Who doesn’t love a puppy? They’re so sweet and cuddly and they have that little “puppy smell”. Okay, so they’re all cute, they’re all looking up at you with those big puppy eyes, saying “pick me!” But you can’t take all of them home with you (as tempting as it may be). You have to choose one. Select your new family member with your lifestyle and living situation in mind. In addition to personality consider temperatent, size, and coat. Some…

We live such busy lives, we work, we work some more and then if there’s time, we fit in some more work (or at least it feels this way). It’s important to step back from the hustle and look at what we have, instead of always working to fill the void of what we don’t. I want to take this opportunity to say a big Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends down south. And in the spirt of giving thanks…

Those who know me, or read my blogs know that I’m a self pronounced “foodie”.  When I have some time off from TSG and all things insurance, I can usually be found in my kitchen happily cooking up a storm, and a glass of whatever red wine I have recently purchased in hand. This weekend, my inspiration came from having just finished watching the movie Julie and Julia for probably the 10th time.  I decided to try my hand at one of Julia…

Phil Collins – “In the Air Tonight” In this Phil Collins classic, the verses are a scathing indictment of some unknown individual who has clearly scorned poor Phil. Heck, toward the beginning he even claims that, were they drowning, he wouldn’t lend a hand. Who is he singing to and what did they do? If you read the liner notes to the album, you might be surprised to discover that the song’s subject was actually a driver who hit Collins’…

This morning I had the pleasure of attending the Women In Insurance Cancer Crusade (WICC) annual breakfast.  The speaker was John Sylvestre, a professional photographer who was diagnosed with cancer in 2004.  He spoke about his journey, how he and his family managed to get through it, and how lucky he is to be completely cancer free today so that he can continue to travel Canada and do what he loves, taking gorgeous pictures of our great Country, some of which he…

While many of you have years of experience with the parental rigors of Halloween, some of you may be facing the cruise around the neighborhood with your little goblins and princesses in tow for the very first time. Whether this is your first of many Halloween nights to come or you are a true veteran to the holiday, TSG offers up some timeless safety tips to help keep this year’s Halloween safe and fun for parents and children alike. The Costume It all…

We normally would put up a Bryan video today, but instead we thought we would put up a video that can not only help motivate you, but inspire you, make you tear up and put things into perspective. It’s important to our President and CEO, Neil Shepherd-  that his staff understand that there is more to life than money, fame and fast cars (seems to be a big focus for many these days). There are so many things to be…

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…

We were saddened with the news of Steve Jobs passing on Wednesday October 5th, 2011 after a long battle with cancer. While I watched the streams of information coming over the television I couldn’t help but think, as everyone else, what this individual did for the advancement of not only technology but for the entire human race. Many may not agree but without the vision and tenacity of Steve we would not be enjoying the education we seek out, instant…

Neil and I have been doing a lot of brainstorming and strategic thinking surrounding customer service. We know that this is the main component of our business and without our customers, we wouldn’t exsist. So with this fact always at the top of mind with us, we are constantly thinking of ways to provide delivery of our products in a way that our customers want to receive them. How we are doing it now? Well, first we start with our staff.  We spend…

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…

Yesterday was Neil’s birthday and the staff really felt it was important to do something nice for our boss for once, since he’s always so generous with us throughout the year.  Now Neil isn’t the type of guy that likes a fuss made over him so I knew that if I told him we wanted to take him out for dinner to celebrate his birthday, he would thank me but politely decline.  In order for this to go over, it had…

Tomorrow afternoon the TSG crew is headed out to Woodbine Racetrack to watch the ponies run! Everyone here is pretty excited to get out for the afternoon, enjoy some sun, great food and company and of course the excitement of watching (and betting on) the races. We have even sponsored a race and will be presenting a beautifully embroidered TSG blanket to the lucky winning horse! Fady, our resident “Social Sheep”, has never been to the track, so our staff thoroughbred junkies Neil and Jeff are…