On the podcast, we’re joined by Cullen Piske, President and, Michael Pitre, COO at Gray Surety.
Cullen shares how ‘love’ led him to joining the Gray Insurance Company and moving around their portfolio companies before ‘finding’ surety.
Michael discusses his logistics and communications role in the US Marines, doing a Masters Business Degree at night, before joining Gray Surety in 2013.
They discuss how Cullen’s knowledge of surety and Michael’s systems expertise have helped them streamline the business and eliminate non-value-adding steps.
Cullen and Michael highlight their dual roles of managing an insurance company and a surety business, as well as profitability, underwriting performance, business operations and looking after their people.
With just north of $70 million in gross written premiums and year-on-year double digit growth, they talk about their trajectory towards a $150 million per year surety, territorial expansion and adding the right people to the team.
They emphasize how creating a killer culture is everything.
“We’re a tech forward company that can outmaneuver the competition since we have access and control of our data. We measure success by performance metrics rather than how long you sit at your desk a day”, says Cullen.
Cullen and Michael highlight how finding the right people is the hardest part of their job, emphasizing their strong desire to find, attract and retain entrepreneurial leaders who like working together.
“We want people to understand what they’re walking into. The biggest thing on our end is retention. Hiring is one thing, but retaining is another, and we have a tremendous retention rate. We hire people to retire them.”
Michael shares the characteristics that make Gray Surety such a great place to work, stressing the small company culture and the servant leadership philosophy.
They discuss interview advice and the lessons their careers have taught them, they think everyone should learn.
“Pursue endeavors that have a high penalty for failure and are outside your comfort zone, so that you can always have an exciting life”, says Michael.
“Take risks. You’ll have more fun”, says Cullen.
Find out more about Gray Surety or connect with Cullen Piske and Michael Pitre on LinkedIn
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