Agent Profile: Rising Tides Swell Philadelphia Veteran’s Success

In the dynamic world of healthcare and medical professional liability (MPL) coverage, standing alone can be a recipe for stagnation. Just ask HUB International Healthcare Chief Marketing Officer Ray Nolen, whose business philosophy is a slight variation of a phrase popularized by the late John F. Kennedy.

“I’ve always believed that rising waters raise all boats,” Ray said.

In other words, when individuals work together to achieve a common goal, everyone involved benefits from the effort.

Now in his 40th year in the MPL space—and still producing on top of his duties as Chief Marketing Officer—Ray attributes much of his success to understanding that collaboration creates opportunity.

Separating

A Philadelphia native, Ray grew up the oldest of seven children—and by the time he turned eighteen, he couldn’t wait to get out on his own.

“I had a great upbringing, but in a household crammed with six siblings, I needed some freedom, some independence. When my father asked me, ‘Do you have any idea where you want to go to college?’ I told him, ‘Dad, don’t take this wrong way, I just want to go away,’ and he couldn’t blame me.”

After evaluating state schools, Ray chose Bloomsburg University, a college three hours from home. He began as a business major but shifted his focus to marketing midway through.

“I found the classes I did best in were about speech, salesmanship, and marketing. It became clear to me that marketing was what I enjoyed and excelled in, so I pursued my degree in that instead.”

In 1984, a month before graduating, Ray tried lining up a sales job through a career fair he attended but came home disappointed after learning he might be stuck with entry-level, commission-only work.

That’s when opportunity called.

“When I got back to my apartment, I found a note one of my roommates posted by the phone saying, ‘Call home.’ It’s funny how two words in one moment can change your entire path in life.”

Ray’s father was a general agent for a major MPL insurer. In the mid-1980s, many general agents on the carrier side did it all—sell policies, underwrite them, service accounts, and handle claims. With such great industry exposure, and with Ray about to finish college, his dad felt it was an opportune moment to take the knowledge he gained and form an MPL agency with a business partner. He offered Ray a job, and the three of them started the agency on January 1, 1985.

Building

With no experience and zero clients, Ray relied on his father and his partner to learn the basics—but shortly thereafter, he was determined to show he could pull his own weight to make the agency successful by working hard and putting his marketing degree to good use.

“The first thing I concentrated on was figuring out how to manage my day,” Ray explained. “Then I planned out the best ways to go about marketing, whether it be cold calling or going out to medical office buildings with fliers and my business card. Literally going office to office introducing myself. I’d drive from Philly to Pittsburgh and rent a hotel room for four nights and spend five days going to all the office buildings to meet physicians. I found early success mainly because I was able to say to them, ‘I’m not here to write your life insurance, your homeowners, or auto—I specialize in medical liability insurance. I’ll improve your coverage and I’ll do so at a lower cost. And I’ll spend every waking hour in this industry servicing you the best that I can.’ They saw I was sincere, and that worked out well for developing business relationships. We’d collaborate to see what solutions we could come up with to best suit their practice.”

Another marketing tactic Ray used to help build the agency’s book was an old-school twist on what is now known as geotargeting.

“Back in the 80s, there were no online resources or computer design programs to use for mailing campaigns. So I would spend evenings in my apartment putting together my own mailers and sending out hundreds a week. Then I’d assess the response rates, and if I found that one mailer was more effective than another, I’d use that one, or if I was having more success in a certain geographical location, I would direct my efforts toward that area.”

Once the agency had all of the sales and servicing pieces of the puzzle in place, business grew organically.

“We built our book in the beginning by going hand to hand and door to door, but it was really referrals that took over growing the book.”

After a few years, the agency went through a transformation. Ray’s brother Pat had begun working there, and his dad left to open up his own third-party claims administrator company. Their partner had parted ways for a new venture too, leaving Ray and Pat on their own. Eventually, another brother, Mike, joined and the three brothers ran the agency together.

As business continued to grow, the brothers expanded into neighboring Mid-Atlantic states such as Delaware and New Jersey, and Ray’s role broadened as well.

“While Pat and Mike spent their days trying to market and write new business, I wore a number of hats. I was technically the president—I ran the day-to-day operations, I worked on our carrier relations, and I was producing all the while.”

Adapting

In 2018, more than 30 years after starting the agency, a mutual decision was made to keep pace with an industry trend that had increased over the past three decades: consolidation.

January 1 was always the busiest day of the year for the Nolen brothers. It was family tradition for them to sit down together afterwards and discuss their next moves for the upcoming year. This particular year, Ray presented Pat and Mike with the idea of selling.

“I said, ‘Hey, I think what’s next is for the first time ever, we should seriously consider joining a larger organization.’ It wasn’t an exit strategy; it was more of a what’s next strategy. And the analogy I used with my brothers was we’re like a three-physician orthopedic group—and there’s nothing wrong with that—but the healthcare delivery system is changing, and the days of the three-physician orthopedic group aren’t what they once were. I felt we’d be better off being part of a three–four–five–hundred physician group so we can bring those additional resources to our clients—and they agreed.”

Eleven months to the day, the agency was sold to HUB International on December 1, 2018.

“We had numerous suitors over the years, and when it came time to settle on a team, we felt that HUB was the best fit for us culturally. HUB has a very collaborative environment. So now people throughout the country are at our disposal to help in any way they can. As part of HUB, we have over 350 members in our Healthcare Specialty Practice. We’re able to reach out to anyone across the U.S. to help us grow. That’s a huge benefit with our move to HUB. I’m getting to work with people on a national level where previously most of the work I did was on a regional level.”

In 2024, Ray was promoted from Managing Director to Chief Marketing Officer of HUB International Healthcare—but the new role just brings a bigger platform for his fundamental practices.

“We’re in a relationship-based business, and collaboration strengthens those relationships. To me, that’s what our industry’s all about. You need to be able to collaborate with other people to come up with the best solutions for the healthcare community. They don’t necessarily have to be my solutions. But if they’re collaborative and if someone has a great idea, I should embrace it and incorporate it to make sure I’m taking care of my clients. That’s been my mindset my whole career. And following that mindset, in 40 years I’ve never had a claim denied or a client lose personal assets as a result of a medical liability insurance claim. Everyone has been properly covered. So I’m a big believer in what you can accomplish through working together.”

This article originally appeared in the July 2024 issue of The Agent’s Advocate, a publication of The Doctors Company.