If you have requested a quote to add a vehicle to an existing policy or had to submit a claim, you may have worked with Carleton Whaley, one of our new Personal Lines employees. He started in March of 2019, coming from one of our favorite local businesses—Stafford Coffee Company, where he worked as a barista while attending college and for a few years after graduation.
Overview
Currently, Carleton works as a client service representative in personal lines here at Paradiso Insurance, and can help you out with a myriad of things—adding or removing a vehicle from your policy, going over your billing with you, help you submit a claim should you ever need to, and a host of others. While this is his first office job, you would never know it! Not only has he been here for six months and has been doing amazing work, but he is also already well on his way to earning his insurance license. Our customers have certainly noticed his friendly demeanor and dedication to his position. One customer went so far as to leave him a great review, stating, “I had a cracked window that needed to be replaced and Carleton called a few days later to make sure the windshield was replaced. Nice job of staying on top of things.” His dedication and hard-working attitude can easily be seen by all.
Background Information
Carleton was born in San Diego on a Naval base, where his father worked as a gunner’s mate, and his mother as a machinist’s mate. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Stafford Springs. He graduated from Stafford High in 2012. Carleton has three brothers. While he was still in college at the University of Connecticut, Carleton became a non-fiction editor for the Long River Review, an award-winning literary magazine run by undergraduates with some staff assistance. He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in English. After graduating, he founded his own literary magazine called The Slag Review, which has run from 2016 to now. In 2017, Carleton co-founded a film company named “indecentcompany.” They made a noir-comedy titled The Adventures of Frank Holland: The Brief Case won a gold award at the LA Neo-Noir Film Festival.
Some of Carleton’s hobbies include reading, writing, and playing cribbage. He is also a short-story writer, which is his true passion. For the 4th edition of Be the Last Agent Standing (Paradiso Present’s marketing publication catered to independent insurance agents), Carleton was asked to interview Joe Paradiso on his part in the establishment of Journey Found. Following the interview, he produced a two-page article that is currently featured in this year’s magazine! He was also recently nominated for a ‘Best of the Net’ prize for his short story ‘Adjustment Period,’ which was published in Paper Darts and Riggwelter Press.
Carleton has also spent time as a freelance writer for Go Local, a local magazine based in East Longmeadow, MA, that focuses on local businesses and community events. During his time with them, he wrote stories about local authors, farmers, chefs, community centers, veterans, and more. While he has not written for them recently, he still remains an active writer in our community.
Present Day
Carleton resides in Stafford Springs and can be seen every day in the Personal Lines department of Paradiso Insurance. We are thankful to have him as a member of the Paradiso Insurance team and look forward to many successful years ahead!
