Unlocking the Power of Medicare for Financial Advisors With Amanda Brewton

Amanda Brewton is a seasoned Medicare expert with over 17 years in the industry. Opening her agency five years ago, she now oversees approximately 500 agents across 40 states and hosts two national conferences designed to empower and educate professionals in her field. Amanda is passionate about advocacy for seniors, ensuring they don't have to choose between essential needs due to Medicare complexities. Her innovative approach involves using themed training to enhance engagement and creating supportive communities for independent insurance agents.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[03:47] Amanda Brewton shares her inspiration that led her to become an industry leader
[08:51] The powerful personal experiences that fueled Amanda's passion for educating others on Medicare
[13:57] Why financial advisors in all sectors need to understand Medicare's role in financial security
[18:30] How NAIFA members and the larger agent community can contribute to Medicare advocacy
[30:42] Amanda's unique approach to training agents through themed educational events
[42:03] Advice for budding financial advisors in the Medicare space

In this episode…

As financial advisors, it's essential to stay informed about the upcoming Medicare changes that will impact millions of people across all industries. Advisors' engagement and advocacy in this space are pivotal for positively influencing the policies governing this vital healthcare coverage. So, how can they make a meaningful impact in shaping the future of Medicare for the better?

Amanda Brewton, an expert in the Medicare industry, shares her dynamic approach to navigating and impacting the healthcare insurance world. She unravels industry complexities and sheds light on the profound changes set to take place by 2025, emphasizing the importance of financial advisors diversifying their understanding of Medicare, regardless of specialty. Amanda advocates for agents' involvement in policy discussions and highlights how they can use their voices constructively. Through her personal anecdotes and professional journey, she illustrates the power of expert knowledge and thematic education in transforming client experiences and building industry communities.

In this episode of Advisor Today, co-hosts Chris Gandy and Suzanne Carawan sit down with Amanda Brewton, a seasoned Medicare expert, to talk about making a difference in the Medicare landscape. Amanda shares her inspiration that led her to become an industry leader, why financial advisors in all sectors need to understand Medicare's role in financial security, and how NAIFA members and the larger agent community can contribute to Medicare advocacy.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

"You have the power to affect change."
"We're not all bad actors; many of us advocate with the client's best interest in mind."
"Insurance is boring as hell, but you have to know how to make it engaging."
"The stereotype of seniors choosing between medicine and food is real and I'm here to change that."
"If I'm asking you to advocate, I have to show you how to do it, and I have to lead the way."

Action Steps:

Educate yourself on upcoming Medicare changes: Staying updated on the Inflation Reduction Act and other Medicare modifications is crucial to advising clients effectively.
Share stories of positive impacts: Highlighting the benefits you've provided to clients can help shape positive policies and perceptions.
Connect with mentors and build a robust network: Networking with seasoned mentors is key to navigating industry complexities and expanding professional relationships.
Engage in advocacy efforts and policy discussions: Contributing to legislative advocacy is essential to bettering the Medicare landscape for clients.
Foster collaboration with other industry specialists: Creating synergistic partnerships with professionals ensures holistic client service, addressing the multifaceted nature of financial planning.

Sponsor for this episode...

This episode is brought to you by the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, or NAIFA, the #1 association for producers in financial services.

At NAIFA, we enhance professional skills, promote ethical conduct, and advocate for legislative and regulatory environments.

By joining NAIFA, you gain access to a partnership that elevates your performance while providing greater purpose to your professional work. NAIFA members are happier, make more money, and stay in the business longer.

Get in touch with NAIFA and learn more about how to join NAIFA by visiting NAIFA.org.

Episode Transcript

Intro 0:02

Welcome to NAIFA's Advisor Today podcast series where we focus on how financial advisors work, live, and give to their local communities and our greater financial services industry. Now let's get started with the show.

Chris Gandy 0:20

Hi everyone. Welcome to Advisor Today's podcast where we talk about the things that are happening in our industry and give the voice back to the advisor. I'm here with my wonderful co-host, Suzanne Carawan, hey, Suzanne, how are you?

Suzanne Carawan 0:34

I'm doing great, Chris, as always. Good to see you.

Chris Gandy 0:36

It is wonderful to see you. We're on the cusp of APEX, and so we're super excited to have our guest, but before we get to our guest today, can you share with us a little bit about who might be a sponsor for today's program?

Suzanne Carawan 0:50

Well, today's sponsor is, in fact, Apex, so we're in just wow, if you can believe it, just a week, little over a week, we will all be congregating at the beautiful, iconic Arizona, Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona, there's still time to register. I believe our hotel block is gone, but you can still join us at apex.naifa.org and we can certainly find a space for you to be out there. We're looking forward to celebrating and meeting some amazing members, like the one that we're featuring today.

Chris Gandy 1:19

All right, with that being said, we look forward to seeing you all at Apex. If we don't see you at Apex, then perhaps next year we see you at NLC. But if you can somehow make it to Apex, we'd love to see you there. We got a wonderful lineup of individuals who, industry leaders. We have a wonderful lineup of leadership opportunities. And with that being said, Suzanne, would you introduce our guests?

Suzanne Carawan 1:44

I would be delighted to. So today's guest is Amanda Brewton. Amanda is a new-ish member, but I think she's taken no time to get up to speed. Amanda will be at Apex, which is one of the reasons we wanted to slot her in today. And she is a really critical new member to us, because she is an absolute expert in Medicare, and there's so much going on in that space, we wanted to really focus in on it today and introduce NAIFA nation, Amanda Brewton, and make sure that she's going to have her dance card full when we get to Apex, with everyone wanting to be down the door to meet her and talk about what we're doing and the work that NAIFA is doing in this area. So Amanda, welcome.

Amanda Brewton 2:25

Hi. Thank you for having me. I am totally looking forward to it and exploring the organization a little bit more, meeting a bunch of friendly faces, some that I've heard of, some that are new and Medicare is my world, so it's a lot of fun. Actually, that picture that is right there is the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer when Medicare came out. It's an original from 1966 it's got all the copays and everything in it back at that time. And it's one of my nerdy pieces that I have.

Chris Gandy 3:03

Wow, a historian.

Amanda Brewton 3:05

Yeah, yeah, it was gifted to me by an agent when I first opened up my agency five years ago. And it's one of my favorite pieces outside of some of the other things that are in the background that you guys see, so.

Chris Gandy 3:22

Awesome. All right? Amanda, so welcome to today. Welcome to Advisor Today's podcast. So Suzanne said you're new-ish, right, but you're not new to the industry. Share with us a little bit about your story. How long have you been in the industry? What brought you together with the NAIFA collaboration. And then why the specialty? What made you consider Medicare as a specialty?

Amanda Brewton 3:47

So I fell into Medicare. I was doing PNC, working with progressive in their call centers in Mayfield, Ohio, and hated every minute of it candidly. And I would work four times overnight and then go volunteer at the museums. And in my late 20s, when you have no money and you want to go to ritzy parties, you volunteer. And one of the ladies that was at an event said, hey, you know what, you should check out this company called Aetna. And I really loved working with them when I used to work and I had no idea who Aetna was, no clue. And I applied for a job. And they were just coming into the Medicare space at that time, the med advantage space at that time, which was 2007 and the hiring manager called me and said, hey, you know what, I think you'd be better working with brokers than you are as an agent. So let me send you this, and it was all the things that I love to do and all the things that I'm good at, the teaching, the entertaining, the business-to-business course, correlation and everything. And you said you work really hard for six months and you'll have a career.

Well, I fell in love with it. And fast forward 14 years. I did six years at Aetna. I did another. Just under six years. I did another. Just under six years with Anthem. I was the Ohio regional sales manager for Anthem, for all of the brokers at one point were working with me, and my love of teaching and educating agents happened through Anthem. So I got sick, and that's why I left Anthem, which I was really, really upset about. But I started my agency about four years, five years ago, and I am an FMO, I have about 500 agents underneath us. We sell in about 40 states. And I have two national conferences that I host, one which is called Medicare Margaritas, which is two hour, it's six two-hour deep dives. It's held in Orange Beach, Alabama, and that conference is in its third year. And then I have Ms. Medicare, which is the one that most people know me for, which is going into its fifth year. It is 350 ladies from almost 40 states. It has a Facebook group as well, and that is women role models, showing other women the different possibilities within the industry and how to grow.

And we talk about all sorts of things, but it is themed out to take on Miss Congeniality, the movie. So it's beauty pageant-themed. So the first day, it's really kind of fun, because you see 400 people in tuxedos and ball gowns and Tiaras, and they're all there to learn. And it's such a cool environment. There's no ego, it's a safe space to learn. There's no recruiting, there's no selling of any kind, and up until this upcoming year, was free, so we raised the money by the carriers to give this as a gift and a learning experience to the agents. But I've been in the industry for about 17 years now, and I love what I do, and along the way, I found my niche in the compliance and the advocacy side of it, with showing agents that they have the power to affect change. They have the power to, these rules aren't happening to them. So I take all of the things that I hear, I've been blessed to have provide feedback to Senator Wyden, Senator Warren, Senator Sherrod Brown, to try to affect various policy as well as CMS and that really is where my latest passion is, is showing our industry the ability that we have to help so many beneficiaries and to affect change.

Chris Gandy 3:49

Interesting journey, right? And you never start. You never know where you're going to end up, and what's going to lead you down that path. Share with us a little bit about like, your background. Are you an only child? You have siblings? Like, where does the passion and desire and the purpose come from? Because it doesn't just start like, it didn't start somewhere, and it's just because of Medicare, it was probably inside of you somewhere. And like, yeah, I kind of grew up with her so. So share with us a little bit about your story.

Amanda Brewton 8:51

My great-grandmother passed away when she was 94 she was off the boat, German. She came over 1921, she was such a huge part of my life growing up, and then her daughter, my grandmother, she grew up as a stereotypical 1950s housewife, and when her husband died, she sat there in a room with her three children and their three. Each of us have three kids. And as a grown elderly woman, she had to say, I don't know how to balance her checkbook. I don't know what insurance is. And through tears, she says, he was supposed to take care of me until the day I died. I don't know how to do this. And when that happened, I had just started an insurance specifically in the Medicare side of it. And I sat down with her to teach her about how Medicare worked and how Social Security worked. And all of the things, and you never expect it to affect your own family.

But the stereotype of seniors saying, I have to choose between medicine and food is a very real thing, and when that actually was spoken out of my grandmother's mouth, it hit home to where it was like, okay, you know what, we need to do some work here. So as I started teaching, there were a couple of things that through my tenure with Aetna and I used to do 60 to 70 in-person classes throughout the first six months of every year, I would promote getting involved in professional organizations, so raising awareness for NAIFA and NABIP and get involved somehow. I used to teach CE for the local chapters for NAIFA, because we had a whole portfolio of those to be able to teach. But then I was also able to use, people learn by analogy and story. So I would use my family as the story.

My mother, my grandmother and my father are all different generations, and how does Medicare affect each one. How do they look and view Medicare and the benefits around it? What are their concerns? What are their needs? And all three of them have very, very unique needs. So to break that down and to show that it's not all about, it's not cookie cutter. Everything is different depending on the person that you're working with. And the more that I found that I use them as the stories, as I educated the agents, the more that the comprehension was there. And I found that light that goes on, whether it's a beneficiary that I'm working with, or a large group of seniors at an employer, or whether it's agents, that is what motivates me, and now I have the ability, and have had the pleasure, of helping millions of people throughout my career with all of that, and to me, that's my why is that the more that I can help where they don't have to choose between their doctors or between their medicine and their food, the more that I succeed, because I know that their daily life is better because of the education that I've provided the agents, and through the agents to them, it's a gift.

Chris Gandy 12:45

So, it's interesting — it's just truly, truly interesting that I'm not sure why it took us forever to find you, but that's okay. We found you now. So, share with us for those who are wise, but perhaps incompetent as it deals with Medicare. Okay, I'm going to ask you a question, and this is for part of who's not willing to come up to you and say something, share with us why we need to care about what's going on with Medicare. Like, share with us like, if I'm in the RIA space, I know it exists. I know it's important. But why should I care? Right? If I'm in the life insurance business, I understand the importance of it. I know it exists. Why should I care? So share with us, for those who don't know the world of Medicare, why this is such an important part of financial security and why it's such an important part for people to be aware, even if they don't sell Medicare, they need to be aware of what's happening with Medicare because of the changes.

Amanda Brewton 13:57

So the inflation Reduction Act of 2022 went ahead and it is implementing for 2025 a significant change regarding prescription drug coverage, and that will affect every single Medicare beneficiary that is out there, whether they are actively working, whether they are retired, whether they're on group coverage, whether they're on any other kind of coverage that they have, it's going to affect each and every one of them. So that, in itself, is huge. The loss of people's medications and how those medications are being covered is significantly changing this year that will do a couple of things. You have some people that are going to qualify, that there's 20 million beneficiaries out there that qualify for extra help, which helps provide lower cost medications that they don't even know it.

They haven't even applied. And you need to know that, hey, this is a service that you can bring to your beneficiary if they say, I'm having trouble paying for X, Y and Z. On the other side of it, you have those that can afford their meds, and they don't qualify for extra help, but then they're having concerns about how things are covered. You have a 2000 max out-of-pocket that's going to happen for 2025 and then all of their meds are going to be covered at 100%. That in itself, and the price change of standalone part DS is going to change. The formularies are going to change as to what is covered and how meds are covered is going to change. You have a lot of different things from a budgetary perspective, not to mention the fact that they're rolling out a prescription payment plan option as well.

So there's lots of moving pieces that are happening specific for 2025 right now in the Medicare space, and even if you are referring and you don't do Medicare and you dabble in Medicare Supplements occasionally, and you send everything to medicare.gov you need to be aware of all of these concerns, because it directly is a question that your beneficiary or your client is going to come to you and go, what do I do? Where should I go? Something's changing, what's happening. And there's people like me that can guide you with that.

Chris Gandy 16:36

I think regardless of the business we're in we all have parents, and if we just think about the basics, we have parents, we have siblings, we have grandparents, we have uncles and aunts and those people, even if we're not technically, we're not in the business, we still need to be aware of What's going on, so then we can identify those things and introduce them to people like yourself or your agents who can help them, because we do want the best work every and everybody. This is a call for action for everybody out there listening to NAIFA nation, you have parents, you have grandparents, you've got other family members that this is impacting, regardless of your line of business, it's our responsibility to educate the public and to empower them to make decisions and now to get involved, because there are changes.

So let's talk about the changes. Because before we started recording, you mentioned that there are some things that agents, advisors, all of us, need to get involved with as a continuity and voice. Can you share with us some of those things? Because we don't like the idea of and there are no circumstances as we're playing the game, right? We're playing the Medicare game, we're playing the insurance game, and they change the rules after the game, after the buzzer has already gone off. So there's people on claim, people that are beneficiaries right now, and unfortunately, the game's already been played, and they're subject to whatever happens next. So one is, what are the changes, clearly, that are going on right, that people need to wake up and pay attention to, specifically our NAIFA contingencies. B, how do they get involved so that they can make an impact?

Amanda Brewton 18:30

So loaded question, and thank you. So there's multiple things that are changing, as I had mentioned with the change in the design of Part D for 2025 what is happening is that you have, as I mentioned, you have an increase in the price of standalone Part D plans. You have a shift regarding formularies. You have carriers that are exiting the market and products that are exiting the market come 2025. You also have it where several of the carriers have said we're not going to pay you to help seniors with their choices on how this works if you want to enroll them in our plans. There are a couple of carriers that are doing that. One is setting a precedent in that they are not paying new business or renewals. Another one is paying renewal only and nothing for new business. And a third one is paying one plan non-commissionable, another plan that is going to be a small commission, and the third one at full commission.

And why is this important? Because one of the very things that CMS Center for Medicare Medicaid services, who oversees the regulations and the rules regarding med Advantage and Part D plans, has. Said, as well as Congress, is that they do not want any steering when it comes to how someone is guided, with the bet, with the plan choices that they are presented. And when you are changing commissions, and you are doing this, you are setting that up for failure, because there are always going to be bad actors. And the whole issue with the bad actors is a whole other discussion, because the system regarding enforcement is completely broken. But when you look at how agent how seniors are going to get their information, how they're going to get their questions answered. And keep in mind there is no OEP for part D, which means that a beneficiary, all 67 million of them, have 54 days.

That's it, 54 days to become aware of the changes that they have, to find somebody to answer the questions or to review what their options are, and then to get enrolled. After that 54 days, they're done, unless they qualify for a special enrollment period. So the whole reason that CMS is trying to put rules and regulations into place is to protect the senior, and the very thing that they are creating is causing a problem for the senior that will be to their detriment, and that in itself, is what we as agents need to hold to their attention. And one of the big things that you can help with is that we need two things, and neither of them cost money, and each only are going to take about five minutes of your time. The first thing I need you to do is I need you to share the story about what the rules and the regs that are out in the Medicare realm of the world, what that is done to impact your business?

And it can be from call recording to the changes regarding inflation Reduction Act to the changes in commissions, what does that do to your business and your clients. The key being, what is it doing to hurt your clients? Then the other piece is that we need stories of the good that you do in your community with educating them. How have you made your clients lives better from their words, how have you made their lives better to do this with what you do, to answer their questions, to help them with a claim, to get their Medicare, their medicines covered, to setting up mail order, to getting their surgery covered. Those stories about what good you as the independent insurance agent bring to the community, we have got to share that, because right now the spotlight is on the bad actor, and the only way that we affect change is to show the good that the independent insurance agent does for their client when there's 84 Advantage plans.

For example, in my county, there's another 24 Part D plans, I don't know, of an 84-year-old person out there, 85, 92-year-old person out there that has the time or the ability to compare all of those plans to identify which one is a good fit for them, how they can't even do it with five. So these are the stories that we want to share, to show that light to Congress and to CMS, that we're not all bad. Many of us advocate and have the best interest of the client in our best interest. Many of you I know, help with food stamps and Meals on Wheels and all sorts of other ways that you help your clients outside of just selling them a policy, and we need to show that. So that is what I'm asking everybody to do.

Suzanne Carawan 24:31

Yeah, I'll jump in there and just jump from the NAIFA side. So you know, if you're a NAIFA member out there, remember that we have also the entire life happens side of the house on the consumer-facing piece of it, and we're always looking for these real-life stories. So exactly what Amanda's saying, I'll put the link to everybody as we put this out to make sure that you understand. You can always bring that in. And then we can get in front of billions of people, but we get billions of impressions. What Life Happens does? Additionally, there is an action alert that's coming out this week. Take to do exactly that, and of course, NAIFA is exceptional at being able to tell that story. So thank you, Amanda, for letting us know. I just want to plug some of the tools and resources we have here at NAIFA. Put that out.

Amanda Brewton 25:10

And that's part of what I joined for, was because you guys have an unbelievable advocacy arm, and the tools that you make are some of the best that I have seen in the industry. And Agents need to be aware of that. They need to be aware because so many and I have a fairly big social media presence. You can find me on LinkedIn and on Facebook, but one of the biggest things that I hear is that agents feel as though they're helpless and that they think things happen to them. They don't know that they can get involved, and they don't know how to get involved. So right now, my mission over the next few is to educate on that and to show agents that you do have a voice. You have people that are willing to listen. You have people that are willing to show you how to get involved and for regardless of what you're for or against. At the end of the day, we're all trying to protect our clients and our livelihoods, and how we go about doing that in a constructive manner. Not too many know that. So using the tools that you guys have is something that I'm looking forward to getting, rolling my sleeves up to be able to share and show the light on those.

Chris Gandy 26:42

Amanda, you said in a constructive manner, I think a lot of people I'm speaking of a lifelong NAIFA member myself, we hear the words that don't align with our business, like your Medicare Part A and B, and we're like, oh, god yes. So it's a whole another business, right? And we have to be able to come together and find professionals like you or your talented advisors, who we can work symbiotically with, or we can work and create synergy with because the odds are, they have clients that need our help too.

Amanda Brewton 27:26

We have tons of agents out there that don't touch life insurance or the retirement side of it, they want nothing to do with it, and vice versa. So to have that professional relationship where you're an expert on annuities and investments and all of those things. I couldn't begin to start talking about them, but to have it where we have a mutual understanding of this is my space, and I place very, very well here. You're in this space, and you play very, very well in here. And let's have a two-way conversation going. It creates that dialog. It also allows for the best interest of the client to be there rather than saying, you know what, I value, but I don't play in this space. So go to a website and go figure this out yourself, because I got nothing, that's not the best customer service that anyone wants to project. And I want to show that there's strength in doing that and creating those relationships together.

Chris Gandy 28:41

Like I said, being in the industry for a period of time, one of the things I've seen is that the truly most successful people I've seen in the industry are people that understand how to leverage others who are as talented or more talented than themselves. I've seen it over and over and over again, many people just don't know how to do it. I think being able to bring this into the NAIFA fully, being able to partner with the centers, and being able to roll this out more intentionally, is how we do it. So, you know, we're excited. I want to go to something that you said earlier, which is kind of interesting. We'll have a little fun with this. But financial services at times can be very blasé block, right? It could be very like, oh yeah, talk about numbers, talk about insurance, whatever. But you've been able to spice it up a little bit.

So you've figured out ways to intertwine culture, iconic things that keep people engaged in this, like Miss Congeniality, like you mentioned the two programs we get Miss Congeniality, which is a Sandra Bullock movie that's been around, and you mentioned another one too. That's the theme, Medicare Margaritas. How did you come up with these themes, these themes of, okay, I’m going to make it fun. I understand it's business, but I'm gonna make it fun. I'm gonna make it fun. I'm gonna create something unique, because it is a unique experience. I mean, that's an interesting marketing platform that you're doing. And instead of doing your own — participate in other people's conferences, you said, create my own, right? Okay, so one, what themes are in play?

Amanda Brewton 30:42

All the themes. So I have been theming out my trainings for over a decade, and there I have a wall right behind where my cameras are that have pictures of them. And if you look through social media, you'll see a lot of them. I think some of them are even if you Google my name, but there's ones with me in saddle shoes and a pool skirt, doing a 1950 sock-up theme. I did that the year that it's 2018 and we did it because John Travolta was turning 65 and Greece was turning 40. So what better way to assimilate and to show the correlation of your stereotype of what a senior is usually somebody that's old, that is in a hospital bed or in a walker, that they're agent. Look at any of the marketing stuffs targeted for seniors that are 65 and you'll see somebody that's 90 years old instead of somebody that's actually active. So Mark Middleton wrote a book called Growing Bolder, and it's about changing the stereotype of what you think of as someone that is a senior or 65 plus.

And as I am teaching to break that stereotype, insurance is boring as hell. Most of us that go ahead and that are in insurance, and we're business owners, which means we have a type A personality. Most insurance agents have ADHD and cannot sit still for anything. Most of them are coffee addicts, which means that most of them think that they know everything. And I'm saying that because if you don't know who your audience is, you can effectively teach. So I know that about my audiences, which means I have to find a way to get your attention, and I have to find a way to hold it. So I found ways to do that by making it memorable. Ms. Medicare came to be because my father actually came up with the name Ms. Medicare. Because when somebody wants my attention, they say, Miss Brewton. He's like, Well, what about Ms. Medicare? And I'm like, oh my god, I ate it. Well, I had had a group of ladies that were talking about the conference, and they had and I had said, Okay, what about Ms. Medicare?

And they're like, oh my god, Miss Congeniality. We could totally do a play on the movie, and we could do it with a beauty pageant themed Now, initially, this is coming out 2021 and was the first event, and it was supposed to be one day, and I didn't know how big it was going to be, and we planned it. The idea came in February. We were planning it for July, and I didn't know how big this was going to be. We were at max capacity inside of four days. And initially it had gone ahead, and we decided to broadcast it via zoom. So we had over 500 people that attended the first one. And the girls had said, can we dress up too? Because I had all only thought that the speakers were going to do it. And they're like, well, we want to dress up. And I went, what? And they're like, we want to do this too. And I said, okay, by all means. Well, it got such a following that I'm like, okay, if we're all going to do this. We're going to do this and do this like we mean it.

So we have sashes that the girl you can see in the picture behind me, everybody where, it's business attire or formal wear, and everybody, they all get into it. It is such a unique sight. Well, then the boys got mad that the girls had a conference and they didn't. And initially that was very hard. I didn't understand what it was. Was it that, I took some heat, because, of course, anytime that you do something that nobody's done before, and it's something controversial. Like this, it's going to have some pushback. So I finally started asking. I'm like, What's the problem? What it what's going on here? And they said, well, we want the content too. And I went, what? And they said, well, we want the content too. So I said, okay, and no one wants to come to Cleveland in the middle of the winter and first quarter, January, February, March. No one wants to do that. So how do I throw a conference, a second conference in first quarter and not have it in Cleveland?

Well, the next best thing is to go where I used to vacation, which was Orange Beach, Alabama, Pensacola area, and let's give back to that area. And I have, again, it's important as far as price points go and everything else. So it was a good way to accommodate it. And I wanted something vacation-themed. And I wanted something that you basically go to school from eight to noon, and then from noon after, you can visit with your family, hang out with other agents, but then we connect in the evenings at one of the tourist spots and have a good time. So Medicare Margarita, as it was, we have it at a dick's last resort. So it is, yes, it is in a bar. We serve margaritas at this event, and everybody comes in their shorts and their T-shirts and the whole nine yards, we give beach bags as their swag bag. And it is truly and what I had heard from people that attend conferences was okay, they're bringing up 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 speakers, but I'm getting 15 to 20 minutes with them. It's not enough to learn anything.

It's a waste of my time. And one of my biggest fears is, if you attend a webinar or meeting or something of mine, that you walk away and go that was not worth my time. It is my number one fear in this industry. So I said, okay, how do we do that? Well, we'll shake it up again, and we're going to do two-hour deep dives. We'll do two each day over three days, and we are going to have it where you are truly going to roll up your sleeves, and we're going to talk about. So the first day is about strategy planning and goal setting and back office support and staffing and all of that stuff. The second day is all about marketing, and the third day is all about cross-selling. Do you have the right things in your portfolio? And an open question and answer and then in the evenings, if you're familiar with the area, we do a drink thing at the Flora Bama.

The next night, we go to Jimmy Buffett's sister's place called Lulus down there. And then on the last night, I throw one hell of a beach party, and we do it with a shrimp boil in the whole nine yards, and we have some fun. At my events, it isn't just about you learning the book stuff and the business development. It's about fostering a way to create networking environment that allows you as somebody that's traveling, not knowing a soul when you get there, to walk away knowing all sorts of people and have shared into something where you're like, hey, I'll see you next year, or I'll see you at the next thing. And now you have new people that you can connect to and to learn from, because as individual business owners, we are isolated and you only know those people that are in your pocket and as salespeople, many of us suck at networking. We'll sit in a room at a carrier event or at an expo or a conference, and we'll only stick to a couple of people that we know and we won't go outside of our comfort zone.

I teach you that it's okay to do that. And the thing that I tell everybody, usually the first day and you're going to laugh, is, I promise you're not going to die from it. Introduce yourself to everybody around you as you're sitting in your seat. And when they get done doing that, I said, see, nobody licked you. You're still alive. Everything's fine. And usually the most people giggle where they're like, you know what, this wasn't as hard as I thought it was. And there's some levity and some laughter there that allows people to get rid of those first-day-of-school jitters. I love what I do. In teaching, if I could do it all day every day, I would, because changing people's lives, the agents as well as the beneficiaries in these man this manner, that is my why, and it is such a cool thing to do. And I change it by having some fun doing it. It's okay to have your individuality. It's okay to do some off-the-wall things with your seniors, and if I'm expecting you to go outside of your comfort zone, I have to set the example.

If I'm asking you to advocate, I have to show you how to do it, and I have to lead the way. I am a big believer of doing that. So at no point can somebody come back to me and go, you're a hypocrite. Yeah, no, I'm not. I'm going to show you how it's done, and then I could do it a couple of times over. And if it fails, it fails. And I'm going to show you that it fails, and I'm going to show you how to fail with grace. Pick yourself up and move forward on that as well. So, they see all the things.

Chris Gandy 40:58

All right, wonderful. Well, we look forward to seeing you in Arizona and Suzanne, we want to hit the lightning round.

Amanda Brewton 41:05

I was going to say, I think when she said shrimp boil, that was our cue that we should go the lightning round.

Chris Gandy 41:11

The shrimp. Yep. So, Amanda, we do have a lightning round. We don't have sound, we don't have the money for sound effects and all the gadgets, but just know that this is the round where people get to know you, not necessarily the business you're in or what you're doing, but they get to know you a little bit. So with that being said, you mentioned these themes, these movies. So first question is your favorite movie?

Amanda Brewton 41:38

Willow Wonka and Chocolate Factory, the original, not the remix.

Suzanne Carawan 41:42

The real and palopas. Yeah.

Amanda Brewton 41:45

Dean Wilder, I'm all about it. Now I'm seeing the Palompa song. Thank you.

Chris Gandy 41:51

Maybe, if you were first starting in the business, those out there in NAIFA nation, we have new people that are starting in the business. What advice would you give someone just starting in the business. What couple of pieces of advice would you give?

Amanda Brewton 42:03

First one, get a good mentor and do your research about uplines, so that you're connecting and getting your contracts and you're learning the business from somebody that is solid. If they cannot cite their source or willing to do or are not willing to do that, find another mentor or upline. The next one is develop a plan popularity posts and things that are on social media is not how you should run your business. You have to have a plan, both a business plan and a marketing plan, and they do not have to be anything more than a single-page outline. And then the last piece of advice that I would give you is ask your questions. And when you ask your questions, ask them how they got the answer, so that you learn along with the question that you're getting.

Chris Gandy 42:11

Learning is super important. Alright, next question. Your favorite food?

Amanda Brewton 42:54

Coffee ice cream.

Chris Gandy 42:56

Coffee ice cream. Suzanne. I got another. I got another ice cream connoisseur here we could...

Suzanne Carawan 43:02

That's right, yeah do you like mac and cheese, though, Amanda, that's the question.

Amanda Brewton 43:07

I'm a Mac and Cheese girl too. So yes, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and coffee ice cream, those are my three comfort foods all day long.

Chris Gandy 43:18

Amanda, your proudest moment in the business so far. You only get one.

Amanda Brewton 43:27

Probably my proudest moment, I would have to say, taking a meeting with Senator Ron Wyden's staffers to speak on behalf of the entire agent community about the rules and the regulations that are happening. That would be my first proudest, my second would be Ms. Med.

Chris Gandy 43:56

Last one, you can go back in time and have dinner with anyone in history, who would you have dinner with and what? Anyone you want.

Amanda Brewton 44:07

My gut, I would want to go ahead and pick John Lennon's brain.

Chris Gandy 44:17

Why John Lennon?

Amanda Brewton 44:21

His creative side, his artistry, his advocacy, his ability to unite millions of people with his music and his messaging, and at a volatile time where everybody was so angry about so many different things, he used his voice for good, not for evil, to share love and to affect change in a positive manner. And I want to be able to do that. I have a voice, and I'm very aware of that, and I want to change the stereotype of what an agent is, and I want to use my voice for good, not for evil, just like you did. So that's where I want to go.

Chris Gandy 45:14

Awesome. That's great. Suzanne, Amanda, do you have anything else for Nathan nation before Apex, which is right around the corner. Any last words.

Amanda Brewton 45:23

If you see me, by all means, come say hi. I promise I won't bite. Would love to connect and learn a little bit about you and what makes you tick, and hear what you think about the Medicare world, and how whatever that looks like for you, and it's a pleasure being on today. I thank you both for your time, and I'm looking forward to seeing you both in Phoenix and thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure.

Chris Gandy 45:55

Thank you Amanda. Suzanne, any final parting words or housekeeping items that we need to...

Suzanne Carawan 45:59

I'm happy that I got the Oompa Loompa song out and at least like, hey Jude, and so that's ending the day on a better note. Already, it's been a pleasure Amanda, we're so happy. We're so blessed to have you in the community, and we're looking forward to seeing everybody at Apex. Again visit the schedule apex at naifa.org. Monday morning, Friday morning. Sorry, Friday morning, Amanda will be speaking at our membership session, so make sure to join that.

Chris Gandy 46:27

So everyone out there, thanks for tuning in to Advisor Today podcast, where we give back the voice of advisors to make it better for the people, our communities we live and we serve. So thank you all for tuning in. We will see you in hot Arizona at Apex. So thanks for tuning in. We'll see you soon. Thanks.

Outro 46:50

Thanks for joining us for NAIFA's Advisor Today podcast series. Make sure to subscribe to get future episodes, and if you're interested in coming on the show, let us know.

33 min read