Insurance firm Cragin &Pike has called Las Vegas home since 1909. And the 113-year-old company, whose history includes insuring Bugsy Siegel’s Flamingo hotel-casino in 1949, continues to grow and achieve firsts — including the appointment of its first woman and first Hispanic shareholder this year.

Dulcinea Rongavilla, who started her role Jan. 1, is no stranger to the insurance business.

The Tucson, Arizona-native landed her first industry job with Cigna Healthcare, focusing on life and health insurance, shortly after graduating from the University of Arizona in 1995. She quickly realized that she would rather work directly with clients and became an insurance broker in 2002.

The role found her moving from Tucson to Phoenix then Las Vegas, a journey she describes as going from a “desert too little, desert too big to a desert that’s perfect.”

And more than 17 years after moving to the “desert that’s perfect,” she’s entering a new chapter in her career of helping business owners with their employee benefits programs.

Rongavilla sat down with the Review-Journal to discuss the significance of her new role, how a brief career change gave her new insights and the one thing she does each day to stay focused. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Click here to read the full interview from the Las Vegas Review Journal