Dry cleaning. That’s where it all began.
Press, fold, repeat.
It wasn’t glamorous, but it was steady. My Father’s family built the business, and I was meant to continue it.
Customers handed over their best suits, their delicate silks, and their favourite sweaters, trusting us to return them fresh, clean, and better than before. It was a quiet kind of trust, unspoken but solid, built through consistency and care.
I grew the business. More locations, more employees, a bigger operation. It was success, at least on paper. But deep down, I wasn’t fulfilled. There’s a difference between building and thriving. And I wasn’t thriving—I was stuck. The demands never stopped, and neither did the feeling that I was meant for something else.
Then came 1998, and with it, Canada’s infamous ice storm. A month’s revenue disappeared overnight. Power was out for weeks, roads were impassable, and my dry cleaning stores—normally bustling—were frozen shut, quite literally. Thirty employees waited for paycheques. My two kids were in private school. The mortgage loomed. The stress was suffocating. But in that moment, something clicked. I realized I didn’t want to fight this fight anymore. I wasn’t built for dry cleaning—not in the long run. It was time for something different.
But what do you do when you’ve never worked for anyone else? When your entire career has been tied to a single industry? Reinventing yourself isn’t easy at any age, let alone in your late 40s. But I had to. And I did.
I took a risk, stepped into the unknown, and ended up in the insurance industry—a field I knew nothing about at the time.
Learning the Business, Building Relationships
It started with family—my sister Monette and my niece Lianne were running an insurance business called M Bacal Group. My sister saw something in me before I saw it in myself. She wanted me to join the team.
“But I don’t know anything about insurance,” I told her.
“You’ll learn,” she said.
“But I don’t have a license,” I told her.
“So you’ll get one,” she said.
And that’s exactly what I did.
Quebec has some of the strictest licensing requirements in Canada, which means you don’t just walk into this industry. You study. You earn it. I went through the process, getting my group insurance license, my life insurance license, taxation certifications—everything I needed to establish myself. And then I had to figure out how to make a name for myself in an industry where I was, quite frankly, the new guy.
At 53, I was the new guy in a world where relationships ran deep. Nobody was dropping their long-time broker to take a chance on me. I needed a niche. I needed to bring something different to the table.
That’s when I found my way into employee benefits, specifically expat insurance. I focused on companies with international operations—Canadian businesses sending employees abroad, people who didn’t fit the traditional insurance models but still needed coverage.
One of the turning points in my career came when I approached a Canadian company that had U.S. operations. They had employees crossing the border regularly, but their benefits plan didn’t cover them once they left Canada. They assumed it was “too complicated” to deal with.
I asked a simple question: “What happens if one of your employees gets sick or injured in the U.S.?” Silence. They hadn’t thought about it.
I introduced them to an expat insurance solution that ensured their employees were covered no matter where they worked. Within months, they expanded their coverage and I handled their Canadian employee benefits, too.
Moments like that reinforce why I do what I do. I don’t pitch. I don’t haggle. I educate. And when people see the value, they make the right decisions—not because I convinced them, but because I gave them the information they needed.
Monette, Lianne, and the entire team at M Bacal share the same values. We believe in putting people first—helping clients make informed choices and guiding them with transparency and care.
The Power of Trust in Insurance
Insurance. The word alone makes people defensive. The insurance industry has a reputation—some deserved, some not. People think of insurance advisors as salespeople, pushing products, chasing commissions. That’s never been my style. My father used to say, “Be a gourmet, not a gourmand” (meaning it’s better to do things well than to be greedy). That’s how I approach my work.
Clients don’t need someone who just shops around for the cheapest policy once a year. They need someone who understands their business, their employees, their goals. They need someone who can anticipate problems before they arise. And above all, they need someone they can trust.
Trust isn’t built overnight. It comes from honesty—even when the news isn’t good. It comes from showing up, following through, and being the person they can count on. That’s why most of my clients have been with me for 15 plus years. It’s about being their advisor, the person they can trust, the person who is always in their corner. When a claim gets stuck in limbo, I push. When the numbers don’t add up, I challenge the underwriters. I don’t work for the insurance companies. I work for my clients. And they know it.
That’s the heart of M Bacal Group, too. Whether it’s life insurance, charitable giving strategies or key person insurance, we’re more than insurance advisors—we’re partners in our clients’ success. Trust is earned through actions, not words. It’s why businesses and families continue to work with us year after year.
A Holistic Approach to Benefits
Once upon a time, a benefits plan meant covering cavities and sprained ankles. Now? It’s mental health, financial wellness, life stability. Employees aren’t looking for perks; they’re looking for security.
But employee benefits aren’t everything: Most companies offer great benefits that their employees barely use—because no one tells them how. I’ve sat in boardrooms with executives bragging about their benefits package, only to find out their staff doesn’t even know they have access to massage therapy.
A benefits plan that collects dust is wasted money. That’s why I do the walkthroughs. Webinars, one-on-one calls, emails explaining coverage in human terms. Because when employees use their benefits, retention goes up, satisfaction climbs, and hiring gets easier.
Done right, group benefits save employers money. They build culture. They keep people happy. They help the bottom line.
Relationships Over Transactions
When I started, I said yes to every client. Experience taught me a better way. Now, I work with people who value what I bring to the table. If someone just wants to find the absolute cheapest insurance plan, they can Google it. But if they want an advisor who will fight for them, who will answer their call when they need help, who can help them find the right plan (and not just the cheapest one) then I’m their guy.
Large firms boast unlimited resources, but clients aren’t looking to be just another name in a database. They want a real connection—someone who answers the phone, someone who remembers their name, their business, their worries before they even say them out loud.
That’s what I offer. That’s what matters.
A Career Rooted in Authenticity
People ask, “Why do you love what you do?”
I don’t love insurance. Let’s be real. No one grows up dreaming of selling group benefits. What I love is the people. The trust. The relationships. The impact.
Insurance isn’t about policies and paperwork. It’s about making sure the single mom at your company can afford therapy for her kid. It’s about ensuring that when an employee gets sick in another country, they don’t lose everything. It’s about helping that entrepreneur attract and retain top talent. It’s about being the person a business owner calls when they don’t know what to do.
You can’t fake care. You can’t fake trust. And you definitely can’t fake experience.
At 47, I was running a dry cleaning business. At 53, I was acquiring my insurance credentials. Today, I have a career built on something real: showing up, doing the work, and giving people the advice they actually need.
Call it reinvention. Call it resilience. Call it whatever you want. I call it being exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Philip Malewski is a life and group insurance advisor at M Bacal Group, where he applies his 25 years of entrepreneurial experience to building long-term client relationships, crafting innovative benefits solutions, and upholding the family business’s commitment to trust, authenticity, and strategic planning.
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