How I learned, that I… Can.
When I was offered the opportunity to become and life insurance salesman, in the spring of 2017, I laughed, little did I know what the future held…
In the spring of 2017 my Godfather and I were chatting in his home office about life, and what direction I should head. This is a big question and the main stumbling block for an 18 year old. He posed the question to me, what about becoming an insurance salesman for the Knights of Columbus… you’ll learn a lot, from marketing to sales you’ll learn it all, and that will help you to run your own business someday. What do you say?… Wait! Well, it wasn’t quite like that, but that’s the basic premise. Before we do this, I should start further back.
[Dad]…Good morning Silas…
[me]…What, I’m awake…
[Dad]…Come see what’s outside…
[Me]…WOW!!!… That’s awesome!
[Dad]…Yes son, that’s where our new house will be, it all starts with the foundation…
This was the exchange that my father and I had when I was 7 on the morning that the digging of the foundation for my parents current house was started. You see my dad was 1/4 owner of a business called Better Built Custom Homes and Cabinetry, and we had started to build our new house. We were building a new house because our current house was just too small for a 3 kids and likely more to come, this was always the plan it just took a bit longer than planned. The reason I started here was because at this time in my life I started to help my dad at his business a lot. You see, a year after that previous occurrence, my father became sole owner of the business and it became Better Built Custom Cabinetry. Over the next 10 years I would learn everything about my dad’s business and how to build the best cabinets in the world. As I got older instead of just knowing how to build the products, I started to take an interest in how the business could be grown so I constantly discussed possible ideas to expand the business, and how we could get more customers and produce more. So I have to say this was the beginning of it all. I wanted to own my own business!
This love of business has been a driving factor in my life ever since. Like a young buck I’ve been eager but lacked the knowledge to “make it happen”. God blessed me and put me in touch with many smart and successful business men who have taught me so much up to this point, and one of those people is my Godfather…which brings me back to the start of my story.
…No, I don’t think it’s for me. I just don’t know if I want to make that commitment right now. I guess I will keep it in mind for the future. That was my basic response to such a great opportunity. Six months later my Godfather got the job as regional manager of the Knights of Columbus and I just happened to be looking for some meaningful work that would teach me some skills, and pay well for the winter, because up to that point my main source of income was a summer job. Of course my Godfather offered me the same job he had been talking about that previous spring. After a lot of discussion and after passing the aptitude test, I agreed to do what it would take to make it happen. In just over a months time I had obtained my Insurance License and was starting to learn the ropes of the job. It was really hard. I had to sit at a kitchen table with clients and tell them how to invest their money, and that they needed life insurance. At first I barely knew how to write an application, and I was so nervous that I remember people saying how fast I talked, they could barely keep up, but despite all of these things, I had two things, (1) I was determined that I was going to be the best salesman this company has ever seen and that I was going to make at least $50,000 my first year, (which for those of you unfamiliar with the industry an average first year income is about $30,000) and (2) I had, and still have an outgoing personality willing to try anything. Despite the fact that I had never sold a thing in my life, I was going into one of the hardest sales industries out there. I wouldn’t be selling candy, I was selling an intangible product that they couldn’t even see. I would have to learn how to paint them a picture, and explain what the product was, how it worked, and at the end of the appointment, I had to ask them to put their faith in me and write out a Check to the Knights of Columbus. Talk about a tough gig.
As you might imagine my first three to four months were pretty slow, and I had a hard time getting the hang of it, but by the time I was 5 months into it, I was ready to rock. Despite my slow start, I was able to learn how to do things, and I started to make sales left and right. I almost always met my quotas and I even won an iPad through one of the incentive programs. It had got to the point where I wasn’t hoping I could make it, I was making it. Before I knew it the year was over and I was in the top 30 % of agents in the entire order (about 1350 agents at that time). What I didn’t realize till the beginning of the following year is that me, the youngest of my training class, ended up making the most money in 2018, with a finishing income of almost $70,000. I started this job a few months prior to my 19th birthday. I made $70,000 as a 19 year old without ever having gone to college.
WOW! How did I do that? Well it’s a hard question to answer. I would say that I was able to do it because my personality is very outgoing and I have a huge willingness to learn and absorb knowledge like nobody’s business. I would also say that I am a chronic optimist and if I wasn’t I wouldn’t have made it happen…well, even then I might have. All jokes aside, I believe that a firm resolution to do well, and a strong belief in myself helped to launch me into that success.
Looking back on this past year as and agent with the Knights of Columbus I would say what I like most about the job is that we are constantly challenging ourselves to be better; to tweak a small thing here, and a little bit there, all of which ultimately leads to higher production and more men and women helped. Another huge thing I see when I look back on my past year with the Knights of Columbus is a few extremely valuable lessons; lessons that I will never forget. First of all, I have learned that money doesn’t mean much, it is simply a way to keep score. As my current boss put it, the pile of money is like the trophy at the World Cup. What was important was winning, the trophy is just proof that you won, the trophy isn’t what matters to the players while they are playing. While they are playing they only care about getting that ball into the goal. The real reason I was able to make more sales, was because I eventually developed a passion to help as many people protect themselves and their families as possible, and that’s what clients see, they notice when you want to help them, and they want a person like you handling their finances. The second major lesson that I learned from this first year of experience is that, I can do anything I put my mind to. In my past I have had, and still do struggle with self doubts very often, but this accomplishment has made me realize that I am capable of greatness. Thirdly, I realized that I can train good habits in, meaning that I can become a great individual, full of qualities. Seeing that at first I was not very effective and objectively not very good at sales, and seeing that with repetition and practice I was able to become great is proof of that.
While I still work for the Knights of Columbus today, I never know what God has in store for me next. I never know when He will tell me it’s time for you to learn something new. I never know when He will throw me a curve ball and see how I will react. I know that God has another test for me in the near future…and I await it with excitement, while making sure I do the task at hand to the best of my abilities.
