L I F E S T O RY: Joshua Krenus took a winding
path to becoming an insurance entrepreneur.
The Surrey native has been a Junior A hockey
goalie, a construction worker for his family's
company and an actor at New York's Circle in
the Square Theatre School. In 2010 he started
an auto-detailing business, running it for six
years before becoming a licensed insurance
specialist with Vancouver's Telford Financial
Group. Last July, Krenus founded Alteri Insur-
ance with Telford colleague and longtime friend
Matt Strauts. Alteri provides life, critical illness
and disability insurance to professionals and
J O S H U A K R E N U S
Co-founder and insurance specialist
ALTERI INSURANCE
A G E : 2 9
entrepreneurs, and group benefit plans for
businesses. "I always wanted to own a service-
based business but not work in one that was
laborious," Krenus says of his decision to put
down the car wax and sponges. "I wanted to
be a suit."
Vancouver-based Alteri takes an old-school,
personal approach to service, with an emphasis
on face-to-face meetings. But the firm also
embraces technology: this spring it will launch a
platform on its website that lets clients control
their coverage options.
T H E B O T T O M L I N E : By the end of 2016,
Alteri's monthly revenue had climbed to $15,000.
Krenus got there by making a minimum of 1,000
cold calls and handwriting 500 letters a month.
He and Strauts, who have hired a business
development manager and an insurance adviser,
plan to open a Calgary office next year. —D.H.
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50 BCBUSINESS APRIL 2017
