Articles

What makes business partner Jim Curran love insurance...

Jim Curran is the Senior Vice President of Business Development for Hays Companies, one of the fastest growing Employee Benefits and Risk Management firms in the country. He has been active with SHRM since 2005.

With 20 years of experience, Jim is best known for teamwork and cheerful outlook. He's trusted for putting clients first, always working to solve their problems and going the extra mile to deliver that value.

How did you get into the Employee Benefits business?

I got in kicking and screaming. I have a Bachelor's Degree in History and my intention was to be a professor, but that plan went awry.

After graduation, I went to work for Maritz and started traveling the world and was having a grand old time. I met a girl “on the road” who later became my wife. We decided to start our own freelance travel director company so we could work and travel the world together.

We did just that for about a year until 9/11 changed that business for a spell and our plans for settling down and starting a family called for a “real job” at home in St. Louis. A friend of mine told me about his success and enjoyment of insurance consulting. He told me about the business and it sure seemed boring as could be … like I wanted to stick a fork in my eye boring. But I gave it a go.

I found the enjoyment of the job really stemmed from learning about businesses (each unique in their own way) and getting to know people that owned and ran the organizations.

And it has been these relationships that have kept me engaged and committed to finding solutions and delivering an ever-evolving value for close to 20 years. (Though, insurance itself still bores me.)

What should people know about Hays Companies? Is anything new and exciting going on?

Hays hires the best talent and brightest minds in the industry. Our culture is one of entrepreneurial spirit that rewards innovative and independent thinking.

With rising complexities and (r)evolutions of needs, this ability to invent and adapt is critical to delivering a program that can both enrich benefits AND reduce costs. Hays can deliver this through the power of analytic engines driven by equally strong analytical minds.

And I don't mean me. I have an incredibly smart team behind me. I am a language and contract guy … which certainly delivers some added value. We have some great events coming up in the spring and summer which will illustrate how we do what we do. They're pretty cool I have to say!

We host some awesome events around town, too that HR professionals might want to check out. I just did a LinkedIn post about them that people can check out.

What is something that our members may not know about you?

I am a competitive BBQ'er (Team - Smokey & The Brisket), long-distance kayaker, hiker, biker, reader and singer. I also love musical theater and I am a huge Little House on the Prairie fan. And I have a tattoo of Herve Villechaize on the right side of my back. Ok...just kidding on the tattoo.

Beyond Hays and SHRM, Jim is active in the community. He serves on the board of directors for Meramec Valley Bank, Junior Achievement of Greater St. Louis and the St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee. He'll be the parade's Chairman in 2021.

Jim invites you all to connect with him on LinkedIn and say hi at the next SHRM or Hays event you see him at.