April 4, 2024
With Jill Dunning—Managing Partner, Dunning Currie Insurance
What inspired you to start your own brokerage?
Throughout my career, I’ve wanted to provide exceptional service to clients and maintain a higher standard of responsiveness, transparency and correspondence, always ensuring clients are confident in their insurance program and assured their business is protected. Over time it evolved into wanting to create an environment to encourage and mentor others to be able to do the same for their clients.
What distinguishes Dunning Currie Insurance?
We’ve been successful in creating a culture of positivity, support and collaboration. We provide guidance and resources for clients to minimize risk and reduce cost, and we have the ability to quickly implement progressive ways to improve.
What challenges did you overcome in the early stages of building DCI?
Given the support and assistance of our peers, insurers, MGAs and supporting businesses, our largest challenge was not having enough hours in the day. Our clients understood the various technical difficulties in the start-up phase, and our partners worked tirelessly to assist time and again. Once we were through those initial tech issues, we were able to focus on building a team who became instrumental in propelling us through the start-up phase.
Was there a pivotal moment in your journey?
I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and spent years trying to find the right outlet. Building this brokerage was the culmination of all my efforts. Our brokerage’s growth and success are a direct reflection of carrying this forward.
How do you balance risk management and growth as an entrepreneur in the insurance industry?
Balancing risk management and growth comes down to our core beliefs and values of honesty, integrity and transparency. We apply these to everything we do in our day-to-day interactions, which results in smart growth.
What advice would you give someone who wants to start their own brokerage?
Ensure you have support from your peers, your markets, your family and your friends. We’ve had many partners in our journey to get this brokerage off the ground who continue to support us today. Everyone knows it’s going to be hard—there will be many long days—so having the support behind you is critical for your success.