We had the good fortune of connecting with Jolene Bibian and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jolene, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I’ve always had an entrepreneur mindset. Which comes from my innate yearning to be independent. My mom refers to my first day of kindergarten when all the kids were crying and not wanting their parents to leave them. There I was waving, “bye mom!” and off I went. I can remember from a young age thriving on structure and creativity – always looking for a better yet more enjoyable way to do things. This also plagued me with perfectionism. Flash forward, these traits have developed into a strong drive to not follow the pact but rather create my own path. What does this have to do with starting my own business? Well, in 2018 I was faced with a fork in the road. My then business partner and I were in discussions with other firms who were looking to buy our book of business with the idea that we would fold our clients into their operation, he would retire, and I would merge with their organization. Well, it only took maybe 3 meetings for me to realize that the idea of working for someone else and be another “suit” was not what I wanted. Sure, on paper the money would be great and having robust infrastructure was attractive. But I’d lose the freedom of creative operation and my independence. So, after a strategic conversation with my husband, I developed a plan and presented my business partner with an offer to buy the business from him myself. It scared the hell out of me, but I knew the alternative frightened me even more. March 2019 was when I launched my own company and by May of that year, the ink was hardly dry on the purchase agreement – off I went. Mills + Maple Insurance Solutions is a boutique health insurance agency that works with business managers, their clients and small to mid-size businesses to create benefit packages and serve employees during their health insurance journey. Constantly learning and refining how to serve better and more efficiently while finding joy in the process. People before profits and I wouldn’t change it for anything!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Not even a year into launching my company, the world shut down. Being that most of my clients are small to mid-size business owners, I found myself at another crossroads. I chose to grab the steering wheel and lead them the best I could through uncharted waters. Healthcare and employee benefits was at the forefront of importance during the pandemic. Employers needed to navigate so many facets from keeping their doors open to all the new requirements being thrown at them – it was a lot for anyone. What inspired me most was all of my employer clients did everything they could to keep benefits in place. Making sure their employees had access to care was a priority. I pulled in all the resources from new HR policies being implemented or changed just about daily it seemed, to aggregating data being published by state and local governance to interpreting and coordinating guidance from insurance carriers to manage furloughed employees or employees on COBRA who couldn’t pay their premiums etc. – we drank from the water hose as fast as we could. All the while being a small business owner myself. To say it was a steep learning curve is a massive understatement. But, we adapted, we pivoted, and we persisted – both my clients and my company. It allowed me to prove in a very short time that while my company was the new kid on the block, my experience over the prior 17 years was apparent.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ventura county is a gem! We have the beach on one side and mountain peaks on the other. I would head up to Ojai for a hike on up through the Valley View Preserve. Catching our breath at the top to soak in the view. After we could grab some fresh veggies and fruit at the farmer’s market. Grab a glass of wine downtown hoping to catch some live music along the way. Spending the day outdoors it most definitely the plan.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are a few. First and foremost, Leon Rousso. My previous business partner, mentor and friend. His unwavering ability to weave together business and life set the tone for how I operate in my professional life. He rode a Harley to work and played the saxophone in the evening – clients became friends. Business to him was an extension of his life not an addition. I began working with him when I was a senior in high school, February 2002. I would not have had the opportunity to fan the flame on business ownership without him.

Next, my friend Stephanie Berger. Her and I have parallel businesses. From our outlook on running our business to the way we serve our clients. She also owns her own company and while in many industries we would be considered competitors, she has been my backbone through some of the hardest learning opportunities the first few years have offered. Being a business owner can be a lonely venture at times with little to benchmark if you’re even doing it right. We are constantly texting, emailing, calling to run something by each other, share solutions or offer advice – sometimes just listen and feel heard. I feel stronger with her by my side professionally. We have our national professional association, NABIP (formally NAHU) to thank for our friendship.

My life partner/ husband Junior. If not for him even suggesting that the possibility of me buying the business and launching my own was a reality, I would not have considered it. He supports me through the craziest manifestations and encourages my thirst for adventure and independence. And when I start to question my abilities – he reminds me just how capable I am.

Website: www.millsandmaple.com

Instagram: jolene_bibian

Image Credits
Kristin Mansky, Nicole Dreon, Regine Trias

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