Rith Nou, a proud NAIFA member since 2017, has seen the American Dream from both sides: as an immigrant who worked hard to find business success and as an advisor helping others achieve their financial goals.

In the current issue of InsuranceNewsNet magazine, Nou explains, "Our profession pays you well and also allows you to give back in a way that makes you feel aligned. It really has helped me achieve my American dream, but I’m not finished. This profession offers new inspiration and challenges every day."

When Priscilla King was an accounting student at Mississippi State University, her first job interview was with an insurance company, but that is not when she joined the industry. After finishing her bachelor’s degree, she pursued an MBA with an emphasis in accounting. While in school, she worked in sales at RadioShack and found she liked talking to people and was very successful in selling wants. When she graduated, she became a store manager. Then, while making a deposit one day in 1997, she ran into the man who eventually recruited her to Shelter Insurance Companies, where she has been ever since.

Nate Wyatt, CFP, always knew he loved numbers, but he also knew he wanted a career helping people. So, in his junior year in college, he switched his major from engineering to finance. He took an internship at a bank and started his career in insurance and financial services right out of college. 

An agent with Missouri Insurance Advisors, Ryan Mooneyham serves his community in Springfield, Missouri. 

Danny Mielneczek started his insurance and financial services career recruiting new advisors. After two years, he decided to pivot and became a financial representative with COUNTRY Financial.  

When Rodney Mogen, DBA, DFP, CRPC, AAMS, LACP, says he fell into a career in insurance and financial services, he means it literally. As a 7’2” college basketball player, Mogen was preparing for a career playing abroad when he injured his right leg coming down from a dunk. Not long after, he learned about the insurance and financial services industry at a career fair and began his career as a financial advisor. 

NAIFA-MT Past President Mike “Montana Mike” Paffhausen grew up in the insurance industry. His father had a long career as an insurance agent and agency manager and, when the time came to choose a career, Paffhausen chose to make a difference in his community by opening his own State Farm agency.

Iris Nance, LUTCF, got into the insurance and financial services industry because of a postcard.  In 1997, she was working as a Real Estate Finance Credit Analyst at a local bank after more than 10  years as a Bank Examiner with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).  While exploring other career opportunities that would allow quality time with her twin daughters, she received a postcard in the mail from Farmers Insurance, and the rest is history.

After 17 years of working with animals in pet shops, shelters, and zoos, Christian Kalinowski decided it was time for a change. He considered a sales career in a few different sectors before finally settling on insurance and financial services. He wanted to help educate people on a topic he didn’t learn much about growing up—personal finance. So, in 2021, he joined Dipaola Financial Group as a financial service professional.  

When Aaron Gose, WMCP®, FSCP®, started his career as an engineer, he could tell there was something missing. He loved problem-solving but found he was more curious about how projects were funded rather than how they were designed and built.