WEBVTT - Tricia Griffith 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:03.920 This is Bloomberg Best. Bloomberg Best is about the insight 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:06.480 and the context that we get from our guests. It's 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:07.880 a great way to catch up on some of the 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:10.520 stories you might have missed on the Bloomberg stories you're 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:14.600 not going to find in any other news organizations. Bloomberg 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:18.440 Best Bloomberg's Best stories of the week, powered by twenty 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:21.320 seven hundred journalists and enalysts in more than a hundred 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.920 twenty countries around the world. I'm at Baxter and I'm 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:28.520 did the Spelly Greeny on this weekend edition of Bloomberg Best. 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:32.160 Because of the components, the safety component. In addition, think 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:35.800 of the inflation of medical cost why auto insurance is 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.159 so expensive. If you could take you know, Emma for 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:41.720 a couple of hours while I do this presentation, I 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:43.640 will baby see your kids and you and your husband 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:46.800 can go out on the weekend. Progressive CEO Tricia Griffith, 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:50.559 I'm bartering for childcare for her six children. Do you 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:54.440 own a home? Yes? Discount plus some insight into Progressive's 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:57.960 best known personality. All this and more coming up in 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:02.880 the next hour of Bloomberg Best to all right, and 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:05.640 you know one thing most people love to have, right, 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.680 but don't love to pay for is insurance right? That's right, 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:13.560 denise auto insurance, homeowners insurance, liability insurance. But for those 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:15.200 in the business, said, they look at it from the 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:18.759 other side, right, it's all about, you know, measuring your risk. Yeah, 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:21.480 And David Rubinstein had a chance to ask the CEO 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.520 of Progressive all about it. And David starts here on 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:28.319 the David Rubinstein Show Peer to Peer Conversations by asking 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:32.880 Tricia Griffith about the company's business model and advertising. So 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.040 for those who aren't familiar with Progressive Um and probably 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:38.000 if you watch television, you would be familiar because you 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:41.000 have a lot of television ads, right, And I'm just curious, Uh, 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:44.560 why is it that automobile insurance companies seem to advertise 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.480 a lot. I see your competitors advertising. You advertise a lot. 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:49.720 Is that because people really will be guided in their 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:54.280 insurance decision by the advertisement. It's just a really competitive industry, 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:57.400 which is always odd because it's something you're required to have. 0:01:57.920 --> 0:01:59.680 So it's not like, you know, do you pick a 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:03.000 different soft drink or a beverage, but it is required. 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:05.480 But it is so competitive that to be out there 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:07.520 and be top of mind and be in the shortlist. 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:09.800 You really have to be advertising. So you have a 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:12.600 famous character in your insurance uh one of your some 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:15.880 of your ads called flow, a woman that plays UH, 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:19.080 I guess an insurance person. Um. Does she get a 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.480 certain percentage of all the all the new business she 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:23.800 brings in because she's so so good or she doesn't 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:26.960 have that deal. She does not have that deal? She um, 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:30.680 she is paid for her contract and she's doing fine. 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:33.359 Let's talk about this year now. A lot of the 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:35.959 auto insurers are up this UH this year in part 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.840 because people aren't driving as much. And the theory is, 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:40.320 if you don't drive as much, it's hard to have 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.520 an accident. So if I presume there are fewer people 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:46.000 claiming UH, you know that they've had an accent and 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:47.440 therefore you don't have to pay out as much. Is 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:49.560 that why your stock is up? You think? I think 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:51.640 that might be one piece, But I think we've also 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:56.359 continued to grow not only market share based on units, 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.360 based on policies and force and really, um, if you 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:04.519 think about it, yes, immediately in March, vehicle miles traveled 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:07.160 have been reduced and losses went for that. But as 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:09.600 states have reopened, it continues to go up. And right 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:13.720 now we're still not pre COVID level of driving. We're 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:16.480 about eight to ten per cent down, but those lost costs, 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:18.640 that gap is closing in because we're seeing more and 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:22.960 more people driving more often. And so that that lasted 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:26.240 a couple of months, and then remember many companies gave 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:29.600 back credits or have reduced rates. Now let me ask 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:31.400 you about that. If you get a rebate, that was 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:34.079 because you voluntarily thought it was a good idea, or 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:36.080 the regulators said you have to give back money. Why 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:38.280 did the automob I'm sure started giving back money to 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:41.080 their policy holders. We did it because it was the 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:44.440 right thing to do. I mean, we immediately saw driving 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:48.000 vehicle miles traveled go down. It went back up pretty 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.480 quickly to twenty, etcetera. But we sat down and said, okay, 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:53.880 this we don't want margins that big. It's not the 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:56.120 right thing to do. We want to be competitively priced, 0:03:56.480 --> 0:04:01.040 and so we gave credits for UM both April and May, 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:05.480 and then subsequently we're very analytically driven, so we went 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:08.960 sort of state by states, channel by channel, product by product, 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:12.600 and so far we've given We've had rate decreases in 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:16.120 about thirty five states, and those those are baked in permanently. 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.400 So today when people have an accident, Today, when they 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.360 do have accidents, the accidents are more expensive than they 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:25.280 used to be. Is that because the cars and more complicated, 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.159 more expensive to repair? Yeah, they absolutely are a couple 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:30.680 of reasons. One is the components of the car. So 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:33.440 I started as a claim drop and the cars in 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:38.240 the bumper repair or replacement would be a couple hundred dollars, 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:40.560 and now they could be upwards of a thousand, two 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:44.200 thousand dollars because of the components, the safety components. In addition, 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.920 think of the inflation of medical costs. So if you're 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:51.320 injured in an accident, that's another component of the increased severity. 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.440 So let's suppose i want to get some automobile insurance. Um, 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.360 I'm now seventy one years old. Am I a good 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.440 risk as a seventy one year old? Or you'd rather 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:03.960 have somebody who's twenty five and more alert. That is 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:07.400 one variable, So we we look at hundreds of variable. 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:09.800 So depends on where you live. Do you live in 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.040 a congested area, do you live in the rural area. 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:16.200 What is your driving history? Uh? Do you have our 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.240 usage based insurance? That way we know what time of 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:20.920 day you drive, how many miles you drive, have you 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.479 had any violations. There's so many things that go into it, 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:28.000 so age is only one component. When I was a teenager, 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:31.280 you know, I was told that teenagers are not good 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:34.840 drivers and insurance is expensive. Is that true today? Insurance? 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:37.120 Is it more expensive? Or teenagers are not good drivers? 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.760 I will say that having six people that drive in 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:43.360 my family that we've added over the years, we can 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:46.760 call them youthful drivers. Uh. The issue is that many 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:49.200 many are good, but they just don't have that maturity. 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:52.760 They haven't had the experience. And I remember saying, because 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:54.640 you know a lot of times you'll get rate increases 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.320 if you add on a youthful driver. And I challenged 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:00.000 that when I first got this job, and then I realized, 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.200 having six youthful drivers, that there is a reason you 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:05.560 paid a little bit more. You were in home insurance 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:07.760 now and you bought a company that helps you get 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:09.160 into that. Why do you want to be in a 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:12.279 home insurance business? For us, it was really access to 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:15.960 more of the preferred customer, especially on the independent agent sides. 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.719 We had a relationship with a SI American Strategic Insurance 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.040 for years. We had we had a small ownership in them, 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:27.120 and their values were very much aligned with us, and 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:29.560 so we decided to go ahead and purchase them. And 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.840 it's been a really nice transition, a really great acquisition. 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:35.480 And so now you know, having sort of the whole 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:40.960 picture for whatever you want, auto home, your boat's, motorcycle, commercial. 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:43.920 And that's why we're continuing to expand because I think 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:47.240 it's really important to diversify. Is the home insurance business 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.599 very profitable now? The home insurance business, it depends on 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:53.880 what company you're talking about. We have struggled a little 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:58.359 bit because of wind hail catastrophes, and we also have 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:01.280 been obviously growing our mom all across the country. We 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.640 were in about five states for many years, and so 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:06.120 we're learning a lot about the product model. So have 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.240 you looked at our results. We will be profitable, but 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:12.480 we're doing the same thing we did on the otto side. 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:16.320 We're getting very surgical in our segmentation to understand, um 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:18.960 the right rate for each home. Are you thinking of 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:20.960 getting into the life insurance business and you're in the 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:23.920 other insurance businesses, why not get into life insurance? Well, 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.000 right now, we have a great relationship with an unaffiliated 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:29.440 partner that we get a commission when we send them 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:34.320 to the company, and that's been working really well, and 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:37.280 we actually are considering that we have a life insurance 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:40.040 company filed in Ohio. UM More to come on that. 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:43.200 People say that there's eventually going to be driver lers 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.680 or autonomous cars, and of course the theory is they 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.440 will never have an accident because they're perfectly programmed. Is 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:52.120 that something you worry about as cars that don't have accidents? 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.480 Or you're not gonna worry about that right now? I 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:57.200 don't worry about I mean from a society perspective, you 0:07:57.240 --> 0:08:00.280 want to have less accidents. It's good for society. Everyone 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.720 has been affected by someone who's been in an auto accident. UH. 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:05.800 What I think about, I don't put my head instand 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:09.800 But what I think about is timing, realistic timing. That's 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:12.400 also one of the reasons why I think about I'm 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:15.520 not just executing on our current plan, but expanding and 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:20.640 exploring other other uh possibilities adjacencies to to grow our business. 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:23.120 I will tell you that when you look back at 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:26.280 some of the headlines in two thousand twelve that say 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:28.760 this type of car is going to be fully autonomous 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:33.480 by tift. Uh, it'll take longer, and I know that 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:39.000 that's said. Again we're preparing for a possible smaller auto 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:42.520 insurance industry, but again we have so many opportunities with 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:45.440 other adjacent models, including home and then some of the 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:48.680 other things we've talked about, whether it's tnc or commercial 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:50.960 or small business, all the things that we've expanded to 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.680 in the last couple of years. Now. Elon Musk has 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:57.000 said he's going to have an autonomous car out there 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.559 at some point and not to distant future, and he's 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:02.560 also said, anybody that's an insurance agent, why don't you 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:04.920 call me up, because we want to hire insurance agents. 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.200 We're going to be in the automobile insurance business. Is 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.760 that something you're worried about a lot? Not really, because 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:13.559 I think people I love our culture and I think 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:15.240 they love we're working here, and I think that we 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:19.960 have a huge future. I think that they're The technology 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:22.760 is absolutely there, and I can see a car going 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:25.200 from point eight to be in a geo fenced area, 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:27.599 but there's a lot to be done. I think it 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.600 will be a little bit longer than most people had 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:35.840 predicted even years ago. Let's talk about progressives background. Progressive. 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:39.199 It's a great name, Progressive, that's a very positive word. Um. 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:41.120 Was that the original name of the company? When was 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:43.640 the company started? Yes, it was the original name. The 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:47.200 company was founded in nineteen thirty seven by Joe Lewis 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.120 and Jack Green. And they were two attorneys in Cleveland, 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:52.640 and they didn't know what they wanted to do, but 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.040 they wanted to be able to serve the non standard 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:58.839 customers in Cleveland that I needed insurance, and so they 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:02.800 borrowed ten thousand from Joe Louis's mother in law, and uh, 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:05.360 that's how Progressive was born. And you might know Peter 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:08.320 Lewis who ran the company for a long long time. Uh, 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.720 he was the second CEO, and then Glenn Renwick and 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:13.800 then myself. How did you get started at Progressive and 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:15.920 at the bottom? Pretty much? Is that right? Yeah? I 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:18.839 went to Illinoi State University at marketing degree. I wanted 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:21.760 to go into something something in marketing, but all through 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:24.640 high school and college I worked in retail. So and 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:27.800 oddly where I went to school is the home office 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:30.720 of State Farm and everybody was doing internships there, and 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:32.920 I'm like, who wants to work in insurance? So I 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:36.160 went to a retail company for about six months. It 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:38.880 was it was called Furrow Building Materials. It was like 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:40.880 a think of like a Lows or a home depot. 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:43.480 I was like, what am I doing? I'm mixing paints. 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.920 I'm actually forklift certified. And I was driving home one 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:49.000 day with my hard hat and I said, I gotta 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:52.000 I gotta look for something different. And what I wanted 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:53.839 to do is work somewhere for a couple of years, 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:56.480 pay off my school loans, and then go to get 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.199 my m b A. So I went home and opened 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:02.440 the classified ads. I'd never heard of Progressive. At that time, 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.680 we were less than a billion, and I thought, clean 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:08.760 drop trainy, this sounds interesting, nineteen thousand, that will help 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:11.440 me pay off my debt and made the call. So 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:14.600 the job is will be a claim adjuster. Correct. So 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.160 what I would do if if I've had your claim 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.839 and you were injured, I would go out and talk 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:22.320 to you about your injury and and guide you through that. 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:24.320 I would crawl under your car and let you know 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:26.160 how much it took to get it repaired. I would 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:28.800 kind of manage your whole file. I did. I also 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:31.800 did special line, so I was a motorcycle wrap UH, 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:34.440 and I basically handled the entire file. So I was 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.840 in body shops, crawling under cars, and in your house 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:41.160 talking to you about your injury. You've obviously risen up 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:44.200 from the lowest position to the highest position, and you 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.280 had many different positions in between. One of them, which 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:50.440 is very unusual to have for a CEO, maybe sadly, 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.160 is to be the head of human resources. So how 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:55.199 did you go from being the head of human resources 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:57.680 to being the CEO? Well that you to me to 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.120 actually take get the HR or old job from having 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:04.400 mostly claims experience during the fifth first fifteen years, I 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:05.760 had a little bit of sales and a little bit 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:10.240 of claims. And Glenn Renwick, at the time, my predecessor UH, 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:14.640 interviewed me it was it was actually an odd circumstance. 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:16.319 I went for it. I wasn't going to because I 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:18.640 don't I don't have any HR experience. I have some 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:22.440 maternity leaves, but that's about it. And people kept calling 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:24.040 me from around the company saying, you have to go 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:27.000 for this. You love diversity, you love metrics, we need this. 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:30.360 So finally I had a pre interview lunch with Glenn 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:32.640 to see if I could even go for it. Uh, 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:34.920 he put my name in the hat and gave me 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.360 the opportunity, and I will always say it was a 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:39.719 risk for him. He does not say that, but that 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:42.760 was really the turning point in my career. And then 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:46.240 you know he was He watched me and I did 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.000 that for six years and made a lot of big 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:51.680 changes that we still have now. And the president of 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.600 Claims came up, and that's my dream job because I 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:57.320 love claims, I love helping customers. I was able to 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.240 do that. That's seventy cents of every dollar premium comes 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:02.400 in your paying on claims, so that's the big business piece. 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:05.400 And then he gave me all things customer facing, so 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.760 I had our call centers and claims and then I 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:12.920 was CEO before the CEO role. So I really credit 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:17.760 Glenn for guiding me, giving me opportunities, coaching me, and 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:21.000 sponsoring me. So as kind of human resources, you must 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:24.760 have instituted some policies that changed the company's face. Because 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:28.120 your company has been voted the number one most diverse 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.959 company in the United States and some surveys. Is that's 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:34.880 something that you implemented and put into into practice. Yes. 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:38.680 We started our diversity inclusion initiatives really in earnest when 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.600 I was there. We started our first employee resource groups, 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:45.520 which was Progressive African American Network and our LGBT plus 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:48.439 now we have nine. We really set forth the strategy 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:50.840 of how we're going to make sure everyone can bring 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:52.760 their whole self to work. It was a big piece 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:55.320 of our culture and we started looking at the data. 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:58.199 We continue to work on it, though it's not something 0:13:58.240 --> 0:13:59.920 that you can ever get a check mark. And if 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:03.400 you look at at senior leadership, we have opportunities there 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:06.480 and in fact we're working on some really aggressive objectives 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:09.360 for the next five years with my team to continue 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:12.720 to change that. Your chairman of your board is a woman, 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:15.680 and obviously you're a woman. Is there any other Fortune 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:18.120 five Hunter company where the chairman is a woman and 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:20.280 the CEO as a woman. There must be none. I 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:24.000 don't think so. And we actually have twelve twelve members 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.360 of our board and six or women and one of 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:29.480 the female as a person of color. So when you 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:32.040 were for the CEO and guess in line to be 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.120 the CEO, did you think that they were going to 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:35.840 give the job to a woman, or you thought this 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:37.840 will revert to the normal forum and we'll find a 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.480 nice white male that we can give it to. I 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:42.480 was hoping to give it to the person that thought 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:44.960 was the best fit for Progressive at the best time. 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:48.880 And I remember interviewing with the board for several years 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.520 during the process, and one of the board members said 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:54.240 to me, so you want to be a CEO, And 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.400 I said, no, I want to be the CEO Progressive 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:59.000 And that was what really was meaningful to me. So 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:01.520 had I not found the role, I'd still be here. 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:05.720 And um, and there were lots of other opportunities to 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:08.800 have a great CEO other than myself. So UM, when 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:11.360 you were able to go into your office, you were 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:15.680 well known for walking into the cafeteria and sitting down 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:18.640 with the average person. Why did you do that? Why 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:21.200 didn't you just eat in your office with other executives? 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:24.360 Because that is my way of getting to know people 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.000 and and really feeling what's going on with the company. 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.760 And when you break bread with people, they open up 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:33.040 to you, not just about great things, but about things 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:35.520 you they want to change. And for me, I think 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:37.880 because of my roots as a claimed rep trainee. I 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:39.880 was wondered what the executed and we don't have an 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.840 executive cafeteria. All of his eat in the regular cafeteria. 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:46.280 It's a very different type of company from that perspective. 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:49.320 But literally it motivated me to be a better leader. 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:51.640 Every time I walked up to a table of you know, 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:53.920 five people and said may I join you? And they 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.200 gave that horrible look like please, no, please no, and 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:59.480 I sat down. I had five new friends, and I 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:03.520 just to me, it's it's an important part to be approachable. 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.240 If you feel connected and you trust your leader, you're 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.000 going to run through the wall for them. So when 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:11.560 you sit down with people at the employee cafeteria, did 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.120 they ever say, by the way, i'm underpaid? There's that, 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:17.000 never a thing, never say that. They'll sometimes talk about 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.120 how they wish they could make more, what can they do, 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:22.280 how can they get there? People are pretty pretty open 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:26.040 and honest with me. So as I talked to you, 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:28.160 you're not in your office, I assume you're at your home. 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:32.080 That's correct, him in my little library off of our bedroom. 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:35.840 And have you been running progressive from your little office 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:38.280 there for a couple of months now. Yes, Ever since 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:41.720 mid March, I go in sometimes once a week just 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:43.480 to get my mail and to check things out, but 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.160 I don't see anyone. And in fact, where I'm sitting here, 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:49.960 my son who's in film school, filmed me weekly for 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:52.400 several months so I could send a video out to 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:55.000 all of the progressive people. Has it been difficult to 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:58.400 run the company remotely this way? It hasn't been difficult 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.120 for me. It's been unusual well, and I don't love 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:03.920 it because I love the interaction. I think the biggest 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.119 part is the claims organization, because that is face to face, 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:10.680 especially when you're looking at vehicles. Um. But we immediately 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.439 were able to use videos and pictures to do the 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:17.120 best job we could to estimate vehicles, and we're doing 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:19.520 pretty well, and I'm I'm very proud of the organization. 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:22.040 When the world comes back, which hopefully it will be 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:23.880 in some point in time, when we have a vaccine, 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:26.320 do you expect that all your employees will come back 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:28.560 and work in the offices or now do you think 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.920 you could have people working remotely and maybe save money 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:33.919 by not have as much office space. How do you 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:37.000 think about this in the future? Prior to COVID, we 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.840 already had about of our call center people in some claims, 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:43.040 people that work from home just because it works better 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:46.240 for them. Um. I imagine we're doing some surveying as 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:49.640 we think about returning of what percentage will that still 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:54.560 work for. I think in person, in the office hallway 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.680 conversations are so important. So although I think it might 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:01.280 increase from that, if you fast forward and there's a 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.000 vaccine and people feel comfortable, I think a lot of 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:06.280 people will come into the office. I think that that 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:09.520 is something that we worked through. We've done a really 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:13.119 great job, especially with technology, but I know many people 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:16.400 really miss it. You and your husband have six children, right, 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:19.800 is that right? Six children? Yes, hers and ours all right, 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:22.800 So when you have six children and you're running a company, 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:25.199 isn't that kind of complicated? I mean, how do you 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:27.800 have time in the day to do anything else? It 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:31.119 was very complicated as I was as I was growing 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:34.960 in going up through the ranks, and my husband worked 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:37.800 as well when I was in HR for a couple 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.600 of years. UM. He also we met it progressive, so 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:43.040 he worked there and we both had travel jobs. And 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.440 at one point he said, when our oldest was going 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:47.920 into high school. He said, you know, one of us 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.240 probably needs to stay home. I think you have a 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.680 longer runway. And uh so he decided to stay home. 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:57.119 But I think I treat it like everything else, assume 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:00.400 something might go wrong. And so when we were both 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:02.919 traveling and I knew I had a big presentation, I 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:05.960 knew that morning I would go into somebody's room and 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:09.119 someone would have an ear infection. And so I created 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:11.840 a network of friends that stayed home, and I did 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:15.040 an old fashioned bartering system. So if you could take 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:17.280 you know, Emma for a couple of hours while I 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.280 do this presentation, I will babysit your kids, and you 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.080 and your husband can go out on the weekend. I 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:24.399 treated it. I always had planned beast indeed, just like 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:26.560 you do in business. What would you say the leadership 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:29.159 qualities that you brought to the table or that you 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:31.480 most admire. I mean, I think the ones I brought 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:38.119 to the table were being genuine, being authentic, communicating, uh 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:41.639 you know, just um all the time, painting the picture 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:43.919 of where I want the company to go. And I 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:46.919 think that's really important. I think people, uh, you know 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:48.960 you only you're only a leader of people want to 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.320 follow you, So do people want to follow you? Do? 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:55.440