They will

It's been 4 weeks now since I started the new job. The company, United Insurance, is not new at all. The area I am responsible for has been an established close knit community for several generations. Most of the existing customers have been clients with United Insurance for decades. 3 out of the 5 agents in my staff have been with the company for at least 10 years. One of the agents has been in the business almost 42 years and has retired 3 different times only to come back to work because sitting at home drove him crazy. So really when I think about it, the only new component is Me.

The company still isn't sure of what I will bring to the organization. After all, I am still learning their systems, products, and the areas I am responsible for. So they haven't seen me at my absolute best as a leader, a recruiter, a trainer, or a salesperson.
But they will...

The customers don't know me well enough yet to trust my guidance and suggestions as I try to assist them with additional opportunities to protect their families.
But they will...

The agents aren't really 100% into everything I say as I coach them and help them better organize their days and offer ideas on improving sales and their collections.
But they will...

I have been so entrenched in what this company is all about in the last four weeks. I see so many families that need our help. The areas my team serves are so under-penetrated mostly because no one has asked the right questions often enough.

Last week I was with one of my agents while he assisted a family with a death claim. The family will be receiving a check for $10K dollars. That may not seem like a lot to most of you, but to that family it was everything they needed. I am ready to do my part to make sure everyone knows what benefits we can provide for them and their families.

So this is just my way to commit and let all know what they may not know yet, They will.

that's the Brick Way...

ice cubes to eskimoes

Ice cubes to eskimoes notion destroyed

For years I have been saying I can sell anything. In fact, you have probably heard me say to you, "I could sell ice cubes to eskimoes." It took a harsh reality to prove to me that I am not that kind of salesperson. I know they are out there, but I am different.

I am not a salesperson as much as I am a liaison. I connect people to the product or service that I believe they need to fulfill some void they have before they met me. But for me to embrace the idea strong enough to create a compelling scenario for my customers, I too have to believe the need is real and necessary. 

This is why most of my 15 years in the auto industry was spent providing the customers with the means to own or lease their vehicles and not so much about the car or truck itself. I became a member of the Association of Finance & Insurance Professionals (AFIP) so I could be the best provider of the finance and insurance products with the highest ethical standard.

When I left that industry and decided to get into insurance, I needed to know the product was needed and the carrier truly cared about their customers. I was fortunate to find such a company and I did my part sharing their message to consumers for almost eight years. Then for about four years after that, I took that passion for  those products and services and shared its awesomeness with other agents, as I have already shared with you in a previous post. 

As I investigated various career path opportunities, I was certain I would find the answer in sales of some kind. Initially, I didn't consider the necessity of the what being important to me, but I know now that it matters more than even I was ready to admit. 

I accepted a position in advertising sales with an absolutely fantastic team that was already complete but in a growth phase. The leaders of the team certainly are experts in their field and exude the passion that my past two careers gave me. I wanted to view their products with the same passion so I spent many hours outside of work researching the sales process and the various ways that the products could be marketed. I believe, given enough time and activity, that I could do well in the multimedia sales industry, but I may never really know because I had to leave.

I want to digress momentarily to thank those leaders, (hopefully reading this) for giving me the opportunity to learn their business model and more importantly for welcoming me into their fold. I hope we continue to grow our friendship. I will never look at an advertisement in print or online the same way again.

My decision to leave was because I was offered a position with an insurance company to manage a small team of agents  and develop them, as well as, recruit for future expansion. The product will help low to mid-income families. The adreneline rush I got when the hiring manager made me the offer reminded me why I thrived in the insurance industry to begin with. It wasn't the sale that excited me as much as the overwhelming joy I felt when I knew the customer was better off  from what I was able to provide.

To bring this full circle, I need to help people. Since I am without a degree in social science, medicine, or any degree for that matter, insurance is the medium that seems to fulfill that need. This was exponential when I was helping customers  process a claim or when I would finish a training session and several of the attendees would express their gratitude with a simple thank you. 

that's the Brick Way... 

Closing a Chapter 11 Years Long

Yesterday I peeled the parking permit off of my windshield that my car proudly displayed for four years. I also removed the front license plate with the company logo that I have had on the car since the day I bought it in 2008.

It all started in November 2000 when I happened to meet an extremely energetic and bubbly lady at a job fair in Hartford, Connecticut. Trecia was very informative and I immediately knew that I would do whatever was necessary to impress her so I could join the company she represented. I was working for a prominent car dealer at the time so my study time to get up and running was slower than I would have liked. By February 2001, I was ready to take my tests needed so I could get my Connecticut licenses in Life and Accident/Health insurance. On March 31, 2001 my Associate Agreement was official and I was a legitimate agent representing a Fortune 200 company. My departure from the car dealer was bittersweet, but the company became my first client because the employees, all of which knew and respected who I was and what I hoped to accomplish, needed the products and services this Fortune 200 could provide. After that account under my belt, there was virtually no business that I would not approach. These products were so necessary to the employees and their families that I made it a personal mission to enlighten all that I could. 

My mission drove me into management early with the company. In 2002 my team swept all the honors in our state and we were ranked in the Top 10 in almost every category in the Northeast Territory. We continued to thrive as we exceeded our team goals in 2003 and 2004. In addition to my district management responsibilities, 2003 was also the year I started training agents, both new and veteran, in specific company services and technology. This additional responsibility would later serve as my basis for what would eventually bring me to Columbus, Georgia.

In 2005 I took a promotion to manage the northeast region of Connecticut which forced me to reconsider climbing the ladder I originally had planned on in 2001. My role removed me from the excitement of working side-by-side with new agents in the field and I had to give up my extra responsibility of training statewide. By the middle of 2006 I decided to step down and go back to being an agent in the field. I focused on my original mission of enlightening the Connecticut residents of the programs our company could provide for them and their families.

I was content with what I was doing and continued to stay in the top tier of my peers. At the start of 2007 I was called upon to take over a district team because the existing manager was dealing with some personal health issues and she did not want her team dismantled. I agreed. Unfortunately, this team really never gelled or aligned with the goals or plans that I felt we needed to succeed. 

Around this same time my children moved to Virginia. This meant I no longer had to stay in Connecticut if I wanted to branch out. I had heard about a team that worked out of Columbus, Georgia that was made up of field personnel of varying tenure that had the mission of training and certifying agents and managers throughout the country. I knew this was what I needed to do next. I told my regional and state managers about my plan and they both supported my decision and helped me while I persued and waited for the letter of intent to hire from our corporate headquarters.

I started as a Trainer III in late August 2008 and remained until July 2012 when my job was eliminated during a restructuring of the division and our department. In just shy of four years, I made some lifelong friendships, visited most of the country, and lived in a capacity that I am proud to say left a positive indellible mark on many agents, managers, and employees. The most invaluable lesson for me was everything I learned about relationships, leadership, friendship, and being part of a team.

I can only hope that my next chapter will be half as meaningful to those I interact with and that I will continue to develop my character and leadership qualities.

that's the Brick Way...

Birthday Experience

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today started with the perfect cup of coffee and a snack bite of a breakfast sandwich. Shortly after,  I took a quick shower and got dressed. My brother called and I got to talk to my niece and hear all the wonderful things she wants to do when I bring my kids to visit. Of course I couldn't tell her it wouldn't be real soon, unfortunately.

Then Laura and I went to pick up Alyssa at her friend Libby's. The two of them baked me a cake. Very thoughtful and I would soon realize it to be delicious too!

The four of us went to meet Donna (Laura's mom), Lacey and J.D.for a Sunday Brunch. The meal was good, the company was better. They all gave me nice cards and gifts. All things that were on my Wish List, so naturally I love them all!

After brunch, we all came back to the house for cake and singing...

Just before the singing and cutting the cake, my sister called. She recently moved back to the Bay area and was getting ready to spend the day with her mom. It was nice to catch up a little.

The remainder of the afternoon I took advantage of doing nothing. I  enjoyed the comfort of my recliner and reading a lot of Facebook posts. I was also reminded how many people I know that also were born on this day at varying times before and after me.

As the day seemed to be winding down, Laura reminded me that we hadn't decided on dinner plans and she had another idea she wanted to run by me. 

Sure, twist my arm, force me to go eat, and let's really torture me and make it sushi!!!!!

We each ordered a roll and then we ordered the Special Roll on the whiteboard. It is called the New York Strip Roll. This roll has an incredible array of flavors, favoring on the spicy side. The perfect meal for a birthday dinner.

While I was enjoying dinner with Laura, my kids called. This was what I needed to complete the "Birthday Experience." 

Now I am back home watching the race from my recliner.

  that's the Brick Way...

Extra for a day

The day starts at 5:00 AM. Fill out some paperwork and sign-in. Wait for your group or name to be called to the set. Have some coffee, sorry no cream available, and a danish and wait.

Then the announcement comes...

"Drivers, go get your cars from the employee lot and meet in front of the holding area. Keep your hazard lights on while you maneuver through the detours and you will be directed into the staging area for your scene."

There are five of us in the first group and we all go get our cars and pull into the area as directed. We are directed by several different people as our vehicles are positioned to represent a traffic jam. After this maneuvering, which takes about an hour, we are asked to leave our keys in the visor and head back to the holding area until we are called on again.

"Drivers, head back up to set and wait by your vehicle for the directors to give you additional instructions"

I notice, as do all of us, that our vehicles have all been moved. I am in the front left of a two lane road and there is a an extremely expensive piece of camera equipment mounted on a large golf cart kind of thing right in front of me. There are cars and trucks next to and behind me. And a police motorcycle in front of the car on my right.

A lot of focusing on each vehicle and driver and our expressions is discussed as we all prepare for our moment on camera. Then we are sent back to holding. We are offered water and coffee and there are still remnants of the breakfast foods on the table when we get back to holding area.

Around 8:00 AM, we are summoned back to set. After about two hours of prepping and maneuvering the cars and the camera so everything is perfect, the directors tell us, "Remember, you are frustrated because you can't see the cause of the traffic delay in front of you." Frustrated looks come easy as the sun is beating down on us and our cars that have not been running are very hot inside.

At one point, a traffic cop on a motorcycle has to swiftly pass between two rows of frustrated drivers as we wait to see what is causing the delay. At the same time we are inching slowly forward, maybe two or three feet total, and then we reset. We do this so many times I honestly have no idea how many but I know it was a lot and it took a few hours before the directors agreed to move to next scene. This time instead of the holding area we are brought to base camp, and immediately instructed by a different set of directors to look like we are curious spectators trying to see the production in front of us. Not long after this, we are instructed to go back to the holding area.

Now it's 11:00 AM. "Where are my drivers?, I need all of you to head back to the set, you are now going to be pedestrians." So we are ushered back to the set and are positioned in various spots around a closed set and asked to walk from one side to the other repeatedly in different patterns and timing. We are known as background and every time we hear that word it is our cue to start our movements. Every time we here cut and reset we start over. And I did this until lunch break was announced at 1:30 PM.

Lunch

They serve a full buffet with pasta, vegetables, and salad, and plenty of bottled water.

After lunch, we are rushed back to the set. Our cars are once again in a completely different configuration. Only this time they are facing the other direction. Instead of being used as the focus for the scene, we are the background of a much bigger scene with one of the lead actors which involves dialogue in the vehicle. You know the scene; two or more people in a vehicle that appears to be moving, in this case though, their vehicle was moving and we were all stationary. 

We sat in our cars for close to three hours while the scene took shape. After the directors are satisfied, we are told to leave the keys and we can head over to the base camp area where they are offering all kinds of snacks and fluids to help us prevent heat exhaustion, which unfortunately some of the other extras did suffer from. I was one of the smarter ones because I had been drinking water throughout the day. They served Popsicles, bottled water, Gatorade, and orange slices. There were also several chips and crackers for us.

The remainder of the day was fairly uneventful except that I was able to watch a few other key scenes take shape that involved the lead actors.

Of course this whole experience was amazing and it lasted 15 1/2 hours. If you are wondering why the pictures show nothing specific, it is because we were not allowed to take pictures. I am simply showing you the where so when you see the show on TV, you will know where I was.

Lastly, I should note that all this was possible because Laura convinced me to drive the night before. We took a carload and stayed at a hotel that was so close to the set that we were able to walk back and forth.

  that's the Brick Way...

Testing

Testing a new editor...

If this works, I will be able to update the blog more regularly. I am using an editor I found for the iPad. It has been a while since I posted, mainly because I am not in front of my desktop very much.

I have a lot to catch you up on and in the coming weeks I will do my best to do just that.

In the mean time, let's see if this editor will satisfy my needs.

Just a quick photo add to see what happens...

I will post and review to see what this looks like.

  that's the Brick Way...

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! Like many of you out there, my dad is not a short road trip, email or phone call away. I am left with the greatest memories and pictures. I speak to him often and I know he is listening. I encourage all of you to honor, love, and respect your dad always. And for those guys out there that are as lucky as I am with children of your own, let them know how proud you are to be their dad often, even if you can't be there with them as much as you would like to.

Love and Light to all!

That's the Brick Way...

Healthcare reform explained?!

Check this out! Kaiser has found a way to explain Healthcare Reform so the average person will understand.
I liked it so much I am sharing it with you. Enjoy!

that's The Brick Way...

So many places I have hung my hats...

Today, I was remembering a conversation that took place last Saturday with a few friends. I started listing in my head the multitude of addresses I have had and the numerous states they were in.

Forty-five years ago, it all started on Warren Ave in Chelmsford, MA. A few years later, my parents split and my mom and I moved to Royal Crest Dr in Nashua, NH. My dad goes back to his parents on Gage Rd in Cochituate, MA. This would be an address years later that I would call home a few times over the years. Time passes and Dad and his second wife (my stepmother Joan) move to Royal Crest Dr in Marlboro, MA. Shortly after, they have a baby (my brother Jeff) and they move again to Pierce St in Hudson, MA. Around the same time, my mom and I move to Lake Shore Drive in Lake Park, FL.
Up until that move to Florida, I was sharing residence with my mom and my dad on a weekly basis. This changed everything...
Weekly visits turned into summer vacations and winter breaks. The first of which was at my Dad's new house on Sycamore St in Hudson, NH. By this time Dad brought another child into the world ( my sister Suzanne). After that summer vacation, I returned to Florida, but this time it was to South Ocean Blvd in South Palm Beach. All of which happened before I was 12 years old.

My teens were just as mobile as my adolescence. Mom and I moved to 72nd Diagonal in Boca Raton, FL and the next time I would see my dad and his family I would have to go to Westridge Dr in Plano, TX. I actually stayed this time and went to school for a year before going to stay with Mom again who had already moved yet again. That residence was in Friendship Heights Center in Chevy Chase, MD. The following year I went back to Plano and the next summer when I went back to my mom's, she was already settled in our new place on Monroe St in Rockville, MD. Dad and his family stayed in Plano for several years. My mom remarried and we stayed in Rockville for almost 2 years. As my teens turned into attaining legal age, my dad and family moved to Cherrywood Dr in Reno, NV and my mom and family moved to University Blvd in Silver Spring, MD.

I am at this point, about nineteen. I hang my hat at and I spend a short stint back on Gage Rd in Cochituate, MA, then on Old Conn Path in Maynard,MA, then Hartford Ave in Framingham, MA followed by less than a year on Harding Ln in Natick, MA.

From Natick, I join the US Army and I am in Ft Dix, NJ for Basic Training and Ft Sill, OK for Advanced Training before heading to my duty station in Ft Belvoir, VA.

After the Army, I stay in the area. I was on Rockville Pike in Rockville, MD with my then girlfriend and then when that wasn't working anymore I moved to Hamlet Ct in Gaithersburg, MD. There was another place I lived for about six months in Germantown, MD but I can't remember the name of the street.

I moved back to my grandfather's on Gage Rd in Cochituate, MA for a short time, before joining my dad and his family in Reno, NV. After a short stay with the family, I ventured out and rented an apartment on Smithridge Ct in Reno and from there I moved into a place on Virginia Ave in Reno. After that I headed back to the east coast and found myself temporarily back on Gage Rd in Cochituate, MA.

I am well into my 20's at this point and I rent a house with a few other guys on Linden Ave in Malden, MA. A couple of years pass and I move-in with the girl I was dating on Spitbrook Rd in Nashua, NH.

After we break-up, I rent a room on Spalding Rd in Nashua, NH. I meet my future ex-wife and we move-in on Hollis St in Nashua, NH. When we realize we are expecting a baby girl (my daughter Rachel), we move to Essex Ave in Gloucester, MA. Right before my 30th birthday, the three of us move to Colony Rd in Rocky Hill, CT so we can be closer to my in-laws. A few more years and a baby boy (my son Matthew) and we buy a house on Cumberland Ave in Wethersfield, CT. Eventually the marriage ends and I move to Silas Deane Hwy, in Wethersfield, CT and then to Highland Ave in Vernon, CT.  The next move is to a house on Wilcoxson Ave in Stratford, CT.

Just when I thought I was ready to settle down, I found myself moving again...this time to Georgia!
My first two years were spent living in a place on West Britt David Rd in Columbus. Currently, I am on Terrace Pointe Dr in Columbus, GA.

So, by my count, I have had 37 different addresses (only counting Gage Rd once) in 12 states. How many states have you lived in?

that's the Brick Way...

First Quarter 2012 Gone?!

It is hard to believe that today is April 3rd. What happened to the first quarter? I blinked and I swear it vanished. I don't remember a quarter that went any faster as this last one.

Why? Was I so busy that each day blended into the next? I was no busier than I have been any other first quarter, so that cannot be the answer.

And on the subject of time, I find it rather interesting that I am still reading the biography of Steve Jobs, a book I find fascinating, and I have read a couple of other good, but not as riveting, books at the same time. Its like I don't want the Steve Jobs story to end.

Back to first quarter 2012; what happened so far this year, you ask? Our department at work saw changes in personnel and an alignment change from Sales to Marketing. And the Marketing Division itself is under  a realignment which has a few months more to go before the dust settles. I started teaching in virtual classrooms which has cut down on my travel considerably. There goes my chance at Platinum Medallion with Delta this year. It is nice to sleep in my own bed a bit more regularly though.  Ah the balance of life...

A lot of work got accomplished first quarter and we had a little fun along the way too. Here are my two favorite events of the first quarter...

We had the STC Conference in Atlanta. I was able to spend time with all my friends from the field. It was awesome and culminated with a great gathering of a few of our alumni at The Market in Columbus before they all had to scatter across the country to their homes or just their next events

Then there was this past team building event we did last Friday at Dinner Divas. An awesome experience preparing an entire meal for all of us to eat while requiring us to create it as a team. I learned a few new things just watching my peers. It was an awesome day!

We definitely were fortunate to have a few chefs with us. 

 Of course some of us were goofing off, but we did manage to put together a winning meal! Even those not-so-chef-like types like me contributed to the success of the day. 

 Winning Entree goes to....

Food Force Development led by Chef Jeff

Equally impressive; Chef Eliot and his team made a great meal too!

So as I look back at everything that took place; I understand now why first quarter 2012 is gone.

That's The Brick Way...