I come from a long line of insurance agents including my father, his brother and many of their 1st cousins. I grew up learning from Clement Stone, the founder of Combined Insurance Company of America who my dad and the rest of our insurance family worked for. W. Clement Stone is now a highly recognized motivational inspiration for many in the insurance industry. I recall being gathered around the dinner table and the whole family reciting his famous words—“I feel happy! I feel healthy! I feel terrific!” and to always have “PMA”—Positive Mental Attitude. Actually it was, and still is my father who is my role model. After recently celebrating his 80th birthday and reflecting on all I have learned from him, I can honestly say that it was my parents who gave me my core sense of integrity and ethics that still guide me through life and my career.
I grew up in Columbus Ohio and graduated with a BS in accounting with a double major in finance from Franklin University in 1990. A few years later in 1995, after moving to South Florida, I became a licensed insurance agent. The original intent was to work with my father in the tax deferred annuity and life insurance business, and move back to Ohio. Shortly after I became licensed, I realized my home at that time, would remain in south Florida. I began my career working with retiree groups including the City of New York, their unions and other large employers like Sears and AT&T who offered retiree benefits.
This was when I was first introduced to the senior market. I found real satisfaction in dealing with seniors and knowing that I may have been one of the few agents they worked with that put their best interest first. The laws pertaining to marketing to seniors were nearly non-existent and at that time and so many of my clients had been lied to, sold something they didn’t need or strong armed into a policy they could not afford. The feeling of truly helping a person get what they needed, putting some money back into their pocket and working with someone they felt they could trust was a great feeling.
After spending about 7 years working exclusively with seniors and specializing in Long Term Care, Annuities, Medicare and Final Expense, I branched out to two other areas to accommodate my client’s children that were asking me to help. Their kids were a natural progression and I began my entree into Term Life and Disability insurance. The insurance business has been such a rewarding experience for me. I know that I have truly changed people’s lives. This is where I’ll be for the remainder of my working years and I’ll hopefully pass the baton to another person who can enjoy what they do as much as I have.
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