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It was a beautiful spring day in North Andover, Mass. Jennifer was a young agent for John Hancock Life, still learning the business, and met that morning with her general agent and mentor, Gene Doran. Four years earlier, he had recruited Jennifer into Hancock's agent training program -- no small feat, considering she had to abandon her plans for law school and a career as an attorney. Shortly before noon, they broke off their meeting for lunch; Gene headed for a quick haircut, while Jennifer went out for sandwiches.
When she returned, emergency crews were swarming the building. Gene was the victim of an extraordinarily freakish accident. "While Gene was sitting in the barber chair, there was construction work being done in a liquor store next door to the barber shop," Jennifer says, the memory still vivid. "They were using a stud gun, the type of gun that puts nails in cement. The contractor thought the walls were made of concrete, but he was wrong -- they were just sheetrock." A construction worker fired a nail that penetrated the wall of the barber shop with the force of a .57 caliber bullet, ricocheting and hitting Gene in the neck.
"At the time of the accident we couldn't locate Gene's wife because she had gone shopping with their youngest child," Jennifer says. "There were no cell phones then, of course, and we had no way to reach Gene's family. A police officer asked me to go to the hospital to be with Gene while they tried to locate his family. I ended up in the family emergency room, scared and panicked as I listened to the doctors and nurses speculating as to whether Gene would survive. At one point, I heard them ask if next of kin had arrived, and if Gene's priest had been called to the hospital. Needless to say, that was a long day!"
Gene survived but was paralyzed from the neck down and remains a quadriplegic today. "I knew that whatever happened, Gene had the right amount of life insurance, and he had the maximum in disability coverage," Jennifer adds. "He was a role model for proper planning and making sure his own financial house was in order."
The incident inspired a new perspective for Jennifer in her approach to prospects. "That was such a pivotal day. It gave me an appreciation for how precious life is, and that it can change at any point," she says. "More importantly, it showed me the value of the work we do every day, helping our clients plan for the future. I became a passionate advocate for financial and estate planning. I'd share Gene's story with prospects, and I wouldn't let people say no to me. I'd say, 'A tragic event could change your life, too.'"
Jennifer became a leader in group disability sales for Hancock and she has stayed at or near the top of the list ever since. "I am vigilant about sharing Gene's story," she says.
This month marks her 25th anniversary in the insurance business, and at age 47 she can look back on a remarkable career path that has taken her to the heights of her profession. Borislow Insurance is one of the leading employee benefits firms in the northeastern U.S., with more than 300 corporate clients and well above $100 million in annual employee benefit expenditures. In 2004, Jennifer was elected chairperson of the Top of the Table, the highest echelon of qualifiers for the Million Dollar Round Table; she was the first female to attain that position.
A Lucky Wrong Number
Early in her agent training, Jennifer practiced "dialing for dollars," cold-calling businesses straight out of the Yellow Pages. The most important call she made started out as a wrong number. "I misdialed, but the guy on the other end still said, 'Sure, come and see me, I have some questions about my health insurance,'" she says. "I didn't even know who I had called, so I hit the redial button. It turned out to be a local supermarket. They needed help with their health insurance, so I quickly became an on-the-spot expert in it. That opened a whole new marketing opportunity for me."
In 1987, Jennifer qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table for the first time. She has qualified every year since then, 19 years in all, including nine Top of the Table qualifications, and has not missed an MDRT meeting. In 2006-2007 she has served as chair of the finance committee, and she'll move over to run the professional development committee starting in September. She has helped in planning the MDRT or Top of the Table annual meeting in some capacity for the past 11 years, including responsibility for the MDRT main platform in 1999.
"Being chairman of the main platform is a huge honor and commitment," she says. "It takes a whole year to plan the annual meeting." Like all volunteer jobs within MDRT, however, the hard work has its rewards. "I have binders full of the notes I've received from members after the meetings, sharing their gratitude and telling me the program made a difference in their life."
As the first female leader of the Top of the Table (2004-2005), Jennifer became an official "role model" for young women in the insurance profession -- but she wasn't the only one that year. Adelia Chung, CLU, ChFC, of Honolulu, Hawaii, served as the first female MDRT president at the same time. It was a double turning point for the MDRT, then in its 78th year. "Most people don't know what a huge milestone that was," Jennifer says. "Adelia and I became great friends from serving on the management council together. The support we received from the membership was heartwarming."
Making a Difference
The word that bobs up frequently in Jennifer's personal and professional life is passion. In all her roles, as entrepreneur, manager, wife, mother, daughter, or community volunteer, she holds nothing back. But her energy is always directed outward, and her company mirrors her approach to everything. "My personality has been a huge part of my success: my drive and my desire to make a difference in other people's lives," she says.
Borislow Insurance, in Methuen, Mass., near the border with New Hampshire, specializes in employee benefit planning with an emphasis on total benefit solutions. About 85% of the company's revenue comes from group benefit plan consulting and management, encompassing not only medical and dental coverage but group life and long-term disability as well. The other 15% is spread across voluntary payroll deduction programs and personal and business estate planning.
The company's marketing presentation, a 20-page tabbed booklet, describes the firm as a problem-solver for employers of all sizes. "BI's approach to employee benefits consultation feels different -- on purpose," it states. "We employ a holistic approach to employee benefits consultation ... to support this approach, we provide in-depth cost/benefit analyses through actuarial consultation and healthcare informatics."
The vision of the firm, its ultimate objective, leaves no room for mediocrity: "To be the premier employee benefits and financial services firm in our region -- recognized for outstanding client service, integrity, professionalism, and a passion to make a difference." If its list of partners and alliances is any indication, Borislow Insurance is not far from that promised land. The list is a Who's Who of regional and national health plan powerhouses: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Health Plan, Aetna, Cigna, Delta Dental, and United HealthCare. Other major insurers who work with the agency include Lincoln Financial, UnumProvident, and Standard Life (Oregon), in addition to Jennifer's original affiliation with John Hancock.
"We view the insurance carriers as our partners and our equals in the process," Jennifer says. "It's not a 'we versus them' attitude. We work together to help secure or retain every client."
Two years ago, Jennifer reached another turning point when she realized that she needed help to take her business to the next level -- help in the form of a business partner. "I was concerned about getting burned out and not being able to do it all anymore, balancing my family's needs with the continued growth of the agency," she recalls. "I also wanted a succession plan, to provide security for our clients and our staff in case something happened to me. So after 23 years of going solo, I brought in a business partner."
Mark Gaunya came aboard as co-principal. He met Jennifer seven years ago at a carrier event and they immediately discovered they shared the same values and desire to help shape the future of the health care delivery system. His knowledge and experience in health care perfectly complement Jennifer's expertise. "Mark is an early pioneer and a recognized expert in consumer driven health plans (CDHPs)," Jennifer says. "He's worked in that field for more than seven years. As passionate as I am about disability protection, he's four times as much about CDHPs."
The new partners' problem-solving skills were put to the test last year when a PEO firm (a "professional employer organization" managing 3,500 leased employees) came to them for help with a serious issue. The firm's employees were in an uproar over a change in health insurance providers. In only one month, the company had lost one-third of its business.
"The client failed to do the due diligence on what the impact of the carrier change would be," Jennifer says. "They had worked with an out-of-state broker that was not as familiar with the Massachusetts marketplace. We worked closely with the senior leadership team and came up with a solution that made sense and enabled the company to regain the lost employees. By January 2007, the company was back on track, and it continues to grow."
High Performance, High Rewards
Jennifer learned the value of hard work and personal development during her school years. As a student at Kimball Union Academy, a prep school in New Hampshire, and later as a political science/economics major at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, she worked long hours in summer jobs so that she wouldn't have to work during the school year. "I worked the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift as a waitress at Howard Johnson's, then I'd work from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. as a bartender at a Chinese restaurant," she recalls. "I realized early that you can control your own destiny if you work hard, so that was always my way."
It is always that way with her employees today as well. Borislow Insurance sets high performance standards, but backs them up with the kind of benefits and incentives small businesses rarely offer, such as tuition reimbursement for advanced college degrees and professional designations; a matching-gift program for charitable giving, and time off for community volunteer work. The company even provides an unheard-of benefit that was prompted by the death of a client four years ago.
"The client had died without a will and a proper estate plan," Jennifer says. "One day, over lunch with our team, I was shocked to discover that a number of employees had not yet completed their own estate planning documents. It was like the cobbler's children having no shoes. After that lunch, everyone realized the importance of estate planning." Borislow Insurance now encourages each employee to have a proper estate plan, including a will, and the company pays for it. "We allow them to take time out of the office to meet with an attorney, and we pay the attorney's fees.
"The best thing about it is, they go through the process and are educated in it. So now I often hear them on the phone telling clients and prospects, 'It's important for you to have a will; here's how you get one.'"
Teeing It Up
Jennifer met her husband Mike in the John Hancock management training program and they were married in 1986. They have two daughters, Jessica, 18, and Lauren, 15. Jessica graduated from Kimball Union this spring (a third generation graduate, following her mother and Jennifer's father) and will enter Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., this month. Lauren is an elite soccer player and played on the Kimball Union varsity squad this year as a freshman.
"The thing I am most proud of is accomplishing the business goals I've set for myself without sacrificing my family life," Jennifer says. "The Round Table really emphasizes the Whole Person concept. For years, I put my daughters on the school bus every morning, and I've been there at their sporting events. Because of the flexibility of this business and the opportunities it has given me, I've been able to be very much a part of my kids' lives and my husband's life."
Anyone who has reached her station in life has the right to enjoy a few trappings of success, of course, and for Jennifer that has meant adopting a new passion -- golf. She's taken lessons and whittled her handicap down to 26, low enough to qualify her to play in the Deutsche Bank pro-am tournament last Labor Day weekend. The lessons did nothing, however, to calm her nerves in sharing the spotlight with celebrities.
"I was one of two women in the tournament, with 212 men. I was so nervous, even though I had practiced all summer for it. Mark, my business partner, was my caddy.
"I played with the local PGA favorite, Brett Quigley. We played right behind Donald Trump and Brad Faxon. At the first tee, Donald Trump hooked his tee shot to the left, and someone in the gallery yelled, 'You're fired!' Everybody roared with laughter. Then the announcer said, 'Jennifer Borislow, one of two women playing today, coming to the tee.' My heart was pounding. Mark's words of wisdom as I approached the tee were, 'Just swing naturally. You're going to be fine. Just crush it.'
"I swung -- and believe it or not, I missed the ball! The whole gallery gasped. Then my heart started pounding outside my chest. Brett Quigley, my playing partner, was watching and said, 'Oh, that was just a practice swing.' Somehow I regained my composure, lined up my drive, and crushed it. I don't remember anything else from that first hole except Mark telling me, 'Just breathe, breathe.'"
It was the turning point en route to a decent round of golf, and another memorable moment for Jennifer Borislow -- with, no doubt, many more to come.
