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.

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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.

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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!”

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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/)

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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.

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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/)

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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.

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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/)

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We’re all here for a reason and at the end of the day, at the end of life, it’s not about what we try to take with us.

It’s about what we leave behind.

So why not give it all you’ve got – and then give all you’ve got to give. For, in the end – this is what the world needs, for you and I to become the very best version of ourselves – to live our miracle with pride and with grace.

The story you are about to read is just that type of story – and a fitting one to mark the 100th time I am writing a story for USHEALTH Advisors. I am honored, I am humbled and I am inspired by this opportunity to share the stories of so many people who are making their mark in this company and in the lives of other people.

Yes, HOPE lives.

I want to say a tremendous thank you to all those who have put their trust in me and put a piece of their lives in my hands and in my heart. My life and my story are better because you have entrusted me with yours.

Everyone has a story.

I am Mark Brodinsky and this is Storytelling for Business, #100 for USHA. 

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Storytelling for Business: Cup of Gold

“Did I leave a positive mark? Did I do something good for everyone around me?” – Jaime Goldstein

It’s a question we should all ask of ourselves, did we leave someone or some situation better than we found it? For Jaime Goldstein, this has always been his goal, leave a touch of gold wherever he goes.

“Overall in business, in my career, every place I have been I feel like I’ve left a pretty good mark,” says Jaime. “I could go back two jobs ago if I wanted to and be accepted because I feel like I’ve always been able to leave with a good name. It’s the same thing here at USHEALTH Advisors. If I were to leave in 20 years from now I want to look back and answer the question, did I leave a positive mark?”

Jaime says part of his desire to be more, to give more, comes from watching a very important person in his life – his father – who shared golden nuggets that still resonate with Jaime in all that he does.

“My father passed in 2012 and that was a big challenge in my life because he was a huge role model for me,” Jaime says. “He was a tennis pro and then moved into real estate and was very successful in that career as well. He was a great mentor for me because even as a kid I was included in his sales process. We had a side deal going that if he closed a sale, I would get some of the money put into an account for school. I was always a big cheerleader for him because when he came home happy after closing a deal, I was happy too!”

Childhood was a happy time for Jaime – his parents met in Mexico when Jamie’s mom, Suzanne, started taking tennis lessons from his dad, Alvin, and so for the first dozen years of his life, Jamie lived in Mexico. “Life in Mexico was fun,” says Jaime. “Sports are a huge thing for me, soccer, tennis and football. I had a lot of different friends and grew up living in Puerto Vallarta, right near the water.”

Jaime’s dad had a number of health issues develop and so to get his father more advanced medical care, and Jaime’s mother’s desire to get her son into some American schools, the family moved to Boca Raton, Florida.

After starting school in Florida, Jaime met another kid, Garrett Laughlin. Though he didn’t know it at the time, Garrett would eventually have a huge impact on Jaime’s life.

But first, there was college and a focus on business, graduating early with a double major in entrepreneurship and marketing at FAU. It wasn’t long before Jaime found himself doing the same thing his dad did best – working in sales. First, there was a job selling surveillance cameras, then it was time to go for the gold – Jaime got a job with an online-based company selling high-end luxury jewelry and watches. A job which led him from Boca to Palm Beach, selling $100,000 watches and diamonds to millionaires. It also eventually led him to an offer in Boston, to work at a retail location at one of the oldest jewelers in the US.

“It was a big jump for me to do face-to-face sales, and to leave Florida and go to Boston,” says Jaime. “But I’m always up for a challenge. If it doesn’t challenge me I won’t get to the next level. Moving to Boston was pretty scary, going to a job where I knew no one and didn’t know if I would do well, or fall flat on my face. It was a really tough thing for me, but within six months I was doing extremely well and was promoted to assistant manager and then manager of the store. I had the keys to a multi-million dollar facility, but I was also working 60-to-70 hours a week, in at 5 am and working until 11 pm, hosting clients at restaurants and other events. I was making six-figures and even my wife Lauren was doing very well working at a high-end hair salon. But we both knew this was not the life we would eventually want for our kids, plus the cost of living was so high, a nice place could run you a million dollars.”

Jaime had met Lauren back when the two were living in Boca and since she was from Boston, Lauren made the trip up north with Jaime. The couple wed in 2015, and it was just about a year later that Jamie’s high school friend, Garrett Laughlin came calling. Garrett was excited to tell his former high school buddy about this opportunity he had found and where Garrett was doing extremely well – a company called USHEALTH Advisors.

“Garrett called me and said, ‘look I’m opening up this office in Fort Lauderdale and we always talked about the insurance industry. The is the perfect opportunity, come back down and work with me.'” Jaime says Brandon Cornett, now a Field Sales Leader with USHA, and one of Jamie’s best friends, also spoke to him about what he described as an incredible opportunity. “But I couldn’t make the move just yet,” says Jaime. “When I contracted with USHA I was still in Boston – it was tough – I knew nothing about insurance or who our best client was –  or how to handle a rebuttal or anything. It was late 2016 and I wanted to make the move south, but when I told the jewelry store owners about my plan, they asked if I could please work a few days a week until the end of the year. So I did that and then I’d get on the phone to try and set up some insurance appointments for a few of my leaders to sell. But it wasn’t working. Probably the first 12-15 deals nothing closed. Again, I didn’t understand our core client or how to properly qualify an appointment. Plus, we were heading into open enrollment season for health coverage all across the country and the people that were trying to help me were just so busy with other agents and clients in their office.”

At that time it wasn’t going so well Jaime had doubts, as did his wife, Lauren. Jaime remembers, “Lauren said to me, ‘you haven’t done well and now we’re going to move back to Florida, with something you haven’t even made money with yet?’ “But I started to get some traction at the beginning of December. We spent Christmas with Lauren’s family in Boston, we headed out a few days later to drive down to Florida, got down there just before New Year’s and by January 2nd I was in Garrett’s office and ready to go.”

Ask any leader in the company and they will tell you the office makes the difference – the office makes it real – the office makes you successful. In life, in business, it’s always about other people. We are all social animals, we need other people to help us so we don’t just survive – we actually thrive. Jaime’s arrival in the office proved that point, the personal touch made all the difference, the best was about to come.

“The office was fun,” says Jaime. “There were about 30 or 40 of us there and Garrett was so excited for me to be there. He had already put my name on a desk right in front of Justin Brain and David Zalka, two of the best agents in the company. I worked a lot. Lauren and I had an apartment about three minutes down the road, which worked well because I was working long hours, from 8 am to about 9 or 10 pm each night. I scheduled my days to be able to go to the gym in the middle of the day then come back to work. I’m a schedule type of guy, it works for me. I still stick to that schedule now, even working in the office until 1 or 2 pm on Saturday and after dinner, on Sunday, I still do some work from home to set myself up for the week.”

Hard work, works. To date, Jaime has produced more than four-and-a-half million dollars in annual sales and is on his way to hitting the five-million-dollar mark in 2020. Since being promoted into a leadership position, Jaime’s teams have issued more than $13 million in annual volume. Jaime and the other leaders emphasize the office environment and focusing on the team as part of the winning proposition. They also say if you want to become part of the opportunity at USHA, get ready to work.

“I don’t sugarcoat it,” says Jaime. “I tell people this could be your last career – if you take it seriously. You have to put in the work and do what Garrett always told me to do, be your own CEO. Jeff Bezos worked in his garage for years before Amazon ruled the world. You’re gonna put in a lot of hours, but it will absolutely grow tenfold if you look at it as a career and not a job. I tell others my story and how tough this was for me in the beginning. But the time you put in compounds and so does the money. I always tell people who join my team to come to me with any questions. If they are having a tough time, if they’re struggling, I can motivate them in a face-to-face setting, get them to acknowledge what is bogging them down and what’s holding them back and then help turn them around.”

Life has done a 180-degree turn for Jaime as well since coming to USHA. He says this company has given him an opportunity that brings happiness and joy into his everyday existence.

“Mindset is everything with this company. There has not been a single day I come into the office and have not been happy to be here. There are no days where it’s like, ‘oh this day will just be tough.’ During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was tough, because we weren’t together in the office. It wasn’t easy working from home. I need people and people need me. I motivate them and they motivate me. Two weeks back in the office and we are already setting sales records again. And leading from the front is what it’s all about at USHEALTH Advisors.”

If you do it right, success in one area of life leads to abundance in other areas as well. If you realize it or not, the way you do one thing is the way you do everything. For Jaime and Lauren, the hard work has made it possible for Lauren to stay at home right now and rest up, as the couple prepares for the next big event in their lives due to arrive in mid-August – the birth of their first baby – a girl.

“I know things will change entirely for us in about two months,” says Jaime. “We’ll be caring for a brand new life. But like I said I always like challenges and I know it’s one of the biggest challenges in my life. It’s an unknown and I’m nervous as hell, but I know I’m going to love her so much. It’s almost not real. I’m a pretty passionate and emotional guy and I will probably be a wreck when it happens.”

But Jaime says he knows he’ll do for his baby daughter, exactly what he tries to do for anyone else. Jamie wants to leave a mark, wants to give and wants to make sure others can count on him. “I’m always here for anyone in any situation. I’ve always been that person – if someone is having a hard day or needs me at 2 am – I will try and be there for them. That’s what has made me so happy about the culture here at USHA and our mission of HOPE. I’m able to help clients get out of a situation that is not serving them and put them in a better place. And that same philosophy translates to my agents. It’s about getting people out of their own way. Putting themselves in front of themselves and seeing how good they could be. You have to have that caring mentality for people and if you give that to them, they will give back to you ten times over.”

Jaime also says he wants to not only give back but also get back something that is very meaningful to him – and to do it for himself and for his family. It’s a golden nugget that means so much to him he looks at it all the time online and is inspired to bring it back into his life.

“When I was younger, just about a year before we left Mexico, my parents built a three-story house on a mountain in Puerto Vallarta, overlooking the ocean,” says Jaime. “My goal is to earn enough here at USHA that in a few years I can buy back that house as a vacation place and bring my family there. I want to try and get that house back because the name of the house is the translation of our last name, Goldstein, in Spanish, Villa Copa De Oro – Cup Of Gold. That house belongs back in our name. It’s my goal to get us there.

You can bet that Jaime is ready to go for that gold, to leave a mark, to make his life all that it can be.

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/)

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