- Words by Tess van Straaten Photography by Don Denton

When Laura Bolster started working at an insurance office in her hometown at just 19 years old, she never expected it would lead to a successful, decades-long career in the insurance industry鈥攍et alone an opportunity to lead one of Vancouver Island鈥檚 top firms.

鈥淚 was right out of high school in Powell River and I had no post-secondary education,鈥� says Laura, the partner, president and COO of . 鈥淚 worked there for a couple of years and then I decided to come to the big city of Victoria. Megson FitzPatrick hired me and I got all the education I needed here. But if someone had said, 鈥榶ou鈥檙e going to be here when you鈥檙e 53, and you鈥檒l be president and a shareholder,鈥� I wouldn鈥檛 have believed them. It鈥檚 crazy to reflect sometimes!鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 really such an inspiring story,鈥� adds Luke Mills, Megson FitzPatrick partner, risk advisor and commercial account executive. 鈥淚 think for the team to see you walking around every day, as a shining example of what you can achieve, it鈥檚 just amazing.鈥�

Luke also never planned on a career in the insurance industry, despite working for his mother鈥檚 insurance brokerage in Toronto.

鈥淚 worked there for a little bit in the early 鈥�90s and didn鈥檛 think insurance was for me,鈥� the 52-year-old father of two explains. 鈥淚 was casting around, trying to decide what to do, and I kind of ran off to the Caribbean, to Dominica, and opened a restaurant. And against all odds, it actually worked.鈥�

But after five years, Luke says, he and his wife needed a change and moved back to Canada.

鈥淓veryone thought we would go back to Toronto, but we hopped in the car and drove to Victoria.鈥�

Luke鈥檚 mother had met David FitzPatrick, one of the founders of Megson FitzPatrick, and was impressed. Luke was also impressed when he met David, but the company didn鈥檛 have any openings.

鈥淚 just got such a good vibe and David was very generous with his time, so I got licensed. I had some other job offers elsewhere but, ultimately, I waited,鈥� Luke explains. 鈥淭his was where I wanted to work and it鈥檚 been one of the best decisions I鈥檝e ever made.鈥�

Culture has been a big part of that, and Luke and Laura say working for a growing and evolving company has also kept things interesting.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been lots of change, so I think that鈥檚 what鈥檚 kind of kept it exciting for me,鈥� says Laura, who took over as president just two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

鈥淲e had to completely change how we conducted business, and she鈥檚 led us through what鈥檚 probably the most dynamic growth the company鈥檚 ever seen鈥攚hich is quite something,鈥� Luke adds. 鈥淭he steady hand that Laura had, and her extensive knowledge, really made a difference.鈥�

Sending everyone home and pivoting to remote work in the early days of the pandemic also opened up new opportunities for the company, and has helped with staff retention and recruitment.

鈥淚t really just opened up our eyes to what is doable, and we鈥檝e taken a lot of the good that came out of COVID-19 and put it into our day-to-day business practices,鈥� Laura explains. 鈥淏efore, when someone asked to work from home, I said, 鈥楴o. We鈥檙e a retail organization, we鈥檙e open to the public, and you have to come in every day.鈥� And now it鈥檚 just completely different.鈥�

鈥淲e just didn鈥檛 conceive of the fact that you can do your job elsewhere, and if someone left the community, we had to part ways,鈥� Luke says. 鈥淣ow, we have employees across Canada in PEI, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. We鈥檝e been able to attract new, experienced people who want that flexibility; we鈥檝e been able to keep people who moved away, and we鈥檝e actually had a lot of people come back who had left us before COVID-19.鈥�

Fostering a strong culture while teams were fragmented was one of the biggest challenges of the pandemic period. And now, with about 45 of Megson FitzPatrick鈥檚 100-plus employees either permanently remote or working in a hybrid model, finding ways to keep people connected is one of Laura鈥檚 top priorities.

鈥淔or me, culture is everything,鈥� Laura says. 鈥淏uilding a hardworking and fun culture keeps people engaged and makes people happier. It makes us all want to perform and do well every day.鈥�

鈥淥ur industry, like [many industries], is going through a very challenging labour market and what sets you apart鈥攊f people are being compensated appropriately鈥攊s culture,鈥� Luke adds. 鈥淲e learned from our founders, who had an open-door policy, and we want people to know that they鈥檙e heard and that their feedback is important.鈥�

Megson FitzPatrick also has an employee share-ownership program and close to 30 team members, including Luke and Laura, are now shareholders.

鈥淎s our founders were retiring a few years ago, this was a big goal for us in our succession plan. So we partnered with Rogers Insurance out of Calgary as they had a complete share-ownership program in place,鈥� Luke explains.

Last fall, Rogers merged with CapriCMW, forming a new company called Acera Insurance, and Megson FitzPatrick is now part of this.

鈥淐apriCMW was also an employee-owned Canadian company, so that was really exciting for us as we鈥檙e still heavily into being an independent,鈥� Laura says. 鈥淭he plan is to do some co-branding (Megson and Acera) because those in our group of companies have strong local brands,鈥� Laura says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been on Vancouver Island for 50-plus years, so we want to be really cognizant of the brand recognition.鈥�

The merger also helps Megson FitzPatrick diversify outside of the BC South Coast, where the earthquake risk is high.

鈥淭hey say every year we don鈥檛 have an earthquake, we鈥檙e probably closer to one and it鈥檚 not just Victoria and the Lower Mainland that are exposed, but Seattle all the way down to Portland, so the risk becomes enormous,鈥� Luke explains. 鈥淎ctuaries are saying the financial exposure to potentially a single event is incredible, so they have to go buy insurance鈥攚hich is called reinsurance鈥攁nd what we鈥檙e experiencing now is that the reinsurance market has really pulled back because they鈥檙e worried they鈥檙e overexposed.鈥�

It鈥檚 just one of the challenges insurance companies are facing. But after more than 30 years in the industry, Laura has learned that change is the only constant.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a great ride and Megson FitzPatrick is a great organization,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 super grateful for the opportunities that have been presented to me over the years.鈥�

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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