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I wanted to be a professional sportsperson performing at a high level, preferably a runner at the Olympics. I remember being fascinated by walking into different stadiums around the world and being on the “field of dreams”.
After I graduated, I was looking for an employer that would support my sporting career as an AFL Field Umpire which I did whilst also holding an office job. In reality, this meant flexible working hours to go to training and games. I started with an insurance brokerage that specialised in golf clubs which saw me playing about three rounds a week. A few years later, around the same time, I suffered a long-term injury and the brokerage was acquired by a global company. Not spending time on the field anymore, I quickly found myself traveling to Lloyd’s of London and managing a large team which was a sink-or-swim moment. I swam and have never looked back.
I manage a team of 18 brokers who provide insurance and risk advisory services to a portfolio of amazing clients. Part of it is negotiating deals with Insurers that are good for our clients by way of coverage, understandable language, minimal paperwork, quick turnarounds and competitively priced. At Honan, we always try to create a genuine difference for our clients and I'm proud to be a custodian of the Honan brand.
On the footy field, I had to be the calmest person in the heat of the battle so you will rarely see me flip my lid when dealing with tricky situations. The ability to make decisions in an instant and under pressure while understanding the rule book and explaining it to players is not too different from dealing with policy wordings and clients.
I’m quiet and fairly introverted by nature. Learning to showcase what achievements, ideas, and challenges l had was a challenge. Over the years I’ve learned to be confident to put myself in front of senior people.
Investing in property from an early age. I was encouraged by a family member to extend myself as much as possible (within reason). It’s been rewarding in many different ways, especially when a renovation or build turns out being better than expected.
I like everything Honan stands for; it’s fast, dynamic, upbeat and there’s a desire to win. Showing up with this ethos every day highly motivates me.
I’m working on a data-capturing project that will take us to the next level by helping to improve benchmarking our clients’ insurance programs against comparable companies. I want to get this completed so we can weave some new magic for our clients.
This is a question I find hard to answer because it’s been bits and pieces from all the people I’ve met and the places I’ve been during my career. I’ve been very fortunate to work with some very talented insurance people in travels to London and the USA.
Another source of inspiration are the people I follow on Instagram and Twitter. I carefully select who I follow, mainly those who are training to reach a goal such as the Olympics or those that are starting up a new business. Truly inspiring!
My strength is feedback, giving and receiving it in a timely manner. My superpower is “reading the play”. In umpiring it was anticipating where the ball might go next and in insurance it’s how a client might react and what an insurer might offer. It’s all about having a hunch about what might happen and then dealing with it there and then.
I’ve always been drawn to a high-performance environment and good leadership. Honan is that company where you get both.
The Kenny Rogers song The Gambler is a great business and life metaphor about choosing the right battles and I wish I understood this earlier in my career:
“…Know when to hold’em, know when to fold ‘em….”.
