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 | Vice President 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 | Director of Sales | 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 Director of Sales, 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.
Johnathan Moore | Agent Sales Director | jmoore@mccbrokerage.com
Jonathan joined MCC with over 12 years of experience in the Medicare industry. He has embraced success in sales and management on both the field and telesales sides of the business. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Leo University specializing in Business Management. Jonathan has established experience in agent development, grass roots marketing, physician marketing, and building strong relationships within the community through networking. He understands the challenges that face individual agents and agencies alike,and embraces an ability to provide a pathway to success through a valued partnership.
Jonathan is a Florida native and he enjoys spending time with his family doing activities like boating, cooking, fishing, hunting, and going to the Buccaneers and Lightning games.
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.
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.
Della Wade | Medicare Support Specialist | dwade@mccbrokerage.com
Della joined the team in 2023 as a Medicare Account Specialist. She is a proud Veteran of the United States Navy with an abundance of customer service and administrative skills. Prior to her current role, Della worked 5 years as a Licensing, Contracting and Commissions representative on the Life side of the Insurance business. During her tenure, she’s obtained the certifications ALMI, ACS and FLMI through the Life Office Management Association (LOMA). In addition to obtaining credentials in Google Data Analytics and Google UX Design. Della supports and gives back to her community through her volunteer work with Operation Military Matters, Hillsborough Education Foundation, Arthritis Foundation, Goodwill, Metropolitan Ministries, and the National MS Society. She brings an energetic spirit to the team and is always ready to lend a helping hand.
In her spare time, Della enjoys going to the gym and other outdoor activities as well as spending time at home.
Shawn Allone | Support Specialist |sallone@mccbrokerage.com
Shawn joined the MCC team in 2024. Shawn brings over 6 years of experience in sales, customer service, and management roles. Previously he excelled in health and life insurance sales, achieving top-performer status and exceeding goals.
Outside of work, he enjoys quality time with family and friends, engaging in activities like guitar, piano, and gaming.