In 1999, Panos Leledakis was in Greece studying to be a lawyer when he met a manager in the insurance business who convinced him to try financial advising part-time. After six months, he says, he fell in love with the profession and decided to make it his career.  

As a child, Jeff Brittain, CLF, LTCP, knew one thing: he didn’t want to work in insurance. His father is a State Farm agent and Brittain remembers helping him with filing on the weekends and vowing, “I will never be an insurance agent.” As it turns out, life has a sense of humor. After graduating college, he took a job with State Farm, and he’s stayed for the last 30 years. 

What does it take to be a winner? Who would know better than Advisor Today 4 Under 40 winners? 

A recent article at InsuranceNewsNet.com appropriately titled "Tips for Financial Advisors: What It Takes to Be a Winner" features Kathleen Owings, LACP, 4 Under 40 class of 2018, and Brian Haney, CLTC, CFS, CIS, CFBS, LACP, LUTCF, CAE, RF, class of 2017, discussing some of the things they did to achieve career success.

In 1979, Michael Gaeta, CLU®, LUTCF®, LACP, knew he needed to make a change. He had been managing restaurants since he was 16 years old but needed a career with more stability and a higher income. That's when he joined Prudential, starting with life insurance and eventually working his way up to financial advising. 

Jeremie Latremore, CIC, grew up in the insurance industry. His grandparents started an insurance agency in 1965 that his father and uncle went on to work for, but Jeremie didn’t plan on joining the family business until he realized in college, “insurance was in my blood.”

Aflac District Coordinator Terry Anderson's interest in the insurance industry started with a snowmobile accident that reinforced for him a fundamental truth about insurance—when people get hurt or sick, they still need money to pay the bills. Two years later, Anderson was talking with a customer in his store who was an Aflac agent. She told him that, when someone gets hurt or sick, Aflac pays the claim quickly and Anderson asked himself, “Why didn’t I know about this after my accident?” From that conversation, he decided to start his career in insurance.

Marc Kiner, CPA, is a co-founder of the National Social Security Advisor (NSSA^®) Certificate program and a new NAIFA member as of early March.

Over his three-decade career as a CPA, Kiner grew increasingly interested in the inner workings of Social Security benefits. In 2008, he bought three books on Social Security, read them cover to cover, and emerged with more questions than answers. So, he sought out an expert and was referred to Jim Blair, then the District Manager of the Piqua, OH, Social Security office. Blair worked for SSA for 35 years before retiring on December 31, 2010.

When Melissa Snively graduated from college, she began working as a national consultant for her University of Florida sorority. The job required long and strenuous hours, though, so she wanted to find a new opportunity. She had a friend who worked for State Farm who suggested she join the company. In 1994, she started as an underwriter, then became an agent before opening her own State Farm agency in 2001. 

Rith Nou always knew she wanted to make a career helping people. A Cambodian refugee, Nou learned English from volunteers who came to her school to read to her, and she used that knowledge to help her family and community communicate and navigate the American financial system. 

When Barbara Micheletti, MS, Gerontologist, became a business insurance advisor in 2006, she brought with her a unique skillset. She has a background in Gerontology and is well-versed in the challenges—both financial and emotional—that aging issues present to individuals and families.