A 'Whole New World'
9/28/2021
This post originated from our 1000,000th FLMI celebration that took place in 2015. In honor of Life Insurance Awareness Month this year, we'd like to share this story with you.
It's simply a privilege to present this story.
At the age of 24 while sitting on the rickety cot in the battered women’s shelter with my infant daughter, I made her a promise. I promised to give her good life and I spent every breath making that promise happen. We eventually escaped the shelter and made a solid little life for ourselves. We got an apartment and I was offered a job at an insurance company with much needed health insurance benefits.
As a struggling, single mother, the words $100 bonus rang out as the trainer at my new company outlined the bonus structure for successfully passing LOMA exams. At first, my LOMA experience was simply a means to an end; grocery money, money for day care and occasionally a little something extra for ourselves. Each night, as I came home from work, my daughter and I had dinner, a little bit of together time, and as soon as she went to sleep, I hit the books.
Within three months of beginning my career, I had already accomplished the ACS designation and my supervisors began recognizing not only my determination, but also my budding industry knowledge. And what began as simply a way to make ends meet, led to opportunities. Within two years of my hire date in the insurance industry, I gained my FLMI, I was sponsored to begin taking my securities exams, and I was moved into a management role.
More so than the opportunities afforded to me by passing the LOMA exams, I gained incredibly valuable knowledge that helped me become a go to person for those around me. And that knowledge gave me the confidence to continue looking forward.
Now an 18 year veteran of the industry, I have held senior director level roles with two large brokerage houses and I have acted as a corporate liaison to numerous regulatory audits, arbitrations, regulatory inquiries and on the record testimonies. Most recently though, I was named as a partner, successor and Compliance Officer of a thriving, independent Midwest firm with rep/advisors nationwide.
Thank you for offering the FLMI program and thank you to the companies that provide this tremendous opportunity to their employees. This knowledge program does make a difference. For my daughter and I, it provided us a whole new world.
Paige S., FLMI, ACS
Have an FLMI story of your own? Email us with your thoughts, memories, and experiences, and we'll post them here.