I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but WORK has been my drug of choice! I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My 8th job was an insurance sales agent at AFLAC. Yes, the insurance company with the duck!
Post College Job
I moved to NYC on January 2nd, 2013 right after my college graduation in December. This move was supposed to be permanent, but I moved back to Memphis three weeks later. As soon as I returned to Memphis, I began applying for full-time jobs. The only full-time jobs that contacted me for an interview were insurance companies. So, I went to an interview at AFLAC. The manager told me that AFLAC would pay for my certification tests if I took the full-time position. I passed both health and life insurance exams at the end of February and began working at AFLAC in March.
AFLAC
AFLAC was my first full-time job, but I did not make any money during the four months that I worked there. An insurance agent is usually a commission-only position. This means that you only get paid if you make sales. AFLAC is supplemental health insurance, which made it a bit difficult to sell. The life insurance plan could be sold to an individual, but the supplemental health insurance plan had to be sold to businesses for their employees. Memphis is a smaller city compared to most big cities and there are only so many businesses there.
No Income
During my time at AFLAC, I booked a musical at Playhouse on the Square. I would work at AFLAC during the day and go to rehearsals in the evenings. I never made anything at AFLAC, except for $200 that I did not earn. One of the AFLAC sales agents sold a health plan to Kingdom Ministries. Our manager thought some of the sales agents would quit because we were not making sales. So, he decided to split the commission on that sales agent’s Kingdom Ministries account. I did not earn that money, it belonged to that sales agent that sold the account.
Quitting
I quit working at AFLAC in July of 2013. I drove all around town wasting my gas for four months, trying to make sales to no avail. But, I met some cool people at AFLAC, a couple of whom, I still keep in contact with today. If you are thinking of selling insurance, get a part-time job to supplement your income until you begin making sales. Selling insurance can be lucrative, but it takes time to begin making commissions. It is best to work for a company that gives you a base pay at least until you begin making sales.
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