Driven to help our clients succeed.

Andrew Appel is a leader who relies not on name recognition to power him forward but instead on the steadfast pursuit of empowering G&A’s clients, colleagues and community. Andrew’s tenure as CEO has already seen him take on challenges from developing a diverse and inclusive staff to rocking as lead singer in their culture music video.

Today, anyone who knows Andrew recognizes him as a forever student of the written word, woodworking, empathy and Cubs baseball. Andrew aims to be a driving force for change in the insurance industry—with his passion, his servant leadership and his affinity for loud socks.

David Fischer is a visionary who is passionate about all things revenue and always brings an auspicious energy to the room. After serving eight years as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, David spent twelve years in the high-tech public sector with an emphasis on international sales providing manufacturing software solutions to the Fortune 100. He joined our executive leadership team in 2019.

David has been married to his wife, Shawn, for over 30 years, and together they have five children and three grandchildren. In his free time, he loves to enjoy the great outdoors by mountain biking, downhill skiing and technical mountain climbing.

Mike Salazar is an unapologetically passionate employee safety enthusiast who exudes a can-do attitude. Mike brings a friendly face to keeping organizations OSHA-compliant, and he consistently goes the extra mile to put the needs of clients first. He joined Gregory & Appel in the mid-90s and has embodied G&A’s culture of service ever since.

Outside of work, Mike has been active for many years with Indiana Youth Soccer and the Race to Recovery to benefit people who suffer paralysis as a result of spinal cord injuries.

Anthony Crain is a strategic and proactive leader who plays a steadfast role in keeping Gregory & Appel financially independent. After gaining invaluable experience in leadership positions at both distribution and professional service companies, Anthony returned to Gregory & Appel in 2018 as the controller and is now on his next adventure as chief financial officer.

A lifelong traveler and multilinguist, Anthony has visited Italy, Hawaii and several places in between. When he’s not jetting across the globe or focused on improving G&A’s sustainability, you can find him with a good history book or exploring the city with his partner.

Dan Appel’s journey began with a degree in finance from Indiana University and a knack for fixing systems. Dan has tirelessly worked to grow the firm, working to build a stable, profitable agency that improved the quality of three things: life for employees, advice and services for client organizations, and resources for the community as a whole. It worked. By helping others under Dan’s leadership, G&A succeeded, and Dan was able to turn over the reins to the fifth generation with his son, Andrew.

When asked about his ideal personal destination, Dan shares his dream to be with his family and friends at a 1920s-style fishing camp off the shore of Belize. Elegant, but not too fancy.

Pair tech savviness with a quick wit and caring heart, and you have the pleasure that is working with Ashton Balch.

As manager of our client services team, she oversees Gregory & Appel's loss control, safety training, claims advocacy and analytics services. She's earned her CAWC (Certified Authority on Workers' Compensation) and CCIC (Cyber COPE Insurance Certification) and continues to grow her skillset as she leads her team.

When not hard at work, Ashton is often playing soccer or head coaching the Bishop Chatard girls soccer team. She also enjoys spending time with her two dogs, Millie and Frankie.

Amber Breeden is a master of numbers and analysis who uses her keen eye for detail and empathic leadership style to lead all day-to-day functions of the accounting team.

In her role as accounting manager, she is eager to work with her colleagues to implement new ideas that improve on existing systems and processes. She loves how G&A encourages continued learning: “It’s important for our leaders to encourage growth and provide opportunities to learn new things.”

Her family keeps her busy – she loves spending time with her husband and playing with their two young kids. Amber is an avid reader who also loves the great outdoors. Their favorite family hiking spots are McCormick’s Creek State Park and the Yellowwood State Forest.

Jami Burdine is a human resources manager whose ultimate goal is to empower everyone around her. Armed with killer instincts, quick wits and boundless compassion, Jami greets all challenges head-on. Aside from lending a hand when needed, Jami excels at juggling G&A’s compensation, employee relations, compliance, employee benefits & wellness offerings as well as overseeing our internal committees. A self-proclaimed generalist, Jami touts she “knows a little bit about a lot of things.”

Outside of work, Jami is usually camping with her family or traveling to her sons’ sporting events. You can also find her nose-deep in a Dave Ramsey book as she is a big proponent of financial wellness.

Joe Cano is a dedicated IT manager with a passion for growth. He believes that you’re never done learning and that you should always make an effort to exceed expectations. Growing up, Joe had no idea that you could make a career out of IT. After taking an elective IT course in college, his entire career path changed, eventually joining the Gregory & Appel team in 2020.

In his free time, Joe enjoys all things cars, space exploration and Formula One racing. When he's not working, Joe can typically be found exploring Indiana's parks with his fiancé and their dog, attending car-related events or at a baseball game.

Erika Cuadrado is a bold marketing leader who’s energized by continuously improving Gregory & Appel’s brand experience and breaking the status quo of insurance industry marketing.

In 2016, she channeled her focus on marketing leadership and joined G&A to help shape the company’s brand direction and messaging. Now as VP & senior director of marketing, Erika leads and defines G&A’s  marketing strategy and creates the go-to-market approach.

Outside of work, Erika enjoys life's small pleasures - whether it's playing board games with her family, coaching youth basketball or teaching her son the Spanish language.

Tami Gray-Myers is an employee benefits service leader extraordinaire who makes life easier for others through her natural grasp of empathy and critical thinking. In 2008, she was drawn to Gregory & Appel because of our emphasis on clients and colleagues. Tami loves that G&A cares about people and that she, her colleagues and her clients are not just a number.

Tami’s thoughtfulness also shines outside of the office. She enjoys planning unique travel experiences based on shared interests with her two adult kids – like heading on an adventure to Waco, TX to visit the Magnolia neighborhood filming site of their favorite TV show, Fixer Upper.

Dustin Koesters is a true seize-the-day extraordinaire. A diagnosis in early adulthood brought Dustin face-to-face with the priority of living life to its fullest. With early hopes of being a stockbroker, Dustin went to the Kelley School of Business at IUPUI. However, a part-time job in insurance during his senior year sparked a love in him for the industry, and he never looked back, joining our family in 2015. Today, he continues to help push our company to new heights.

Dustin loves spending time with his wife, four children and any friend who is up for an adventure. He also enjoys hosting cookouts, traveling and watching movies – but never the same one twice.

Jack Mahoney spent multiple years as a commercial property underwriter for Chubb Insurance, his innate value for family preparing himself to work for the family firm. Business and personal relationships connected him to the Appel family and G&A over 30 years ago, and a partnership was born that was instrumental in bringing G&A to the place it is today. Regardless of the type of business, Jack’s passion is providing top-notch service for his clients.

Jack’s love of running has seen him hit the pavement both for fun and in completing multiple Chicago marathons. He also enjoys playing golf, practicing racket sports, hiking, reading and traveling with his family.

Lesley has over 25 years of leadership, business development and consulting experience in the health insurance industry. She uses her energy and strategic thinking to lead the next phase of innovation for our employee benefits consulting team and clients. 

In addition to recent roles leading business development teams, she was previously with Gregory & Appel from 2005 to 2015. Her end goal: to always provide the very best
solutions and innovative service offerings to our clients.

Valarie Mullins believes that you can solve any problem with the right amount of teamwork and determination. She boasts over 20 years of combined experience in underwriting, sales and management.

From tigers to race cars, she has seen firsthand how diverse personal insurance can get. After working for various national insurance carriers for most of her career, Valarie came to Gregory & Appel at the beginning of 2021 to grow her expertise on the broker side.

Outside of the office, you can find Valarie either by the pool with her friends and family or shopping around town, because as she puts it, “there’s nothing a little retail therapy can’t fix.”

Mary Ann Schmid is a commercial senior risk advisor who can tackle everything from the detective work of finding strategic solutions for her clients to fixing the office copier. Since Gregory & Appel extended her the opportunity to become an account manager over 30 years ago, she has grown her book of business to multiple years of Legendary Producer status, and she still has some accounts today that she did when she first began.

Hard work has always been a part of Mary Ann’s make up. When she does take time to relax, she enjoys reading historical fiction, walking outside, and gardening – celebrating that sometimes you just need to get your hands in the dirt.