About New Hope

New Hope Benefits started in 2016 and founded on the idea that small businesses deserve more than a transactional interaction with their insurance broker.  We see ourselves as an “extension of staff” for the companies we support, and bring to the table a level of proactive service that allows us to personally know each employee within an organization. 
 
Prior to New Hope’s formation, our background includes 20+ years of HR/Benefits Administration experience, 10 years in direct sales & marketing, along with 10 years working in small and large brokerages.  Karen, our founder, left the “corporate brokerage world” because she was finding herself restricted by management from providing the level of customer service she believed in.  Many of her clients were forced into a call center because of size and revenue generation.  The sunbeams in our logo are a representation of HOPE that comes from our strong belief that God will provide and sustain us each year as we continue to grow.

Our Vision

Design employee benefits programs that are simple to understand and affordable.

Our Mission

​We will accomplish this through traditional and nontraditional insurance vehicles and methods.  We do this because we never lose hope in finding affordable, sustainable solutions for our clients. 

Our Values

Every day we must be able to look ourselves in the mirror and know we have worked with integrity and honesty. 

Our Strategy

Keep it simple through combining Insurance, Education & Engagement, Technology and Compliance! 

Our Team

​Karen Hudgins, REBC
Principal
​

Karen grew up in New England and earned her Bachelor of Arts from Plymouth State College.  Started her career in Human Resources (HR) Management as an HR Generalist and relocated to Northern Virginia in 1998 where she continued to work in HR field in both the public and government contracting sectors.  She then moved to Midlothian, Virginia in 2004 where she worked in sales, account management, and employee benefits .  With a huge step of faith, Karen walked away from corporate America to start New Hope in 2016. Karen is a member of National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), and served as the state and regional Board of Directors Secretary in 2019-2020 term.  She earned the designation of a Registered Employee Benefits Consultant in 2019 through NAHU.
 
Karen has been married to her husband, Jeff, for 20 years and they have two children.  Karen is heavily involved in their church and her family has a passion for serving others.  Karen ventured to Honduras in 2013, 2014 & 2019; Jeff has served in Haiti in 2016 & 2017 where they supported various missionaries in poverty stricken areas. Their family also volunteers annually with Lighthouse Family Retreats serving families living through childhood cancer.  www.lighthousefamilyretreat.org
In her spare time, Karen enjoys reading, playing golf, and looks for every opportunity to be a “weird embarrassing annoying Mom."

Timothy Nguyen
​Account Manager

Timothy joined New Hope in March 2019 as an Account Manager.  Timothy started his employee benefit career working as an intern with Wells Fargo Insurance (now USI Insurance Services), where he began his insurance career. Timothy is a member of the Two-Twelve Referral Network locally and attends a Men’s bible study each week through his church.  In his spare time he enjoys reading books, running, and eating Starbursts.

Kayla Etzold
Business Development Manager

Kayla joined New Hope in September 2019 as an entry level Account Executive after graduating from Christopher Newport University.  After learning about how lucrative insurance sales could be she jumped right in and is quickly learning the industry.  Kayla has also ventured to Haiti on a mission trip to support and encourage orphanage missionaries near Port au Prince. In her spare time, you will find Kayla spending time with family and drinking Starbucks.