Deborah Thompson

Deborah Thompson is an Executive Leadership and Performance Coach and sole proprietor of Connect Leadership Coaching. Deborah retired from her position as Vice President Agency-Sales for the southeastern market area for State Farm Insurance and Financial Services in 2020. She was responsible for Agents and Sales Leadership in Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky. She joined State Farm in 1982 as an agent in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She began her leadership career with State Farm in 1995 where she accepted an opportunity in leadership as an agency field consultant in Raleigh, N.C. In 2000, Deborah was selected as the Agency Field Executive in Eastern N.C. In 2003, she helped start the Developmental Agency Field Office for the Mid-Atlantic Zone and held the position as the Developmental Agency Field Executive. Deborah was promoted to positions at corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois in 2006 where she helped lead a corporate wide project and later was promoted to Executive Assistant to Chairman's Council. She was selected as Vice-President Agency-Sales in 2009.  

Deborah received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and is currently pursuing her Performance and Leadership coaching certification through Brown University.  

She serves on the board of directors for the United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties, Rutherford Cable (a women’s networking organization) and Nourish Food Bank.  Her previous board positions include Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital, and Middle Tennessee State University Foundation board of trustees. Currently, Deborah serves on the Dean’s board of advisors for the Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University. She is the chair for Women United of Rutherford and Cannon Counties, an affinity group of United Way, and has been selected to serve on the Women United Global Leadership Council.