PEOPLE
CAREER PATH
NEVER SAY NEVER
His willingness to never take ‘no’ for an answer has served Stanislav Kojokin well When he was 14, Kojokin’s parents immigrated to Canada from Israel, where they had lived since immigrating from his native Ukraine when Kojokin was 8. Witnessing the sacrifices his family made led him to appreciate the opportunities he had. “Seeing my parents’ accomplishments through the risks they took made me realize that nothing is impossible, and that allowed me to take on risks and challenges myself.”
2001
COMES TO CANADA
2008 FINDS INSURANCE While studying accounting at Ryerson University, Kojokin took a part-time job as a sales advisor at a call centre, where he discovered insurance and a passion for customer service. It was also at Ryerson that he met Arian Ebrahimi, who later became his business partner at Kase Insurance. “I fell in love with the insurance industry from day one.”
2010 LEARNS THE ROPES Kojokin’s trainee position at Lyon & Butler Insurance Group propelled his career considerably, thanks in part to a key mentor. “I was very lucky to have worked at Lyon & Butler. I met one of my first mentors there, who taught me everything about the commercial insurance business. It was the opportunity of a lifetime.”
2019 BUILDS A DREAM TEAM Kojokin realized early on that building an award-winning insurance brokerage is impossible without the right team. He began recruiting team members who have a passion for helping clients protect their businesses and says that mindset is why 2019 has been a significant year for growth and overall customer service improvements within the business. “Kase Insurance would never have been able to grow as fast if it wasn’t for our team.”
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2004 BECOMES A LIFEGUARD As a teenager, Kojokin set his sights on becoming a lifeguard, but one small thing was missing – he didn’t know how to swim. But he persevered, despite failing the lifeguarding course the first five times.
“What I learned from this was that you only fail if you quit. When I set myself a task, I need to complete it. Failure only happens when you give up” 2010 OPENS ANOTHER DOOR When Kojokin was rejected from an underwriting job, it moved him toward the field that ultimately led to his success in insurance. “In applied for an underwriter position and, after four interviews, found out that I didn’t get the role. I was devastated, but it allowed me to take an opportunity as an insurance broker that I would have missed out on. That job turned out to be a key moment in my career.”
2016 STARTS KASE INSURANCE After several years of working as a broker, Kojokin realized his passion lay in helping new brokers win accounts and become specialists themselves. He also saw a need for a brokerage that catered solely to businesses, so together with Ebrahimi, he founded Kase Insurance. “The only thing I love more than selling insurance is to mentor other young brokers on how to build and manage their book of business.”
www.insurancebusiness.ca
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