2025 Forty Under 40 Alum of the Year:
Dan Keough

Dan Keough grew up with five siblings. His big family influenced his values and how he shows up at work. 

“When you’re one of six, you have to respect different people’s opinions,” Keough said. “I’m directionally a middle child, and I like to find consensus and create alignment around issues. I’m an includer by nature.”

Those traits eventually led him to leadership. 

The Business Record is proud to recognize Keough as the 2025 Forty Under 40 Alum of the Year. He was recognized as a Forty Under 40 in 2001. Since 2012, he has been Holmes Murphy’s chairman and CEO. He is also the co-CEO and co-founder of BrokerTech Ventures, a “convener of broker-centric innovation, ideation, investment and communication for the global insurance ecosystem.” 

The following Q&A with Keough has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

What does it mean to you to be the Forty Under 40 Alum this year?

When I look at the list of people that have been recognized in the past, it’s quite an honor, and I’m not sure what I did to receive it. But I’m thrilled that people thought enough of me to be recognized. 

What are some of your proudest career accomplishments?

Moving into Des Moines certainly was a pivotal time. Starting Innovative Captive Strategies with Holmes Murphy, and building that company and having that be a huge success, not just my efforts, but the broader team’s efforts, was game-changing for my career. Then continuing the legacy at Holmes Murphy of building a great business, focusing on our people and our clients and the communities that we live in. 

Also, we remain private and independent within our industry, which is highly consolidating. The fact that we can continue to compete and have great success is certainly an accomplishment that I’m proud of as well. Continuing that independence into the future is really important for us, and I think it’s important for Des Moines and the communities that we serve. Having independent firms like ours is important because we give back to our people and our community. 

What were some of the big decisions that ended up changing the course of your career?

I never set out to get into the insurance business in the first place. I mentally had a hard time adjusting to my career in insurance, when I thought I’d be in corporate finance or investments. I gave myself a defined period of time to make a decision: Either you’re going to stick it out or you’re going to pivot. 

There’s that hard part early in your career where you’re learning. You don’t really know what you don’t know. You’re working hard, but you may not be working as smart. You’ve got to have others around that put you in positions to be successful. That happened for me, where others invested in me and they gave me a chance to be successful.

Do you have advice for other people as they figure out their career goals and navigate changes that aren’t aligned with their expectations?

Check your expectations: Are they reasonable? Are you informed on what your expectation should be, versus just having an expectation that may not be real? That starts with being truly informed by talking to others that are in your line of work, maybe a couple years ahead of you, that can give you advice on what you should expect. Versus: I want to make a million dollars by 25. Is that realistic in the line of work that I’m in? If it’s not, then you’ve got to either go figure out what career you can do that in or realign your expectations. I think you do that through talking to others and being somebody that’s wanting to reinvest in yourself. 

I do think that there is an adjustment that young professionals have to go through: transitioning from their college life to work life, potentially married life or being parents or moving on to your own place. Whatever that might look like for young adults in their journeys, those transitions contribute to how they view the world, and certainly work is a part of that. When you’re a young individual, you’re trying to figure out who you are and where do you fit into this world and where do you work? Does that align with your value set? Does that help you become the best version of yourself? It’s not just a job, it’s the company that you’re around, it’s the people you’re around every day, it’s the culture that you’re immersing yourself in. If that lifts you up, then continue down that path.

The Forty Under 40 awards are equal parts about professional success and community involvement. As you think about your community involvement, what are some of the things that you’re most proud of there?

I think as a CEO of Holmes Murphy I have a responsibility to set the tone to give back in actions, words, time and resources. I’ve certainly been involved in some fun projects. Pro Iowa is the most recent one – I’ve been a part of that campaign and we’re getting close to the finish line on hopefully getting there, which would be great for Des Moines. The arts is something I’ve been passionate about and I’ve served the Des Moines Art Center. Our kids went to Dowling Catholic, and leading the capital campaign for the new chapel was certainly a highlight. United Way has done great work in meeting the community where they are and understanding how they can make an impact, and Holmes Murphy gives back through United Way in a significant way. When you’re given an opportunity to give back, give back – whether big or small, or financial or time – it all makes a difference.

How do you think other business leaders should be thinking about philanthropy and volunteerism?

It’s good business. I think the great thing about being in Iowa, and certainly the metro, is that a lot of the companies just do the right thing, and they know it means a lot to their employees. Most of the companies that we serve look for other companies that serve and give back.

What is your advice to this year’s Forty Under 40 class and the next generation of young leaders as they continue to pursue their careers?

If you look at all of the technological advances that have occurred in the last 20 years, and if you look forward to what the next 20 years might bring, I would be thinking about how my job, my career and my skill set are going to be impacted by the acceleration of technology. What could I do to be on the front end of that? At the end of the day, technology is fueled by humans, and so I wouldn’t lose sleep or be fearful about it, but use it as an opportunity. If I’m a programmer, if I’m an entrepreneur, if I’m a salesperson, if I’m a service professional – what can I do to continue to learn about what technology is going to do in my space?

Is there anything that you do to make sure that you’re staying aware of all of the opportunities with technology?

I try to stretch my boundaries in terms of where I get information. I think if you fall into the trap of getting the same information from the same sources, you’re going to become really slanted toward those viewpoints or those data points. Be open to what we don’t know. We started the company called BrokerTech Ventures about five years ago, and the idea behind it is acknowledging that we don’t know what we don’t know about technology and the insurance value chain. We’re learning from different people in different places that see the world differently than we do. Our role as an insurance broker is to be open to those and see if that can make an impact on our clients. 

What excites you most about this next generation coming up in the workforce?

They’re so impressive. It’s great to see that they want to lean in. They want to make a difference. They show up. They’ve got different ideas. We can sit through a meeting and go through the same experience, but we can take away different things, and that’s all based on your background, your experience, your education, your belief system. What I receive versus what somebody else receives is different, and I find myself learning a lot from the next generation and what they observe. If you’re listening, it helps you be a better leader yourself. 

With how busy you are, how do you find time for yourself and make sure that you get the balance that you want in life?

I love what I do and who I do it with. So I think when you start with that, then getting up and doing what you do, there’s no difference between going to work or interacting with people in the community, spending time with your friends. To me, it’s one big mixing pot. You spend a disproportionate amount of time at work in your overall life. If you don’t love it, or find your teammates that you work with are collaborative or inspiring in some ways – in terms of what you know, what they know and what you can learn from them – I think that’s a miss. I think being able to find that is really important, and so I’ve been lucky enough to find it. 

Now that I found it, I want to cultivate it for others and make sure that everyone that I interact with at Holmes Murphy loves what they do and who they do it with. Because if they do, I believe our clients will feel cared for when we serve them. Hopefully, when you deal with somebody at Holmes Murphy, people just feel like it’s different. I think it’s different because our people are different. Our culture is different. It all stems with people getting to show up and bring their best self to work. 

Are there any issues right now that you think business leaders should be more focused on?

I think for a while there we were at a place with return-to-work that was challenging. While I understand the value of trusting people to do work anywhere, I think that there is a real potential miss for companies if they don’t engage their people in an accountable way. Meaning, if you let people work remotely all the time, some people may thrive in that and so you can’t judge that person, or you can’t judge that company, but there is still something to bringing people together. Technology has allowed us to do things across the world more efficiently. But I think for people’s personal well-being, their engagement in their careers, and the development of who they are, and particularly people at different levels of the organization and different tenures of the organization, interaction is important. I know I wouldn’t have been successful had I worked remotely. But I think we’re coming out of that challenging period. 

As businesses we’re all in a broader umbrella of the political environment within the world and within our country. Being in Iowa, we like moderate positions. I appreciate moderate positions and making sure that we’re not swung too far, one way or the other. I think we’re in a really great position here in Iowa. I think we’ve got a lot of really good things going on in this state, and I’m really bullish about the private-public partnerships that are established that are unique to Iowa and the Midwest. 

Do you have any activities or hobbies that you really enjoy?

Well, I love work. I think for me, work is people. I’m a people person. So those things collide in that way. I also like to travel. Traveling with family and friends for me would be about creating experiences that are different, whether it’s skiing or traveling somewhere and sitting on a beach.

Do you have any favorite places you’ve traveled to?

I love Italy. My son, Daniel, and my daughter-in-law just got married last fall in Italy. A friend of mine, Kyle Krause, introduced me and our family to it in extensive ways over the years, but I would say that that’s certainly a highlight. 

Travel is just observing life from a different lens. You get to understand and respect different cultures. The Italian culture of what they value in terms of their family and faith and food and life is different. In some ways, you’re just learning about some new place, a new city and new culture. That shapes who you are and how you view things here in Des Moines, Iowa.

My kids now are all into golf, so anywhere we can go and spend time golfing is super fun for me. 

Is there anything that most people don’t know about you?

Well, everybody knows I love U2, I love pizza, and I love those things mixed with my family and friends. I think that’s what people would know about me. What they might not know is that I come from a big family of three sisters and two brothers, so I have six in our family. I’m a big family, faith and education person. Those three pillars are really how I think about the world. ν

About the award: The Business Record began honoring an Alum of the Year in 2010 to recognize the contributions of previous Forty Under 40 honorees who, since being honored, continued to make a major impact through professional and personal involvement locally. Previously, the awardee has been selected from nominations submitted to the Business Record. Last year, a new process involved inviting past Forty Under 40 honorees to vote for their top picks from a curated list that included two honorees from each class.

About the award: The Business Record began honoring an Alum of the Year in 2010 to recognize the contributions of previous Forty Under 40 honorees who, since being honored, continued to make a major impact through professional and personal involvement locally. Previously, the awardee has been selected from nominations submitted to the Business Record. Last year, a new process involved inviting past Forty Under 40 honorees to vote for their top picks from a curated list that included two honorees from each class.