Our Team / Contact Us

Jim Yates

Jim started Yates and Associates in 1987 and is a lifelong insurance man. He put the culture, expertise and nous into Yates and Associates and still tap dances to work each day. We can, however, assure you that his tap dancing is not on a par with his insurance knowledge. Jim doesn’t play golf preferring instead to spend his time at Yates and Associates, where he reminds everyone, underwriting discipline comes first.

Paul Thomson

Paul founded Scottish American Capital in 2009 in order to purchase an insurance business….. which is what happened when he met Jim Yates. He’s from Scotland, which means he speaks with an odd accent and tells bad jokes. He works about 20 hours a day and spends his free time doing extreme events (like all the Tough Mudders) and hangs out with the kids at United Cerebral Palsy. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School, is a Chartered Accountant and endlessly asks obvious questions…. just in case anyone thinks of upsetting Jim Yates, by not underwriting well

Pat Piccinonno

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Pat came to California in 1980 on a vacation and never went back. A 39-year veteran of the Insurance Business, Pat was Underwriting Manager at Yates in the 1990’s and came back home in 2010. (You pronounce his name Pitch- eeee – no – no….. not Pinocchio, Pat would not be considered a Disney character by any stretch of the imagination!)

Barbara Carey

Barbara started insurance career by accident.  Fell into crop insurance.  Fell into surplus lines.  Fell into Yates.  Notice a pattern?
She likes variety, challenges, excitement, a good joke, and she is possibly clumsy.

Bea Sims

Bea has been with Yates for 9 years. After working the majority of her career on the company side, she flipped over to the unique challenges of the brokerage side of the insurance industry. Bea loves camping and bowling, but has yet to find a bowling alley she can pitch her tent at.

Bob Mestayer

Bob joined Yates with the merger in 1996 with RJ Mestayer E&S Insurance Services and has an extensive background in Property and Casualty. Bob is located in Stockton and is back after trying retirement in 2006. Bob likes RV’ng, hiking, swimming, the Ocean & Mountains. He’s a volunteer with charitable organizations and his goal is to share his Insurance knowledge with other Insurance folks at Retail Agencies and to provide Great Service. Bob is proof that working at Yates is even preferable to retirement!

Brenda Smotherman

Began Her E&S Career With Market Action (Later Changed To Yates & Associates) in 1989. She Likes Surplus Lines Because She Gets To Work On More Interesting Risks Than In The Standard Market. If She Didn’t Decide To Stay In Insurance, She’d Probably Be A Teacher, as She Loves Kids (probably because hasn’t any of her own, though she is yet to take up offers from other Yatesers to borrow theirs!). She has a Bachelor’s Degree In English From Marquette University.

Brent Willbond

Brent is a Buckeye (or from Ohio for all you non mid-westerners) that 6 years ago  transplanted to sunny San Diego with his then girlfriend turned fiancee turned wife.  As an avid sports fan, he would run through a wall for his beloved Cleveland Indians and Browns. The ability to do such things come from his years as a rugby player for Bowling Green State University.  He has now decided to use his head for more rewarding endeavors, such as underwriting and producing business for Yates & Associates.

Brian Janes

Dana Ramil

At a young age, Dana Ramil had dreams of becoming a Commercial Transportation Underwriter at a reputable insurance firm (really, it’s true, odd but true!). In 1998 she seized an opportunity to set her childhood dream in motion and accepted a position with a local MGA. After 7 years of building a solid foundation in transportation she settled at Yates where she has been happily underwriting since 2005. When she is not consumed in underwriting bliss she is caring for her 2 children and training in mixed martial arts.

Dennis Coleman

Dennis came on board with Yates in 2009 after stints with several other MGA’s. He chose Yates because of the reputation for underwriting and service. Once on board, he is striving to maintain this reputation. Dennis is not a biker and tells us that he doesn’t look like one. Decide for yourself.

Gloria Morisaki

Gloria began her career in insurance in the Midwest at a time when the norm was to place “The” before any carrier’s name and when underwriters were considered rebels if they actually understood how to apply rate mods and ILFs. – which she did. A long time transplant in California, she embraces all things new, once they have been tempered by her Midwestern sensibility. She enjoys sampling good food and good wines produced locally, and if you sit next to her at a baseball game, be prepared to make bets. It’s an underwriting thing…

Jon Uyeyama

Joyce Hadlick

Joyce was born in New York State where she began her insurance career over 35 years ago. Her and her husband founded their own retail agency in Florida which they ran for over eight years before moving to Southern California. Joyce’s experience covers the gamut of Company operations and retail agency ownership. Commercial Underwriting is her niche and she prides herself on her customer service skills.
On the personal side Joyce enjoys Hiking, Car Racing and a Good Joke (good not being the CEO’s jokes, which make it to the weekly mail out, to Joyce’s chagrin)

Michael Kwiatkowski

Mike K worked for several major insurance companies as an underwriter handling large national accounts (particularly casinos, who’d have thought he’d have an interest in casinos). Starting in 1982 he worked as a wholesale insurance broker, and has been at Yates & Associates since 2000. Equally comfortable underwriting business for the markets that give us underwriting authority & brokering accounts, Mike K loves wine, and by that we mean LOVES wine. He’s also a poker shark, (you’ve been warned, though his poker face is not so poker faced when mixed with wine).

Mike Brazil

Mike started in the insurance business at a brokerage firm selling package policies to dairy farmers. Equipped with an MBA from USC he then moved on to focus running his family business. But, being bit by the insurance bug once, made a career change to run a small retail insurance agency. Still, not entirely satisfied, Mike knocked on the door of Mr. Yates and has settled into life as a Yates underwriter. He named Yatezee, our office hound.

Blanca Cardenas

Blanca has been working at Yates for 20 years; she started while she was still in high school, dated, got engaged, got married and is growing a family. Blanca runs the accounting department and watches to ensure all the cash is collected as apparently money does not grow on trees (or at least the palm trees outside our office). She enjoys very much spending quality time with her husband and children and you can always find Blanca on the weekends at her ranch (where it is rumored money may grow on the trees).

Vicki Snow

Bryant Velasquez

Bryant Velasquez has been working at Yates for almost 6 years and keeps everything in the mail room zooming along. He has 2 beautiful daughters and can be found at weekends perfecting his hopscotch and partaking in tea parties with them. A family man he enjoys riding dirt bikes and off roading. He cheers for the Cowboys and Lakers! He’s a big UFC fan. He loves going to Disneyland and glamis for vacation.

Carol Young

Carol is our H.R. maestro. She was born and has lived in southern California all her life and has been at Yates for fifteen years. She is married with one grown child, (however she is still my baby) and our beautiful Border Collie, Willie. She loves music, cooking, nature, animals and laughing.

Cathy Cooper

Cathy runs our CLAS Dept. (Claims, Loss Runs, Agency Appointments and Surplus Lines Filings) and has been a part of the Yates family since 1992. She is multifaceted on site and at home. Family comes first in her eyes. She is always there to meet the needs of others. Her motto is “Never judge a book by its cover”.

Chiarina Hammell

Chiarina (too many roles for a title) has been a part of Yates since its inception, and therefore is Head of People! . Her duties have always included Human Resources and Administration. Chiarina coordinates the legendary Yates Holiday Parties. Family has always been a major part of her life and she now has the added pleasure of 6 wonderful grandchildren, despite being herself only 23. In her spare time Chiarina enjoys traveling and learning different cultures. She is a great cook and loves to entertain. Music is another one of her passions.

Christian Nungo

Christian started in the Insurance business by coincidence three years ago and soon found that he loved it! He’s an assistant underwriter. He enjoys helping others in a prompt manner and invests his time, knowledge and dedication to every task he performs- he thinks that’s the key to keeping our customers with the highest level of satisfaction. Si desea conversar en Español él estará gustoso en atenderlo también con el mismo nivel de excelencia. Christian was born in Bogotá, Colombia and currently resides in Irvine, CA. He enjoys reading, traveling, road-biking on the weekends and playing fútbol.

Cristina Rodriguez

Cristina started working with Yates in 1998. She has worked as an Underwriting Assistant since 2001. Yates has been her insurance school; and she is friendly and focused in good service. She enjoys spending time with her family and works hard to keep it united. She strongly believes that family is the nucleus of the society. She is looking forward to be able to see her kids becoming responsible, caring, and productive.

Eberardo Treto

Eberardo Treto, aka Barney, has been with the company since 2002. Always eager to learn, he has explored different positions within the company and is currently an Underwriting Assistant in the Auto Department. He spends his free time searching for the next big adventure; whether it’s trying new food or even crowd surfing at a concert. He also considers himself a theme park, music, and movie enthusiast, but that’s just him. With his humor and knowledge he will be looking forward to working with you.

Jessie Mejia

Jessie has been a part of the Yates team for over 7 years. She enjoys working in our accounting department. Apparently on her free time she loves to clean her home (really?)& enjoy eating frozen yogurt!! Spending as much time with my family is really important…..as pretty soon I will be having my own little bundle of joy (looks less ‘little’ and more full sized bowling bowl to us)!

Jodi Parker

Jodi joined the Marketing and IT Department of the Yates team in 2009. Jodi enjoys hiking, camping, and going to concerts. However, as much as possible you will find Jodi at the Honda Center in Anaheim cheering on the Anaheim Ducks. She also maintains a count down to St Patricks Day, odd but true.

Katie Adler

Katie was born and raised in Chicago. She attended Eastern Illinois University where she received her Bachelor’s in Business Marketing and then RAN for the west coast. She spent sometime in Los Angeles before migrating north to San Francisco where she began her insurance career assisting Jon Uyeyama in 2009. When she’s not busy cheering on her Cubbies, she enjoys exploring the West coast, country concerts (yes, Taylor Swift) and hanging out with her nieces and nephews.

Kiet Vo

Kiet graduated from Stanford University and then embarked on a career in the finance world before moving to Thomson Reuters, where he was in charge of customer analytics. He then joined Scottish American and worked with Paul Thomson before joining Yates. He runs, a lot and fast, for no particular reason – just like Forrest Gump. Kiet heads our Vietnamese businesses underwriting team as he speaks it fluently

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Liliana Ocampo

Liliana started in the customer service field in 2004. She puts her enthusiasm and devotion into helping customers. She has awards in smiling (it uses less muscles than frowning). Born under the H2O element, this joyful Pisces enjoys anything having to do with water from swimming to dancing under the rain. Her son Ernie looks after Yatezee our Top Office Dog. She looks forward to helping you (she’ll be smiling down the phone) always so don’t be afraid to pick up the phone with any questions.

Maria Banuelos

Maria is an Underwriting Assistant, joined Yates in 1993 as part of the policy issuance support team; however, being the fast learner that she is, she quickly joined the Underwriting Assistant department and is a valuable member of our team. She enjoys helping our agents in any way she can and is very creative at does servicing all of their policy needs. In her spare time she enjoys reading and volunteering at school functions. She has a beautiful family with her husband and her 4 amazing children: 2 boys & 2 girls plus their 2 dogs Spike & Chiquita.

Marietta Santos

Marietta is our underwriting renewals queen! She was born in Manila, Philippines and migrated to the United States of America in 1986. Marietta has been a part of the Yates team for over a decade now, she was formerly at TOPA. She loves working with Jim Yates and keeps a watchful eye over the underwriting so that Jim is happy!

Monica Hernandez

Monica joined Yates in 1998. She’s our office Girl Friday. She has 2 wonderful children and loves being the “team mom” for their soccer team. She is very sociable, loves dancing and loves to tell jokes (always better than the CEO’s lame ones).

Rachel Osterbach

Rachel is a recent addition to the Yates team and can be found assisting Bryant as they keep things zooming along in our mailroom. If you get a mail out with some Scottish toffee in, she’s the one who sends it (and she promises us she doesn’t eat it all). She was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated school here in Orange County. Her favorite food is veggie pizza! Rachel came to us from the Downs Syndrome Association of OC (they are great, reach out to them yourselves!)In her spare time she enjoys seeing movies with her boyfriend, they are big Harry Potter fans and enjoy Broadway shows.

Suzann Murphy