Eighteen years ago, Cindy Bernzott unlocked the door to her own State Farm agency for the first time, giddy with the kind of excitement that comes from building something of your own in the place you call home. Four months later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
She unlocked that same door the next morning anyway. And the morning after that.
This is the story of a Connersville woman who built a thriving business, raised a family, earned one of the financial industry's most demanding credentials, and beat cancer — not necessarily in that order, and not without a few scars to show for it.
A Hometown Girl, A Hometown Business
Cindy is a product of Connersville through and through. She graduated from Connersville Senior High School, earned her degree from Miami University in Ohio, and when the opportunity came to open her own State Farm agency, she didn't hesitate. It wasn't just a career move — it was a chance to come home and serve the community that raised her.
"I was so excited to own my own business in my hometown and be able to serve my community through helping my customers and giving back," Cindy recalls.
That excitement never faded. Today, her agency carries a 5-star customer rating, with clients consistently praising her team's quick response times and knack for finding cost-saving bundling options. But ask Cindy what she's most proud of, and the conversation turns quickly from stars and ratings to something more personal: the six people on her payroll, and the families behind them.
"My business employs six people with families and children who depend upon them," she says. "I always tell my team that their families are the most important thing and should come first in their life."
It's a philosophy that shows up in how she runs her office — a place she describes as warm and welcoming, where the goal is always to go above and beyond. It also shows up every year at her agency's community car show, an event she hosts to bring neighbors together and give back to the town that's given her so much.
Diagnosis, Determination, and a Door That Opened Every Morning
Four months into building her agency, Cindy received a diagnosis no new business owner is prepared for: breast cancer.
Most people would have understood if she'd stepped back. Cindy refused.
"I was determined to not let this stop me from having a successful business," she says. She completed weeks of radiation treatment — and every single morning, she was back at her office in time to unlock the door and start the day.
Humor got her through it. So did her spouse, whom she leaned on heavily during the hardest stretch of her life. Today, Cindy is cancer-free, and the ordeal has become a quiet undercurrent in how she leads: steady, resilient, and unwilling to let circumstance dictate outcome.
It's a sentiment she returns to often through the words of the Serenity Prayer, her favorite source of inspiration: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." For Cindy, those aren't just comforting words — they're a framework she's lived by, from a cancer diagnosis to the daily curveballs of running a business.
A Coaching Leader, Built From the Ground Up
Ask Cindy to describe her leadership style, and one word surfaces immediately: coaching.
"I feel like I have a coaching leadership style, where I bring my team up with skills by helping them identify their strengths and build upon them to grow their confidence," she explains. It's a hands-on, developmental approach — one that treats her employees not as hired help, but as people worth investing in.
Collaboration is non-negotiable in her office. "No one has all the answers, so collaboration has to happen in the office daily," she says. Her team learns early on to work through problems together, a dynamic that's paid off in both customer satisfaction and employee confidence.
In 2023, Cindy added another credential to her name: Chartered Financial Consultant. The designation took nearly five years of study — all while she ran her agency and worked full time. It's the kind of milestone that doesn't happen by accident, and Cindy is clear-eyed about what it took.
"This was a lot of work," she admits, "but I love the ability it gives me to help my customers plan a successful financial future."
Community, Family, and What Comes Next
Cindy's network extends well beyond her office walls. She credits her fellow female State Farm agents — and her own daughter, who also works for State Farm — as an essential support system.
