
Maureen N. Maratita
Publisher
[email protected]
If there is one thing I’ve learned about the Guam Business Magazine Executive of the Year program, it is the excitement it generates.
And that’s perfectly fitting. But it’s a simple program with a couple of straightforward aims — firstly each year to honor a list of executives who have risen to the top of their professions, and done a lot of good along the way. Each of our nominees this year have had unique paths to the top, and their stories in this magazine show not only how much they have accomplished for themselves, but for our community as well.
The gala is one of two major fundraisers for the American Red Cross and so our nominees lend their names to that effort.
The 2019 Executive of the Year is Annmarie T. Muna. Congratulations Annmarie!
If you are from Guam or have lived here for any length of time, or indeed are from our region — it’s impossible not to know at least one member of the Muna family. Whether you are linked to baseball, business or politics — there is a Muna to be found. And if you know one Muna — pretty soon you get to know the whole family.
Annmarie had the backing of that big family when she started AM Insurance — in her parent’s garage. It’s a pretty select group of individuals whose businesses started in garages.
The effort that took her to the point where she could launch a business was hard won. “I was fortunate to start at the bottom,” she says.
And her favorite saying is indicative of the effort she expended along the way: “adapt, improvise and overcome.”
It’s also very fitting for a top executive in the islands, where sometimes the tyranny of distance or the typhoons that bedevil our region, forces us to be creative and seek solutions — I expect particularly in the insurance industry.
In this issue we also look at loyalty programs — also very fitting for the islands — because we do seem to take them up with enthusiasm. And as we know loyalty drives business, whether it’s in the form of a customer discount, a favorite location or product or a valued relationship.
I hope you enjoy the other features and take away some new ideas from them at the beginning of a new year — whether from our industry experts or the stories of businesspeople we feature.