Scott Goodreau

Your dad was a canteen truck driver who would get up at 3 a.m., so you learned the value of hard work. Tell me about that experience.

That industry involves getting up very early, loading food and drink and ice and other perishables onto a canteen truck, then driving a route. My dad would be back around 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon. As I took later jobs, I realized they almost paled in comparison to the hours he put in.

You had a business providing ice to the canteen trucks, which also required getting up at 3 a.m.

It was actually before I was in high school. It was the early signs of my entrepreneurial nature. I had a reliable moped at the time, and I would take it from Malden to Chelsea [in Massachusetts]. The commissary was next to the city dump, where there would be some fairly large rodents in the predawn hours. I would chop up ice, load it into milk crates, put them on a dolly, and deliver them to the trucks. I would get five bucks a truck. It started with a few trucks, and before I knew it, I had 100 trucks a day. And I was employing one of my brothers and a couple of my friends.

You were the first in your family to go to college—to Boston College. Was that a particular aim of your father’s?

That was my dad and my mom. Neither went to college, but both highly supported us doing anything that we wanted to do. And for me, I always worked hard and sought after going to college. Our parents were very supportive—“Follow your passion, be happy, dream big.”

You later went to law school at Harvard. Why law school? Why Harvard?

I always thought I wanted to be a lawyer when I was younger. That or a firefighter. I just wanted to go to one of the best law schools. I thought law school gave me the ability to think more analytically. And I absolutely loved the experience.

Did you have a favorite class in law school?

That’s a great question. I would say my favorite class was, interestingly enough, corporate law. Alan Dershowitz was my criminal law professor. In my constitutional law class we had somebody who had argued more times in front of the Supreme Court than anybody else. And one day Barbra Streisand just showed up at class.

What was Barbra Streisand doing in your class?

My constitutional law professor was Larry Tribe—many famous cases, an incredible scholar. And she was just somebody who admired him. And so I walked into class one day and, lo and behold, there was Barbra Streisand.

You started at a corporate law firm in New York. Did you always consider a law career to be a stepping stone to a business career?

I did. Being a lawyer is a great career, but I really wanted to go someplace where I could build something and be part of something.

What is something your co-workers would be surprised to learn about you?

How much I watch Netflix. Also, I once sold hot dogs at Fenway Park.

Is there a business leader in any industry who you most admire?

Warren Buffett.

Ben Affleck or Matt Damon?

Ben Affleck.

What three words would your co-workers use to describe your management style?

Team-driven, empathetic, and authentic. And relatable.

That’s four, but I’ll take it. If you could change one thing about the insurance industry, what would it be?

Get the message out more to the broader community of how great of an industry it really is.

What gives you your leader’s edge?

Being authentic. I think it all really starts with that. It’s about not hiding and really making sure you’re being as transparent as possible and as authentic as possible and as vulnerable as possible.