Marina Devoulin --- Woman of the World, Industry Leader, Family Champion and SO much more!



Marina in her office

It’s been well over 30 years since I first met Marina. She inspired me at that very first meeting and hasn’t stopped since. If there was a glass ceiling challenging her, you’d never know it. And if you know her at all, you’ll know she has vision, loves sharing and motivating, and though opinionated --- is rarely wrong! She has generously taken me under her wing over the years and patiently explained complex insurance strategies in a way even this English major can understand! She works hard on behalf of clients, her industry and her family. I caught up with her in a couple of rare “down” moments that she generously gave to this Blog. I could have slipped in a few dozen more questions, but I’m grateful for her time on just these. Enjoy reading about one of my inspirations, Marina Devoulin.

Marina, I have so much to thank you for, but especially for being a role model as a successful woman entrepreneur. You gave me great courage to go solo and open what started as Ballou Financial Group and then of course became so much more as Ballou Plum Wealth Advisors. What made you decide to open your own small business? Who were your mentors and role models? Tell us about the early days of Marina Associates and how you decided that the insurance industry was a great fit for you. What was it like to be a woman business owner in a seemingly very male dominated industry?

Lynn, you continue as my inspiration and you sure can make anyone sound like a star but here goes! My insurance career started modestly 49 years ago as a must-have part-time neighborhood job. Ben Shaffer, the agency owner, was a great mentor and let me run as much of the operation as I was willing to do. Insurance then was fairly simple and most agencies also handled real estate so I was licensed and active in both fields almost from the start. With absolutely no marketing background the idea of a “sales” career was totally foreign but I did find a great fit in a “consultative” role and that service focus became a cornerstone of our agency.

Planning for his retirement, Ben and I executed a buy/sell agreement and I became the agency owner with three massive loans! Fortunately, I had several strong supporters - my husband, Nick, my Dad and my grandmother Lena (an entrepreneur herself!) - all encouraged me to be in business for myself. As for being a woman insurance principal at that time – it was plain silly!! I won respect mostly for “thinking like a guy” and was often the only woman in professional gatherings. Later it was marvelous to see more women enter the insurance industry at both the agency and corporate levels.

Your sister, Lana, shared some childhood memories with us in her earlier Blog. We would really enjoy hearing your perspective on your family and childhood, early influences and educational background.

Well, Lana, being younger and born in SF, missed some of the fun immigration part! Our family fled one revolution in Russia and settled very comfortably in Shanghai where Nick and I were born. Then came WWII and the ensuing occupation/bombing/chaos, followed by the Communist takeover of mainland China. My family was able to get exit visas and leave in late 1947 aboard a converted troop carrier –100 passengers in our CABIN! – that’s travel in style! Nick had to spend almost two years in a Philippine island refugee camp – ah, resort life! We were both incredibly fortunate to have families who gave us a sense of stability – even in the face of chaos and uncertainty. Education-wise I gave up a modest scholarship to marry, we put Nick through college, several postgraduate degrees and started a family. By then I was deep into running a business and very happy doing it. For more than 20 years I also was a guest lecturer at several Bay Area colleges and universities on the subjects of insurance, real estate and financial planning. Mostly, I have been either the least educated or most self-made member of the agency among giants!

So at some point you fell in love with your wonderful husband, Nick Devoulin, and started a family. How did you and Nick meet? Tell us a bit about his background.

I met Nick when I was 15 and he was 19 – we’ll be married 55 years this September – two kids, three grandkids, working together and still happy! Nick is an agency principal and active on the financial side – bringing 34 years of corporate engineering and management to the operation 20 years ago. It’s hard to tell a separate story about one of us - it’s always a story about both of us!
 


Nick hard at work

How did you manage to “do it all?” Successful entrepreneur, Mom and wife -- and make it look so easy to do?

You must be joking!!! Smoke and mirrors?? Actually, probably a lust for life – gotta do it all, gotta enjoy every minute! Early on, I had two grandmothers and a fabulous mother who helped out with the kids - that can make the difference for an entrepreneur, especially a woman! The agency was featured in a national magazine years ago and the writer got the verbiage a little wrong – complimenting us for our “flexibility due to sex” - that made for some great jokes!

One of the most admirable things about your firm is how you stay current on not just the laws and industry trends, but really are known as a trend setter and industry “mover and shaker” within your own right. How did that industry recognition and passion develop?

Once the agency was on a firm footing and staffed, I was drawn into the bigger industry picture and invited to serve on national advisory boards. For many years, I was a member of a Presidents Council, participated in task forces which dealt with products, delivery of services, automation and underwriting. I met and worked with excellent colleagues and was in a position to communicate directly with top corporate management. I had strong ideas about fairness and ethical service – that was really the driving passion behind my involvement and still is to this day! Recognition by our carriers, including 20 years as an Award of Excellence Agent, meant many of those ideas were heard and our resulting positioning enabled us to better serve our clients.

What do you see as some of the biggest challenges facing your industry in this high speed world? And with the advent of so many communication channels, is this a blessing or a curse?

It’s a little of both – there are the benefits of access to many companies and the ability to very quickly serve clients across a huge range of products. On the other hand, consumers have a lot more information about insurance (some of it incomplete or even erroneous) and can choose their delivery channel. The challenge for the industry is to stabilize their products and communicate better with insureds. Some examples – too many options, too many changes, too much information – our agency mission is to filter out the confusion. We’re sure there will always be a place for consultative service and clients who value it.

When I think of you I cannot help but think of your incredible commitment to your family. Bringing your sister into the business, your children, hers and grandchildren --- is this a vision you had early on or did it develop over time? How do you encourage the next generation(s) to embrace the notion of a truly multi-generational family business? There must be a lot of challenges there, as well.



Marina and Nick celebrating their granddaughter Nina's wedding

Perhaps remarkably, I really like my family and all of them are immensely smart and competent. I didn’t need any special vision to hire them – they were always just the very best for the job and, of course, brought total commitment! Steve, our son and his wife Raquel are now principals, my niece Suzanne and my granddaughter Nina are all active producers. The family trend started with my sister, Lana, who for over 30 years helped build the agency – after retirement, my Dad was the Treasurer and, at one time or another, our daughter, other niece and grandson have also lent a hand! This successful example is sufficient encouragement for the next generation and, fortunately, they all do get along and respect each other professionally! One member of our staff who is not related has been “adopted” so we continue the tradition.

Another admirable path that your firm took involves location. Early on you really understood the freedom that technology and the internet could afford and discussed with me on several occasions that these tools would allow you to run your firm from virtually anywhere, anytime. Has that worked out as well as you had hoped? What challenges does this present with keeping staff connected and engaged and the synergies flowing?

One of our biggest and best decisions was to go “virtual” about 15 years ago. We do have offices in San Francisco and Santa Rosa but our secure access online to complete client data as well as carrier interfaces means we can do more, do it faster and document it better. Initially, I was concerned about keeping staff connected – the exchange of ideas and knowledge is absolutely vital in a vibrant organization. We utilized several great techno-tools: Continuous/live Webex Connect which enables us to literally see who is available and communicate instantly via IM, online phone or video. We have regular video-conferences as well as in-person staff meetings in our Santa Rosa office. Our internal Blog provides instant information regarding industry or carrier developments, online sharing enables us to collaborate seamlessly on key agency ideas and issues and our website, www.marinains.com, keeps clients and colleagues informed. Remarkably, we almost never discuss the “business” at family gatherings - a good way to keep our professional and personal lives in the proper perspective!

And of course, we cannot possibly talk about the importance of technology in freeing us up from a specific physical space without chatting a bit about your passion for travel. You and Nick are absolutely global in your thinking. And you don’t just skip around --- you really enjoy settling in to an area for a bit. Please share with us where you’ve traveled that made the most lasting impressions and how you like to travel. And how you juggle all that with still being firmly in control of your company?



Marina and Nick enjoying a London pub

We’ve traveled extensively, even before our agency went virtual – then and now, having family as partners has been crucial and enabled us to work from afar. After many trips abroad we discovered the pleasure of several home exchanges – later, the advent of vacation and apartment rentals worldwide made that even easier to arrange. We find that grocery shopping, local dining, visiting less famous attractions, cycling foreign byways and generally settling into the rhythm of a country is far more gratifying than being always on the move. It helps communication that we’re somewhat multi-lingual plus willing to give any language a try! Having visited 50 or 60 different countries for extended periods, the most lasting impressions are always in the small experiences that make the place real for us. With high speed internet everywhere, agency connection and involvement is NO different than when we are in the Bay Area!! Although it does surprise some clients when I email them at 3 a.m. their time!

What are your future travel plans?

We’re off on a short jaunt (Nick’s post hip surgery) to the Oregon wine country, great jazz at Portland’s Benson and books at Powells. In 2013 we’ll be in Mexico (a laid back favorite) and then in France – probably Bordeaux where we haven’t been for several years. Planning ahead and savoring afterwards is a big part of all positive travel experiences!

Any other thoughts, Marina? And, what’s next for Marina and Nick?

Never a dull moment on the personal side - moving one home, selling another, starting a new garden from scratch for this avid hobbyist, resuming cycling – it’s a long, long list!

Many clients and colleagues who know you will be reading this Blog. If they’d like to reach out to you, what would be the best way to do so?

I’m the email queen - drop me a line at marinains@aol.com and I reply like a flash! By Phone: 877-921-8900 X703.
  


Lovely Marina!

Okay, so true confessions, I didn’t know about her passion for bicycling and gardening.  So, now I truly have no hopes of ever fitting as much into even a whole day as she fits into just one hour!  Marina’s genuine when she gives her email out and says she’ll reply in a flash --- she will!  So don’t hesitate --- if any topic resonates with you she’d be more than happy to chat with you further.  Marina:  thank you so much for making time for us.  I’ll try to do a better job of keeping up!