IN THE SPOTLIGHT
GABRIEL ZARATE
Branch President at Gallagher
July, 2026
Photos by Pablo Roldan
Every leader has moments that quietly change the course of their lives. For Gabriel, one of those moments happened in a car dealership, but not in the showroom.
"I started in the car wash," he says.
This simple sentence captures a journey that began thousands of miles away in Cali, Colombia, long before he became Branch President at Gallagher and one of the region's most respected insurance executives.
His family's American story started decades earlier. More than 65 years ago, his aunt was the first in the family to move to the United States. His grandmother and uncle followed. Years later, Gabriel became the fifth member of his family to make the journey, arriving in Maryland at 25 with determination, limited English, and no clear roadmap for what came next.
Like many immigrants, he wasn't looking for shortcuts. He was looking for an opportunity.
His first job was pouring concrete foundations for homes.
"It was incredibly hard work," he says. "It gave me tremendous respect for the people who do it every day."
Soon after, an unexpected encounter changed everything. He ran into a friend from middle school he hadn't seen in years. The friend worked at a local car dealership and helped him get a job.
That job was washing cars.
There were days he questioned whether leaving Colombia had been the right decision. Finding work wasn't easy. Learning English felt overwhelming. During the winter months, he washed cars and worked valet parking outdoors, wondering if the sacrifices were worth it.
Looking back, he says those difficult seasons became some of his greatest teachers.
"They helped me appreciate my family, my friends, and the people who were willing to help me. They also taught me that one day, I wanted to do the same for someone else."
One of those people was Jim, the dealership manager who saw something Gabriel couldn't yet see in himself.
Jim rearranged Gabriel's work schedule so he could attend college in the mornings. He encouraged him to learn English. More importantly, he believed in him before Gabriel fully believed in himself.
"Jim probably never realized he was changing my life." That lesson never left him.
Years later, Gabriel entered the insurance industry, where another group of mentors — including John Rogers, Frank Goldbach, Lori Goldbach, Josh Lansberg, David Gorman, Kendra Smith, and the entire RG team — continued investing in his growth. They taught him the business, but they also modeled a culture where people came first.
Over the next two decades, Gabriel built a career around relationships rather than transactions.
As a bilingual advisor, he recognized that many Hispanic families and business owners weren't simply looking for insurance. They were looking for someone they could trust, someone who understood their language, their businesses, and the risks they faced.
His work became less about policies and more about helping entrepreneurs build stronger companies.
He points to business owners like Ana McNamara and Ilisa Figueroa of Preferred Capitol Cleaning, who grew from employees into owners of one of the country's leading commercial cleaning companies. He recalls working alongside Sandra Ortiz of HDS, whose training programs have helped thousands of contractors earn professional licenses and grow successful businesses. He speaks proudly of Teresa and Angel Luna, whose family-owned concrete company reflects the values of hard work, loyalty, and caring for employees, among many others.
Watching those businesses grow has become one of the most rewarding parts of his own career.
His commitment to service extends beyond the office.
As a supporter of organizations like Latino Student Fund and Healing Hands, Gabriel once traveled to El Salvador on a medical mission where surgeons performed life-changing operations for more than 65 children born with cleft palate and other facial differences.
"I realized that writing a check is important," he says. "But being there — seeing the faces of those children and their families after surgery — is something I'll never forget."
Experiences like that have reinforced a philosophy that has guided every chapter of his life. Success isn't measured by titles. It's measured by the lives you help change.
Today, when Gabriel reflects on more than two decades of leadership, he doesn't talk first about awards, promotions, or revenue growth. He talks about family, mentors, and the colleagues who became lifelong friends. He’s also very grateful for his wife, Monica, whose support made many of his professional opportunities possible while she carried more than her share at home.
He also talks about patience.
In a culture that celebrates overnight success, Gabriel believes the qualities that matter most are often the least glamorous: discipline, consistency, perseverance, and doing the right thing even when no one is watching.
His advice to young professionals: "Trust the process. Keep showing up. Invest in relationships. Keep learning. The results will come."
As a founding member of the Latino Executive Network, Gabriel hopes to pay forward the opportunities that others once gave him. For him, leadership has never been about climbing the ladder alone. It's about reaching back to help someone else take the next step.
"My greatest accomplishment isn't how far I've come," he says. "It's how many people I've been able to help along the way."