About
Jones Brown
Suite 800, 639 5th Ave. S.W.
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 0M9
About
Jones Brown
Suite 800, 639 5th Ave. S.W.
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 0M9
Company overview
When I joined the team at Jones Brown Inc., it was a privately owned Canadian brokerage founded in 1997 by former Johnson & Higgins executives Brian Jones and Don Brown. It was a company focused on becoming “Canada’s finest privately owned brokerage.” The firm grew from their humble beginnings to a national brokerage with over 100 employees in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Montreal, and the USA with managed premium exceeding $130 million (CDN).
My PRofessional Growth
Why Jones Brown
Entrepreneurism
I’m not sure if I chose Jones Brown, or they wanted me - but we began over an innocent lunch with (former President) Mark Terrill who inspired me to follow my entrepreneurial spirit and help grow their firm’s modest aviation practice. Without any experience as a broker and even less knowledge of aviation insurance, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to learn and explore the vast potential of what seemed to be an endless prospect universe.
Passion is Critical
Business Development
My entrepreneurial spirit was awoken at Jones Brown. I’ve come to appreciate this is a rare commodity in our industry. I am comfortable stepping outside my comfort zone to develop meaningful relationships. For these reasons, sales have always been a natural skill set for me.
Risk & Reward
Professional Development
Earning credibility is essential to building a personal brand, so I embraced the emergence of social media tools. I launched a successful blog website which led to several published insurance articles and speaking engagements at a variety of aviation symposiums across Canada.
My Contributions
Achievements & Milestones
2007
Began Broking Career
I joined the firm as a Client Executive to begin my career as a broker and immediately researched growth opportunity in the Aviation sector.
2008
Promoted to Partner
Having identified a niche opportunity in the Aviation sector, I traveled to the Lloyds of London to develop a national program for Aircraft Maintenance Organizations and produced $72,000 in new Brokerage Revenue.
2009
Joined National Sales Team
I transitioned out of my Client Executive responsibilities to join a newly created National Sales Team dedicated to developing collaborative growth opportunities for my colleagues. I produced $105,000 new Brokerage Revenue in my first year in this role.
2010
Made Jones Brown History
Secured the second largest new business revenue account in the firm's history with a $2.1M GWP helicopter charter client and received the Top Producer award having developed more than $235,000 of new Brokerage Revenue in my second year in this role.
2011
Resigned for New Opportunities
It was a difficult decision to leave Jones Brown in favor of pursuing more technical development within the Aviation & Aerospace segment. In total, I secured more than 40 new clients for the company generating more than $430,000 of new Brokerage Revenue to the firm.
Business Development Portfolio
Articles Published to Promote Insurance
Unknown to my audience, this was my first published article written to establish credibility and my passion for aviation.
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Channeling the reader's inner Rodney Dangerfield, this article was written to acknowledge the lack of respect AMO consumers felt by the insurance industry.
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I wrote this article when I discovered several of my prospects elected not to buy insurance to protect their business.
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The purpose of the AMO Insurance program was to insulate a large group of consumers from the volatility of the aviation insurance marketplace.
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My Personal Takeaways
Greatest Achievement
Embracing Adversity
Essentially my technical development was the result of trial & error, but everything I earned (every win) was the result of a willingness to embrace challenging environments, a thirst for knowledge, focused hard work and a desire to compete.
What I Learned
Professional Resiliency
At Jones Brown, the thrill of strategic pursuits far outweighed my fear of personal rejection. I learned my self-esteem was much stronger than I imagined; A wonderful life lesson.
Why I Left
Technical Development
“You don’t know, what you don’t know” was a painful reality to accept. For as much as I enjoyed my success, I came to realize I needed to develop and learn more.