Many of our policyholders know that until recently, our company has been led by four generations of the Brown family. But the family ties do not end there. California Casualty has had a number of family members working together at our company over the years. However, not many have had the honor of sharing a 25+ Year Anniversary in marriage and at work.

Meet Lisa and Dave Pearne, a husband and wife duo that have reached this impressive milestone.

Q: How long have you been with the company? Who started first? How did you BOTH join the CalCas family?

A: Lisa – 27 years; Dave – 25 years

It was my (Lisa) first job out of college.  I never thought I would be in insurance, but loved what I saw in the company and the group members they served. They were willing to take a chance on me being so new to the workforce – just out of school. I started as a sales rep in Orange, CA in our smaller branch offices. I loved the people I worked with and the company as a whole.

When they (California Casualty) decided to open a service center in Colorado, Dave and I decided to give it a try.  It was hard to leave our family but absolutely loved the outdoor life that CO had to offer. Our coworkers and friends quickly became our family here. We were newly married and thought if we didn’t like it, we could just move back to CA. That was in 1996, and we’ve been here ever since.

We love it here and it’s been an amazing place to raise a family.

Dave left his job with Conde Nast Traveler in CA to join me in CO. He was looking for a job here in CO when a Finance position opened up at CalCas, he interviewed and has been with the company ever since.

He is currently in a manager role and has an amazing team here in CO. They are small, but mighty and he feels fortunate to work with such a great team.

We both feel incredibly lucky to be here, and in the roles we are in.

Q: What are your favorite moments/important contributions to the company since you’ve been here?

A: (Lisa) Helping to start the Colorado Service Center for Sales from the ground up is my favorite contribution. My favorite part of my job is helping others aspire to be the best they can be-incredible people. I love our team, who continually look for ways to take care of our group members.

(Both) We are proud to work with a leadership team that has created high integrity, trust, and a true desire to help our group members and protect their greatest assets, being there for them in their greatest time of need.

(Lisa) A favorite moment was when I was a Sales rep 20+ years ago, I was helping a group member close on a new house and get the proper insurance. It’s exciting, but very stressful to purchase a new home.  This member had many obstacles come her way, yet we stayed close and worked together to walk her through the process.  After she closed on her home, she was so incredibly thoughtful and sent me flowers as a thank you.  It was such a special touch I needed and. I have her note at my desk to this day and to remind me of the impact we can have helping our group members.

(Dave) My most memorable contribution is now – while working with an amazing team to transition to Guidewire. There is so much involved, but getting to be part of something that will help propel our company forward is incredibly satisfying. A favorite moment was receiving the Pride in the Code award and getting to be part of solutions to help our group members while helping the company.

Q: How do you manage to separate work life and family life – how do you keep the boundaries separated so you don’t think about work 24/7? 

A:  Funny, many times we do bring work home, but we can balance each other.

It takes incredible teamwork, as a married couple, to work together when both parents are working and kick in to help with whatever needs to be done. We have different seasons where one of us may be more busy and working longer hours at work, so the other one will pick up more with home life and vice versa.

We’ve always been supportive of each other’s careers while prioritizing family. We also have a lot of family support that has encouraged us in our careers and been instrumental with our kids.

We believe in work hard, play hard. We are passionate about what we do and give 100%, while valuing time away with family. We work for vacations. We have so many wonderful family memories, as the kids get older and schedules are busy, it sometimes takes work to coordinate, but family is so important and time away together is critical – it makes us better at what we do at work.

We all need time away to re-energize to be our best. California Casualty has always done an amazing job with encouraging work/life balance and we are very grateful!

Q: What makes “working together” (we know you have very different roles, but you still see each other in the hallways) easy, and what makes it challenging?

A: It’s great when we are working similar hours and can carpool.

Once here at work, we don’t see each other much as on different floors and busy with our own areas.  We love if we can sneak in a lunch together, but doesn’t happen very often.  It’s usually a quick conversation about what child has what and where they are.

It is great when there is an issue that has overlap in our areas, we can ask each other for further clarification to really understand the other side of things, to be able to make a more efficient decision.

Q: And finally…what do you love about the organization and having your family proudly represent it?

We love California Casualty and are grateful for all the opportunities they have provided us and our family. Our kids have grown up with CalCas and we have lifelong friends because of CalCas.

We love what Cal Cas stands for- a company with high integrity and a passion for our group members and so proud of who we serve.

We believe in our why statement and are proud to work for a company like CalCas:  “People who commit to making a difference for our communities deserve financial protection with the highest levels of care, service, compassion, and understanding… which is why we exist.”

This article is furnished by California Casualty, providing auto and home insurance to educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and nurses. Get a quote at 1.866.704.8614 or www.calcas.com.