Keeping flighty customers happy
Debbie Ray is operations director at Airborne Insurance Consultants. She told Margaret Harris she had dreamt of being an air hostess when she was a child, but ended up in aviation insurance instead
What do you do at work each day?
As an insurance broker, I deal with clients every day. I negotiate with them as well as insurance companies for their renewal terms. I also arrange for adjustments to be made on their policies. I oversee staff to ensure that they are doing their jobs correctly and generally manage the operations of the company. What drew you to this particular career?
I didn’t really choose this career. I was working as a motor insurance broker and was asked to move to the aviation department. It seemed like it would be far more interesting than the motor division, which is actually quite boring, so I decided to try it and have never looked back. What did you want to be when you were a child?
An air hostess — I thought the job looked very glamorous and that it would take me to exotic places all over the world. It is quite odd that I landed up in the same sort of industry. What do you love about the work you do?
It’s never the same. Every day, clients’ needs are different and that makes going to work exciting. Now that I have become a shareholder in the company, there is even more reason to get up, get out there and make money. What do you find challenging about your work?
I worry that insurance cover has not been placed correctly and that the next claim a client has is not going to be paid out. I also worry about my staff and whether they are happy and what I can do to improve their work. What would you do if you could not do this job?
I would probably be a chef. I love cooking, entertaining and messing around in the kitchen. What qualifications do you have and how do they help you to do your job?
I don’t have any formal qualifications, although I do have more than 20 years’ experience in the industry and a lot of hard work has got me where I am today. In the past few years, everyone in a financial insti- tution has had to obtain the financial advisory and intermediary services accreditation and do their regulatory exams, and I have done all that. What qualities do you need for this job?
You need negotiating skills, patience and an understanding of clients’ needs. Where would you like to be in five years’ time?
Hopefully, still successfully running the company along with my partners. We want to be the biggest specialised aviation brokers in Africa and we are not too far from that. What are some of the challenges for a woman in a male-dominated industry?
Clients thinking that, just because I am a woman, I will not understand how to insure a complicated piece of machinery like an aircraft. I have also been overlooked for promotions. But I have a strong personality, so I have tackled all these issues head-on and never let them hold me back.
If it doesn’t make logical sense, then don’t do it. That was from my first aviation boss, Mike Hellman, who, sadly, died many years ago.