Change has been a constant in my insurance career. After leaving the army, I secured an underwriting position with one of the country’s largest health insurers. A short time later, I switched to a customer service role calling on insurance brokerages, including a top three firm headquartered in Chicago.
Working the carrier side, you offer a product and a rate. I found the broker side seemed to offer deeper engagement and more career control. This realization empowered me to make the leap and join the brokerage world as an employee benefits producer. Starting in small group, I built a book and began moving up-market. I was doing well at a young age and enjoying my career.
As an avid skier, I seized the opportunity to subsidize trips to Colorado by setting lunch meetings with ski resort HR heads and CEOs. This initiative led me to create the first full-year major medical program for seasonal employees, giving me a competitive advantage, and attracting over a dozen ski resorts as clients. Recognizing my success, my employer allowed me to relocate my base of operations to Denver, Colorado. Through organic and acquisition growth, revenue ramped dramatically, enabling me to become one of the leadership team’s youngest members.
A decade in, another major brokerage called with a big problem in Colorado. A key employee had left, taking other employees, clients, and millions in revenue. They made me a terrific offer to rebuild and run the office. Making that change opened new opportunities in Colorado and other offices in nearby states.
The next change also came out of the blue. Another large brokerage called seeking help establishing a Denver office. With my then-employer pushing me toward Texas, I opted for the change that offered stability for my family and went with the Denver offer. Three years into that job, struggling against a toxic culture, I opted out. This change led to a successful business venture and a new chapter in my career. With some former associates, I started a boutique benefits consulting firm that we built it into a thriving business. When that business hit a fork in the road of its future, I accepted a buyout and took a job with a large insurer in Boston seeking to take part of its business public. When the economy tanked, ending those plans, my next change kept me in Boston with another office reclamation project for a large brokerage.
In Boston, I was part of the local leadership team that successfully negotiated the acquisition of a major bank’s insurance operations. Our winning deal structure, however, intentionally turned leadership over to the acquired operation’s management team. We all made out fine in the deal and the change freed me up to pursue new opportunities.
When family needs brought me back to the Midwest, I briefly considered another mega-brokerage firm. However, the family values culture and large financial services scope of the Johnson Financial Group drew me to their insurance division in 2017. It was a best-of-both worlds situation that also kept me close to family.
When Johnson Insurance was sold to Risk Strategies, I was still relatively new compared to my colleagues at Johnson but had been through many consolidations and acquisitions in my career. Many of my Johnson colleagues, however, even some deep into their careers, had never worked anywhere else. Putting in calls to some contacts, I heard great things about Risk Strategies. Smart people and really well run, was the consensus. It was also the reality I experienced.
Senior leadership from Risk Strategies showed up right after the deal was announced and met with everyone, in person. It was a real sign of commitment. Everyone from Risk Strategies I spoke with was interested in how they could support and help us. Risk Strategies people at all levels were willing to go above and beyond to help us be successful, fostering a strong sense of community and support.
Risk Strategies specialists stepped up even before the deal was fully finalized to engage with our teams, helping win prospects. Deals that we were previously told we weren't in contention for because we didn't have the tools and resources, were suddenly back on the table and being won. Unlike other larger brokerages where I’d worked, there was no posturing and infighting over revenue splits or territory, just a willingness to roll-up sleeves and help solve the problem.
Though change has been a constant in my insurance career, this one has been unique. Risk Strategies brought more than resources and expertise. Its collaborative, client-first culture has energized me and my colleagues. Our people, including 25-year company veterans, are really leaning into the change and all the opportunities it presents, instilling a sense of confidence and excitement for the future.