We continue our “Five Questions With” series by learning more about Brenda Craig, President, OneBeacon Healthcare Group.
What was your first insurance job?
My first insurance job was working in the finance department of a third party administrator (TPA) division of a national brokerage handling the stop loss reconciliation of our self-insured clients. That exposure to insurance services led me to my next job at a national brokerage in a placement role servicing national accounts. While placing coverages, I worked with the carrier’s underwriting specialists for marine, D&O, PL and executive lines. Seeing how critical those specialists were to helping us provide insurance solutions for our complex clients led me to consider a specialty underwriting career. I changed jobs when the first available opportunity came along, which happened to be with a medical malpractice carrier. It was certainly a career evolution, but I did firmly establish that the specialty underwriting path was right for me.
What experiences growing up do you think best prepared you for a leadership role?
I recognized early on that if you listened, worked hard and spoke up, you got more responsibility. I had to baby sit my kid brother a lot when we were growing up – he claims I taught him how to tie his shoelaces – so think I learned early on how much I enjoyed training and encouraging others.
What is your proudest professional moment?
It feels like a great accomplishment to see people that I hired just out of college who are now managing teams, large books of business and overall are doing very well in their careers. Knowing that I helped get them to that level of success in a great industry is very satisfying
What is the last book read?
I actually just finished reading two good books. The first was Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. It’s a book about the people of the Appalachian region, their culture and why it is so unique. It’s such a strong American culture and I wanted to have a better understanding of their recent history.
The second book I just finished is A Long Way Home. It was recently made into the movie “Lion.” It’s a very powerful and incredible story about finding home. A very young boy in India sneaks onto a train and wakes up alone on the other side of the country. While he was adopted by a loving Australian family, he needs to find his birthplace and reassure his family. The story is about his amazing journey using Google earth to find his hometown. As an adoptive parent, it was a very moving story for me.
What advice would you give to someone just entering the industry?
The advice that I would give is if you are interested in the insurance industry, specialty underwriting is the best place to be. You have the opportunity to work with many experts, it’s very fulfilling and there are great employment opportunities.
I would also say, don’t be afraid to ask questions of anyone. Their perspective and answers can be very valuable and you will always learn something.