Annette Adams’ mother worked in human resources. 

That steered Adams toward the same career, with a desire to help people achieve their goals front and center. 

“I was the high school kid saying, ‘I want to go into human resources’ while the rest were saying, ‘What’s human resources?’” she recalled.

As she climbed the corporate ladder to her present job at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., Adams developed a special affinity for helping women work themselves into leadership positions. 

“In recent years, after becoming a mom myself, I started trying to create a passion for women to aspire to leadership roles,” she said, “You can have career success and be a good mom.”

Something else to keep in mind: “Women are their own worst critics,” she said.

Adams has learned a lot about herself while consulting with many inside the Nationwide system. 

“What I learned about myself is having confidence, staying positive and taking risks. Never give up on your goals. If you do that, you achieve rewards,” she said.

Personally, she sees the target, and keeps it in focus. 

“Once I set my sights on something, I follow through,” she said.

At one point Adams left human resources to take a role as an underwriting manager within Nationwide. “I surprised myself,” she said. “It was one of the hardest career decisions I ever made.”

But she had a reason: “I did it to get leadership experience.” 

After she did, she returned to human resources work.

Now, “I am doing what I absolutely love,” Adams said. 

“I am a strategic business partner. I am the quarterback that brings in the resources.”

Reasons she’s is a Forty: 

• She serves as a board member for the Iowa Asian Alliance
• She founded Women Aiming for Success at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. in 2012.
• She served as a Greater Des Moines Partnership Diversity Council member, 2011-2013.
• She served as a mentor for Nationwide’s Emerging Leaders Program.