Why I Insurance

In his book, the Infinite Game, Simon Sinek speaks of the elements of an infinite mindset. In part, those elements include a just cause. I see my work in the insurance field as a just cause. A just cause includes the compelling why behind all of the what of business.

The insurance world is part of every part of life and without a healthy, active, growing, and changing insurance world, the rest of the world suffers.

Early in my insurance career, a family in my town came home one night to find their home on fire. The home, and everything in it, was a total loss. Years of memories were consumed in moments. It wasn’t just the pictures, but the living room where the family gathered, the chair where stories were read, and the kitchen where many a dinner was prepared. It was all lost.

And since the mortgage was paid off, they had recently canceled their homeowners’ insurance to save a little money. To be fair, it was a tough time in the economy and people’s budgets were tight. That’s one of those decisions that seemed like a good idea at the time but didn’t work out the way anyone thought.

With insurance, they would have had access to money. We all know that money doesn’t solve every problem, but it does let you pick up a few things that help life feel closer to normal. When you have nothing left, but a smoldering pile of rubble and a smoldering pile of questions, a little money to get a roof, a hot meal, and a change of underwear and socks is a big deal.

Like I mentioned, they didn’t have an insurance policy to provide any of that. What they had was trouble.

Why tell this story? Because I heard about this family at the insurance company where I worked. The team collected some money, some household goods, and some prayers for that little family and while it didn’t solve all of their problems, we did what we could.

I’m not in this business because of some lofty, world changing goal. I’m in this business because we are a business of people who want to help our neighbors to solve a simple problem. We answer one question: what am I going to do if…?

What am I going to do if my world gets turned upside down?

What am I going to do if I get sick?

What am I going to do if my car gets wrecked?

What am I going to do if my house burns up?

What am I going to do if my spouse suddenly passes away?

We provide a service that people look at as a nuisance when the bill comes due, but a blessing when the check cashes.

What’s the role that I get to play? I get to help people become experts. I’m not making anyone an expert. That’s not within my skill set. I simply take what I have learned, tell a story or two about it, and hopefully make it so that everyone can get it.

I don’t get to bring someone a check when they need it.

I don’t get to sit knee to knee with someone to help them get the insurance that they need.

I get to help the people that help other people.

That’s why I get out of bed and stand at a desk typing blogs, teaching classes, and having the time of my life.