Konsileo Testimonial – Kim Appleby-Jones
Kim has worked in insurance in various roles for much of her working life, including at her husband Stephen’s brokerage. When it was sold, she thought at first it might be time to retire… But when husband Stephen had an interview with Konsileo, they wanted Kim to come on board too!
“We’ve always been a great team,” explains Kim. “We met many moons ago working for NFU Mutual in Stratford upon Avon, and have worked together on and off ever since. At the brokerage I was doing anything and everything from account handling to the wages and accounts – and tag-teaming with Stephen looking after our clients. Konsileo heard how that had all worked, and clearly thought they shouldn’t mess with a winning formula!”
Both Kim and Stephen, from West Wales, started at Konsileo in September 2018. “For us, it’s been perfect,” says Kim. “It’s let us do the bits of the job we’ve always loved, without the regulatory and administrational burden. We’d read about Konsileo and its culture and thought it sounded brilliant. After all this time neither of us thought we could face going back into an office and a corporate structure, and with Konsileo we could keep working flexibly, keep our own hours – and keep our client relationships.”
Flexible working
Kim has worked from home for the last 20 or so years – and has always fitted her hours in around family life. The couple have four children. “Our oldest is 35 and she’s also in insurance,” explains Kim, “so it clearly runs in the family! But our youngest came along quite a bit later, as a bit of a surprise. Seth is 11, and of course that means we’re still doing school runs and clubs and homework. With Konsileo that’s not a problem. I can work around him, and my middle daughter who lives down the road – and my two small grandchildren. I’ve also got another daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter living in Japan teaching English.
“I normally get up early around 6, turn the computers on for the day, and then get a bit of exercise in. That might be some keep fit or going for a bike ride down by the beach. We get Seth to school, and then Stephen and I settle down to work if he’s not out and about. It makes people laugh but we literally work side by side at the same desk! If I want to I can work through lunch and then it’s not a problem to fetch Seth from school, and log back in later on. It’s ideal.
“When you’ve got a family, that sort of flexibility makes 100% difference. It’s so hard to fit it all in if you’ve got a traditional 9 to 5 job – and a traditional manager standing over you asking you where you are and what you’re doing, or remotely tracking how often your mouse has moved! It puts so much pressure on people and none of that is any indication of how good you are at your job.”
Putting clients first
For Kim, her clients are the very best bit about her job, and there’s never a dull day. She continues: “Our clients are like friends. We brought a lot with us from over the years and we know them personally, we fully understand their businesses, their needs and exposures – and we’re absolutely committed to putting them first and providing the service they deserve. We’re here to help them think through what they need, get the right protection, and hold their hands through any claims. It’s why people come back to us again and again and why we get so many word-of-mouth referrals.
“What I like about my job is the fact I get to meet so many interesting people, and find out about the fascinating things they do. Every day is different. We’ve got clients involved in TV logistics providing trailers for celebrities, clients converting classic cars to electric vehicles, local firms doing coach tours, and a nightclub in Birmingham run by an ex-rock star!”
Kim took on broking clients when she first started, but has now taken on all the back office support and administration whilst continuing to service her key clients – and Stephen goes out and finds new business as a Client Director. Kim takes all the information and goes out to all the markets to find the very best policy for each risk.
As some of the longest standing Konsileo employees, they’re often called on by colleagues for advice.
“I’m known as the System Ninja,” says Kim, “so if anyone’s got any questions about how things work, they come to me! It’s one of the best things about working for Konsileo. If you’ve got a question or query you put it out there and you’ll have floods of answers and suggestions on who and how to approach whatever you need to do. It’s all about collaboration – and doing the very best for Konsileo clients.”
