This UAB grad works at one of Bham’s largest companies—find out what she loves most

Sponsored

It doesn’t take long to realize that Jennifer Ray loves interacting with people, whether she’s spending time with family or connecting with new departments at the company where she works.

We recently sat down to talk with the Hoover High School and UAB grad about her almost 14-year career with Protective and what makes the company’s culture meaningful to her. Keep reading for her story.

Meet Jennifer Ray

(L) Jennifer with her family (Jennifer Ray); (R) Jennifer at Protective. (Nathan Watson / Bham Now)

Originally from New York, Jennifer Ray moved to the Greater Birmingham area years ago. She graduated from Hoover High School, where she and her now-husband met when they were both 15. She got a finance and economics degree from UAB and works at Protective as an Investments Trader. 

Now the couple is blessed to have two boys who are going through the Hoover City School System—one will be starting 3rd grade and the other will be starting 7th in the fall. 

Jennifer has some family members in the Birmingham area, and others spread across the US and Latin America, including Peru, El Salvador and Guatemala. 

She likes running, cooking and spending time with family. 

Growing with Protective

Jennifer has been at Protective for almost 14 years, and during that time has been able to move throughout the company thanks to a culture that values people and growth. She currently works as a derivatives trader in the investment area. 

Here’s how she explained what she does to me: 

“Protective takes on risk because we sell financial protection to our customers. Our team hedges that risk by going out into the market and trading instruments called derivatives. 

We’re a very small team, but we make a big impact. Being on a small team has its benefits—it allows us to be agile and have effective communication so that we can be efficient and respond if changes are happening in the marketplace.”

Jennifer Ray, Investments Trader, Protective

Jennifer started her career in Protective’s investment operations group, helping to liaise between accounting, portfolio managers and traders.

At the time, this was a new group, which she was able to help build from the ground up. Over time, she was exposed to a number of other groups, including the one she works with now. 

“It’s a huge organization, so it was a really good experience to be able to meet a lot of people.”

Jennifer Ray, Investments Trader, Protective

Learn more about Protective’s culture now.

Protective’s culture is focused on people

The company’s culture places a strong emphasis on the importance of people, according to Jennifer, and provides a lot of opportunities for growth and training. Some of the ones she has been able to benefit from include: 

• Developing new skills + using her strengths
• Focusing on teamwork + collaboration
• Having the company invest in her + her professional development through:
  • Momentum’s Upward Program (a Birmingham-based women’s leadership program)
  • Aspire (an internal emerging leaders program)
• Meeting people, including mentors, who have helped evolve her perspective + work style
• Working with different groups throughout the company

If you’re thinking of working at Protective

To sum it up, Jennifer had this to say to anyone who’s thinking of working at Protective:

“Having mobility within Protective has helped shape who I am today and I attribute my growth to the people I’ve met.”

Jennifer Ray, Investments Trader, Protective

Learn more about Protective today.

Sponsored by:

Protective refers to Protective Corporation and insurance company subsidiaries, including Protective Life Insurance Company (Nashville, TN) and Protective Life and Annuity Insurance Company (Birmingham, AL). Protective is a registered trademark of Protective Life Insurance Company. All trademarks, logos, and service marks are the property of Protective Life Insurance Company and are protected by copyright, trademark, and/or other proprietary rights and laws.