How I landed a job I never dreamed of—but maybe should have

Like most insurance sales representatives, I’ve dreamed of selling disability insurance my whole life. 
 
OK, that’s not true. I was born in the insurance capital of the world: Hartford, Connecticut. But growing up, I never pictured myself in a sales position. When I thought of sales, I thought of cold calling, pushy car sales people, or the person at the mall kiosk who rubs lotion on you as you walk buy. Not for me. 
 
Now that I’ve found myself in a sales position, it turns out that my journey may have destined me for this career all along. I just needed to reshape my mindset of what sales is and meet a few mentors who believed in me along the way. 

So how does one end up as a disability insurance wholesaler? I like to think I learned a little in each step:

• High school: Cashier and nanny, among other jobs. 

• College: Business major in finance. I figured if you’re a people person who can also explain the numbers, you can go far. I also worked at the university’s student union information desk and athlete snack shop. 

• Actuarial internship: It was all fun and games until I was required to stare at Microsoft Excel and build financial models all day. Shout-out to our actuaries who make this look easy! 

• Post graduate: Realizing I wasn’t cut out to be an actuary, I learned about the power of relationships. My summer nannying position before college was for the kids of an amazing woman who worked remotely for a great company called Principal®. She recommended I apply for a job. And after graduation, I moved to Des Moines, Iowa having never visited.

• The Principal leadership development program: Our corporate rotational program gave me the opportunity to meet so many amazing people while also figuring out what role might be a good fit for me. I ultimately landed a position as an associate account executive for group benefits. Learn more about the leadership development program.

• Group benefits account executive: This is the liaison to Principal for broker relationships and their existing clients. Account executives do everything from building broker relationships to solving client problems. 

Throughout this journey, I realized each of these roles had one thing in common: Whether you’re a nanny, selling the $3 hot dog and chili combo to athletes on game day, recruiting new talent to Principal, or retaining business—life is a game of sales. People will choose to work with people who care, people they like, and people who provide great service. It only took 16 years to build up confidence in myself and take the risk to move to a sales position. 
 

Now I am an individual disability sales manager. I get to spend every day teaching financial representatives how to have one of the most important conversations with their clients—the income protection conversation. And I get to impact lives when families and business owners need it most, which is a really rewarding career.  

So maybe you are a few of the following:

• Positive

• Passionate about products and services offered by Principal

• Passionate about helping people

• Service oriented

• A good listener

• Someone who can explain complicated concepts

• Creative

• Collaborative

• Relationship oriented

• A process-improvement specialist

• A social media brand marketer 

• A time-management expert

• A team player

Or maybe you have your own list of unique strengths. Maybe those strengths could make you the next sales rep at Principal.   

There is no right path to becoming successful in sales. The best salespeople I know find a way to capitalize on their strengths, stay true to themselves, love to help people, and have a lot of fun along the way.