In the end, it’s not what we do for ourselves in life, it’s what we do for others. But in the beginning it’s all about what you do for you.

For if you want to have more, you must become more. You can’t give what you don’t have, so you have to take care of you. The inside work, the effort you put into building you up, means you can lay a foundation to help other people.

You build, you give, you serve. In business, it’s the same. Build something meaningful, something to be proud of and something that serves those who need what you’ve created – and you’ve discovered success. Success leaves clues, those clues make for a great story.

Everyone has a story.

I am Mark Brodinsky and this is Storytelling for Business.

__________________________________________________________________________

Storytelling for Business: Mom and More

“In America in general, there are not a lot of single moms who have the opportunity I do. So many work two or three jobs to make ends meet, so this opportunity at USHEALTH Advisors is absolutely amazing.” – Nicole Reinhardt

It wasn’t the way Nicole thought life was going to go.

Nicole Reinhardt grew up in a very small town in Wisconsin. She watched her mother and father raise a great family, including Nicole and three siblings.

“My parents were wonderful parents,” says Nicole. ‘They were each other’s first loves and a very different model then how my life ended up. I never thought in a million years I’d be a single mother and dealing with the feelings of being alone. When it first happened I didn’t know if I could do it.”

But Nicole did it and continues to soldier on. She says she knows her career with USHEALTH Advisors, which began not long after her son Christian was born, is part of the reason she has been able to bounce back and to thrive. Since coming to USHA in April 2018, Nicole has produced more than $1,600,000 in annual sales and she has led her team, as a Field Training Agent, to produce over $2,300,000 for her Division in Colorado. All the while, learning to do much of it on her own, as a new mom.

“It’s because of my son that I ended up here at USHEALTH Advisors,” Nicole says. “I left my former career in medical device sales a few months after giving birth to Christian. It was a plunge and a total leap of faith, especially with a brand new baby to care for. I found out about the opportunity on LinkedIn, then went to the pitch delivered by USHA Division Leader, Harley Brown and I absolutely loved everything he had to say. I could hear his passion for the office, the team, this career, and I was blown away by it all. I knew this is what I wanted.”

But as is the case in life, you can’t always get what you want. Sometimes, in fact, many times, you have to wait for it. So in March of 2018, after hearing Harley’s description of the USHA opportunity Nicole went back home, to wait.

“I had a huge fear in my heart as to what might happen or what I would do if I didn’t get the offer,” recalls Nicole. “I went in for recruiting earlier that day and afterward they sat me down for an interview. I asked about a second interview and they said they would call me later that afternoon. I remember crying with happiness and so excited when I got the callback. Harley called me said he’d love to have me come on and I hung up in tears of joy, I wanted to start as soon as possible.”

“I was inspired so much by Harley’s humungous passion for the USHA opportunity. I could feel the passion coming from every fiber in his being as he talked about it. I loved how he talked about building the office from the ground up and how his family was relying on him to be successful. I related to all of that with my son because he was depending on me, just me. I knew I could be successful too. I was intrigued and challenged by it and wanted to be one of the success stories Harley would later talk about.”

Stories are how we define our lives and Nicole has been living one – of breaking from the norm, experiencing tremendous change, and fighting back against the obstacles along her path.

“I loved growing up in Wisconsin and the Midwest for a lot of reasons,” says Nicole. “How green it is there, the air quality, the smell of the plants, the beauty and the people, who are so nice, it was a great place to live. But I couldn’t stand the winters at all. The coldest winter in history in the Midwest ended up being my final year there. After that winter and that experience, I was ready to try something new. A living opportunity presented itself in Colorado, so I decided to make the move. I packed my car full of everything I owned and if it didn’t fit, I didn’t take it.”

“My parents were pretty supportive, though my mom was beside herself with her daughter moving so far away. But I always remember my dad saying no matter what I did or where I went, I’d be successful because I have the drive and the passion. My parents knew I wouldn’t last in that small town where I grew up for that exact reason, my drive and passion were just too big.”

One of Nicole’s biggest passions is health – physical and mental. She started off as a personal trainer in Wisconsin and continued helping others get into shape and eating right when she made the move to Colorado. Eventually, Nicole transitioned into selling medical devices but then went looking for a long- term career, partly because she wanted a change – and partly because a change had been thrust upon her.

That change was Christian.

Nicole says in 2017 she found out she was pregnant. It was unexpected – but something just as unexpected happened about halfway through her pregnancy – when the relationship that created Christian ended. Nicole was now facing the reality of being a single mom, a place she wasn’t prepared for, mentally or emotionally.

But those who face the toughest challenges, are those who come out on the other side, better and stronger than before. Though scared and alone, Nicole knew she would have to be tough. “I knew I would need to find my way as a single mom and excel at it,” says Nicole. ” I wanted to build a great life for my son, it’s how and why I ended up at USHA.”

Christian was already a few months old when in the spring of 2018, Nicole found USHEALTH Advisors. The challenge of being on her own with her son and the challenges of the new career had to be dealt with and dealt with head-on.

“I struggled at first to get some of my things in order,” says Nicole. “Mentally it was hard to have a commission-based position, but I was already a strong person, and being a mom made me even stronger in my dedication to being physically and emotionally present in all that I do. I worked from home at first and tried to watch Christian, prospect, and do presentations while he napped. There was really no other option until I could find babysitters and I decided I was going to make it happen no matter what.”

It was that same belief that Nicole’s dad says he always saw in his daughter, drive and passion.

Coming to USHA also meant some very important mentors entered Nicole’s life, those who had been where Nicole was, living the reality and immersed in the challenges of being a single mom. One of those women was Nicole’s Field Sales Leader, Giana Greenwood.

“I still remember how Giana was there for me,” Nicole says. “She is also a single mother and was separated when her child was young. Giana had been through this experience in life. I appreciated her advice. Giana inspired me so much and was a big part of how I got off the ground and running here. She was the single mom mentor I needed at the time and what she did for me I want to do for other people. It’s all about helping people become better in life and growing to levels of potential they never thought they could reach.”

Life gets easier and more fulfilling when you live the truth you desire to teach. The more obstacles you face and overcome the more lessons you learn, and in turn, can share with others. Your struggle is your gift the world will fall in love with. Nicole knows her struggle means she has more to give.

“Challenges and accomplishments go hand-in-hand,” says Nicole. “Adapting to my new life seemed incredibly challenging at first, emotionally, and mentally wrapping my head around all of it and getting to the right place in my mind. As I launched this career it took me several months to be who I wanted to be for my son, but some great leaders in my USHEALTH Advisors office were always there to help. It’s incredibly rewarding because new agents who come on and struggle, I see it, I feel it and I can help them because I lived it myself. I don’t really see things as challenging because of everything I went through before to get here.”

Nicole says her days are filled with work, caring for Christian, keeping up her health and fitness, and when she can, heading up into the mountains of Colorado.

“I love working out,” says Nicole. “It’s one of the first things I do when I’m by myself to keep my mind and body fit. I also absolutely love reading. There’s nothing like a good book and a glass of wine. I love to read, whether it’s self-help, books on nutrition, geography, history, or romance novels. I also enjoy getting out and into nature. I love the mountains and try to do weekend trips. The mountains have their own special beauty, going up there is just amazing. It’s a piece of heaven on earth. You see these gigantic mountains and they make you feel mighty in their presence and so small all at the same time.”

Time is a huge focus for Nicole, as she divides it between her two most important responsibilities in life, raising Christian and growing her business and her team at USHA.

“I get to work at about 8 am and make a lot of dials with my team,” she says. “I try and make the dials around my leadership responsibilities. I do a lot of one-on-one training and help my agents to understand the why behind each part of the policy, so they can sell with emotion and passion. I also teach them how customer service is so important, to be sure to tend to their clients’ needs not only to help them but also to encourage those same clients to refer others to your business. Training can take a few hours of the day, but I definitely try, no matter what I have going on, to hit 300-to-500 calls a day and keep up my personal production as well.”

“I have to leave the office no later than 6 pm to get Christian from daycare. Once I get home and get Christian settled many times I work from home, and work until 10:30 or 11 pm, doing presentations or other work. But I almost always work until six at the office and later on any days I don’t have him.”

Nicole’s role as an entrepreneur with USHEALTH Advisors and as the sole provider for her family have taught Nicole so much. Entering only her third decade in life, Nicole says her advice to others is to learn from all the experiences you are a part of. “One thing I would say is to don’t be afraid to take risks or pursue what is challenging. Do what you love and don’t be afraid of the challenge because the reward is there, you just have to work and have faith to see it. Don’t be afraid of what life has to offer, go out and go get it.”

Sounds like solid advice from someone who knows better – a mom.

Until next time, thanks for taking the time.

Your Storyteller,
Mark Brodinsky

Make USHEALTH Advisors your next career! Click and apply, (https://www.ushacareers.com/apply/)

Become part of The Billion. You can learn more about Mark Brodinsky and his #onebillion mission at, (http://markbrodinsky.life/)

 

 

 

Got a dream? Then get busy. Not busy dreaming more, but doing more.

The only way you can realize that dream, to see that thing you want so bad come to life is one thing and one thing only, you put in the work.

A business built from the ground up, the one that doesn’t just survive but thrives, is the one where the dreamer becomes the doer. The idea is the spark, the work is the fire. Build a business that serves millions and that fire becomes an inferno – the world will be attracted to that light.

That light is your story. Everyone has a story.

I am Mark Brodinsky and this is Storytelling for Business.

__________________________________________________________________________

Storytelling for Business: Culture

It’s been tested, demonstrated and proven time and time again through incredibly successful endeavors, that group culture is one of the most powerful forces on the planet. A collection of committed individuals focused on a common cause, who feel safe and secure and have each other’s backs is an unstoppable force.

For nearly four years now Brandon Cornett has felt that power and he’s busy putting what he’s experienced to good use, as a Field Sales Leader for USHEALTH Advisors. Brandon just surpassed $4 million in personal production and has issued more than $11 million as a team leader. Results matter, and while the numbers are important, for Brandon it’s focusing on the human component, the culture code that gets him going, especially because he’s experienced the exact opposite.

“I was always scared of no salary, commission only,” says Brandon. “I had a job at this marketing company, I worked there for three or four years and did well, made pretty good money, just under $100,000 a year. I got to the highest level I could and knew I couldn’t go any higher. The culture was horrible, I hated it. I was a paper pusher. I came in at nine and watched the clock until six. Leadership was awful. But I had a guaranteed paycheck every two weeks so I sucked it up, but it sucked. If I could write a letter to my 25-year-old self, (Brandon is now 33), I’d say take the leap of faith, who knows where I’d be today if I had done this eight years ago. I’d say take that leap, it will all be worth it.”

In work as in life, it’s about change. Whether it’s taking that jump into the unknown, making change happen, or somehow surviving the change that has been thrust upon you. For Brandon, change came early and at a time he least expected.

“I grew up in Coral Springs, Florida and played football in high school,” says Brandon. “I was a linebacker and I was pretty good. I got sent to Division-1 football camp when I was a freshman. I was doing well, but I didn’t end up playing my senior year, it just wasn’t a priority for me.”

No longer a priority, because at the tender age of 15, suddenly life no longer felt like a game.

“My mom picked me up from football practice every day,” says Brandon. “And then one day, she didn’t show up. Instead, I got a ride home from a friend. I got to my house and the phone rang – it was my grandma, she asked, ‘Is your dad home?’ “I told her he wasn’t and she just hung up. My dad showed up about thirty minutes later and I knew from the look in his eyes something had happened to my mom… and then he started crying.”

Brandon’s mom worked as a detective for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. Brandon says his mom had fought back and beaten lymphatic cancer but one day as she was leaving work she fainted, a stint puncturing the aorta in her heart – and she was gone.

.

Brandon was only 15, his brother only 10 when their mom passed and the loss took the heart out of Brandon’s desire to continue playing football much longer. “My grades went down too,” says Brandon. “My mom was the rock that kept me in check. My dad was very into sports as well and for him, it was sad too to see me stop playing. My younger brother continued to play, but I just didn’t care. In fact, with all of high school, I just didn’t care anymore. I graduated, but just barely.”

Brandon says he went to college for a short time, but that didn’t speak to him either, though it was in college that Brandon’s high school friend, Jaime Goldstein, introduced him to a kid named Garrett Laughlin.

After college, Garrett had joined the company where his own father was working, USHEALTH Advisors and he had started asking his friends to join him, including Brandon.

“Garrett had been asking me for years to come over and work for the company,” says Brandon. “But I was still afraid of working commission, without a salary. Then I got the job at the marketing company and worked there, unhappily for the most part, until I could see there was no room for growth. I quit my job on my birthday, called Garett and said I’m ready, let’s go. I contracted with the company and started the study course to get my health and life license.”

Brandon joined USHA in July 2016 and got lucky, he was trained right away by the man who is currently the number one personal producer in the history of USHEALTH Advisors, David Zalka.

“Because Garrett didn’t even have the office yet, Zalka came to my house to train me,” says Brandon. “He trained me for the month of August and Garrett got the office open in September. It was crazy how we all sat in the pit there and created a really cool culture. What we had during those early days was so awesome, because it was just us working hard and building. I want to create a culture like that again with my team in Boca. That’s what we’re trying to do now, is to mirror the early days of USHA when we only had about 20 people in our space and started to build this thing.

“I still remember being in the new office and after a few weeks I got my first big check, it was about $5,000 for the week. I had to sit down and stare at it and thought, ‘Oh my God, my life is about to change.’ It was a surreal feeling, especially realizing I had so much room to grow from there.”

Brandon says much of his inspiration, especially focusing on the culture, comes from the top, the CEO of USHEALTH Advisors, Troy McQuagge.

“Troy said something at a meeting that stayed with me,” says Brandon. “He talked about creating a destination for your people. In this business, we see our co-workers more than our families. So it goes beyond the finances, it goes beyond how much money we can make. It feels like home. I’m a huge culture guy, especially from my football days, one team all fired up and ready to fight. But the great culture here begins at the top. You have to believe it from the CEO all the way down and everyone has to buy-in. My wife Gemma heard Troy speak a few times and she immediately said he is genuinely just an amazing human being. He cares about absolutely everybody who walks in the door, whether you’ve been here four days or four-thousand days, you just want to be a part of that. I know I do.”

To taste success you’ve got to have the right recipe, Brandon knows the number one ingredient is hard work. Then it’s getting the right people in the door, dialing out on the floor and recruiting some more.

Rinse and repeat.

“My typical day is I try to get up by 5 am and get to the gym,” says Brandon. “I’m successful about half the time,” he laughs. “But I’m in the office at 7:30 am, music turned on. We hold a lotto every week to win tickets and money – and by 8 am we’re on the floor and we’re dialing, we’re working. About 1 pm to 2 pm everyone takes a lunch break or goes to the gym. Then we do a training session in the afternoon or help Satellite Leader, David Zalka, with recruiting. At 4 pm we’re back on the phones. I try to stay until about 8 pm, so it’s 8-to-8 each day. The last thing I want to do is leave in the late afternoon with my agents still in the office working. You’ve got to be that role model and be there for your guys and gals. My wife, Gemma, helps me out with thank you notes and other activities like recruiting.”

Brandon refers to Gemma as one of his greatest gifts. “I married a woman I absolutely love, she’s so beautiful,” he says. “It’s just a huge success. I don’t know why she loves me so much,” he laughs. “We met briefly years ago when I was bartending but didn’t start dating until about five years after that when we came back into each other’s lives. That girl is my rock. She keeps me in check more than you can ever imagine. The long days at the office are for a reason and she knows that. And our lives will change again soon, now that we have a kid on the way!”

IMG_7070

While bringing a new life into the world will be a big deal, Brandon and Gemma recently embarked on a mission to save lives. Gemma is from Freeport, Bahamas and last year after the Bahamas got hit hard by Hurricane Irma, the couple took two weeks, gathered supplies, food and donations and drove a boat over to the devastated island to help out the locals. Brandon describes it as one of the “proudest moments of my life.”

Life is about giving and serving and Brandon says he wants to make sure he can give as many people as possible the opportunity to live their dreams with the USHA opportunity.

“I want my friends and friends of friends to come in and make the change that will change their lives for the better,” he says. “I work with one of my friends, Geoffrey Weiser. He issues business every week and has a baby on the way as well. I have a childhood friend, a guy I knew since I was 10-years-old working five feet from me every day, working and growing with me. I mean the opportunity to earn a couple of hundred grand a year hear is a big deal, but the culture is a thousand times better.”

Building a great culture is like creating a family. Brandon can now look at his own family and realize while the loss of his mom was tough to take, the timing of it all left behind a small blessing. The family had been preparing to move to a new town, instead, they ended up staying right where they were – and in hindsight –  it changed Brandon’s life.

“Before my mom’s sudden passing we were planning to move to Wellington, about an hour north of Coral Springs,” Brandon remembers. “We had bought a big house. My dad manages hospitals in Miami and he was going to switch to a hospital in Wellington. The house was still under construction when my mom died. My dad decided to kind of bite the bullet and not make the move. I wouldn’t have met the friends I have today, or have the career I have today had we moved away. It’s the butterfly effect, it’s crazy how the world turns, I wouldn’t have the life I have now if I hadn’t met these guys.”

Through the pain of loss, a new beginning. Something Brandon’s mom left behind, an open door that Brandon could walk through and see his life change, though in that time of darkness it was hard to see the light. Now Brandon’s mission is to use that light to change the lives of other people with a method,, that transmits, amplifies and celebrates the purpose of an entire group. In other words, a great culture.

“I want to create the destination that Troy has always talked about,” says Brandon. “I want the Boca office to become the home to 50, 60, 70 agents. I want them to remember like I always do, with gratitude for what we built. It’s attitude, positivity and so much more. There are a hundred things I can rattle off… the atmosphere, the hope, the legacy. I want to be remembered for my attitude toward everyone I meet, to treat an agent on his first day, the same way I was treated… to build a culture that never dies.”

Until next time, thanks for taking the time.

Your Storyteller,
Mark Brodinsky

Make USHEALTH Advisors your next career! Click and apply, (https://www.ushacareers.com/apply/)

Become part of The Billion. You can learn more about Mark Brodinsky and his #onebillion mission at, (http://markbrodinsky.life/)

USHA-SM-2-0820

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s never a straight line. The path to success is up and down, it zigs, it zags and it runs off course… a lot. You win, you lose, you fall, you get back up and you grind it out every single day. There is no end, for you’ve never “made it” until your time on earth is over.

It all translates into your business as well. To build a business to be proud of the work never ends. It’s a living, breathing being, just as you are – a reflection of what you want to give to the world. The moments, the minutes, the hours, the weeks, the months, the years you spend building, and giving what you’ve built to help others is what defines your story.

Everyone has a story.

I am Mark Brodinsky and this is Storytelling for Business.

__________________________________________________________________________

Storytelling for Business: Success & Purpose

 

“Your gift is the source of your value. Your value determines how much you make in life. You get paid for the value you bring to the earth.”
– Dr. Myles Munroe

It’s an enlightening moment when you realize that your future does not lie in front of you, it is already inside you. Little by little Kaley Kallman is manifesting the future she already possesses – because even as a teenager, she knew she was built for more.

“I’ve worked hard since I was 15-years-old,” says Kaley. “I started as a hostess at a restaurant. I was really into earning money, not to just earn money, but for the reason of working toward being independent. Then I became a server and when I got older, eventually a bartender. But even though I was doing that and going to college for a general studies degree, I didn’t feel fulfilled, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. Then this guy came into the bar and he told me about an opportunity. He invited me to learn more. The rest is history.”

History is being read, but it’s also being written and Kaley is writing hers daily. She took advantage of that opportunity and now serves as a Satellite Division Sales Leader with USHEALTH Advisors. Still shy of her 27th birthday, Kaley has brought her work ethic and vision to USHA and in the span of fewer than five years has issued more than three-and-a-half million dollars in individual health sales and nearly 12-million-dollars as a team leader.

But while success leaves clues, it also never comes easy. Kaley started her career with the company in December of 2015, in an office near Orlando.

“I was in a tiny little office in Longwood, Florida,” Kaley remembers. “I was by far the youngest one in there with a few older guys, in fact, I think I was the only girl. I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to blow these guys out of the water… they don’t know what’s coming.’ “I was like a sponge, not just in that office but in our regional office as well. Every single Thursday, for the first two months I was at USHA, I would drive to Don Dente’s Regional office and spend the day. I learned so much from people like Cassidy Dente, she helped me so much early on, she was a role model and a huge influence on me.

I also spent time with Taylor Dente and Ron Leonard. Ron started around the same time I did and he hit the ground running – he was just able to do so much so fast and I learned a ton from him too.”

“I also reached out to some of the biggest producers across the country at USHA as well. I would just send them a message and say, ‘hey you don’t know me, I’m new and I really admire you. Do you mind if I pick your brain about how you’ve accomplished so much?’ “I was surprised by how many were receptive to helping me. They were because it’s just such a giving group of people all across the country. But it was still a tough going. There were weeks I didn’t know how I was going to pay my bills, but I told myself there was no way I was going back to the bar. So I battled it out the first few months and within six months’ time I got promoted to a leadership role as a Field Training Agent. I thought, ‘I just got the hang of this, now I have to teach it to others as well!'”

But challenges are what make us stronger as human beings, and in business, it’s only by accepting the next challenge that you can rise to the next level. The trick is to see how others have paved the road ahead of you. For Kaley, that has meant immersing herself in the lessons of leadership.

“I listen to podcasts every morning, motivational videos, read books on leadership, and then discuss them with other members of my team. I go to seminars and have bought the team tickets to attend as well.”

While molding herself into a leader presented a significant challenge, it still wasn’t as big as what she describes as the pivot point in her life… leaving Orlando.

“I grew up, lived my whole life in Orlando,” says Kaley. “But last year, right before the holidays, the regional leaders of the company met to discuss where they might expand offices in different areas of the country. To grow we have to expand and I knew with a number of offices in Florida, the only way for me to grow was to make a move. I didn’t love a lot of choices on the list they came up with, but one state stood out to me – North Carolina. I have no friends or family there, but it just spoke to me. I got on Google and started researching the most populated areas in the state and it mentioned the city of Charlotte. Charlotte is exploding right now, and the words associated with that city kept popping up, like start-up business, entrepreneur, and more. It seemed like these could be great people to attract to the team. I individually texted two people on my team about making a move from Orlando to Charlotte and they both got back to me with the same exact response, ‘if you want me, I’ll be there tomorrow.'”

Yet while all this was being discussed, Kaley was involved in a personal challenge, a goal she set for herself just a few months before and one which was taking up much of her focus at the moment – the goal of producing one-million-dollars in personal production for the year. The goal would make it a three-repeat for her and would qualify her again for the prestigious Council of Excellence Award. The challenge was that as of October 2019, less than three months to go before the end of the year, she was way behind.

“Back in October of last year I was super behind in my sales numbers,” says Kaley.” I was at about $500,000 in issued sales, but the leader’s meeting got me pumped up to finish strong. On the bus ride to one of our group outings, I sat next to Travis Yoder, our Executive VP of Sales, and we talked about still hitting the one-million-dollar mark for the year. He said if you make it I will personally fly down and congratulate you. I got to work and I did as much production in seven weeks as I’d done all year and I hit the goal! Travis honored his end of the deal and flew down to visit our office. It was really cool and he also gave me permission to become a Satellite Division Leader – and make the move to Charlotte.”

By February Kaley and her team had packed their bags and moved from Florida to North Carolina, with people like Matt and Kayla Galecki, Marina David, Javer Perez, and Collin Lewis-Solomon. The core crew was all ready to kick it off big in a brand new city. But someone unexpected and unwelcome also made the trip.

Her name was Corona.

“Here we are in this new city, ready to get it going in a big way,” says Kaley, “and we even had a beautiful office in mind, then the virus hit. It was a huge setback, everything was delayed, everything came to a stop. We just moved to this city, and now this – but we could look at it either as something we can’t overcome, or find the good things in what was happening, and that’s what we did. We said, ok this gives us time to reset, what do we want this culture to be, what kind of plan do we come up with, how do we get a new agent through the funnel and get them on the path to success even quicker than we did?  The philosophy worked – because it gave us the time to bond – to build our foundation of integrity and honesty. We made an agreement with each other that if there was an issue with any of us or any of our agents, that we deal with it directly, no going behind someone’s back, we’d confront the challenges head-on.”

The spread of the COVID-19 crisis is a defining moment in all of our lives, but it also served as a defining moment in the birth of the Kallman Satellite as well, because it brought about a fundamental focus for the team, as the leaders looked to form a singular purpose.

“The most impactful meeting we had was the one where we tried to decide what would be the one thing we could focus on that would make the biggest improvement moving forward. We knew we needed really good training, we wanted to build a great culture, we had to define our why. But we went back and forth and finally narrowed it down – that one thing was new agent conversion. Because all the things we were listing out really led to one thing – if we can get the new agent to see the vision and transition into our company and its culture, then we would be truly successful. We had our one thing and we felt really great about it.”

The time and space that the virus opened up in terms of strategy and planning also led to another gift… a brand new location, better than the one which Kaley had initially planned on using for her new Satellite.

“Because of Coronavirus a different office space opened up,” says Kaley. “And this blew the old space out of the water! It’s huge, four-thousand square feet, a lot of light and it worked perfectly. It’s funny how when adversity strikes, the way you think about it is what matters. If you focus on the positives it works out, if you focus on the negatives, then that’s also how it goes.”

There’s no doubt it was mindest that made it happen for Kaley when she went after the challenge of writing $500,000 in business to hit her $1 million goal – and making it happen with a little more than two months to go at the end of 2019. She faced a ton of challenges and adversity. And you don’t hit those numbers without a little help from your friends, or even a close relative. Out of that challenge came a new purpose for someone very close to Kaley, her mom.

“After I made that deal with Travis back in October, I said I’m gonna need some help and my mom was one of the first people I asked. I said, ‘mom you have nothing going on right now why don’t you help me set appointments?’ “I started teaching her how to work the dialer and to set up meetings and I realized she was really good at it. I could not have hit that goal without her. She booked me so tight most days with back-to-back appointments, I barely had time to pee in between!” laughs Kaley.

“Once open enrollment was over my mom wondered how much she could earn if she ended up getting her license and working for USHA herself! After I moved to North Carolina, my mom got her license and started writing business on her own. She blew through the milestone of issuing $100,000 in annual volume in her first thirteen weeks, in fact, she did it with three weeks to spare. The week after she hit the $100,000 goal she put up $83,000 in a single week! Recently, because of the Coronavirus, she’s been working from home, but she’s still doing great.”

Whether the new agent is her own mother, or someone else – Kaley says the team has a good system in place to get new people in the flow and on the road to success at USHEALTH Advisors.

“Once they are licensed we have the new agent come in for orientation and attend our Friday meeting in person. We sit down and lay out their goals for the next three years, where they are now and then talk about the action steps to achieve those. We don’t want to be babysitters, but instead to hold them accountable. If your goal is to earn $100,000 in your first year, this opportunity makes it possible, but in no way will it be easy… here is what it’s going to take.  We want them to ask questions, and to be our shadow. Once they can pitch to us, then they can pitch to the general public. Then it’s time to reach out to everyone they know who might need help.”

Kaley says after the training is over that’s really when the role of a leader begins because she knows there will be highs and lows.

“The goal is to be there for them when it gets challenging,” she says. “Sales is a rollercoaster, one minute you’re on top of the world and the next minute it all falls apart and it can be an emotional whirlwind. You celebrate your successes and know that the next low might be right around the corner, so if it comes, you know to keep on going.”

It’s been a true journey the past four-and-a-half years and Kaley says she wouldn’t trade it for the world. No one who lives for the challenge that life presents ever wants to trade it in, or to ever back down.

“My greatest achievement is where we are right now because I can see where it’s leading. This is what I’ve wanted to for so long and here we are at the doorstep. It is having our own office and building our culture and allowing our vision of what we believe this opportunity is and can be, to come to light the way we see it. I’m so humbled and feel so fortunate to have these people here, my team. We have three more coming from Orlando to join us and we’ve built such a tight-knit group. I’m really humbled that people would pick up their bags and move to a new state. To have the team trust me this much and sacrifice this much to fulfill the vision is amazing.”

“The thing I want the most is to help people to change their lives. They were at a certain point when they met me and they were able to turn their lives around and it is my and my team’s responsibility to help these people to achieve their own dreams. I want people to redefine their purpose and I want to help them every step of the way and then have them pay it forward to the next person who comes along. Many people who come here are missing something big in their lives, they are missing a purpose and this opportunity gives them a purpose. Success without purpose is not much of a life at all. But success with purpose changes people’s lives.”

Success, purpose, and a new life. Kaley Kallman is a living embodiment of the heart of USHEALTH Advisors.

HOPE lives.

Until next time, thanks for taking the time.

Your Storyteller,
Mark Brodinsky

Make USHEALTH Advisors your next career! Click and apply, (https://www.ushacareers.com/apply/)

Become part of The Billion. You can learn more about Mark Brodinsky and his #onebillion mission at, (http://markbrodinsky.life/)

USHA-SM-1-0820

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do stories matter?

Consider an excerpt from, The Culture Code, by Daniel Coyle:

“When we hear a fact, a few isolated areas of our brain light up, translating words and meanings. When we hear a story, however, our brain lights up like Las Vegas, tracing the chains of cause, effect, and meaning. Stories are not just stories; they are the best invention ever created for delivering mental models that drive behavior.”

Everyone has a story. Stories matter.

I am Mark Brodinsky and this is Storytelling for Business.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Storytelling for Business: Daddy’s Little Girl

What it all comes down to is Bri Atchison likes people.

She says it’s simply part of who she is, talking with people, helping people, keeping them positive and leading them down a path, teaching them to help themselves. Bri currently serves as a Satellite Division Sales Leader with USHA in St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Florida. She says it’s all about other people and says she comes to that mindset naturally, because of how much she learned from her dad.

“To be honest, a lot of what I do and what my life is about centers around my father,” says Bri. “My parents divorced when I was only one, and when I was with my dad he spent a lot of time working. He was a serial entrepreneur and at one time owned the largest jewelry store in Richmond, Virginia. My dad was my mentor in so much more than I realized. We would sit at night and watch tv and he would give me so much business knowledge. I realized later in my life he would make choices he was making with his business – and he would share them by talking them out loud with me. It helped me immensely.”

“The biggest thing I’ve taken away from him – it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I always focus on the customer service part of the business, always, and for me, that has been the most important thing. I tell my agents we are USHEALTH Advisors for a reason – we are advisors, not sales agents. When you are speaking with someone you have to help them figure out what their best position is – either with us or not with us. When you do that and you do it right, you gain somebody’s trust.”

It’s always been a matter of trust. Bri says especially when you can trust that things in life are happening exactly as they should. You can work and you can dream, but somewhere along the way, you’re going to have to have some faith.

“I am strong in my faith,” says Bri. “There are times I get overwhelmed and have to take a breath and trust that it’s going to happen the way it’s supposed to happen. I’ve always said that things happen for a reason. I truly believe that and my agents sometimes tell me how annoying it is,” laughs Bri. “But I tell them if you take a positive outlook then it’s going to happen that way eventually. When I was a Field Training Agent with USHA my agents reported directly to me and they would complain, ‘I dialed this many, and it’s not working, people are just broke.’ “I’d respond to them, ‘no, that’s not the reality and that’s not how this is going to go, go dial 50 more people and it will happen.'”

“Sometimes you have to speak it into existence. I had one agent who was always negative and I kept telling him, ‘no, it’s not going to go work like that.’ “When things didn’t go his way I’d shout across the work stations, ‘you’re going to be positive, keep going.’ It’s all about mindset.”

But even Bri has her moments. She says as much as she believes things will happen for a reason, sometimes even she questions how she’s going to find that reason.

“I don’t always love that message, because you may not know the reason, maybe ever,” says Bri. But she thinks about her father and his story and knows there is always a deeper meaning to life.

“When my dad was 18 he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. It was back in the ’80s and all they did was blast you with radiation and chemotherapy. It got so bad my dad got a tattoo on the back of his neck, a small dot that meant, ‘no more radiation.’ When he met my mom he was told they could never have children, but they had me and they were so elated. Fast forward to when my dad was about 50-years-old and was playing soccer. He loved soccer, but one day he couldn’t catch his breath. They ran a stress test and discovered he needed a five-way heart bypass and valve replacement. He was in ICU for 39 days. At the time I was in my senior year in college, but I came home to care for him. He was divorced and had no support system. I also needed to help care for my siblings, my half brother and sister were 15 and 17 at the time. My dad got better, but about a year later they found he had gastric cancer and he ended up passing away. He was only 51-years-old when he died.”

Everything happens for a reason.

Bri says while she hated losing her dad so young, she now realizes she might be living a very different life if everything didn’t unfold the way it did. “I wouldn’t have grown up so quickly,” says Bri. “My dad left it to me to make the decision about selling his business. I was 23 when he died, my siblings were now 18 and 16 and I still needed to be there for them. If he hadn’t passed I might also still be living in Richmond.”

Though Bri took so much of her father’s legacy with her, life changed. It wasn’t too long after her dad’s passing she met her future husband, Will. “Will actually went to dinner with me on the one-year anniversary of my dad’s passing,” says Bri. “We had only known each other for about two or three weeks. One of the things I truly wish Will got to do was meet my dad – he wishes that too. Not only because my dad was such a big influence on my life, but there are also so many times when we would love to have my dad’s business advice.”

Bri says it was her mom who taught her the mindset of being an overachiever as well. “My mom taught me what getting an “f” meant in school and an “f” meant you should probably run away from home,” Bri laughs. “I did well in school and graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in biology. Both Bri’s dad and mom thought she should go into the medical field to be a doctor pharmacist. But Bri says she knew that wasn’t for her, she knew she was meant for a different path. She was confident to go in a different direction.

For Bri, the road less traveled also brought her to Will. And meeting Will inspired Bri to do the one thing she had wanted to do before her dad’s passing, make a move down to Florida, the change that would lead her to the doorsteps of USHEALTH Advisors in Tampa.

“I had told Will I wanted to make that move,” says Bri, “and if he wanted to come with me, that was fine, and if he didn’t that was OK too. I didn’t know at the time he had bought a ring! We went down to St. Petersburg, Florida for a Valentine’s Day trip in 2015 and decided to move here.”

The move down south eventually led Bri to an interview in Jason Grief’s office. Jason is a Regional Sales Leader for USHEALTH Advisors in Tampa, Florida, but at the time was just getting his Satellite Division team off the ground. Neither Bri nor Jason can recall exactly how she found out about the USHA opportunity, but Bri says she does remember the day of her interview.

“I was in a car accident,” says Bri. “This guy rear-ended me on the way to the office. He got out of his car and had no shirt and no shoes on. I knew this was not a good situation, but when I looked at my car it didn’t look that bad. So I just told the guy, ‘look I gotta go, I’m gonna be late for my interview.'”

Bri let the guy off the hook and was only three minutes late for the interview. The USHA career presentation had already started when she got there, but Bri stuck around and finally got called in to see Jason for the interview.

“Jason was kind of trying to put me off because I was late,” laughs Bri. “But he looked at my resume and saw I had sold Cutco. He said he had done sales for Cutco as well, and once he saw that, he said, ‘alright, usually I ask a lot of questions, but since you sold Cutco, you’re in. When do you want to start?’ “I barely knew what we did. Jason said it was insurance sales and his other leaders would fill me in with answers to any questions. Now, Jason is like the big brother I never had. Jason’s dad was a businessman and also passed away at a young age as well. Though Jason and I butt heads sometimes, like any good brother and sister, it is he who I always look to for guidance. He’s constantly looking for ways to help me grow. Sometimes it might be 10:30 or 11 pm and I get a call. And there we are, Will and I just lay in bed talking to Jason on the phone. Where else can you go where other people are that invested in you? I appreciate it in a big way!”

Bri’s initial meeting with Jason and her follow up expectation interview with USHA proved to come at a fortuitous moment in Bri’s life, since she was about to suffer a health crisis she never saw coming.

“The day I had my expectation meeting I was also asked if I had health insurance? I did not, says Bri. “So I did an application that day and got approved for a policy.”

As it turned out, it was just in time. Three weeks later Bri woke up with ear pain, double vision, and ended up in the emergency room.  During a five-day hospital stay, the doctors did many tests, but nothing was conclusive. The doctors figured Bri was simply suffering from ocular migraines.

Unfortunately for Bri, this time the best medical guess was wrong.

“A week later I woke up with my ears ringing so bad I fell out of bed,” Bri remembers. “I was throwing up and ended up back in the emergency room. As it turned out the nerve in my ear canal was swollen for so long, it died. I was completely deaf in my left ear. I now wear a Cros hearing aid, a device to help me feel like I have sound in both ears. My health policy saved me. With all the medical trouble, I had bills north of $55,000. Because of the way our policies are structured my only out of pocket was $3,000. I was only 27 when this happened and I share this story with everyone, especially my clients.”

Bri says it wasn’t only the health policy she purchased through a USHEALTH Advisors agent that eased her stress, it was also the action of her sales leader that led her to know she made the right decision joining the company.

“The day after all this happened I was supposed to take the test for my health and life license, but obviously I couldn’t,” says Bri. “I had to reach out to Jason and tell him I had to postpone things. He and the leadership team immediately sent me a balloon bouquet and candy. I hadn’t even started working with them yet and they were already sending me gifts, telling me they understood and to get well.”

Everything happens for a reason. Lose part of your hearing and you might listen a little more closely. Lose a loved one too soon and you might gain some inner strength. Be the recipient of an unexpected gesture of kindness and you just might care a little deeper about others. For every action, there’s a reaction; a consequence for everything.

Since her initial setback, Bri has been moving steadily up the production charts. She’s issued more than $2-million in personal business and more than $9-million in team production at USHA. What I love about USHEALTH Advisors is its sales and I can make as much as I want, but it’s ethical sales, offering things that are helping people.”

Recently Bri and husband Will created their greatest personal production to date – their daughter Monroe – and for the Atchison’s it was another adventure.

 

“We had just opened up my Satellite office and Monroe was born, six-and-a-half weeks early,” says Bri. “I expected to have more prep time to get ready, for her and for the new office. Thankfully I have Will to help, he’s not only my husband but also my Field Sales Leader. He’s been with the company now for close to two years. It’s nice working with your spouse – though some days are difficult and some days are fantastic.”

“My schedule is different now because of having a five-month-old,” says Bri. “Will is my rock, here’s there at the office at 7:30 am and works until about 7:30 at night.  I get up and get Monroe ready and then my nanny comes and I head into work. My focus is to check on my agents, to make little touches with them. I have a notebook with me and ask them how things are going – how are the leads, how are the sales and how can I help? I then sit back down in the pit, I like to be with everybody and work on everything they need. My Field Training Agent, Josh Kisner, is also a huge help – he has a work ethic like no other and just hit $1 million in sales and he’s been here less than a year.”

“Recruiting, of course, is also a major focus. I have a whole system for doing my career listings and I’ve actually done recruiting training for a couple of different leaders.”

Bri relishes her role as a leader. “I like leadership so much,” says Bri. “The sales I can do, but that doesn’t energize me anymore. Now, what gets me going is showing an agent or someone in my life that they have potential. You can shoot for and hit any goal you choose. I want them to know how valuable and worthy they are. My role now is focused on more than just me – it’s my daughter, my husband, my agents, my friends. I want everyone to know they are capable of great things.”

Not long after Bri’s father passed on, it was she who got up to represent her family and speak at an event for the American Heart Association. She told the large gathering in attendance about her dad and his health struggles. She shared his story. She let them all know how heart surgery extended his life. “When he passed the doctors said my dad had the heart of an 80-year-old,” Bri told the crowd, “and he passed at (only age) 51.” Bri went on, “Unfortunately, his body was not able to survive the fight that his heart and soul wanted to continue.”

But everything happens for a reason. Her father’s heart and soul do live on, in the spirit of the daughter he helped create.

Bri will always be daddy’s little girl.

Until next time, thanks for taking the time.

Your Storyteller,
Mark Brodinsky

Make USHEALTH Advisors your next career! Click and apply, (https://www.ushacareers.com/apply/)

Become part of The Billion. You can learn more about Mark Brodinsky and his #onebillion mission at, (http://markbrodinsky.life/)

USHA-SM-25-0720