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Red River Mutual treats staff and customers with care

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This article was published 10/03/2026 (208 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sonya Woodhall describes herself as shy but is not afraid to speak up when it counts. After 24 years at a previous insurer, Woodhall knew that it was time for a change. When she learned that Red River Mutual Insurance Company was expanding its residential underwriting team, she applied — but with conditions.

“At the interview I said, ‘All I’m looking for is to be an underwriter. I’ve already had more than 20 years of climbing the ladder. I just want a place where I’m respected.’” Her honesty paid off.

Since joining in 2018, Woodhall — who is based in Winnipeg — works fully remotely for Red River Mutual, one of Canada’s largest policyholder-owned insurance companies. She has been promoted several times and is currently a residential underwriting specialist, which puts her in a unique position as an informal mentor within her team.

“Younger employees know I’m just a phone call away. They can ask me anything,” she says.

Woodhall thought she might stay a couple of years and then take early retirement. “But a year and half ago, I received an employee championship award where you are nominated by people throughout the whole company. I was floored,” she says. As for retirement? “I love the people I work with. I love the managers and supervisors. We are like a family.”

Before Arun Abraham joined Red River Mutual as vice-president, information systems and technology, he had worked in very large, fast-paced organizations. “In big companies, you rarely take the opportunity to sit and think. What I found very impressive here is we don’t try to do too many things all at once. In previous organizations, sometimes it was not always about doing it well or doing it right but just about getting it done and then doing more.”

His background helped Abraham accelerate an IT operating model for Red River Mutual but one aligned to the DNA of the company.

“We made some strategic decisions about what our identity would be, what our future should look like and what our journey should be,” says Abraham. “Being a smaller organization, we know we don’t have all the resources in-house, so we work with outside partners in an intentional way.”

The focus and discipline are yielding dividends. In 2025, the Red River Mutual team delivered 12 projects under three strategic priorities. “Our focus is to scale how we operate. We keep the processes that work and innovate to reach our future goals,” he says.

One of Abraham’s personal goals is to be in an organization where he feels challenged. “I always ask myself, ‘Am I contributing to positive change? Am I bringing something new into the organization?’ Value creation is what I care about.”

His role at Red River Mutual checks all those boxes. The 200-person company is growing quickly. “The challenges allow me to learn and also to bring in my previous experience,” he says. “I’m making a difference in how we do our business. We want to grow but we don’t want to lose what we are good at, which is the human touch. We call it the RRM Experience, which is how we treat each other, our customers and our extended partners.”