Whether it is with clients or fellow agents, Vicki Tuua, LACP, is prone to heart-to-heart conversations. A State Farm agent in Salt Lake City, Tuua is a registered representative so she offers a full line of insurances including property & casualty, life, and health as well as financial services and retirement planning. This range of expertise affords Tuua the opportunity to serve the full client whether it be an individual or small business.

“I enjoy meeting with people in a holistic fashion," says Tuua. “That’s where being a life insurance agent comes in so handy. Having taken a great deal of coursework over the years, I can sit down with a client, their attorneys and their CPA and help them map out a course that really makes sense for them.”

“I am not just selling product,” she says, “I am well versed in what the products can do and can’t do for them, and my job is to have these simple conversations to find out who they are, where they are, what they’re trying to accomplish and to help them identify any potholes that might be in their current planning and show them options that are available to them.”

One of the ways Tuua exhibits her expertise is through credentials like NAIFA’s Life and Annuity Certified Professional (LACP) certification. When meeting with a client for the first time, Tuua makes it a point to talk about her education, training, and overall experience. “It’s part of my opening conversation,” she says. “Being credentialed as an LACP does make a huge difference.”

Tuua was one of the first to earn the LACP when it was introduced in 2017. “Kudos to NAIFA for starting this designation…. It makes sense to have our association be strong in helping educate and giving the credentialing to our agents so they can be much more of a force for good.”

Part of the career experience Tuua considers so important is her experience as a NAIFA member. She didn’t get into the industry thinking about the importance of being active in her industry association or active politically, but she has learned the importance of working with agents and advisors across Utah and the nation to be a unified voice protecting the industry and the people it serves. And she shares that NAIFA experience with her clients in those conversations. She wants them to know about everything she does to be the best agent she can be.

But the important conversations are not limited to clients. “Being active in my industry I come across other agents and people refer other agents to me to sit down and talk to, and, if they’re not in NAIFA, believe me, they get an earful from me,” she says. “I tell them, you’re in an industry and you may not know all the benefits of our industry and you may not be educated on all the things you should be doing and know about. So, I have heart-to-heart conversations with all of them.”

The next window for taking the LACP exam is July 2021. The registration deadline is June 1 (late registration with an additional fee is open until June 15).