NAIFA members who attended the association’s Performance + Purpose Conference in Orlando last week received some critical insights from top producers about what it takes to find success in the financial-services industry. Attendees left the conference with a renewed sense of optimism, fueled by inspirational stories that encouraged them to keep on moving toward the practice of their dreams.

During one of the General Sessions, NAFA member, Jamie Fleischner, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF, gave a brief preview of what attendees can expect from her Big Ideas Workshop, which was held later that afternoon. Fleischner talked about the power of tenacity and the need to stay the course through thick and thin.

Fleischner is president of Set for Life. She specializes in the disability income insurance marketplace and works with high income professionals in all 50 states. She started in the insurance industry in 1993 while a college student. She served as President of NAIFA-Denver from 2001-2002 – the youngest president in the association's history.

Fleischer grew up in an insurance household and learned a lot about the profession in high school and college. She decided to join the industry, attracted by the industry’s limitless potential. “I found it fascinating,” she said. Like many other young agents, however, her first few years in the business were not exactly a bed of roses. After a series of setbacks, she re-focused her energies on the business. One bright spot that helped her re-focus? The disability income insurance policy her mother had bought helped her go through a bad period in her life.

So, she decided to focus on disability income insurance and life insurance. In 1998, she attended a NAIFA meeting where she received a lot of inspiration and critical success insights for success. The following year, she decided to go on her own. She obtained her LUTCF designation, hired staff and has never looked back. Today, she is the owner of a thriving financial practice, which is 100 percent referral-based.

One of the secrets for her success is fairly straightforward: She learned how to deal with rejection. All along, she knew that the financial-services industry is highly rewarding both personally and professionally and she knew she had to stay the course. “This business has brought me lots of joy,” she told the audience, “and I wish all of you a premium life.”