Luis Lopez is a Development Manager at New York Life Insurance Company and a new NAIFA member.

Lopez first entered the financial services industry in 2015. He began his career as an agent in San Antonio, and two short years later, he was invited to become one of New York Life’s development managers in the Corpus Christi area. Lopez held a NAIFA membership for a short time while he was in San Antonio, and he recently rejoined with colleagues from his Corpus Christi office. He says, “I am in a role of coaching and advising other advisors, and I wanted to help connect others to our professional association. [When my colleagues from the Corpus Christi office] wanted to kick things off with NAIFA, I decided to rejoin. I’ve seen a lot of great momentum with NAIFA rallying around growing membership, the mission, passion, and purpose.”

Lopez first became interested in the financial services industry after witnessing his parents’ involvement with their financial advisor. He said, “When my parents were getting ready to retire, I found a financial planner to work with them. I watched their advisor take their hard-earned life savings and put them into a plan. I thought to myself, ‘I would really love to make an impact on others, and I believe that [working in financial services] is one of the greatest ways I can do that.’”

After a short conversation with Luis, it is clear that his ‘why,’ his desire to truly impact individuals’ lives, fuels what he does. Lopez says, “I truly believe that we can find our purpose in life by serving others. What makes this career great is that there comes a point where you get to serve others and see how your effort makes an impact. Sure, income is there, benefits are there—those things are great, but when it comes to our industry, and you witness eyes lighting up as individuals are taken to a position that they otherwise wouldn’t have been in, that changes you. You can wake up in the morning inspired to do your job because you are making an impact. Income goals and sales goals, those things don’t really inspire me. I want to know that I am moving the needle for my organization and my community.”

When asked what he most enjoys about his role in the industry, Lopez says, “I am passionate about educating and impacting individuals. I am a big believer in empowerment and providing empowerment through education. In my role as a development manager, I love getting to see the lightbulb turn on for many of my advisors and agents, especially when they begin seeing the fruits of their labor.”

Lopez is thrilled to once again be a part of NAIFA and says, “We all have the same passion and purpose: to provide financial peace of mind and bring education to our communities. So, if you can have like-minded individuals rallied around the same goal, well teamwork makes the dream work.” He also says that “gaining perspective from others makes a difference. Not just for networking, but because it’s easy to get tunnel vision if you don’t surround yourself with others from different backgrounds and experiences. The desire to gain perspective comes from having a growth mindset. I joined NAIFA because I was humble enough to know that I wouldn’t know everything in this industry. I want to gain the perspectives of those who have gone before me and those working around me.”

Welcome back to NAIFA, Luis! We are thrilled you're here.