More than 16 million Americans recently watched the premiere of a new television show that puts a woman where none has gone before: the Oval Office. The draw of “Commander in Chief” is its answer to an important question, particularly relevant in today’s political arena: can a woman truly rise to any challenge she faces, even if that challenge is the nation’s presidency?

It’s a defining moment in popular culture. The show plays on the American quandary: can she really do it? And in many ways, most Americans are prepared to believe that, yes, in fact, she can. The reason the show works is not that the president is a woman, but that many Americans are truly ready to root for a woman who is — albeit fictionally — leading the free world. Because they believe, they watch.

The role of female business professionals is one I know well, as an executive within the traditionally male-dominated insurance industry and as founder of a new women’s marketing organization within this industry.

The insurance sales industry has historically been male-dominated, both in sales and marketing strategy. Women represent only 7 percent of the quarter-million U.S. insurance agents, and until recently insurance has been marketed predominantly to men.

But many insurance companies are sitting up and taking notice. For example, my Iowa-based insurance marketing company recently established the Women’s Mentoring Agent Network to foster the development of female insurance agents.

As women increasingly become the main decision makers regarding their families’ and companies’ finances, they also become the prime purchasers of insurance. Although their numbers are still small, women insurance agents have a proven gift for the job.

WOMAN aims to help those agents make use of that gift by giving them a support system that includes mentors and colleagues who have faced similar challenges. WOMAN also helps agents better understand the unique considerations necessary to successfully market to women. For example, most women want to have a comprehensive understanding beyond just the bottom line. And to sell to women, marketers must understand women just as comprehensively — where they’ve been and where they’re going.

In the past 50 years, women have constantly expanded their roles. As divorce rates and single parenthood have increased, growing numbers of women have become family breadwinners and heads of household, responsible not just for their families’ well-being, but also for their financial security. An April 2005 report published by the Mintel International Group revealed that nine out of 10 women currently manage their own financial affairs, and in some cases, they manage their partners’ finances as well.

Women also are becoming a powerful presence in the workplace. Today, women are starting their own businesses at three times the rate of men, according to the Center for Women’s Business Research, making women the financial decision makers for entire companies.

During the past century, women have completely redefined their roles. As they take the lead in their families and companies, women are wielding increasingly greater financial power, and the world’s top companies are taking notice, even within the very traditional insurance industry. Who knows? Perhaps the Oval Office really is next.

Danette Kennedy is the executive director for the Women’s Mentoring Agent Network. She is general counsel for Brokers International Ltd., a national insurance marketing organization.