After the decision was made to end my time on my current contracts in the cycling business, I had some time to reflect on what the next step would be in my career before finishing out those contracts. I thought about a number of opportunities. I thought about going to Dev Bootcamp and becoming a software developer. I thought about going back into mortgages. I thought about going into IT. And I thought about going into various areas of insurance. I then thought about what gave me satisfaction in my previous careers. This is where I focused my reflection.
In my past, I worked for Motorola, Tellabs, various mortgage companies, Giant Bicycle and a few contracts as an independent sales rep in the cycling industry. I reflected on the times I far exceeded expectations. When I first started at Motorola, when I first started in the Mortgage Industry and at Tellabs as a Marketing Manager for Element Management Systems. These specific times stood out for various reasons, but they were all times I was well recognized and appreciated by management and my customers for going above and beyond what was expected of me. What did all those opportunities have in common?
– Great support from management
– Sales oriented position
– A tremendous need that needed to be filled, and most of all…
– My efforts were recognized and I was appreciated
– The tremendous satisfaction that I was helping people.
I am a “pleaser”; I always have been. So, I looked for an opportunity where I could help people. Mortgages fit that bill, but I wasn’t looking forward to re-enter a market that has tremendous ups and downs. I wanted to get into a market that had more consistent need. I also was interested in working for a company that was willing to help me get started selling in a new industry. Providing leads was also important.
I was being contacted by quite a few insurance companies. These fell into many different categories:
– Supplemental (Aflac) – this is a good market, but I didn’t want to work for a company that was recruiting just anyone.
– Property and Casualty – this fell into 2 camps, Employee and Business Owner. State Farm and Farmers were looking for people to start their own businesses and invest their own money in starting out a business. With Liberty Mutual, I would have been an employee. I learned a lot about the property and casualty business and found it interesting, but in the end, I did not pick P&C as my career choice at this point.
– Life Insurance – I have always been interested in Life Insurance. It is a simple product that most people don’t fully understand how to utilize effectively. But… it is a very tough business. No one looks forward to speaking with a Life Insurance salesmen even though there are so many people that need help in this area. With that said, this is not where I chose to concentrate my efforts.
– Health Insurance – With or without Affordable Healthcare Reform, this is a complicated area of insurance with a great amount of need. As soon as you add in reform, it becomes much more complicated. I love complicated. I enjoy taking complicated and being able to explain it in very simple terms so anyone can understand. Also, the individual and small business market are exploding with demand. This is the career I have chosen.
Last week, I took a class so I could pass my Health and Life Insurance licensing tests. I passed both of those tests on Saturday. This week, I have been in training at Healthcare Solutions Team, the company that I chose to work with.
Regarding Healthcare Solutions Team, so far, it seems too good to be true. They provide tremendous tools and support, including sales leads. Also, they provide a wide variety of health insurance products from all the major carriers.
I am very much looking forward to this new career. I am especially looking forward to helping people one person at a time.
Max Voltage Cycling 