b"C H A P T E R 0 3AMBER GETSTHE GREEN LIGHT18 A llan Amber grew upfarms in the insurance industry. He suggested Allan intending to become aapply for a job at the United Insurance Company, fifth-generation marketwhere he worked. gardenerthe Amberfamily had lived and grownUnited wanted young employees with life experience. in the Athelstone area sinceAllan fit the bill. The company had a lot of rural clients, 1851. At fifteen, Allan leftand he understood them well. His manager quickly school to start work with spotted his potential, and after three months, he was his uncle and cousins, whofast-tracked into a management course. owned extensive property.But sometimes, fate deals a different hand. Growing up in the family business, he had an intuitive sense of the pressures small business operators faced. 'That all got tipped on its head,' recalls Allan. Allan was empathetic and level-headed. He could 'Two years in, my uncle passed away suddenly.'establish a good rapport with clients without promising the world. This industry is all about relationships.The cousins could no longer guarantee him a job.Thats the secret to it, he says.He worked as a contractor and then had a taxi truck. When you grow up on a farm, you learn to drive Soon enough, Allan was appointed branch managerand do anything, he explains. of the Glynde office, not far from Athelstone. He enjoyed his time at United, but the insurance industry At a loose end, he was working long hours but didntwas changing. In the late 1970s, the major insurers see much of a future in what he was doing. Allans started closing branches, centralising operationsolder brother, Max, had forged a career away fromand introducing computerisation. Opposite Allan Amber."