Toni Hoy

Toni Hoy

While I enjoyed my experience as an insurance agent, I longed to work at something more creative, and I’ve always been a bit of a word nerd! In the early 2000s, I started writing the company insurance blog and eventually decided to make writing my full-time career. It was the best career choice I could have made. It’s been rewarding to elevate my skills to the level of excellence they are today. Since then, I have had the pleasure of working for companies around the world.

Here are a few more interesting tidbits about me.

I have the honor of receiving some prestigious awards in my professional and personal life including:

• Angels in Adoption – Congressional Award
• Agent Giving Award – Safeco Insurance
• You’re a Hero National Award – Hanover Insurance
• National Alliance on Mental Illness – Outstanding Member of the Year
• Parent Advocacy Award – Family Defense Center, Chicago

I have also served on several boards of directors including:

• War Writers’ Campaign
• Hope Meadows Intergenerational Community
• National Alliance Mental Illness (NAMI)
• Community and Residential Services Authority (Illinois) – Gubernatorial Appointee
• I am married with four grown children, and my husband and I are foster and adoptive parents. I homeschooled my children for eight years in the days before COVID made homeschooling popular.

In my spare time, I enjoy all things creative – drawing, painting, sewing, and cooking.

I have the good fortune of being able to work in a beautiful, fully equipped home office on the Cumberland Plateau in Monterey, Tennessee which provides massive inspiration for my writing. When I’m writing, I sometimes take a quick break to watch the deer or wild turkeys roaming through my yard.

Honors & awards

• 2016 NAMI National Outstanding Member - Issued by NAMI National
• Congressional Award-Angels in Adoption - Issued by Congressional Coalition Adoption Institute
• Hanover Insurance "You're a Hero" Award 2014 - Issued by Hanover Insurance
• Family Defense Center "Parent Advocacy Recognition" Award 2012 - Issued by Family Defense Center, Chicago
• Safeco Insurance "Community Hero" Award 2011 - Issued by Safeco Insurance