Meet Your MCC Team
Darren Houck | Chief Executive Officer | dhouck@mccbrokerage.com
Darren began his career as an insurance broker in 2008 offering life, health, Medicare, and a myriad of ancillary products. Prior to MCC, Darren was a Financial Investment Advisor who held a Series 7 & 66 and specializing in wealth and risk management. Darren is a proud Veteran of the United States Air Force and continues to serve as an active member in the community. He has an M.B.A from Saint Leo University and a B.S. in Finance from the University of South Florida, where he graduated both with honors. Darren began his tenure with MCC in 2014, hired on as Vice President of Operations, then advanced to COO and partner within the firm. Currently as CEO, Darren is charged with leading, developing, and oversight of all organizational initiatives. His vision and forward-thinking has shaped MCC into an insurance brokerage focused on building partnerships vital to excelling in the industry. Darren is an exceptional leader who enjoys celebrating MCC’s wins with the team, reminding them they always are team successes.
In his free time, Darren loves spending time with his wife, Jill, and his sons, Jackson and Cameron, along with boating, golfing, snow skiing, traveling and volunteering in the community.
Kim Barton | Director of Operations | kbarton@mccbrokerage.com
Kim joined MCC in 2019 as our Commissions and Accounting specialist and has since been promoted to Director of Operations. In her current role she oversees MCC’s daily business activities, ensuring the organization is performing efficiently and effectively. Prior to MCC, Kim worked for 10 years in the Financial Industry. Her roles ranged from Customer Service and Social Media up to Sr. Operations Manager for the Fraud & Claims Investigation team. She has an A.S. in Mathematics & Science from SUNY Jamestown and completed her B.B.A in Economics and Management from Kent State University. Kim has a passion for and brings a fresh perspective to team building and professional development for the MCC team.
Kim enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, who always keep them on their toes. In addition to family time, she likes being outdoors, traveling, cooking, and entertaining friends.
Melissa Spanola | Compliance Director | mspanola@mccbrokerage.com
Melissa began her career with MCC in 1995, having started her insurance career with MetLife where she worked in Life Underwriting, Small Group and Death and Disability Claims. She has successfully completed LOMA courses and has also done employee annual enrollment. Melissa has been promoted over the years to now being the Compliance Officer for Medicare Advantage. In addition, she also oversees MCC’s Medicare retail location initiative. Melissa is charged with marketing Life, Health, Disability, Long Term Care, Final Expense, and other products to brokers along with directing all aspects of Compliance. Her extensive knowledge of the ins and outs of Medicare guidelines has saved multiple agents from headaches and carrier issues. Melissa takes her responsibility personally and is always expanding her knowledge base to assist MCC agents.
Melissa enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren, along with cooking, traveling, going to Disney, and attending USF football games.
Edward Haylock | Regional Sales Director | ehaylock@mccbrokerage.com
Edward brings a diverse background of skills to MCC that began 15 years ago as an Independent Agent. Over that time, he has gained experience that includes individual health, group health, life, and ancillary benefits. Since 2007, Edward’s focus has been on government sponsored health plans: Medicare and Medicaid. Throughout all lines of coverage, he has worked in both broker development and direct production. He is a native of St. Petersburg and graduated from St. Petersburg College with a B.S. in Business Management. Through Edward’s role at MCC as a Regional Sales Director, he shares his belief with agents that people have a responsibility to participate in their local communities by encouraging them to volunteer and get involved with resources in their area. Edward has found much success in this initiative, not only for agents he manages, but also in his personal business.
For fun, Edward likes to spend time with family and friends enjoying activities like BBQing, camping, traveling, and sporting events, as well as volunteering in various activities and participating in different community groups.
Patricia Chandler-Faust | Regional Sales Director | pfaust@mccbrokerage.com
With a tenured career in Marketing and Sales, Patricia has owned and operated companies from start-up phase through acquisition of more than $200 million in her 25-year career. With an empowerment of knowledge, she chose to become involved in the Medicare Space over 12 years ago. Patricia joined the MCC team in 2017 to assist in the recruitment and training of agents throughout the Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama Region. Her vast experience in local market branding and advertising for companies with a national base, emerges as one of her greatest strengths in fostering our agents to become local market specialists, with community enhancement at the forefront of their Medicare sales. Patricia brings high energy, positive positioning, and sales acumen to build our broker team future forward. Agents love her friendly personality and no-nonsense approach to business.
Patricia resides in New Orleans where she and her husband enjoy kayaking the bayous, playing golf, and eating some of the finest food in the nation.
Patrice White | Agent Sales Manager | pwhite@mccbrokerage.com
Patrice also joined MCC in 2022. With a background as an agent since 1998, as well as a Sales Manager and Trainer for a large, national carrier, Patrice brings many years of experience in the Medicare industry to the MCC team. As a trainer, Patrice taught courses on traditional insurance products and Veteran specific plans. She also previously owned her own agency; held real estate and mortgage broker licenses; sat on the Board of Directors for Pop Warner in Jacksonville, FL; and was a Million Dollar Round Table producer. Patrice’s previous experiences have given her a great understanding of, not only the industry itself, but also lead generation and sales processes. In her role as an Agent Sales Manager for MCC, Patrice is tasked with helping new agents with the contracting & certification processes, as well as assisting those agents with prospecting/lead generation, sales processes and member retention.
Patrice has been married for 33 years and is the mom of five. She loves sports, especially playing beach volleyball and participating in competitive frisbee throwing events. Patrice also enjoys listening to music & fishing.
Sandy Benoit | Broker Development Manager | sbenoit@mccbrokerage.com
Sandy started her career as an insurance broker offering Medicare, life, health, and an abundance of ancillary products. In 2010, she managed an internal sales team for a national group with up to 18 direct reports before coming aboard with MCC in 2012. At MCC, Sandy quickly spearheaded several key marketing initiatives to assist brokers in growing both their Life and Health client base. Sandy was previously promoted to the Operations Manager position and has also carried the title Marketing Director. Now, Sandy has been tasked with where she oversees, evaluates, and develops marketing strategies, along with researching product development. Sandy is tasked with coordinating marketing projects, as well as supporting sales and lead generation efforts, so that MCC agents get the best experience possible. Her desire to see agents succeed, leads Sandy in every interaction she has, whether with a carrier partner, an agent, or a colleague.
In her spare time, Sandy loves cooking, going to the beach, and watching the sunset. She and her husband Phil, have one child and one grandchild.
Sherrie Kontos | Sales & Operations Analyst | skontos@mccbrokerage.com
Returning to MCC in the fall of 2021, Sherrie has taken on the new role of Sales & Operation Analyst for MCC. This allows her to use her experience with administrative processes and technology to help increase efficiency by reducing redundancies, both internally and externally. Sherrie has quickly found her stride and place on the MCC Team, becoming an integral connection between sales and operations. Her skills in compiling and reporting data are vital to the tracking and performance of MCC’s many new and current agent campaigns, giving measurable insights into how MCC’s efforts are affecting the organization. The MCC Team members and agents appreciate Sherrie’s attention to detail and willingness to take on new tasks.
Sherrie enjoys spending time with her family, visiting the beach and reading.
Kortney Vibelius | Medicare Sales Admin | kvibelius@mccbrokerage.com
Bringing Medicare experience and knowledge from WellCare, Kortney joined MCC in 2018 as a Medicare Sales Admin. This ever-evolving role has provided her with many opportunities to increase her knowledge and skills. Managing a wide array of tasks from creating customized marketing piece for agents to setting up the Outbound Marketers for success, Kortney wears many hats in the organization. Her willingness to learn and take on new tasks has expanded her responsibilities within MCC since she walked in the door on day one. Agents and team members, alike, appreciate her forward-thinking and creativity.
When she’s not at MCC, Kortney loves spending time with her family, being involved in her church community, taking her fur babies to the bark park, going to Disney, and scrapbooking her family’s memories to be shared for generations to come.
Meena Marzano | Medicare Specialist | rmarzano@mccbrokerage.com
Meena is one of the newest additions to the MCC team, having joined us in January of 2020, after 7 years of experience in the Insurance industry. With a hybrid role in Support and Recruiting, Meena is great at initiating partnerships with agents, as well as walking them through the onboarding process and providing the support needed to take their business to the next level. Whether it is reading or attending seminars, Meena is always eager to learn new things and stay busy. Her positive attitude, constant smile and silly jokes bring joy to the MCC office every day.
Meena enjoys writing & reading, going to church, checking out new places in the Bay Area, and baking treats for her friends and coworkers.
Mackenzie Blair | Medicare Support Specialist | mblair@mccbrokerage.com
Joining MCC in 2012 with no industry experience, Mackenzie was eager to learn and grow her knowledge of the business. Starting as a Data Entry Clerk, it was not long until MCC recognized Mackenzie’s value and moved her into her current Medicare Support Specialist role. Her drive and hunger for knowledge through the years has made her a great resource to MCC agents and team members alike. Mackenzie’s optimism spreads quickly through the MCC team, especially on days with a little extra stress than normal.
In her spare time, Mackenzie loves spending time with her husband and children. She also enjoys cooking, playing video games, and visiting her extended family and in-laws.
Junissa Jansen | Medicare Support Specialist | jjansen@mccbrokerage.com
One of the most recent addition to the MCC Support Team, Junissa came onboard with 10 years of customer service experience and an ever-cheerful personality. She quickly learned our industry and had no qualms about jumping in the deep end by answering agent’s phone calls within a week of coming to MCC. Junissa continues to grow her Medicare knowledge base daily. When she is not sure about an answer, Junissa will initiate a 3-way call with Mackenzie or Meena and our agents in order to ensure our agents receive the correct information. Junissa’s go-getter attitude has been a welcome addition to the MCC Team. Her positivity shines through her smile everyday.
When she’s not working, Junissa loves spending time with her children. She also enjoys crafting, refinishing furniture and shopping for home decor.
Emily Bravo | Medicare Support Specialist | ebravo@mccbrokerage.com
Also a recent addition to the MCC Support Team, Emily joined MCC in April 2022. She brings with her 8 years of customer service experience, 3 years of being a licensed agent and a quirky personality. With her large bank of knowledge, Emily did not hesitate to jump right in, assisting agents and other member’s of the support team with any needs they had. With her dynamic work ethic, Emily has been an asset to all those on the MCC Team by consistently taking on new projects and constantly asking how she can help. Her dad jokes always add levity to our days and give us a good little chuckle.
For fun, Emily enjoys painting, bowling and axe throwing. She also loves spending time with her family & friends, including her boyfriend and his daughter. She also enjoys playing ping pong so much that she owns a ping pong table.
Lori Renninger | Life Case Manager | lrenninger@mccbrokerage.com
Lori has been a part of the MCC team since 2012. With her diverse background, Lori brings a lot of knowledge to her position as a Life Case Manager. Assisting agents with everything from life quoting to contracting to finalizing case placement, Lori is an invaluable benefit for MCC agents who write life insurance. She has a passion for educating agents on the latest products and making sure they are offering a complete portfolio of products to their clients. Lori’s anecdotes and adventures always bring much needed laughter to team calls and meetings. While Lori is one of our remote team members, living in Maryland, she supports our agents easily, as if she were in the local office.
When Lori has free time, she likes spending time with her husband and dog, as well as traveling to Montana to see her family and being outdoors.
Chris Ostrowski | Outbound Marketer | costrowski@mccbrokerage.com
Chris joined the MCC team in 2013 after leaving his management role at a large Fortune 500 company. He has been an asset to our team and agents since. Tasked with the important duty of agent outreach in his Outbound Marketer role, Chris not only recruits new agents to MCC, but also reaches out to our current agents to keep them updated on the latest announcements from MCC and carrier partners. Chris takes pride in helping agents gain careers and knowledge in the Medicare space. His laughter and glass half-full outlook bring a welcomed light atmosphere to the MCC team.
Chris loves spending time with his wife, Mary, and their pets. He is a professional magician, who likes sleight of hand and entertaining audiences of all ages.