Valentine’s at Konsileo – Kim and Stephen
You might know how much people love working for Konsileo, but you might not know that some people at Konsileo love each other…
To celebrate Valentine’s Day this week we talked to some insurance broking couples about what it’s like to work together, and how they combine their personal and professional lives.
Kim and Stephen Appleby-Jones ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ “We actually met at work,” says Kim Appleby-Jones, who joined Konsileo with husband Stephen 3 years ago. “Some 40 years ago we were both at NFU – and the rest is history! We’ve now been married 38 years.”
“Since NFU we’ve worked together on and off,” adds Stephen. “I had my own brokerage for a while, and Kim worked with me around taking care of the children.”
Re-balancing ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ The couple, who live in Wales, have three grown up girls, three grandchildren, and a 10 year old son at home. When Stephen sold his business he was looking for more work/life balance, and read in an industry publication about Konsileo.
“I really liked the idea of being independent, and having no hierarchy,” explains Stephen. “Konsileo is a group of people with similar values working hard to contribute to the good of the company. I also liked the idea of working from home – it’s the first time I’ve ever done it. It means that it’s also the first time I’ve been able to do things like the school run, and that’s been great. I missed out that with the girls because I was always working or travelling – and Kim missed out on her working life. Now it feels like we’ve got the right balance.”
Konsileo employees can go to an office if they choose, but for Stephen and Kim working at home just works. Far from being sick of the sight of each other after continuous lockdowns, they find working together brings them closer. “Sometimes I suppose we could be a bit better at not talking shop at home,” admits Stephen, “but the fact is, it’s nice to have it in common, we both enjoy what we do, and we enjoy bouncing off each other. And our synergy means we can actually achieve more.”
Teamwork ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀
“We’ve always been a great team,” agrees Kim. “With Konsileo we have our own clients, but we try to get to know each other’s clients, too, so we can deputise for the other person. If they can’t get hold of me they know to try Stephen, and vice versa. We find it works really well because we can play to each other’s strengths.”
“Kim is very patient and very caring, and she’s like that at home as well as at work”, says Stephen. “That makes her a great wife AND a great colleague.”
“And we feel really lucky to have the family life and the working life that we do,” adds Kim.
Find out more about working with Konsileo here or contact Chris Sulman directly at chris.sulman@konsileo.com or 07898210760.
