Jenn Aither

In 2022 our eldest daughter and my husband through-hiked the Appalachian Trail. They took six months off of the normal day to day grind the rest of us live with and walked 2200 miles. For 210 days they walked. That was their purpose. They started in Georgia in March and knew they needed to be at the top of Mt Katahdin in Maine by the beginning of October. To do this, they would have to walk an average of 10.5 miles every day. Some days they were too exhausted to walk at all, and other days they walked 30 miles. Each of them carried a 32 lb back pack with everything they would need to survive. They relied on each other and became a team. They dealt with a blizzard, flash floods, illness, timber rattlers, bear and all of natural elements of the terrain. Each day was different, yet remarkably the same. No matter how hard it got, or how defeated they felt at times, when push came to shove, all they really needed to do was to keep on keepin on....one foot in front of the other. They marched through 14 states and in early October of 2022, they returned home after successful completion of the trail. But it wasn't over. Their journey had become a huge part of them. They now considered themselves "hiker trash", a term you would only know if you too, were a through hiker. They learned taking losses only enhances the wins. They learned to slow down and to let go of the things that don't really matter. The biggest lesson I learned from them is this; The walk IS the journey, The day to day grind, the daily interactions with others, the wins, the losses and how you adjust. It doesn't matter if you are sitting behind a desk every day or your walking the Appalachian Trail. We are each on a journey and we each have choices to make along the way. The choices we make, and the attitude we make them with, will determine the experiences we have.

My parents moved us to the Ripon/Green Lake area in 1978, when I was just 8 years old. In 1993, when I had graduated from college and took a job with State Farm in Northern California, I moved away. From 1993 - 1999 I held several positions with State Farm and was fortunate to live in and experience several different areas of the Country. I even met my husband Tim at State Farm. We were married in 1997 and we have two brilliant and beautiful daughters. Claire graduated from Marquette University and owns a business in the Milwaukee area. Sophie is moving back from LA for the summer. Tim and I are impatiently waiting. We are very excited to have her back in the area for a while.

While I loved everything about State Farm and all the adventures it afforded me, I had also dreamed of returning to the Ripon/Green Lake area someday to raise our children. Never in my wildest dreams did I think there would be a scenario where that could happen. Then, in 1999, I was offered a position in Ripon as a State Farm Agent. I was literally about to realize my dream and State Farm made it happen Tim left his 12-year career with State Farm claims in 2005 to help me grow the Agency and to immerse ourselves in the local communities. We spent years recruiting, hiring, developing and training the right people for our team to ensure they are equally as equipped to serve you as we are. Our goal is to develop individualized and personal insurance programs for each person we work with. We never take a one size fits all approach. We will ask you about your goals and what is important to you so that we can take all aspects of your life into consideration when developing your plan. We feel so blessed in our line of work to have the opportunity on a daily basis to help protect the amazing members of our surrounding communities.

Now would be a good time for you to take a look at your insurance program. Do you have the right coverages on your automobiles? As life changes, your needs change. Maybe your homeowners insurance needs reviewing or perhaps your life insurance. We also offer business insurance, pet insurance, health insurance and banking products. Thanks for taking the time to read this and to visit our site!! We look forward to getting to know you and taking care of you as customers at Aither Insurance and Financial Services, Inc! And remember..... the walk IS the journey.