In 1981, Jim Hubbard, founder of J.L. Hubbard Insurance and Bonds, gave young Kevin Breheny the chance of a lifetime: he offered Kevin the presidency of his company. Kevin had graduated from Quincy University and begun work at the company just three years before.
“He had a choice to hire someone from the outside or promote from within, and he felt that I had the potential of being a good long-term player,” Kevin said. “I admired him very much but really wasn’t anticipating that kind of promotion that quickly. I thought he was absolutely out of his mind, and everyone in the organization thought he was, too.”
Jim Hubbard also hired recent college grads Randy Cannady, Ron Koopman and Tim Patton, all of whom are still an integral part of the company, which has grown from $3 million in premium value in those early days to $98 million today. Obviously, Jim Hubbard was wise to trust his instincts.
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Like his predecessor, Kevin Breheny has to have a good feeling about whom he and his management team hire. But when not only his son-in-law, but later, his son wanted to work for the company, Kevin knew that whether or not he felt they would be ideal employees, he needed to take himself out of the hiring process all together.
Actually, though Matt Bennett is now Kevin’s son-in-law, he was still just dating Kevin’s daughter, Megan, at the time he interviewed with J.L. Hubbard. But Kevin had known Matt for a number of years.
“I met Matt Bennett when he was in seventh grade,” said Kevin. “I happened to teach his parish school religion class, and at that time, he impressed me. He was a sharp young man. As it turned out, my daughter and he started dating when he was a freshman in college and she was a senior in high school. I got to know him over the next four years pretty well.”
As his senior year at the University of Notre Dame began, Matt started considering his job prospects, undergoing many interviews and discussing his options with Megan.
“I’m a big believer that God presents you with opportunities, and it’s your responsibility to take advantage of those opportunities,” said Matt.
Though he ended up with job offers from financial institutions in major cities across the country, Matt called Kevin during his senior year and asked if he might interview with J.L. Hubbard. Matt had become convinced that J.L. Hubbard would provide him a chance for not only a good job, but an excellent career.
“I grew up in Argenta, and when I left for school, I had no idea where life would take me. But Megan had a huge influence on where I would end up,” said Matt. “She helped me to see the incredible opportunity that home presented for our future. Couple that with wanting to be near her and finding a job that fit my personality and qualifications, and it was a perfect match.”
Though the situation could have been a bit sticky, Kevin did his best to ensure that Matt was treated as any other candidate — no better or worse — and held the role of silent observer during the interview process, which included personnel from J.L. Hubbard and Soy Capital Bank & Trust.
“I really didn’t feel I should penalize him because he was dating my daughter,” said Kevin. “But he went through an extensive interview process with all the management people at the company. It was a tougher interview process than anybody else had undergone up to that point. But everyone liked him, and he tested well.”
After the interview process, Matt knew that should he be offered the job, he would take it.
“I wanted a job that would give me the opportunity for roads within the business and to make a difference in the business world and in the community,” he said. “And this just felt right. I accepted the position after the offer was made and then was able to go through the rest of my senior year knowing I had my career lined out for me. I did my insurance certification classes while still in college, and that way, once I graduated, I could hit the ground running.”
Matt has now been an account executive with J.L. Hubbard for five years, and he married Megan Breheny one year ago. He counts it a privilege and a pleasure to help acclimatize another newcomer to the company, who also happens to be his brother-in-law, Michael Breheny.
For a long time, Kevin Breheny’s son, Michael, considered being part of his father’s business.
“I think I saw how he managed his family life and his work life so well. There never was a sense that he was too busy for family,” said Michael. “He was always there to be a dad as I was growing up, but at the same time, I saw how successful he was as and how the company had grown so much. Also, from the customers he’d introduce me to, came a lot of compliments on my dad. It made me aware of the type of person he was.”
Michael remembers his dad on family vacations, in the stands at his sports events and during many conversations they had about life. Always, he said, his dad encouraged him to do what would make him happy. But Michael wasn’t positive what that would be until his late in his college career at St. Louis University, where he earned his bachelor’s in business administration with a marketing concentration.
“I’d always been interested in business, because that’s what I grew up around,” he said. “And I like to interact with people. Marketing plays a large part in the insurance world.”
But Michael’s decision wasn’t made merely based upon what he thought he’d like to do with his life. He had begun at J.L. Hubbard at the very bottom as an office intern during summers between years at college. At first, he did the usual filing and errand-running, as well as taking surety bonds to customers in other cities.
“I met everyone who worked here and I developed relationships with a majority of them,” he said. “It really made me want to come back the next summer and do a little more than just the basic stuff.”
Then, between his junior and senior years, he became more of a broker-in-training, shadowing salespeople on calls and learning from each person’s unique sales style. At summer’s end, he began studying for his insurance exam and earned his licenses in property, casualty and life in 2009.
“Last summer was key for me,” he said. “I learned a lot. Besides working with the salesmen, our commercial lines manager, Randy Cannady, wanted to review policies and insurance coverages, and he taught me the basics of what insurance is all about.”
In addition, at his father’s request, Michael also went through extensive testing to be sure he was a good fit for the job.
“I think we both thought long and hard before he decided to come back to Decatur and work for J.L. Hubbard and Soy Capital Bank,” said the senior Breheny. “The last thing I wanted to do was ruin my relationship with my son over a job. I asked Michael if he would go through analysis with Paula and Jim Finn, and he scored very high. His strongest trait was being enterprising, which made him a good match.”
Other than that, Kevin Breheny had little to say about his son working at J.L. Hubbard, a conscious decision on his part.
“Even though he worked here three summers, I’ve had other people training him,” said Kevin. “I wanted the employees to get to know him, and he them, and see if it was a good fit for everyone.”
Michael has been an account executive at J.L. Hubbard since May of this year, following his college graduation.
“Since I first started here a couple of months ago, Matt is the first person I ask if need something. He’s a really intelligent person who knows his stuff,” said Michael. “He’s pointed out things he struggled with and wouldn’t want me to make the same mistake. He’s further advanced in the company but he still understands my position.”
It has been easy for the brothers-in-law to work together, because they’ve always gotten along well. Both agree to keep family talk at home and stick to work-related topics while on the job. They even call Kevin by his first name, which feels particularly strange to Michael.
“It’s weird, when you think about it, you might wonder how the family dynamic works here, but we have a different mindset at work,” said Michael. “We talk about business and it’s almost like speaking a different language at work. Because he is my dad, I can talk to him easily, though.”
Matt Bennett agrees that the working relationship between he and his brother-in-law and father-in-law seems almost like he’s not working with family at all, in the most positive way. He was glad that when he was hired, he was considered based strictly upon his own merit, which caused him in turn to feel honored to be a part of such a company.
“I feel we have done a wonderful job of completely separating work and personal life,” he said. “I think what makes this work is that it didn’t take any time for us to find that balance. We all just decided to set those expectations up very early and it’s never been an issue for us or for anyone else in the office.”
Something else to consider, Matt points out, is that every employee at J.L. Hubbard is part of the corporate family, and a feeling of family is very much encouraged there.
“I believe that we want to treat every one of our customers as our friends, and we want to treat every one of our employees as family,” he said. “We live by the golden rule in our office….Those who believe that are the type of people we have on board in our office.”
All three men consider it a privilege to hold the jobs they do. Kevin is pleased to see his son, son-in-law, younger generation vice president Dan Martini and others coming along to take the reins sometime in the future. (He has no immediate plans to retire.)
Though at times Michael feels a bit of pressure being the boss’s son, he says he alone puts that pressure on himself.
“Having my dad as my boss motivates me a lot,” he said. “I explained to him once that something I really admire about him is his ability to have a conversation with anybody. But he pointed out that I have qualities he doesn’t have, either. In the back of my mind, I do feel I have big shoes to fill, but there’s no one who makes me feel better about that than he does. He has always been very, very supportive and my number one fan.”
Matt Bennett emphasizes that while working with family does require some forethought, it also provides a unique opportunity.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity not only to be able to work with family, but to work with family in the way that we do,” he said. “Because of that bond, we are able to show all of our other employees what it’s like to truly care. It gives us an ability to share with other employees here what family can bring to a business…and we can foster that feeling of family in the workplace environment, which includes all of our associates.”
