My wife Hope and I have been married now for more than 15 years. Beyond a shadow of a doubt it’s the greatest gift I could ever imagine. In fact, her chief discernible flaw is her shockingly poor judgment in spousal selection.
Hope has been the CFO of Broker World for more than a dozen of those years, a duty she executes with a great degree of professionalism, diligence and grace. But she really wants more from life than the monthly pressures of keeping me focused on the job at hand (think Labors of Hercules) while keeping the financial gears turning.
In our 17+ years together we’ve been on countless trips attending meetings of carriers, marketing groups, our industry’s associations, and a few precious friends who happen to be BGAs that have invited us to their notable celebrations. Most of these meetings have been held in extremely nice locales and in posh hotels with exceptional service. We’ve been blessed to share these experiences with a great number of dear friends and new friends growing dearer. It’s a lot to be thankful for.
But aside from a limited number of group outings to exciting and inspiring events, we’re mainly inside the hotel. Our non-industry friends: “Boy I bet you loved Florida/New Orleans/Malibu/Boston…” My honest reply should most often be, “The staff was great, the food was good, the bed was comfortable and the shower water pressure was good, or mediocre, or sucked.” Vegas is a bit different because Vegas is by definition absolutely different. But regrettably few groups these days have the shortsightedness necessary to book their meeting at a place with that many easily predictable distractions. But I digress…
Hope wants a bit more self determination in our travel—location, duration and above all vacation! Her fervent desire is for me to retire, so we can do whatever we wish, whenever we wish, wherever we wish.
Broker World’s first issue was September/October 1980. It was bi-monthly until 1985, and monthly thereafter. I was drafted in May of 1983, and many pundits might suggest it was a significant reach that I became the first pick. In the throes of a lackluster academic journey financed by my parents (and coincidentally the founders of the magazine), my father determined it prudent to finance my summer break with pre-tax dollars rather than the logically predictable alternative. After several weeks of me stuffing envelopes, filing, and attaining the cherished position of meal acquisition facilitator, my dad decided to roll the proverbial dice.
Bill Howard was a staunch proponent of the “Yellow Pad Sales System.” If you write a prospect on every line of a yellow pad, and call em all, you’ll sell an ad. But, wise man that he was, he dramatically hedged his bet—he wrote down 25 companies that had never advertised with us to limit the potential damage to some degree. To his shocked delight I sold three of them schedules that first week. One of them, the truly wonderful folks at Fairlane Financial, are still with us today—every issue. My heartfelt gratitude to the late founder Sam Lane, his son Ron and grandson Ron Jr., for their loyalty and especially their four decades long friendship.
To nudge this slightly nearer the point, Dad suggested “Maybe you should try doing this for a while.” And I did. May marked my 41st year and this June issue is my 484th—near as I can figure. What I can’t quantify is what a privilege it has been serving this great industry, nor can I reliably count the incredible number of great friends I’ve made along the way. Along with the Lanes, many have become quite dear to me and you know who you are…you see my heartfelt grin every time our paths cross. And most of all I’m not ready to give that joy up just yet.
So I’m hedging my bet.
To allow Hope and I to (hopefully!) pursue travel, hobbies, and various personal projects, beginning with the July/August issue Broker World will return to the original bi-monthly format. I do want to still provide this great industry with this particular print voice, and still catch up with all my friends, but I’m a fat old guy (63) without a succession plan as the Lord had the benign omniscience to prevent me from procreating. Whew! The Millennials and Gen Zers really dodged a bullet there, eh? [SPH]
