Page 19 - The UnCaptive Agent

what you do in your spare time to make the dream
come true. Imagine spending nearly twenty-five years
of your life pursuing a vision of your future with almost
single-minded determination, and finally, you have the
dream within your grasp. Think how exciting that would
be! Now, imagine, with the dream so close and so real
it is suddenly shattered, irretrievably and forever.
How would you feel? How would you ever recover
from that? What would you do with your life now?
That was where I found myself in the summer of
1994 after losing the primary election for the U.S.
Senate in Oklahoma. Not only that, but having sold my
business to finance my campaign, I was nearly broke. I’d
been married just two years, and my wife was pregnant.
I had no real ideas about what to do next.
A good friend reminded me that I made friends easily.
He pointed out that I was good at convincing people to
do things (even though I had just lost an election). He
reminded me that I had been a successful businessperson.
And he suggested I consider going into the independent
insurance agency business, where I could turn those
talents into a new and rewarding career.
My career in insurance came as a result of my life’s
biggest failure, which was crushing and publicly embar-
rassing. But it was the beginning of my second dream
of working to build financial independence while pro-
tecting, and ultimately promoting, the dreams of others.
Now, twenty-five years later, I have found the second
dream more satisfying, more rewarding, and certainly
more financially remunerative than the first.
Most people I meet (and many who I’ve have been
privileged to help start their own agencies) have had
challenges to overcome in their lives on the way to
success. The challenges and failures I experienced
were the raw material, the precursor, and the catalyst