Selling Life Insurance: The Best Kept Career Secret for Women with Emily Palmer

I think part of me just wanted to prove that regardless of my age and regardless that I was a woman that I could do it too. There was just a part of me in there that knew that I love taking care of people. I think that's something special in this industry. I think most women love taking care of and helping people just in our nature. And if you can find an industry that literally like now my job, I get to take care of people every day and I get paid for it and very well, right? Like what a blessing that just to use who I am in general to help bless other people. Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the Life Insurance Academy. And gang, I'll tell you what, you're in for a treat. I'm here with my good friend, Emily Palmer. Welcome Emily to the Life Insurance Academy show. This is your second time being here. It is. Thank you for having me. Yes. Yes. You're going to get to that. Uh, what, what we got? We got one person up to five times. Is that right? Three or four. Yeah. We'll get you up there. Look out and I'm coming for you. Yes, that's right. Well, thank you for hanging out with us. And, and today I think today's podcast is going to help a lot of people out there. Um, today is, Hey, Hey, it's ladies night. We're going to edit that out. Nope. We said no edits. That's right. Um, we're, uh, the reason I like today's podcast is because we are speaking to you ladies. We're speaking to you about this industry and maybe you have a, uh, you're, you're a fella and you've got a woman in your life and you think, and you've thought maybe this would be good for them. This business would be good for them, but you've kind of held back or maybe you're a lady listening to this podcast on a regular basis. And you're like, man, I don't know. I don't know if that's for me. So that's really kind of where we're landing today is we're kind of have a conversation with a successful woman in this business, what it takes, what strengths there are in this and why is there some wacky perception out there that this is a man's male dominated business? Right? Absolutely. Let's go ladies. Let's go. Okay. So first Emily, if you could, um, tell us how we're going to, we're going to move quickly through it, but how you got it in the business and what's your, what's your specialty? What is it you do? So I got into the business at 19. Um, I started, was offered a job, never thought I'd be an insurance agent. It was never on my list. So, um, we moved and they were like, I think you should sell insurance. And of course I was like, okay. Cause I was 19. Right. And it was the only job at that time at Williston, North Dakota. So I took it. We fall in the oil field. So I took it. Um, but it just emerged and insurance has been amazing to me. It's been a blessing. And, um, I do believe that women have a huge advantage than men. So if you're listening ladies and you're on the fence, jump in. It's wonderful. Very good. So you, you started at 19, you're 20 now. I'm 20. I've almost been married 20 years. I'm not 20. You're not 20. I'm not 20. And when, when they hired you, were you hired as a salesperson from, from get, from the jump? Okay. All right. How was that for you? Was that pretty intimidating at first or was it something you felt like you, you could crack the code? You felt like you could do it. Oh, I definitely wasn't just confident in it. I never even dealt with insurance barely. I mean, I was 19. I was just now getting our own insurance. Right. So, um, but I think it just, they kind of judged off a personality I'm guessing. And, um, I kind of just dived into it. And then once I found out the money that you can make, that's when it really hit me. Um, when I had, it was early starting out and I was pregnant and I was, um, on bedrest, my boss was like, Hey, we're going to send the computer home with you so you can keep working from home. And I was like, really? And she hadn't done that for anybody else. And that's when I was like, okay, wait a minute. I'm making this lady way too much money. And then she was like, oh, congratulations on your child. When are you coming back to work? Right. Big time. Because she was like productions down. We need you. And that's when I was like, okay, I'm, I'm making this one too much money. I need to go figure out exactly how much that was. And so then I ventured out onto my own. Pretty interesting. So you started out, um, you were not independent. Okay. And you, you just kept thinking there's a whole nother side to this where there's another level of money to get to just when she was so persistent, I was like, okay, there's something. And then I started my own captive agency. So we were captive for a while. I did multi-line and I'm still heavily specialized in life insurance. I was always first in life insurance in our district, in our region. And then, um, we had some tragedy happen and we, our house burned down. We lost everything. Um, we had a son pass away and same kind of thing, even though I was an independent, if you will, but I was captive. They were very much like, when are you coming back to work? And I was like, wow, like it hasn't even been two weeks. Yes. Wow. And so that's when I left insurance and I didn't think I would come back. My husband got back in it and I told him if it works and everything is roses, like they're telling you I'm all in. So I jumped head first, fully independent, not captive. Wow. That's, that's fantastic. And you guys, this is a family business. You guys run this together. Very successful. You guys are doing multiple six figures, helping a lot of people. Now, as, as you've done this, um, I guess, I guess my question is, have you seen that perception that we, we kind of talked about on the front side that this is male dominated? Um, if you, and if you see it, why do you feel like that perception is there? I feel like, um, even when I think in my mind of the insurance agent, even though I'm a successful woman, the first thing that comes to mind for whatever reason is an older man is going to be selling the insurance. If we're just being honest, in your career, you are a successful agent and you're expecting the gray haired guy like me to show up at the door. I'm expecting it. I don't know. I definitely am. But I think women have a huge advantage in this industry. And I think that, um, a lot of women for whatever reason, maybe fear, I'm not sure, but, um, I have done very well. Even when I was younger, it was very male dominated, especially back then. I can't tell you how many older, and I was like, I'm like 21 years old, breaking all these records and older men, like forties, fifties, sixties, like mad, like, who's this young girl? What is she doing? You know? And I was just like, I'm just working. Do you think, um, I guess I, I want to pay attention to that perception because I think there, that, that is out there. Uh, you even admitted that you kind of see it in your head. Um, do you think that's preventing people or do you think that's preventing women from taking the chance or, uh, putting themselves out there? Do you think that's preventing them from being successful in this space? Or maybe even the ones who are here, maybe it's preventing them from being successful. I don't know. You tell me. Sure. I think that, um, perception sometimes is what we make our reality. Right. And so if you automatically going in, think you can't do it and you don't see successful women and you can't see that vision, you're kind of in a way per, you know, setting yourself up to fail. You need to find a successful woman to follow and to be able to see them doing it. It's like anything else. Um, if all I see is successful men doing it somewhere in my subconscious, maybe I don't really think a successful woman's out there, but you have to find them. Yeah. That's good. And that, and that's why we're even having this conversation, you know, so that, so that people can see that women can see that, you know, it's interesting you say that, but I'm going to ask you to dig a little bit for you, you know, into, into your soul. Okay. Uh, but 19 years old, you're out there cranking it to the point where they keep saying, when are you you I'm getting, maybe you saw one, maybe you saw a lady in your office who was leading the way, but was it, what was it for you that was driving you? What was in you? I made it work. I think part of me just wanted to prove that regardless of my age and regardless that I was a woman that I could do it too. Yeah. There was just a part of me in there that knew that, um, I love taking care of people. I think that's something special in this industry. I think most women love taking care of and helping people just in our nature. And if you can find an industry that literally like now my job, I get to take care of people every day and I get paid for it and very well, right? Like what a blessing that just to use who I am in general to help bless other people. So, um, especially moms. I mean, it's huge that that's what you do. You, you nurture your children, you take care of your children, you protect your children. And that's the same thing we're doing with life insurance. Are you ready to launch your insurance career? Excel solutions is your go-to leader in life accident and health insurance. Pre-licensed training. 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So that, when did that click for you? Was it pretty early on that click? There was that alignment and just even what you would say is your specific nature. I had something rough happen when I was 19 first selling. So, and it's one of those things, once you have it, you never forget that sell. So I had a couple in front of me and they were younger. They were in their twenties and they had just had a baby. And so we were going over life insurance and they were hesitant, right? Well, we're young. He works in the oil field. Not now. Well, about three weeks later, that couple came back in and it was just her. And I assumed like maybe they broke up, you know, your mind, you just assume the worst. Cause it was with another man. So I was like, Ooh, okay. And lo and behold, her husband, she had a three week old baby with her and her husband had just died in a freak accident on the oil field. And they did not take out the insurance. And just something inside me was like, I never want someone else to sit in my chair and to have to go through that again. I'd never want to put myself in that position to where I'm and she's just crying saying, I hope we did something. I know we talked about it and there was nothing in place. We did something. That's tough. I wrote down three words with that, like, and really two of them are the same, but it sounds like there's a something that was born in that moment. Unfortunately it had to happen, but it was belief conviction and responsibility. Like for you, you kind of believed in it, but until you saw how it worked and helped, it wasn't conviction yet. Because I think that conversation would have moved differently if you had it all over again. Absolutely. When you have someone that you have to look in the eye, face to face and say, unfortunately you guys chose not to move forward and you're their last hope, you know, with life insurance, you can't bring people back, but you can comfort people in the hardest time of their life. Like that's a big responsibility. So for me, I literally took that off the table because we didn't, we didn't put any in place. Very interesting. Like we'll talk about some of those advantages we see. And you said, you said care, protect, you know, like as a parent, as a mom, we have that saying mama bear. Definitely. Yeah. You ever been a mama bear? For sure. A few times. Guilty. Yeah. Yeah. Where there's a, you know, it's a, the protection mode comes out and I, you know, we, we see it on both sides of that. I see it with on both men and women who are, who have that, had that moment, that specific moment where conviction steps in and has the conversation that you weren't able to on, on that front side. So I'm proud of you. Good job. You took ownership of your business that day. I didn't even realize what was in store, but I knew like there was a huge need and that God had put me in that spot at that time. And unfortunately on that day, I didn't have as much conviction. I didn't have as much, you know, knowledge. I was still new, but I knew moving forward, I was never going to put myself in that position again to where I didn't push a little bit harder. Yeah. Yeah. Well, good. I know that that's impacted your business dramatically. And while we were talking ahead of time of this, we were talking about this perception and I, you know, sometimes the, the glass, the glass ceiling or the glass door of moving into the space and then thriving in this space is, is all about perception because nobody, you can put yourself in a position where nobody can hold you back and you can win big time. Now, as we were talking about that, we were talking about some of the advantages that you see that the women have in the space. And I see it too. I see it a lot. And, but sometimes I don't think being on the other side of we'll say pre-launch, you know, but you haven't entered into the space yet or you're just getting started. It's hard to see those. So what are, what are some of those advantages that, that you see? So ladies, listen up, here we go. So first and foremost I think women can build trust a little easier than men can. Okay. I know that women are a little better listeners pay closer attention to detail. So meaning if I'm talking to a client on the phone, I'm picking up every little thing. If they're talking about their dog, they're talking about their grandma. I got it. And I'm not going to forget it because women just pay a little bit more in my experience. Don't hate on me guys, please. But in my experience, they pay more attention to those things because details matter, right? I don't know what you just said. The part of me disagrees with you. I'm just kidding. That was a joke, Adam. That was a joke. No, I think you're, I think you're, you are a hundred percent correct on, I know this for a fact because I am married for 28 years and the listening, and it's not just listening, it's active listening. Can you talk about that difference a little bit? Yes. So I've been married almost 20 years, right? My husband's behind the cameras. And the thing is, is like, I can tell him something, he might hear it, but listening is different. So if I'm intently listening, I'm fully engaged. They have my attention. I'm zoned in, I'm picking up, not just nonchalantly letting it go in and out, right? Like I fully have it in mental notes, right? Us ladies, we make lists in our mind, right? So we're taking those lists. I'm taking your word for it. We make notes, right? And we go through them sometimes at the end of the day, like, oh, whoops, I forgot to do this and that, right? Which leads into women are really good multitaskers. We can do three things at once. We can be taking care of this screaming child, cooking dinner, and still reading a book, right? We can do all of those things. So that helps tremendous in business and to be able to, my husband and I, we joke all the time, but the office could be on fire and I'm still on the call and I'm still taking the app, finishing, and then my kids come in the door and everybody, I mean, and I don't miss a beat. I like that. So there's a couple of things you said here. You had mentioned the ability to multitask, which is very good. Let me wrap this idea of trust up because in our training for Life Insurance Academy, we talk about the importance of trust, of establishing trust. And then there's a component of establishing trust and then maintaining trust throughout that whole process because you can do one thing and lose trust. I mean, if you don't know your process, you don't, the sales process, and you get to the close and you're not sure what to do at the close, you lost trust, right? Or you don't know how to underwrite, you're losing trust at that point. But I believe listening and active listening covers a multitude of sins. And when, you know, when I hear ladies on a call and they're over the moon, as much about a grandchild as that late, the other lady on the other line is, oh, that, the sales done. I'm not telling you the sales done because there's an entire sales process or, or you're engaged with the same level of enthusiasm that the client is about what they're communicating, whether it's a pet or whatever it is. It's usually like that relational thing that matters most to them. It, it unlocks the person. And that's where that, that active listening comes from. There's another piece to that, that I wanted to hit on. And maybe you, you can, you can explain it a little bit, but it's from what I've seen of the two, when I'm doing telesales training, I just find that the ladies are more disarming. Why do you, why is that happening? Help me help. This isn't even for the ladies. This is for us. Okay. For the guys, teach us your ways. Okay. So why is it, why is that happening? I think that with the ladies, I think right at the beginning, we're just a little more comforting and you can tell, pick up the little things, you know, even just by the beginning of the conversation, what the client's worry is up front. And you're able to address that, acknowledge that. And we kind of feed off of it a little bit differently in the beginning. And we kind of make that mental note, right? Like I told you. And so let's say from the beginning, they don't really trust me. I didn't forget that. So I'm going to walk them all the way through. If they already don't trust me, I'm going to tell them ahead of time, what we're going to do before we do it to build on that trust and make sure and just really be human with them and let them know, like, this is who I am. We're going to do the little extra things. Hey, before we even get started, Chris, I'm going to send you my picture of me, my digital business card. I want you to put a face to a name. I want you to know who I am. Okay. Those things. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's good. I think that is, honestly, I think that's an advantage. That's very disarming. There's a warmth to it, an approachability to it. And it's, I think sometimes the guys, they can get into flex mode and of getting the AP and the sale and being self-focused and not client care focused of solving the problem that matters most to them, which is the most important thing. Sure. Sure. Yeah. And there's a, there's an added piece to that. We had talked about this a little bit was especially on these trust pieces is that, that empathy and you literally said it becoming a human being to them and not a robot or a telemarketer. You're just Emily. Yeah. That's pretty sick. And now we don't tell anybody, Hey, I'm Emily and I'm a top producing expert. No. Hey, it's just Emily. How are you? What's going on? How can I help you? Yeah. You know, and just reading and listening to people on what their problems are. Like, why do you want life insurance? What is it that made you feel this out? What is it that had you reach out to me today? And when you can solve people's problems, that's when money exchanges hands. That's good. That's good stuff. Um, one thing I wanted to really hit on is what is it that the ladies out there, if they, if they're thinking about the space, the things that they have to do that are non-negotiables to really launch and be successful here. So number one is time management. Cause if you're like me, you got a full plate, especially whether it's kids, grandkids, you know, whatever it is you have your plates normally full. So you have to be present where God has your feet and be all in. So me, if I'm at work, I'm at work. I got to shut other things out. Um, you got to remove distractions. It's real. Like if your work, I don't know how people, women work from home. I would get nothing done. I have my own office because I have to remove those distractions. You leave your home and go to an office. That's your office by the way. Yes. My office. Yes. That's good. But if I don't, those distractions, I would never get anything done. That's a really honest answer. I think a lot of people struggle with that. It just has to be out of the way. Otherwise I would just be spinning my wheels, getting nowhere. Um, and I think too, you have to have mentorship. Like it has to be there, especially like regardless, man or woman, you have to have some type of coach you can look up to that is a woman that's successful. A lot of people might say they're successful, but they can actually duplicate what they're telling you that they can do. Yeah. That's huge. And I really commend you, you both on that. Both you and you and Hunter are, you, you're very teachable. You lean into those moments like you, you invest your money into opportunities to, to make yourselves better and your business better. You put your money where your mouth is on that. So that's, that's pretty impressive. Um, yeah. Can you talk about like, uh, the mastering your craft a little bit? Um, you know, when I hear your story moving from 19 years old, I, I'm sure there are not a lot of 19 year olds that weren't making it or that were offered this opportunity who failed through you through it. But, um, there was something inside of you that took ownership of this. And if you're doing that, you're mastering it. Can you talk about that as a, as a lady, maybe even some of the challenges they'll face in doing that? Sure. So, um, one thing you just have to stay coachable, especially if it's the beginning, like you don't know, I did not know everything at 19. I still don't know everything now at 20, right? Um, stay coachable lean in definitely. Um, when you realize how important selling life insurance is, whether it's your own life experience, or you, we all have people in our lives that have lost someone and, um, whether they had to struggle to pay for the funeral or whether they set their children up successfully to not miss a beat, or if it's their spouse, when you realize that you are the one person across the table from the client that you can't bring their loved one back, but you can give them peace and time to grieve. Um, it's a huge responsibility. Um, we're not just, you know, selling something that no, eventually someone is going to have to use this life insurance. We are all going to die at some point. And when you have that and you understand it on the inside, um, you want to help as many people as possible. You don't want anybody to, um, going back to that couple I was across the table. I never want to be put in that position again. Yeah. And that, that was a huge catalyst for you. Um, the thing I look at for an agent and their journey, especially, I mean, I can't tell you how many people are listening to this right now, and they're so close to stepping into it. Like I can, I can feel it feel in my gut. Um, but it feels overwhelming to them, like mastering your craft. I'm, we're not asking you to become Harry Potter. Okay. It's, you don't have to get a special magic wand and master all the spells, but you do have to be able to invest in leads. You do have to be able to, um, get somebody on the phone and keep them on the phone. You have to be able to go through a script and know a script. You have to be able to, uh, know a couple of carriers very well by learning 30 questions on the applications. Like it's not rocket science here, but those are things you have to master and it may be shifting activities a little bit. You know, you talked about the, the multitasking, but that multitasking may incorporate carrying an application around and reading the questions. Absolutely. I'm guessing that's stuff you did. Yes. Yes. And we've, you know, my husband and I have really gone to work on our craft and now, um, you know, we're in a position that we've actually been able to coach others. And now we have a full industry through helping other people find their, their niche in there and being able to, um, form niche masters and to really be able. It's huge. So with that, I like it. I like it. So with that, um, you will never not get something out of what you put in with life insurance when you're studying your craft. Yeah. I mean, there, there's no limit. The sky is the limit. The more you put in, the better you become, the more people you can protect. Then once you reach that, then the more families you can really help be successful. So we heard about all that part. We're talking about the money now. I'm joking guys. You know, what's interesting is like, could you imagine 19 little 19 year old Emily Palmer? It wasn't Emily Palmer at the time, but it was, I got married at 18. It was Emily Palmer, 19 year old Emily Palmer running niche masters. Like no, what a shift, right? Yeah. I would have never believed you ever. Yeah. Yeah. On a national podcast. Never. This is what I love about this business. Ladies, this is yours. You can do this. Absolutely. You can. Hey, if I could do it, you can do it. That's right. That's I love it. I will say you have a superpower that I've observed in my, in my time knowing you, you get it done. You get it done. And you say, every lady has that and maybe they do, maybe they do, but I'm very impressed with that. So thank you for sure. And I think women have it within you. Get it done. Well, we'll wrap any last words. I'll, I'll bring us all back together here, but any last words for the ladies out there on the podcast? I would just say, if you're hesitant or, you know, you lack confidence or for whatever reason, it's been holding you back from jumping into life insurance, jump in. I'm telling you, you have a bigger advantage than you realize. And if I can do it, you can do it too. So let's go. I'm going to summarize, but before I do, Emily kept saying something over and over, find somebody who's successful. Who's doing this very, very well at a high level, find a lady who's doing it very well. Do you know any ladies who might be? Maybe there's no maybe baby. Okay. So info right here. Boom. Contact info. Okay. Go ahead. Yeah. So you can find me on Instagram. I am EP one tough mommy. That's right. Let's go. Can you spell that out for everybody? E P space one O N E tough T O U T H mommy M O M M Y. Perfect. One tough mommy. Absolutely. And you can reach me on social Emily Palmer. I can just direct message you. Absolutely. Cool. Cool. Yeah. All right. Well, as we wrap gang, we talked about, and this is, this is one really big one that just kind of flew under the radar is how perception can become somebody's reality, you know, and even, even you in your head and the insurance person you're thinking of is a great hair dude. That's terrible. We're going to change that. We're going to change that for everybody, right? Yes, we are. We dialed into some of these advantages, the fact that you can build trust quickly, multitask, the ability to empathize, pay attention to details, and just this natural disarming that you have in some of these conversations where, where people are at the, at the launch of this, leaning into some of these discussions are fantastic. I asked you what you have to do. You said time management, mastering your craft, get a mentor who knows what they're doing and get it done. That's right. I do. You did great. All right. I was listening. Wasn't I guys. Thank you for ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for listening to our podcast. And if you're a guy on here and you thought of somebody, give them Emily's contact information. She's got some great stuff. Would love to have a conversation with them and get them launched. And guys, if you liked this episode, subscribe, share it with somebody because you love them. Can't wait to catch you guys on the next life insurance Academy podcast. Thanks a lot.