For Brian Ward, managing director of investments at Ward Financial Advisory Group of WellsFargo in Nashville, Tenn., the main attraction of working in employee benefits stemmed from his strong entrepreneurial spirit and the industry's revolving and strategic nature. Ward wanted to make a difference in people's lives, and the benefits industry offered just that opportunity.

"I help clients achieve goals by what I call the 'benefit bang for their buck,'" Ward says. "I love the challenge of creating unique life solutions and helping clients understand the ease of use of their benefits. A lot of this is difficult for people to understand, so we help our clients implement programs by educating their employees."

To help employees better understand their benefits, Ward, who is responsible for approximately 250,000 lives, focuses on employee engagement, and that starts with interactive education. Between traditional medical plans, consumer-driven health plans, ancillary products and all other types of benefits, there is a lot of information for employees to keep straight.