As COO of Hub International Insurance Brokers’ Vancouver office, Barbara MacPhail is at the helm of a $40 million business – but she’s not afraid of the responsibility.
“I’m not alone … we’ve got a lot of talent at the table,” said MacPhail.
Her career in the insurance business began when she was 15 and she never looked back.
By the time she was 18 she had finished all four levels of her Canadian insurance-broker designations, and she went on to complete a BA in communications at Simon Fraser University.
After university she worked at Family Insurance as a broker, but then joined Hub in 1999 to run its personal-insurance division.
She likes the insurance industry because of the people she meets.
“I think it’s often undersold,” she said. “It’s just full of really dynamic people; it’s a real relationship business.”
In 2004, MacPhail was promoted to vice-president of Hub’s Vancouver office, and in 2007 she became senior vice-president.
She’s also heavily involved with Brokers Association of BC, and is part of the steering committee for the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s general insurance program.
At BCIT, she helped raise the funds to create an insurance education program.
As busy as running a large insurance business can be, MacPhail finds time for her family and said she’s getting better at balancing her life.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and I’m learning that every day.” •
