Philip Rigueur
Vice President, Head of Joint Venture Market Sales Effectiveness & Distribution
Aetna Inc.
Hartford, CT.
Three events marked Philip Rigueur for life: the death of his older brother; a failed real estate deal he terms ?a big blow to my ego;? and a potentially life-scarring misdiagnosis of his son?s hearing loss. ?My brother taught me to dream big. I had to deal with his loss while I assumed the role of head of family for his family and for our parents. Dealing with grief while being catapulted into a level of responsibility that was far beyond what I had ever expected to take on at such a young age made me a stronger, more compassionate person. That has served me well in my personal and my business relationships,? he explains.
With his real estate loss, Rigueur learned to prepare for all outcomes. ?Recovery means looking at failure as a ?teachable moment.? I learned some important business lessons about the volatility of the market and the effect that culture has on a business. This hard lesson has stayed with me over the years.?
The son of Haitian immigrants, Rigueur earned both a bachelor?s degree in industrial and labor relations and a master?s in public affairs at Cornell University. He is vice president and head of Joint Venture Markets Sales Effectiveness and Distribution at Aetna, a role that allows him to draw on his sales experience and helps to fulfill his desire to serve others. From Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS and the Mental Health Association of Connecticut, to the National Urban League, One Hundred Black Men and the City of Hartford?s Redevelopment Agency, Rigueur serves his community tirelessly. He worries about medical misdiagnoses among children. ?With unlimited time and money, I would create an organization that would connect medical professionals with children who are mislabeled ?behavior problems? to ensure that they receive appropriate medical evaluations before the third grade,? he states.
