Time to post another blast from the past.  This photo is of my Dad and I when I was about 5 years old – I’m thinking it may have been my birthday judging from the button on my shirt. When I look at this picture the first thing I think of (other than the very stylish 1970′s attire both myself and my Dad are sporting) is my daughter, she’s 6 years old now and it surprises me how much she…

What a week this has been!  We had some incredible highs, the staff energy has been flowing and we have truly seen the result of the culture we have built here at TSG. We had a great night out for Neil’s birthday on Tuedsay and a couple of meetings this week with potential new insurance carriers that went extremely well.  (Stay tuned for some shiny new insurance premiums showing up on our website in the very near future!) The excitement and…

So as many of our loyal blog readers know we usually do a “Friday Wrap Up” segment every week but we have decided to change it up a bit and introduce a new, fun and very loose FLASHBACK FRIDAY! This really just entails the writer putting up an old picture of themselves and writing something about it – see, it’s very loose! I have been nominated to lead this off with my Flashback Friday photo – oh the laughter!! I tried to put a…

So last week I had the pleasure of attending my first tweet-up brought to you by Kneads and Harvest in Burlington, Ontario, and had an awesome time. What an experience it was to say the least. (For anyone that doesn’t know what a tweet-up is, it’s where connected people from Twitter meet up offline to relax, network, and enjoy). I got to share a few laughs with some very interesting people and I really enjoyed interacting with people who love…

This past week has been a blur for me.  I finally convinced Neil to take a much needed week’s vacation and assured him that I would take care of everything while he was gone.  Not only that, but make sure that when he got back, it would be as if he never left.  Tall order, I know, and I honestly had no clue what I was in for.  The only thing I did know was that I’d try my best, and hope…

Happy Friday afternoon everyone!  I hope everyone is having a great day and looking forward to the beautiful weekend ahead for some well deserved rest and relaxation.  I know my schedule for the weekend is going to consist of cooking up some new recipes in my kitchen, sipping some wine, and outside reading while enjoying my garden and watching my daughter play.  However, none of this will begin until I head out to the 401 and make my weekly treck home from…

Hi Everyone and Happy Friday!  We’ve had an excellent week at TSG and spent a lot of time working on communication – with our clients and within the office. I think the biggest part of running a business is the team you have working for you, if there is a lack of communication it can bring the entire business down, as it affects morale and ultimately, everyones working conditions and performance. At TSG we are committed to education, and not only…

This week was again an extremely productive one for us, and we are ending the month of July on a high note by heading out to drop off the items we have collected over the month to donate to The Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke. The staff brought in non-perishable food products, baby food, toiletries and gift cards to provide to this great charity.  The Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke has a 25-bed emergency shelter where they work with women and their children fleeing violence. Women receive support,…

This week has been a great one with some excellent wins and all around upbeat energy from the staff (despite the stifling heat!). Usually in the Friday wrap up I summarize our week a bit as well as tie up some of the blogs and videos from the week however, today I’m going to switch it up a bit and do something different. I thought I would take the opportunity to re-post a blog that was written by my boss and President of TSG, Neil…

We had a very busy week at TSG! The office was hopping with activity, we wrote a lot of new clients, and our energy was high! Neil has rewarded the staff this month by taking us all to a Blue Jays game next Friday and we are very excited to get out and enjoy some time together outside of work, have some fun and relax. This got me thinking about what it takes to be a great boss, and what makes you…

This week’s blogs and videos were focused on Customer Service which, of course, is our main focus at TSG. Without our customers, we don’t have a business! This led me to thinking about how you go about being more than just “good” at something. How do you become “remarkable” at something? How do you make people take notice, especially when the product or service you are providing is the exact same as many if not all of your competitors. The answer…

This was a short but very busy and productive week for us at TSG.  We had a staff lunch yesterday to celebrate Canada Day together and watch the news footage about the big celebration for Prince William and Kate’s visit to Ottawa.  I think Prince William summed it up when he said this about our great Country: “The geography of Canada is unsurpassed and is famous for being matched only by the hospitality of it’s peoples. We are delighted to have this opportunity…

This week we spent a lot of time blogging and posting videos pertaining to customer service. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what we can do as an Insurance Brokerage, to make us stand out against all of the other brokerages and insurance providers out there, and I kept coming back to customer service. I will refer back to the book I’ve been reading by Jim Collins, Good To Great. In it he says to choose something you can be the best…