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Not long ago, I attended a conference that featured Captain Richard Phillips, an American merchant mariner and author, as the keynote speaker. Some of you may know his story because of the recent movie that starred Tom Hanks aptly titled, Captain Phillips, or perhaps you read his book, A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea. Briefly, his story centers on his experience when a band of Somali pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama, the vessel he commanded, while in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Africa and took him hostage.

Aside from giving us his story first-hand, Captain Phillips wove some of his character and values into the presentation. In short, he lived and led by 2 very important precepts – be prepared and never give up. After listening to his story, it made sense; each time he took command of a ship he would be working with a new crew. That meant that on each voyage, he would have to clearly evaluate the readiness of his crew and communicate his expectations. Everyone would have to train up for safety and survival. As the captain of a merchant vessel in a sketchy area of the world, Captain Phillips told his crew, “It’s a matter of when, not if.”

Having been in the insurance industry for over 30 years, and also as the President of the Tuscano Agency, I am always looking for inspiration and good leadership lessons. My job is to make sure my crew, (the most excellent staff of the Tuscano Agency) is well-trained and prepared for whatever comes their way. That means that no matter how good, skilled or experienced we are, we never want to stop training, learning and sharpening our skills. As for me – I will never give up seeking the best markets, the best talent, or the best tools for us to use.

Being prepared is what we in the insurance business are ‘all about’. Whether your customers deal with hurricanes, wildfires, or tornados and hail – being insured is one of the most important preparations families and businesses can make. If you need help to secure coverage for a coastal property, Tuscano CAN do it. We have capacity to place wind coverage for coastal accounts. As for protection class 9 & 10 properties, Tuscano CAN do that too! Call us – we’d be happy to talk through the account with you before you have to fill out an app (in fact we would love the opportunity to triage the account).

On the what’s new front, Tuscano recently contracted with a new carrier that is writing small to mid-size GL business in all of the states we serve (including yours!). They specialize in artisan contractors, habitational risks, vacant property & land, light manufacturing, and mercantile/retail accounts. They are big on technology so we are excited to work with them and our hope is to expand some of our online tools now that we have this outlet. I’ll keep you posted as we progress.

I believe the message from Capt. Phillips will stand the test of time and mayhem. You and I can follow his lead; be prepared, never give up, and when you don’t know where to go with that difficult piece of business, call Tuscano (we CAN do it!).

Signing off for now – but never more than a call or click away!