Thank God for the Sisters.

A few weeks ago, I was listening to one of my favorite pastors deliver a sermon entitled “Thank God for the Sisters.” In the message, he highlighted many underappreciated women who were nevertheless essential to the story. It had me thinking about some of the powerful women who have been critical to my development and success. I have said on numerous occasions that I am the product of outstanding mentors, some who are women and others who are men.?As we celebrate Women’s History Month, I wanted to highlight a few of the many women who have given me insight, guidance and encouragement that has meant the world to me.

First, my mom – Francine Hart, who showed me the meaning of hard work. Most notably, when my dad lost his job she simultaneously went back to work and to night school to pursue her degree. She had stepped out of the business world to raise me and my two brothers. Although not working outside of the house during this time, she always had a number of side hustles (Parklane Jewelry, Mary Kay Cosmetics and Tupperware) long before it was called a side hustle. Whether working inside the home or outside, her self-determination and organization had a profound impact on me. She made sure everyone had what they needed, got where they needed to go and made it all work seamlessly. It should also be noted that she went to work for a branch office of Liberty Mutual for more than 20 years. This is her company; she laid the foundation for me in so many ways.

Next, my wife - Kathy. In the summer of 1998, I was a summer associate at a firm in Boston. She was studying abroad in Dijon, France. Upon coming back, we had just 15 days to prepare for our wedding in July and among all the last-minute arrangements she came to visit me at my office.

I will never forget this visit because she sat at my desk and turned to me and said: “This is so you! You belong here.” I was filled with confidence by her words, and it confirmed what I thought. I belonged at that firm, and I could succeed in this firm life. Words matter and words of encouragement are not soon forgotten.

Next, my daughter - Avery. She’s 16 now, and I have benefited from watching her confidence and mental toughness throughout her life. This girl is everything to me … beautiful, tall, smart, funny, athletic and fierce. There are a lot of Avery stories, but one of my favorites is when we were at a track meet in Connecticut when she was 8 years old. The year prior, she came within inches of breaking a 30-year-old record in the Turbo Javelin (it’s a version of the Javelin but uses a rubberized projectile for safety’s sake). After they called her name and it was her turn to throw, she ran up to the line with the javelin overhead and cocked back ready to throw when she suddenly stopped and turned to me and asked, “Hey dad, what’s the record again?” I told her the distance and she promptly broke the record on her first throw. If my 8-year-old daughter could be confident enough to aim to be the best, then so could I.

Moving from family to some “sisters” in my work family who have meant a lot to me over the years. First, our Chief Compliance Officer - Karen Morton. Anyone who knows Karen would not be surprised by her inclusion in this blog. I have benefited from her friendship, wisdom and encouragement for the better part of 20 years. I knew Karen from afar as a star in the Boston Legal community, but I really got to know her in 2005 when I was part of a team representing her former company in a major employment dispute. You really get to know someone when the pressure is on, and I learned a lot about how to navigate high pressure, high stakes litigation strategically but also gracefully from Karen. Fast forward several years later through my career at Liberty, Karen has been a wise counsel and trusted advisor. In fact, I have told her that her very presence in the building calms my spirit when things are going haywire. She always knows what to do next and never ever shoots the messenger. One story stands out, in 2019, I had just been promoted into the Chief of Corporate Litigation role, which was a role that Karen had recently vacated, so in addition to onboarding me into the role, she knew very well the stresses and inflection points of this role. On the way into my first presentation to the Board of Directors, Karen was on her way out of her own board presentation. She clutched my arm and said “you got this.” That meant a lot to me and filled me with confidence, however, there was more. Being a woman of faith, I later learned that Karen said a brief silent prayer for me in that moment. Everyone needs a friend like that!

Next, our Chief Administrative Officer - Melanie Foley. A role or two ago for both of us had me working closely with her as the Deputy General Counsel for Employment and Benefits. I was a proud member of her leadership team and enjoyed the work. We built a high trust relationship, and it was very rewarding but also very challenging work as we navigated through a tremendous amount of internal and external changes. During one particularly contentious meeting, Melanie cleared the room and said, “Can you guys excuse us, I want to talk to my lawyer.” The content of our private conversation doesn’t matter. What struck me was that when the rubber met the road, she sought my advice. I have tremendous respect for Melanie as a leader, and I was incredibly proud to be “her lawyer.” Fast forward a couple of years during my transition into the Chief Legal Officer role, as a part of my cadence of meetings with senior executives, Melanie said to me “all you have to do, is do what you have always done only on a bigger scale.” This simple, straightforward piece of advice was powerful because at the time I had three executive coaches and a cadre of “transition experts” in my ear giving advice, some useful…some not so much. Melanie called for me to be myself, only better. It had such an impact on me that I wrote it down and still remember it more than two years later.

By the way, I have benefited from two generations of wisdom from Melanie’s family because Melanie’s daughter, Kaitlyn, helped me coach girl’s youth basketball for about 5 seasons. Kaitlyn started coaching with me when she was a freshman at Boston College, and I was coaching Avery’s 4-5th grade girls travel team. I thought it would be good to have a woman in the gym with me and that she would be a good role model for the girls. She ended up being a good role model for me as well. I learned a lot about coaching different types of personalities and, most of all, I learned not to allow coaching my daughter to get in the way of being a good dad. Kaitlyn was incredibly tuned into the girls on the team and by the end of our seasons together, Kaitlyn could reign me in with a quick glance or a few words like “coach she doesn’t need that from you today.” She was right every time. I also remember one time when I was failing miserably at teaching the girls how to do the three-man weave (a passing and cutting drill which teaches ball handling and court awareness) and I exhausted my ability to explain it. Kaitlyn stepped up and said, “I got this coach.” She proceeded to explain the drill via metaphor: “Girls, it’s just like braiding hair, pass and go behind.” They got it, and I got it too - diversity matters and there are women who can say things in a way that wouldn’t even occur to me. This made everyone better. Every leader needs a Kaitlyn – someone who is from a different generation and background who can speak truth to illuminate blind spots.

Finally, our GRS President Neeti Bhalla Johnson. First, Neeti’s brilliance is next level as she has insights and global perspective that is beyond measure. I would describe her as a talented overachiever -- think the Serena Williams of insurance -- a rare combination of the hardest worker, most competitive and most talented. During the early days of Covid, we took a walk in the park, one of the only activities that seemed safe. We were talking about what’s next in our careers, and I knew I wanted to be a General Counsel, but I thought it was far off in the distance. Neeti said, “You’re ready and you should be prepared to make the transition sooner rather than later so you can hit the ground running.” I will never forget this because if she thought I was ready, then I was ready. And I really appreciated her pushing me to think strategically – playing chess rather than checkers.

I’m grateful to these and so many other women and their purposeful investment in my life. I’m better for it and as the pastor said, I thank God for the Sisters.