Stepping into a new pricing leadership role comes with expectations, pressure, and very little room to get it wrong. In this episode of the PriceWriters Podcast, Jeremy and Catrin explore Lead Your Team in Your First 100 Days by Neve O’Keeffe and walk through what actually holds up in an insurance context.

They get into where pricing leaders tend to fall short early on, especially the habit of relying on technical strength instead of actually leading, and the areas that are often left too late, like dealing with performance issues or setting clear direction for the team. They also question how realistic the whole “100 days” idea really is in insurance, and why making early decisions based on gut feel or second-hand opinions about your team can set you off on the wrong path. If you’re stepping into a new role or taking on a new team, this is the kind of conversation that helps you think more clearly about what actually matters.

PriceWriters transforms pricing capability find out more at Pricewriters.com

In this episode of The Price Writers Podcast, Jeremy Keating and Catrin Townsend discuss Catrin’s book, A Risky Business, and the story behind how it came to be written. Catrin shares how the idea for the book emerged during lockdown conversations with her father while on maternity leave — and how those discussions sparked a desire to explain actuarial science and risk in a way that anyone can understand. They explore:

- Why actuarial work is more relevant to everyday life than most people realise - How the book was written (including chapters typed one-handed while holding a baby!)
- The challenge of explaining complex risk concepts without heavy maths
- How Karin structured the book to make actuarial science accessible to non-experts
- The process of pitching a book proposal and securing a publisher

This episode is perfect for actuaries, insurance professionals, students considering the career, or anyone curious about how risk is quantified and managed in society. 📚 Featured book: A Risky Business – An Actuary’s Guide to Quantifying and Managing Risk in Society 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes exploring insurance, risk, and the books shaping the profession.

In this special World Book Day episode of the Price Writers Podcast, Catrin Townsend turns the tables on Jeremy Keating to explore the story behind his award-winning book, Price Writer: Nine-Step Method to Becoming a Highly Successful General Insurance Pricing Leader.

Jeremy shares why he felt compelled to write a practical leadership book for general insurance pricing professionals, not another maths-heavy textbook, but a hands-on guide to strategy, governance, data, modelling, deployment and team capability.

They discuss:

• Why most pricing roles are far more than just technical modelling
• How the Nine-Step framework was developed (and why it couldn’t be five!)
• The challenges of writing about modelling without using equations
• Why deployment sits at the heart of pricing success
• And the responsibility pricing leaders have to real end customers

Jeremy also reveals his unusual writing process (it involves running 10Ks), reflects on the book’s global reception and awards, and shares what he would update if he were writing it today.

If you’re a pricing professional, or aspiring to lead in insurance, this episode gives you insight into the thinking behind one of the most talked-about books in the field, and how to apply its ideas in your own career.