No doubt, all of us in this industry are in it to earn a living. Some do better than others.
I stumbled in to this business in college. One of the few universities that offered insurance courses, much less a major. I took Introduction to Insurance & Risk Management on a whim. My professor was an associate dean at the College of Business and chair of the insurance department. He was a former exec & trainer at Met and later a professor at Wharton and the American College.
A truly remarkable and intelligent man who had the ability to take the mundane (insurance) and actually make it interesting.
Perhaps what caught my attention more than anything was his burning desire to educate others in a way that helped them grasp the concept of risk management and at the same time make the complex easy for almost anyone to grasp.
Underneath it all was a desire to help others.
I ended up majoring in insurance and spent the next 32 years in the industry, mostly in the health insurance side and almost all of that in dealing with large group health plans.
For the last 4 years or so I have volunteered time in various capacities, including online communities, answering questions for consumers & agents about this industry.
I am bothered by some of the mistakes consumers make, and even more so by the agents who lead them in the wrong direction. What drives me is not the money or the desire to keep score of how many "kills" I had that week, but how many people are better informed, and hopefully better off, than they were before we met.
A guy I worked for years ago used to say what goes around comes around. I never cared much for him and had almost no respect for him. He was an *** and egotistical. He also used to say it is my way or the highway.
Eventually he was shown the highway but not before taking a good company and a good division in the completely wrong direction. His decisions impacted a lot of folks in a negative way.
But even then, I learned something I always knew, just never heard it phrased that way.
What goes around comes around.
I live my professional life based on a few tenets.
I never recommend anything I would not buy.
(From Kenny Rogers) I never count my money while sitting at the table.
I am driven by a desire to help others understand what they need, why they need it, and why I recommend one plan of action over another.
Following these three tenets allows me to sleep well at night.
What drives you?
I stumbled in to this business in college. One of the few universities that offered insurance courses, much less a major. I took Introduction to Insurance & Risk Management on a whim. My professor was an associate dean at the College of Business and chair of the insurance department. He was a former exec & trainer at Met and later a professor at Wharton and the American College.
A truly remarkable and intelligent man who had the ability to take the mundane (insurance) and actually make it interesting.
Perhaps what caught my attention more than anything was his burning desire to educate others in a way that helped them grasp the concept of risk management and at the same time make the complex easy for almost anyone to grasp.
Underneath it all was a desire to help others.
I ended up majoring in insurance and spent the next 32 years in the industry, mostly in the health insurance side and almost all of that in dealing with large group health plans.
For the last 4 years or so I have volunteered time in various capacities, including online communities, answering questions for consumers & agents about this industry.
I am bothered by some of the mistakes consumers make, and even more so by the agents who lead them in the wrong direction. What drives me is not the money or the desire to keep score of how many "kills" I had that week, but how many people are better informed, and hopefully better off, than they were before we met.
A guy I worked for years ago used to say what goes around comes around. I never cared much for him and had almost no respect for him. He was an *** and egotistical. He also used to say it is my way or the highway.
Eventually he was shown the highway but not before taking a good company and a good division in the completely wrong direction. His decisions impacted a lot of folks in a negative way.
But even then, I learned something I always knew, just never heard it phrased that way.
What goes around comes around.
I live my professional life based on a few tenets.
I never recommend anything I would not buy.
(From Kenny Rogers) I never count my money while sitting at the table.
I am driven by a desire to help others understand what they need, why they need it, and why I recommend one plan of action over another.
Following these three tenets allows me to sleep well at night.
What drives you?
