From humble beginnings…..
My father was a butcher. My mother was a housewife. I have fond memories of my childhood, but looking back I realise how tight things were for my parents. We never had a foreign holiday, eating out at a restaurant was a once-a-year treat and they couldn’t afford to put me through university.
That childhood shaped who I am today. I appreciate everything I have, and never take anything for granted. I had odd-jobs around the neighborhood - mending shoes, cutting grass, delivering papers - that built a strong work ethic in me. And I was brought up with solid values around how to treat and have respect for others.
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In my adult life this has created my mindset of showing up every day with a desire to make-a-difference in whatever I choose to do, to always have a great attitude and to be humble.
And the rest of the story is history…
In my professional career I lucked out when I joined Hiscox in 1996. Over the years I got to learn from industry greats like Robert Hiscox, Bronek Masojada, Steve Langan and Rob Childs about how to build a business across both the ’smart’ dimensions (the ‘business school’ stuff like underwriting and finance) but also the often missed ’healthy’ stuff (values, culture, team dynamics, being a good leader). In addition, they opened the doors for three key opportunities in my career - for which I will be forever grateful.
The first was creating a digital business for Hiscox, back last century (or last millennium!) in 1999 - before insurtech was even a word, and in the era of dial up modems. After building the thinking around it, Bronek asked me to build and run it, providing $1m of seed investment.
Ten years in, Hiscox was leading the way in the UK with this digital model and Bronek provided me with my second opportunity – to transfer this digital model into the USA. I grasped that with both hands, and in 2010 we were the first insurance company in the US to enable small business owners to transact their insurance digitally. I, or Hiscox, never looked back. Today it is a monster of a business, with over 600,000 policies in force on the small business insurance digital platform - and it still feels at the beginning of a giant market opportunity.
Finally, in 2021 when Steve Langan retired, I took the role of CEO of the USA business where my marching orders were to keep driving the growth of our digital franchise but also manage a turnaround in the profitability of our traditional analog Broker business. I learnt a ton about myself and turning around an insurance business in the three years of my CEO tenure.
In 2024 I decided to spread my wings into opportunity away from Hiscox – leaving on a high note knowing that the business was back on a profitable growth trajectory, and having recruited an incredibly high quality team to take the baton.
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Today I find myself in a new, exciting chapter of my career - working as part of the core leadership team of Berkshire Hathaway’s GUARD to evolve their $2bn small commercial into its next phase of profitable growth. It’s a business that brings unparalleled small business insurance expertise to the table, delivered to market through mutually meaningful partnerships with agents and brokers, powered by a reputation for exceptional service and a trusted brand.
Everything else is history, and I now look forward to bringing that great attitude and desire to make a difference to this next chapter.
Contact
Always happy to chat about any opportunities for non-executive director or advisory work, or anything else in the small business insurance realm
917-929-2530