NAIFA Trustee, Wes Booker, LUTCF, loyal member since 2004 can be spotted all across SEC country when he is not serving his clients out of Maumalle, AR. Booker is an NCAA Football referee for the Southeastern Conference. Recently, he had the honor of serving as an official during the 12th Annual Congressional Football Game.

Swapan Munshi, LACP, is a principal with Council Financial & Insurance Services in San Francisco and a member of NAIFA California. Born in the United States to parents who immigrated from India, Munshi grew up watching his father develop and maintain a successful financial services practice by building great relationships with his clients. But Munshi’s father never tried to bring him into the business. Instead, he encouraged him to chart his own path. Munshi found his purpose and initial career helping people through difficult times as a mental health care professional working with individuals in Veterans Administration hospitals and the state prison system.

Leadership, confidence, adaptability, and integrity are traits possessed by veterans of U.S. military service and also skills that help insurance and financial professionals succeed in their careers. So, no one should be surprised that veterans very often make great agents and advisors.

Steven Saladino, LUTCF, a Managing Director with Principal Financial Group in Tampa, FL, is just one example. Steve was a sergeant in the United States Army and a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, serving from 1986-1990. He has been a loyal NAIFA member since 1991 and currently serves on NAIFA’s Board of Trustees.

Many prominent surveys have shown that most employees want a permanently hybrid work environment – or at least more flexible workplaces. This is a shift that has been coming for some time – the pandemic simply accelerated it.

For employees, hybrid workplaces combine in-person work and telecommuting. For organizations, this shift brings many questions about how to manage the new hybrid workplace. For many leaders, managing a distributed team of people engaging in various work modes – such as in-office, hybrid, remote and outside sales – is unfamiliar.

Shane Grau is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of families and small business owners in his community.

Grau got into insurance and financial services at a young age. He moved from Mayetta, KS to Topeka in his early 20s and worked in sales for a short time. However, after losing his father to a heart attack and helping his mother form her financial plan after a terminal illness diagnosis, he realized the need for better financial literacy in his community. He highlights the difference between his prior career in sales and his current work in financial services. “I knew that I wanted to work for myself, or at least companies that represent what’s in the best interest of people they’re helping,” he explains. “I wanted to be a resource for friends, family members, and community in helping them through the same type of process that I dealt with, with my own parents.”

From the 1980s through the early 2000s, many advisors and brokers dreamed of having more help with critical yet time-consuming tasks like proof of insurance and minor claims processing. We mused, “If only I had help with those tasks, I could spend more time focusing on high-touch customer service and sales.”

Today, digital innovations are streamlining much of the way carriers and their representatives conduct and generate business. These innovations are precisely the help we wished for.

So why do many in our industry resist digital advances like customer self-service and apps?

Meet Marti Mongiello, a professional chef whose career started with a “no.” Mongiello wanted to join the U.S. Air Force, and despite scoring on the top 95 percentile on the ASVAB, was denied due to an incident in his history. Mongiello ended up signing on with the U.S. Navy as a chef and his career took off from there. Now Mongiello is a successful chef, with career highlights that include military service, and being a chef for the President at the White House, entrepreneur, and business coach. He not only built success through his cooking but also developed other skills, such as learning six languages. Throughout his career, Mongiello developed multiple strategies for success, built through his successes and experiences.

Patricia (Trish) May is a third-generation NAIFA member and the Young Advisor Team (YAT) Chair for NAIFA-PA. May and her sister, Carina Hatfield, followed in the footsteps of their father and grandfather and now run Weigner Insurance.

As a child, May thought the world of insurance was boring. With her father in the office and her mother raising the children at home, on Take Your Child to Work Day, May chose to stay home and help her mother clean rather than spend time at her father’s office. However, May’s opinion changed in adulthood, as she realized the importance of insurance and financial planning. 

Congratulations to NAIFA member Andy Dalka for being hired by Union Bank & Trust as vice president – business development officer in its Retirement Plan Services department. This NAIFA-Nebraska board member’s success is due to his plethora of successful experience in the financial services industry, and his experience with leadership roles, such as being the regional vice president of Nationwide and Ameritas.

If you missed this year’s Advanced Practice Center Impact Week, don’t worry! We have everything you need to know on-demand. Check out our 10, one-hour sessions with industry experts, including: 

• Kathleen W. Bilderback on the effect of low-interest rates on acquisitions, third-party sales, management buy-outs, and family business succession 
• Stacey McMahan on comprehensive succession and exit planning 
• Scott McHenry and Andrew Rinn on the role of life insurance in a qualified retirement plan 
• Diane Boyle on NAIFA advocacy and topics of interest to NAIFA members 
• Howard Sharfman on ideas to grow your business at each stage of your career 
• Robert B. Wellendorf on life insurance in the business marketplace 
• Frank W. Seneco and R. Wesley Sierk on PPLIs and CICs 
• Steven J. Beatty on why business owners need life insurance 
• Daniel M. Zugell on trends and opportunities for the modern ESOP 
• Joel Solomon on the importance of consistency in your practice