholders in a multi-state regional operation. He also managed customer service, underwriting, and administrative functions.