Speed, agility, smarts: Here's why the cheetah is the symbol for Daytona's Brown & Brown

Clayton Park, Daytona Beach News-Journal
·4 min read

DAYTONA BEACH ― Since the 1980s, the cheetah has been the symbol for Brown & Brown Insurance because of its agility, speed, intelligence and ability to adapt to changing circumstances in an instant.

On Monday, the founder of the Namibia, Africa-based Cheetah Conservation Fund visited Brown & Brown's corporate offices in Daytona Beach to talk about how the world's fastest land animal has become an endangered species.

CCF Founder Dr. Laurie Marker also came to personally check out the 10-foot-tall bronze cheetah statue in front of the 11-story Brown & Brown headquarters at 300 N. Beach St.

"Oh my, he's beyond gorgeous," said Marker as she immediately whipped out her smart phone to take photos. The majestic cheetah statue is perched on a 13-foot-tall boulder-like base on the corner of Beach Street and Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard.

Dr. Laurie Marker, founder of the Namibia, Africa-based Cheetah Conservation Fund, takes a selfie in front of the bronze cheetah sculpture in front of the headquarters for Brown & Brown Insurance at 300 N. Beach St., Daytona Beach on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. This is her first time seeing the statue created by Palm Coast sculptor Paul Baliker. Brown & Brown has been using the cheetah, the world's fastest land animal, as its symbol since the 1980s.

How the cheetah became the company's symbol

Brown & Brown Chairman J. Hyatt Brown credits Linda Downs, the company's then-executive vice president, for coming up with the idea in either 1986 or 1987.

Downs, who retired as chief operating officer in 2015, told The Daytona Beach News-Journal two years ago that she suggested the company adopt the cheetah as its symbol after reading an article about its formidable attributes.

"It really resonated with me," she said.

Dr. Laurie Marker, second from the left, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, stands in front of the bronze cheetah sculpture in front of the headquarters for Brown & Brown Insurance at 300 N. Beach St., Daytona Beach on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. Also pictured: Cici Brown, left, her husband J. Hyatt Brown (Brown & Brown's chairman), second from the right, and the sculpture's artist Paul Baliker.

How is Brown & Brown like a cheetah?

Cheetahs in short bursts can run at speeds as fast as 70 mph.

An image of the cheetah has been featured many times on the cover of Brown & Brown's annual reports.

That's because, like the cheetah, Brown & Brown is fast, in terms of its growth as a company.

Founded in 1939 as a small Daytona Beach insurance agency with a single office, the company today is one of the world's largest, with 500 locations in multiple countries and over 16,000 "teammates."

After seeing its annual revenues top the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2011, Brown & Brown has grown at an increasingly faster pace.

It hit $2 billion in 2018, exceeded $3 billion for the first time three years later and appears poised to go over $4 billion this year.

Through the first nine months of 2023, the company has generated $3.23 billion in revenues, including $1.06 billion in the third quarter.

"In today's business world, those businesses who are able to respond quickly to the needs of the customers, those are the companies that will grow and prosper," said Hyatt Brown.

The statue was created by a local artist

Paul Baliker was commissioned by Brown & Brown to create the cheetah sculpture that adorns the company's headquarters campus. The project took the Palm Coast sculptor more than a year to complete. He worked from photographs.

The statue was installed and unveiled in December 2021.

Baliker was on hand Monday to accompany Marker along with Hyatt and Cici Brown and several Brown & Brown staffers as the CCF founder checked out the statue.

"Oh wow!," Marker told Baliker. "You did well. The eyes are just great, the way he's looking at everything."

Said Baliker afterwards: "I (just) got the OK and thumbs up from a world-renowned cheetah expert today and I feel pretty good."

Cheetahs need our help

Dr. Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, addresses Brown & Brown "teammates" at the insurance brokerage's headquarters at 300 N. Beach St., Daytona Beach on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. The company has been using the world's fastest land animal as its symbol since the 1980s.
Dr. Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, addresses Brown & Brown "teammates" at the insurance brokerage's headquarters at 300 N. Beach St., Daytona Beach on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. The company has been using the world's fastest land animal as its symbol since the 1980s.

Before viewing the statue, Marker addressed several dozen Brown & Brown teammates to talk about the cheetah and encourage them to donate to efforts to protect the endangered species.

The number of cheetahs worldwide has dwindled from 100,000 in 1900 to 7,100 today, she said. Cheetahs are mostly in Africa and Iran.

The chief threats to their existence are illegal wildlife poachers and climate change.

Marker founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund in 1990. She continues to serve as its executive director. The nonprofit today operates a 158,000 acre private wildlife reserve that includes a cheetah sanctuary, veterinary clinic, genetics lab and research/education/training center. The complex is open to the public 364 days a year.

Hyatt Brown said he and his wife Cici have made several safari trips to Africa over the years to learn more about cheetahs. The couple as well as Brown & Brown as a company have made several donations to the CCF.

"If you all ever get a change to go to Namibia with your children (to visit the CCF), this is a great place to go," he told Brown & Brown teammates.

For more information, visit cheetah.org.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Why is the cheetah the mascot of Daytona's Brown & Brown?Here's why.