Partridge: Subtle Effectiveness

Judith Partridge's advice for women starting their own businesses: "Know you have to pay the price."

The wisdom is simple yet sage. Partridge, chief executive and owner of Anaheim-based Eastwood Insurance Services Inc., says she's lost time and frazzled her mind building the insurance brokerage.

But it's been worth it, she said. Now, her business and personal lives blend as one, and that works for her.

"After doing it this long, it's like you're always working," she said.

Partridge was one of seven women honored at the Business Journal's 11th annual Women in Business awards luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Irvine on May 26.

Started in 1989, Eastwood Insurance has about 600 workers and a million customers. The company specializes in "substandard," or high-risk auto insurance policies. Those are for people who drive a lot, have several tickets or bad credit.

Eastwood brokers the policies for insurers such as Progressive Corp. and American International Group Inc., which make up about 40% of the market, Partridge said.

Eastwood now has some 55 offices in seven states, some $60 million in yearly revenue, and is one of the largest insurance brokers in California.

But Eastwood wasn't always perched pretty on a hill in Anaheim.

To fund the business, Partridge said she and her husband sold everything they had except for their house.

"We borrowed from a 401(k)," she said. "We did everything we had to do."

Partridge refers to those times as her "coupon clipping days."

Early on, she said she had her doubts about leaving a good job with an insurance company: "Why in the hell did I leave a $100,000 year job and struggle. Are you nuts?"

Those days were so hectic Partridge said she doesn't even remember them.

"It's a blur," she said last week from her third-story office with a porch and flowers climbing a trellis.

So what's the secret to longevity? According to Partridge, it's no secret: hard work and focus.

It's easier for women in business these days because there is more support, she said.

"Years ago, we were really on our own," Partridge said.

She did offer a specific piece of advice-stay under the competition's radar.

"I was always the poor little woman struggling," she said. "Then they turned around and they were like, 'Oh my god, where did you come from?'"

Low-Key Boss

Partridge's style is subtle.

"She's very quietly effective," said Sheryl Bourgeois, vice president of university advancement at Chapman University in Orange. "She really knows how to appreciate people."

Partridge is an active member of Chapman's board of governors, which advises President Jim Doti. More on that later.

But Partridge isn't quiet. She has an unmistakably outgoing personality.

She came to California from Chicago in 1975, thinking she'd have a better chance to get ahead as a woman.

"When I came to Orange County, most of the big insurance companies were in Los Angeles," Partridge said.

She said she decided to make a go of it on her own because she was a difficult employee.

"I always thought I could do it better," Partridge said.

As Partridge was starting up her business, her personal life was blossoming. After a long wait, she was able to adopt a girl, and two years later, a boy.

Some more Partridge advice: Write a business plan, even if you have to keep revising it.

"I had to keep rewriting it," she said, "but at least I had a measuring stick."

Focus on a specialty, she said. People often ask why she doesn't diversify her business, Partridge said.

"I'm a firm believer-you have to know what you're good at," she said.

For women, it's important to find a support group, she said:

"Men don't like to ask for directions. Women don't like to ask for help," Partridge said.

She's part of an informal women's roundtable in Orange County.

"This is a social thing," Partridge said, for "when we need to vent about business or discuss personal issues."

Unlike some business owners who say they'll never retire, Partridge isn't shy about saying exiting is not an "if for her. It's a when.

She said she'll take to her 18-acre ranch she bought about a year ago in La Cresta, where she has cows, chickens and horses. She's working on a pigpen.

Her grandmother had a ranch, so Partridge said she's coming full circle.

But Partridge even is the boss at the ranch, employing seven people.

For now, she uses the ranch to entertain business guests and their families and indulges in her passion of throwing a party.

Partridge's exit isn't in sight at the moment. She said she's been presented a lot of offers.

"But nothing has really appealed to me," Partridge said.

Eastwood is set to stay on a course of expansion, she said.

Outside the Office

One of Partridge's other passions is her board work, including at KOCE-TV and the Orange County Special Olympics advisory board.

Eastwood has a built-in charity that Partridge founded, My Brother Joey Foundation, named after her brother, born with Down syndrome. For every policy written, Eastwood contributes $5 to the foundation.

When you've established yourself as a successful businesswoman, you're in demand, Partridge said. She gets invited to many lunches, she said.

"We're very fortunate to have her dedicated to Chapman," Bourgeois said.

Partridge has chaired the American Celebration, Chapman's biggest fund-raiser of the year for several years.

In 2000, she donated $1 million to spruce up the dance facility, now named the Partridge Dance Center. Chapman already had a dance program but needed to expand its facilities. Chapman had acquired a piece of property near the train station.

"Judi became actively involved," Bourgeois said.

Partridge said the dedication of the dance center was one of the best moments of her life.

The Partridge Dance Center has 100 to 200 dance majors. In the fall, it will have another student near to Partridge's heart, her daughter Cassie, who has been dancing competitively since the age of 5.