Meet Sarah Brown | Manager Client Relations, Al G. Brown and Associates

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Brown and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Our business was founded by my grandfather in 1943 in Toronto. He lived his life as a religious Jew and wanted to make sure he didn’t have to break the Sabbath to earn a living. Having his own business allowed him to do that. After a few different sales ventures, he decided to try life insurance. This isn’t so shocking because of his upbringing. He was the youngest of nine and his father died when he was 5 years old leaving my great-grandmother to raise the family. So my grandfather saw first-hand how important life insurance could be. Maybe that’s why he was so passionate about selling life insurance for individuals and their families. My grandfather’s two children- my father and my aunt later joined the business and the three of them became partners. And the business grew to have a team of over 20 people and three divisions – insurance and risk management, employee benefits plans, and investments.

I decided to join the business in 2011. I had just been accepted into a Master’s program – one that I spent many hours crying over my doubts about whether I wouldn’t get in. But when I was accepted, I immediately felt remorse that I would be missing out on joining the business. But I really wasn’t sure what to do. First, my grandfather had me over to his condominium and “grilled” me with questions. I guess I passed. I also turned to my aunt Golda who is my mentor in the business. I told her I was caught and wasn’t sure what to do. She said “I can’t answer this for you. If you are passionate about the business you should join. If not, you shouldn’t.” I remember exactly where I was in an underground parking lot when we had this conversation and I said to myself, “Yes I am passionate about this. This is where I want to be.”

Do you have a budget? How do you think about your personal finances and how do you make lifestyle and spending decisions?
My lifestyle and spending decisions are based on values. My husband and I donate a sizeable amount of our income to charity. We are committed to providing our children with a solid secular and Jewish education and therefore we spend money on Jewish private school tuition. Other parts of our faith – belonging to a synagogue, eating kosher food, making the Jewish holidays beautiful also cost money and we really don’t question when we spend money on these things. Being in a business that helps individuals and families transfer wealth to the next generation, we feel strongly about providing a legacy for our children. We have set aside funds that we have decided not to dip into for ourselves but to save it to create a legacy for our children.

Risk taking: how do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life/career? lifestyle and spending decisions?
I don’t consider myself a “risk taker” but I also feel if you don’t take risk, there are no rewards. The insurance business is a sales business so that in itself is s risk. But we know we are selling a product people need and it is just about coming up with the appropriate strategy to fulfill our client’s purposes and ensuring that we have their trust. I think the biggest risk I take is getting so consumed in our business that it takes away from our families. My father who passed away quite suddenly at age 65, devoted his mind and heart to this business and helped many people along the way ensure their financial and estate planning was in order. He had this amazing ability to walk out of the office, stop at the grocery store at the end of our street and walk in the door as if he had just had the most fulfilling day of his life – every day. And not every day was positive. Some were stressful but he rarely showed it. We can remember a handful of occasions that he did. I know I am not the same way. I know the personal risk I take joining a family business is that the pressure could spill over and compromise my family life. But I know if my kids will be half as proud as me as I am of my father (and my mother who he could have done none of this without) then I will be immensely rewarded. I particularly take this risk for my daughter. I want her to know that she can be a devoted Mommy and also do what she needs to do to make herself feel happy and fulfilled in other areas of life and if that means feeding your passion through her career, she should do that.

Where are you from and how did your background and upbringing impact who you are today?
I am from Toronto and have never lived anywhere else. My family’s history in this city goes back a long time too. Coming from a family that has belonged to one community for so long, makes me feel partially responsible for it. This has a tremendous impact on the focus of the business. It is important to us to make sure members of our community address their risk management and estate planning needs. My aunt and I always talk about how we would never want to find out too late that someone did not have insurance. We would feel personally responsible for not calling them.

Growing up in the city has also impacted my charitable giving as well as the firm’s. My grandfather said- “If you earn a living in a community, it is your responsibility to give back to it” and I take that seriously. As I mentioned before, my husband and I support various causes that support vulnerable members of the community and support growth in different areas of life.

Part of the firm’s essence is also our charitable-giving philosophy. We have been instrumental in developing and implementing plans for many charities, resulting in millions of dollars reaching charities in Canada and around the world. Many our clients are philanthropic and part of our role is to integrate philanthropy into their estate plans in a tax efficient manner. We have helped many of their magnify their gifts because of our strategies.

Growing up in such a tight knit family has undoubtedly impacted who I am today both in terms of family values and why I decided to join the business. Both my maternal and paternal grandparents played a major role in my childhood but I was particularly blessed that my father’s father, Al G. Brown, the founder of the company lived to age 97. We spoke multiple times a day, drove to work together and had dinner together at least once a week. He was the first person in the family to meet my husband Steve and he was privileged to hold my eldest child, his second great-granddaughter just two weeks before he passed away. A day does not go by that I do not think of the business lessons he taught me- never leave something on your desk for tomorrow that you can do today; you can learn something from everyone; never assume an individual has their insurance needs taken care of; it is your job to call and treat everyone- every staff member, the janitor of the building, the receptionist at your client’s office with respect. My grandfather was infamous for calling his clients on their birthdays – never missing them no matter what country he was calling from. Having been in business for so long, we have a huge client base but I prioritize things like calling clients on their birthday and having as much contact as possible in part because of his legacy.

What value or principle matters most to you? Why?
Trust. Trust is the lifeline of our business. Our clients trust us with their most personal details- medical health, financial assets, family dynamics and their goals and dreams. If trust is compromised we have nowhere to start because we cannot advise them properly. Once we understand a client’s situation and what it is that they want to accomplish we can truly go forward and work with our team to develop a plan.

What is the most important factor behind your success / the success of your brand?
It’s hard to pick one! Here are a few…

The first is that we are life planners, and we listen to our own advice. We help individuals and families plan for their futures and we are not hypocritical. We do the same. My family spent years working on a succession plan. They felt it was important that they find someone who could take care of the clients and grow the firm according to the values that have always guided them in the business. Our current managing partner, Elli Schochet, joined the firm in 2012 and became partner in 2016. In 2021, we lost my father, our leader and mentor and we are all still grieving emotionally from the loss. But with Elli as our leader, the firm not only survived but thrived. I don’t think other firms in the industry have invested as much time and effort into a succession plan and I am so proud that my family did.

Our mission is to help individuals and their families use their wealth to fulfill the purposes they value most. So, an essential factor in our success is our ability to take complex strategies and explain them to clients. And then, help them implement the plans so that they accomplish their goals.

The firm’s team is also such an important factor in our success. Our staff have literally been with us for decades- 10, 20, 30, and 40 years. We work together with them to come up with the best solutions for our clients and to provide ongoing service after the implementation of a plan.

The last factor I would mention is we are always looking toward the future. Even when we have a lot of work in the mill, we don’t stop. We are always reaching out to make new connections and build relationships.

Work life balance: how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?
I started in the business in 2011- right out of university at age 22. I was living at home, one of my parents would drive me to work and then I would leave whenever. Sometimes I would wait for my dad and sometimes my mom would get me. I started as the receptionist. I met every client who came through the door and the major players at the insurance companies. There was little stress and I thought it was a lot of fun. I loved answering the phones. But I found myself itching to do more- I would look through our system at client names and how we can expand on the relationship with them. There have been three maternity leaves since then. In Canada, we can take 12-18 months and that’s typical. I took 9 months with my first, 10 with my second and 4 with my third. I really felt that I couldn’t spend the time away. There were so many changes in our business, so quickly and I needed to be part of it. Lots of people told me I shouldn’t come back so fast but I don’t regret it. How I balance now is that I work 4 days full time. I really try not to compromise on that. I am often on my emails after bedtime but not in the office. I take every Friday off and then I have to cram everything in to one day which is hard but it keeps me focused during the week to know I have the one day for appointments, cooking for the Sabbath, being with my 18-month-old son and, if I can, a workout or something for myself.

What’s the end goal? Where do you want to be professionally by the end of your career?
At the end of my career, I want our company’s reputation to be as strong as it has been for the last 80 years and for me to know that I contributed to that. That goal doesn’t all fall on me. We have a strong managing partner and a team of 20 employees but I will tell you what I would like to see from my career personally. First, I never want to lose a client. There is no reason. We are experts at what we do, and we care deeply about our clients. I am invested in maintaining and strengthening our client relationships so that they continue to flourish. Second, I want to play a large role in helping our clients fulfill their philanthropic dreams. In our business, we have so many strategies and tools at our fingertips to demonstrate to clients how to spend less and magnify their gifts. I will feel satisfied knowing that our advice has benefited both deserving causes and generous clients who want to take from their success and give to others. My third goal goes back to my point about community and taking care of those around me. By the end of my career, I hope to have secured the trust of a new generation of clients whose families will one day benefit from their planning and their legacies.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This story is dedicated to the founder of our business Al G. Brown who passed away in February 2017 as well as to my father, a former partner of the firm and one of Canada’s top insurance and estate planning professionals, who passed away in February 2021.

Website: www.algbrown.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-brown-2b57a073/