Most brokers get some experience in a brokerage office before joining their local association. Erin Hough (pictured) did things her own way, first working for the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) and only after gaining three years of experience, did she become a broker herself.
Hough’s insurance journey started when she was completing the advertising and marketing communications management program at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, and had to do a work placement for six weeks as part of her education. Her dad was working at McDougall Insurance & Financial in Belleville in a human resources role at the time, and got Hough into the marketing team for the six-week period.
A few months later, she moved to Toronto to pursue a career in marketing. Again, Hough’s dad helped her out by letting her know that he saw the IBAO was hiring an office and marketing assistant, which Hough saw as the perfect entry level position, so she applied for it and got the job.
“Working at the IBAO was the best first job I could have asked for,” said Hough, who is today a personal lines account executive at McDougall Insurance. “Interacting with the member brokers was the highlight of each day, not to mention our staff in the office became like a second family to me, especially living in Toronto all by myself.”
Hough says that she remembers working at her first IBAO convention in Niagara and being able to feel the positive energy in the room of thousands of brokers. Moreover, despite hearing about the stereotypes of insurance being a male-dominated industry, she found that this wasn’t the case at all.
“There were so many inspiring women to look up to at the IBAO, within the board and YBC, and especially throughout our membership,” Hough explained, adding that she decided she wanted to learn more about the insurance industry, so she took the IBAO’s two-week prep course, followed by the RIBO exam in December of 2019, which she passed.
Then, COVID-19 hit, and like many other Canadians, Hough moved back home because living in a studio apartment in downtown Toronto amid lockdown became less than ideal. With the eligibility of her RIBO exam expiring in December 2020, she had to make some quick decisions, so she applied for a position at McDougall as a personal lines account executive. The brokerage ended up being the perfect fit for the young, new broker.
“I became very accustomed to excellent company culture from the IBAO and having worked for six weeks at McDougall in the past, I knew it was a fun and exciting place,” she told Insurance Business. “McDougall always has something going on, especially pre-COVID, whether it’s national food days or fun office games. Also, having worked with a lot of the people in the office before, it didn’t feel like a scary change, like starting at an entirely new place where I didn’t know anybody.”
Today, Hough calls working as a broker “eye-opening” as she now truly understands the day-to-day stress that brokers feel. Learning everything about all of the companies that brokers work with has been overwhelming at times, she says, and it’s easy to feel like you know nothing. “I just had to keep reminding myself to think about everything I’ve already learned so far, and that I came in with such an in-depth knowledge of the industry that most brokers would learn over time,” she said.
Hough has also kept one foot in the IBAO. A position opened up recently on the Young Brokers Council, and it seemed like fate, she says. She’s looking forward to working with the other talented individuals on the YBC and learning how she can improve as an up-and-coming broker.
As for what Hough would tell other young people about careers in the insurance industry, she says to just “go for it.”
“Going from selling the two-week prep course to complete strangers in the IBAO reception area, to hoping to be able to hold recruitment events in my local area when it’s COVID permitting is an exciting challenge,” said Hough. “During my time at the IBAO, I would also attend college fairs and talk about how great it is being a broker, but not truly understanding that until now. It is a career that can work for so many different personality types and you meet an abundance of great people on the way who are always willing to drop what they’re doing and help you.”
