Jeff Lehman 00:02

Welcome to Lead. Empower. Grow., a podcast featuring entrepreneurs who lead productive teams, empower their communities and grow successful businesses of their own.

Jeff Lehman 00:10

This week is Thanksgiving, and with the holidays coming up, I wanted to do something a little special for today's episode and highlight stories of gratitude that have been shared on our podcast over the years: The gratitude that is in our industry by nature. Because the death benefit comes at a painful time, to say the least, and while money doesn't fix everything, it certainly helps at a time when a family is already grieving.

Jeff Lehman 00:36

And almost every agent that comes onto our show has a story of a client being incredibly grateful, and themselves swelling with pride and passion for the industry for being able to help people like that in real ways. And so I dug back through the archives, and I wanted to highlight a bunch of little stories of gratitude. Whether it's the agent's gratitude, for having the opportunity to help people like this, or the clients gratitude for the agent and their policy protecting them at such a vulnerable time.

Jeff Lehman 01:07

We have a lot of speakers coming up. And I'd rather just step back and let them tell their own stories, because I think the power of stringing them together kind of shows that what we do is important and inspires gratitude. But I'll list out each one of those speakers in the episode description, along with timestamps so you know who said what and when. And I'll link to each of their episodes in the process. Because if you like what you hear in this episode, it's worth going back and listening to those old ones.

Jeff Lehman 01:32

So without further ado, Happy Thanksgiving, and let's listen.

Leyna Nguyen 01:37

When I still tell the story, I helped a young couple. And this was way, way in the beginning. And now I know how to work my way through it. But sold the wife policy husband was kind of just thinking about it, and wanted to take more time. And in the time that he took it, it was only two months. His doctor told him that his that he's he has Hep B. Yeah. And so now he's on medication. And they were devastated. They were devastated. Because then it makes a difference now and they're right. Right now. Now, the game has changed. But I learned how to present that to the underwriter. You know, I found out all the information like which company? Is this going to be better at which carrier is going to provide him a little more coverage? If he's got this going on? How do I present it to them in a cover letter? What kind of information can I provide? How can I help this guy get coverage, and I was able to do it. And they were so thankful. And they messaged me, and they said, Oh, we're crying because we're so happy that we got this and that just oh my god, that is why I do it. And that really should be why everyone does it.

Daniela Dubach 02:49

I think that every insurance agent, once you have your first death claim, or somebody, for instance, what needs to happen to the ABRs for living benefits. Once that happens, it puts everything else in a different perspective. Because we were Yeah, we're kind of selling promoting peace of mind and all that. And people just eventually they're going to tap into that they're going to use the products or services that we sell. But that might be 2030 years down the road. When it happens in the moment. It's like even though that might be not a client that you've been close to. But for me, it's happened a few times, unfortunately for my clients, of course, and every time I get like, Wow, just to attitude adjustment and reminder how important it is, and what I do for my clients, and then may not see you right now, it makes me oh my god, I'm putting 300 to $500 into an IUL. And, you know, I'm just spending money, not spending an investment in yourself and your future and all that but, but when those things happen, I'm like, Wow, I'm so grateful and blessed that I had that impact that I can make in people's lives. And you know, their future their children, their families, just recently actually one of my clients for a good number of years, when she's in her 40s and she had a heart attack. And now she's gonna have to take off quite a bit of time from work to recover and all that so I'm helping her, you know, with the paperwork and all that. And again, I just, of course, I'm sad for her. It's unfortunate what happened, but I'm, I'm feeling proud of that I was able to provide that peace of mind for her that she you know, her life is not going to be totally under stress because of financial burden.

Bridget Biermann 04:39

When Mark and I looked at this opportunity, he was all in right away. But it took me a little bit more coaxing and thank goodness I trust you and because the more I learned about it, I fell in love with it. Because I personally know the families I could have helped. And we said, Yes, this is something and when you think about it, too, it's like I think Like the Comcast bill, and I know this has got to kind of spin into a little different, but a Comcast lead bundle stuff. So you get better pricing, how many people go out and try and buy insurance and then a retirement account and then short term and long term. And before, you know, it is where it sound even affordable. Yeah, I like it that if you don't need it, if you don't need the living benefits, bingo, you have them, but you don't need them. So you're not throwing those premiums away, then it's just gonna look better for you in retirement. So it's a win, win, win whatever you need, whenever you need it, this policy is there for you.

Mark Biermann 05:31

We can touch so many people's lives. And that was really what our focus became then is how can we touch as many people as we could and put that type of business model.

Alan Guerra 05:43

I actually experienced personally, what it is to not be properly prepared. So right when I was in that time of transition, my mom got very sick. And before she passed away, she shared with me that she had seen a commercial on TV, and she had purchased a life insurance policy. Well, when she passed away, and she went to heaven, right there, you know, I have two brothers and myself, we were right there with the funeral director at the mortuary. And that changed the course of my life. Because, you know, as you know, the funeral director, one of the first things he asked was, "Did she have life insurance?" And we said, "of course," and he said, "bring me her policy." We had it, here it is, he reviewed it. And I'll never forget how he read it. And literally threw it across the table to me, and he told me, that paper is worthless. And I said, No, it this is her policy. She has been paying monthly, religiously her her premium. This is her life insurance policy. And I asked him, please read it again. And he read it one more time. And I noticed that he picked up my mom's death certificate, he read it. He said, I want you to pick it up. And I want for you to read it out loud, so that all of us in this room can hear you. And so I said, okay, and he said, Read the top heading, what does it say? And I read it. And it said accidental death, life insurance. And it's like a light went on was one of those aha moments. He said, This is what this is one of the unfortunate things that happens to many people elderly, they go out they see something on TV or something, they purchase one of these type of policies. That is an accidental death only type of policy, they don't cover very much I just finished reading her death certificate said that there was a natural death. So she has no life insurance. So you need to pay me $15,000 In the next 48 hours. So my brother and I looked at each other my personality said, Well, that's $5,000 apiece, we are short, with this money in the next 48 hours. And long story short, one of my brothers could not do it. So that whole experience of how could that this had happened, she had a policy, he was no good. That whole situation left such a bad taste in my mouth. I decided I want to learn I need to teach people how to avoid this. And it just so happened that everything just kind of fit together. And then as I began to inquire more into financial services and life insurance, and that was one of the key reasons that propelled me to go into financial services because honestly, for me, it was how can I earn a living, educating others, so they do not have to go to this horrific situations that me and my brothers just went through, especially when you think that there's already coverage and protection there. And what has happened since then is I have been in so many people's homes that have been in the very similar situation where I've asked them to bring me their life insurance policy, we have read it and they thought they'd had permanent or life insurance and it was only turn now I do my job of educating them. And most people just are shocked that they do not have the protection that they thought they had. And that has been one of the biggest discoveries while doing this is that most people that we speak with don't truly have what they think they have. That's where our aspect of not being salespeople have been educated. And we're able to say listen, let's read your policy together. I did not come to sell you anything. Let me help educate you elicit together read what you have. That of course opens up an opportunity for us to be able to do to educate them and and hopefully offer them something better. How I came into contact Once I made a decision and got licensed how I made my decision to come into affairs, during my searching there, I came across an ad, by whom now is my executive field chairman, Javier Rodriguez in Southern California, he had put out an ad looking for life agents and the ad that he put out in Hey, listen, would you like to work with police officers with teachers educated to protect their retirement and so on and so forth. So it caught my attention. It took me a few tries to get a hold of him. He's a very busy individual, but I finally got a hold of him. And a day before Thanksgiving, I'm in San Diego, Houston, Los Angeles, I drove all the way before then for Thanksgiving all the way to Los Angeles, and knocked on his door and sat down on his office, he shared with me the FFS story, the opportunity. And honestly, I have never looked back, I said, Man, this is an awesome opportunity to be able to help people in a certain way, by connected to a company that provides so much to agents.

Victoria Le 11:06

On the client side, I have to say, you know, for the last 12, almost 13 years been in this business, we've put together as a team over $2 billion in protection for the community. And of course, you know, through that 1213 years, I've had come across about 12 deaths claim. And because because of this business, because I'm able to sit down in front of that single mom, with a child of 16 year old, I was able to put together a half a million dollar production. And the story I want to share is that there's many stories, but the one that stuck out the most is that this lady she's single, she's has 16 years old. And when I sat down with her, she put a lot of money in her phone, Kay, and I told her look, you know, there's different ways for you to, you know, spend that same amount of money, but you can get like, half a million dollars to protect your daughter. And we did that. And then two years down the road, I got a phone call from from the young lady now turn 19. And she said, you know, Victoria, my mom passed away. And I mean, I can still remember that phone call. And I went silence and the first thing I came back, I said, You know what, don't worry about it. Your mom have put together something for you. I mean, I can still get emotional, remember remembering, advising this 19 years old, losing her mom, that's the only person she has left. And without this proper planning, she'll be out on the street. And so what she told me is that, you know, now I understand why my mom got this policy for me, because I know my aunt and uncle who will not allow me to stay in their home at 19, I would not know what to do without this money. And it's not only helping the mom to transfer this wealth to her young child, but for me at that time giving her advice, like an aunt, like immediate family, I said, Look, do not let anybody know that you have this policy, do not tell your friend that you have this half a million dollars coming, do not take phone call from financial advisor where she did, claiming that one of her, you know family found out and tell her to, you know, call this financial advisor where they guarantee she will double her money. And I said, Tell that person to put it in writing, put what under his letterhead logo and put it in writing. So these are things that happen day in and day out. And when things like that happen, it makes me even more convinced that I'm in this business for reason. Another situation that happened I met this gentleman this discount came in and he's 49 You know, he's he works at the casino dealing card making 38,000 and because he doesn't know, you know, he put $260 into his own K. And when I sat down with him, I say look, you're not paying tax, you're your families, your income is very low. Why would you put this money in your phone K when you know you're the only provider for your family, your your wife and two kids are relying on you. Why don't we take the same $260 Let's shift it let's put into a life insurance policy for you. I got him 250,000 I told him this money right here that you put in here. All you do is temporarily defer the tax that you're not paying to accumulate down the road. You have to pay for that. So he did that. November Thanksgiving 2017 He came in. I have redirected $260 into a policy December I delivered the policy for him 2017 January 2018 I got a full Call from him, saying that his doctor said he has lung cancer last stage and he has six months left to live. The first thing I told him is, don't worry. I got you a policy, that if something ever to happen to you, your family will be protected, at least with 250. Come along with that. I mean, it's like it was very tough going through the battle with the hospitals and long term care. He didn't touch this money even though he can. And I remember the last phone call he called me he said, Is my policy still good? I say yes, it is why blue said, because I have nothing to leave back on my family, except for the 250,000 that you advise me to shift my $260 over to me that night going home, it was hard hearing those phone call. But I know what I've done is good. And let me share with you like the journey of that little young lady, I was able to want his wife who does not speak English, to help her fill out the forms to help her to get it notarized. I pay for all the costs, I pay for the notarize I pay for everything just to let her know that she's in good hands. Because I feel like the husband, which is my customer, have whispered things to me, please help me take care of my wife. And still today, I can still see her. But I first met her she was only 48 with black hair. And by the time I delivered a chat to her, it's all great. And she told me the story, she keep on crying holding my hand. And she keeps telling me that I don't know what I would have lived because I shared the house with my husband's family. And as soon as he passed away, they kicked me out. And I was about at the temple or place to live because I have no place to live. And with this money, unable to continue on live. So I show her how to protect that money. And so to me, this is the reason why I don't say many things. But it's it's my mission is the reason why I will continue on to share and to to help people understand how valuable that $260 If you put it in the right place.

Youa Khang 17:29

I think one of my my favorite stories is, you know, it happened just a few years ago. Fortunately, with this client, I was able to talk to her about the financial education part as well. And so her mom had a life insurance policy. And about 334 years ago, her mom had passed away due to ovarian cancer. And with the death benefit proceeds after funeral expenses and final expenses for paid off, she still had a little bit of money. And you know, we met up and with that extra money that we had, she was able to use that money to fully fund for her retirement account using you know our Kaizen product. And so now in terms of retirement, I mean, she set, right, she said, and for me, like that's what I want, I want people to you know, I always tell my students or my clients, you know, like money, it doesn't bring back your loved ones. But if you know how to use it, right? I mean, it can help you mourn and it can help you ease that financial burden a lot. And if you do it right, I mean, you can you can set yourself up for a really good financial future. Right. So for her, I mean that that's the kind of stories that I look forward to. And it really reminds me like why we do what we do.

Sean Weaver 18:49

We have the client, who's actually a very good friend of mine, literally since grade school. And it was funny, she's like, Listen, I love you, but were you dealing with my money and this is all I have, right? And so she knows me, she knows I'm charismatic and she's like, Okay, I know you just trying to sell me or whatever. But you know, I brought Kim in. And you've heard Kim, she's really methodical in the way she does think she didn't come off threatening and all of that. And we did a major rollover with him. And after which she just thanked us both. She said, You know what, you guys are anointed to help people create financial security for them and their families. And for us. That meant the world to hear that come from my grade school friend that I've known over 40 years to give that testimony.

Polly Outhay 19:51

Now I can tell you when we first started this business, it was very intimidating because number one were women Brendon, in a very in a very competitive industry, which is financial services industry, it was intimidating. Number two is that you know, we never own our own business. So it was overwhelming. We didn't know where to begin. But thank God that we trust the first financial security training, massive training that the company is offering, and a few leaders that help us every step of the way. So what I will say to women, and anyone that is looking into owning their own business, and then becoming their own boss, we encourage them to take a look at our business model. Because our business model, what we're seeing is that all agents are essential, we make sure that we're holding their hands from the beginning to the end, they always are having someone there to help them every step of the way. Right. So I will say, what a great opportunity to build our own business, where the company has everything to offer to us to become successful.

Daniela Dubach 21:14

You know, sometimes we have our own ideas, oh, I came to this account without ever owner's limitation. And then when you get yourself out of the way, things just become. And, you know, I'm looking back at those 12 years, I am still excited and passionate about what I do. Every day, actually, I do a gratitude list every day, every day. I'm like, you know, I love what I do. And I do. That's been like a switch over the years.

Leyna Nguyen 21:43

I would not have changed a single thing, even the bad stuff, I would not changed a single thing. Because I'm a big believer in everything you do. Like everything that happens to you to good or bad. Like leads you to exactly where you are today. So if you're happy where you are today, than it was worth it right? And you wouldn't have gotten here, had you not done all the things that you did, I always feel fortunate because there are plenty of people who are talented and smart and good enough. And as they say that you know you you have to have some talent, but you also have to have some kind of the Fortune, the good fortune of running into an opportunity and then taking advantage of that opportunity. And I did that every opportunity that came my way.

Vicki Diep 22:35

I just love it. I just love the nature of the job. I mean, at first it was really scary. It was tiring. It was frustrating. But now I'm just so energized. Now I have this ammunition of knowledge that I will share with you if you allow me that opportunity. So now me it's more like reach I'm sure I'm okay with it. You know at the beginning was definitely very hard. I don't know anybody that would be okay with rejections. Right? But now I'm like, Okay, I got it. Maybe it's not the right timing. Maybe you're not in the right place at the moment. But I'm pretty sure a year from now we will talk again. So now I'm better equipped emotionally. Throughout this process, I definitely learned a lot about myself, I never knew I'm like, wow, you know, I can do this. It's all about your mindset. And just believing in yourself and not giving up and just motivating yourself. I'm just fortunate to have the team around me, we motivate one another. And we all go through the same struggle. And it's good that we can all relate to one another. But it's also important that you know, your capability, you know, and you motivate yourself. You just change that mindset and say you know what, it's okay. Every day is another day, and it's going to be better than the day before. And if it's not today, there's tomorrow if it's not tomorrow, it could be five years from now and it's okay. But most importantly, I have the heart and the compassion to really help people change the face of insurance. So that's always been my goal and just helping as many people as possible. Having that and being reminded of that gets me up like every single day just knowing that "Hey, today might be the day."

Jeff Lehman 24:10

It's always the right day to help people. And it's always the right time to show your gratitude. But Thanksgiving especially. So everyone have a happy holidays. We'll be taking a little break through December in January. But we'll be back going strong in February with new episodes of leading power grow. Thank you all for listening today. I hope you got a lot out of it. And you can hear a lot more stories like the ones you heard today by listening to old episodes of Wheaton power grow at first financial security.com/podcast or wherever you listen to your podcasts. So till next time. Thank you for listening