It’s an easy concept, but it’s hard to manifest. The only thing standing between you and your dream… is hard work.
You won’t get what you want in life or build a business you can be proud of without it. There is no substitute. Simple to think about, hard to accomplish.
But in the battle to build, in the war over resistance, it’s the thing you must find a way to do to get everything you want out of life. You’ve got to get up, show up and put in the work. That work is a representation of who you are, it reveals your character, it’s part of your story.
Everyone has a story.
I am Mark Brodinsky and this is Storytelling for Business.
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Storytelling for Business: Value and Worth
“For too many people good enough is generally good enough. But it’s important to remember that the option exists. If you wish to become significantly better at something, you can.” – Anders Ericsson, Peak
For Yasmine Behroyan there is no such thing as good enough. It’s always been and always will be about trying to be the best. Her desire and her drive comes from her foundation, the formative years she spent with her family, where failure was not an option.
The expectation was striving for success in all your endeavours.
“My sister and I grew up in a very strict household,” says Yasmine. “My dad is from Iran, my mom is from Wisconsin. My dad’s culture is very strict, you do what you’re supposed to do – no dating, no drinking, no partying. I didn’t go to any parties in high school. If you got a bad grade, you got in trouble. But it led to success, my sister and I excelled in school.”
That demand and drive to be disciplined stayed with Yasmine all through college, where she did extremely well as she studied the workings of the mind. “I went to the University of Central Florida,” says Yasmine. “I took every psychology course. From the get-go I wanted to be a therapist and help people, which is funny considering what I’m doing now. I made the dean’s list, I made the president’s list and ended up graduating early. I was almost sad about it because I loved college so much and was having such a good time.”
College opened up Yasmine’s eyes to a whole new world, but she didn’t become a therapist, at least not officially, though the job she started out of college certainly involved listening to people talk about their lives and then trying to help with some advice.. or some hard whiskey.
Yasmine landed a gig as a bartender.
“I started bartending to make extra, easy money,” says Yasmine. “What started out as a three-month job, ended up lasting three years. But one of the regulars who visited the bar where I worked was Seth Dorne, a Division Leader for USHEALTH Advisors. I would tell Seth I didn’t want to keep being a bartender. He told me I didn’t have to, that there was all this room for talent in the world of health insurance.”
Seth encouraged Yasmine to come into his Orlando office and listen to a recruiting pitch from his wife, Mara Dorne, a top Regional Leader for the company.
“I was so intimidated at first,” says Yasmine. “Mara’s gorgeous and smart. I didn’t have a good outfit to wear to this pitch and I knew nothing about health insurance. Mara asked me a question about Obamacare. I didn’t know the answer and I felt like an idiot. But at the same time, she really inspired me. She looked like someone I wanted to be like, I wanted to be her. Mara told her story about how she was supposed to become an attorney, and that her parents got angry she was going into sales. Mara said she never got her law degree and she was glad, because this company, USHA was one of the greatest things that happened in her life.”
That pitch Yasmine attended took place in the fall of 2017. Fast forward 2-1/2 years later and Yasmine is climbing the rankings as one of the top producers and leaders for USHEALTH, with more than $2-and-a-half million in personal production and nearly $8 million in team production. Last year she issued more than $1 million in business, in a single year.
Yasmine says she’s earned her way through hard work and fighting back against the obstacles – and if you ask most successful people that’s the tried-and-true path to success. You get back what you give and you never give up.
“I started off as an appointment setter for Josh Cohen,” says Yasmine. “And he’s a closer, so it worked well. Everything I set he was able to sell. But I didn’t have a car when I started at this company. My car was in a wreck, so I was taking Uber back and forth to the office, about $30 to $40 every day. But working with Josh, within two months I was able to buy my own. Once I started selling on my own though it was slow. I didn’t do very well in my first six months, in fact, I was terrible. But then I asked to sit in on some of the late Friday night training in Jason Blank’s office. I got to see how disciplined and structured his team was – they would talk about the pitch and the objections and everyone was so engaged, even at 11 pm on a Friday night! It was then that my production started to spike and I ended up issuing $900,000 in annual volume for the year, just missing the $1 million mark. It was all about a change in mindset. At first, I didn’t know what I was doing, but when you are surrounded by winners you change for the better.”
When the opportunity presented itself for Yasmine to move to West Palm and join the new office Jason was opening there, she decided to make the move.
“I had lived in Orlando for eight years, but I was ready,” she says. “Jason has been a big part of my success. He’s taught me a lot. The move to West Palm was one of the best decisions I ever made.”
What Yasmine also decided to do was put a focus on the company’s mission of HOPE – Helping Other People Everyday.
“We serve a purpose here,” says Yasmine. “You are helping people, you are doing something good, you are offering a great product and it all feels good. I’m a very competitive person as well, I like to see my name on the board for production, but what I like more is seeing the “thank you” texts from my client after helping them. I store all of my clients names in my contacts, so I know them when they call.” Yasmine says she also takes care to hand-write the thank you note. “If it’s not hand-written it’s not worth it,” she says. “People want to see the ink on the paper, it means a lot.”
Now serving as a Field Sales Leader for USHA, Yasmine says it also means a lot to have friends and family on board in the business.
“My older sister Kelly helps me to set appointments now,” says Yasmine. “I’ll be doing training sessions, or attending leaders meetings but I still want to do personal production, so having Kelly is a big bonus. I want to grow my team, but still, personally produce. It just feels good to be helping more people, as well as my agents.”
Yasmine started her team in West Palm with only one agent, her college roommate, Bonnie Phelps. Now Yasmine is leading a team of 20 agents and is in the Top 25 for Field Sales Leaders this year, but says she’s gunning to make the Top Ten.
“My success and growth with the company have been one of my great life challenges, but in a good way,” says Yasmine. “I never thought I’d grow to be a leader. Leading other people puts a lot of weight on your shoulders. There’s plenty of room to mess up. I do well, but I still struggle and deal with the same issues just like everyone else every day. But I always want to be getting better. It’s not about me anymore, it’s about the team and their success so that they too can grow into leaders. I am super proud of helping them become successful.”
Yasmine says her goal is to lead by example and to do that you must put in the work.
“I used to think the hours I work are hard, but now I think they’re easy,” she says. “My discipline to do it comes one-hundred percent from my parents. Work the hours, don’t make excuses and the money will come.”
Yasmine says during the week her days begin at 8 am and end at 10 pm. “I’m actually in the office by 7:45 am to get set up and high-five my team as they begin calling at 8,” she says. “I do customer service during the first hour now and I’m also involved in training and helping with recruiting. I don’t take breaks for lunch, I stay in the office. By 5 o’clock, the team and I are back on the phones for the second half of the day. It’s go-time. Everyone is on the phones glued to their seats. They leave around 9 o’clock and I then I do some housekeeping and head home.” Yasmine says it’s not a five-day-a-week job either. “Saturdays and Sundays I work from 9 to 3. I don’t remember the last time I took a day off, I have nothing else to do, “she laughs.
Yasmine says her only hobby outside of work involves one of the things that are important to focus on when you spend most of your time focusing on others – self-care.
I love the self-care stuff – nails, hair, lashes – I’m all about the look good feel-good attitude. I will not come to work without makeup on or my hair done. I’ve got to show up the way I believe I should.”
Show up, dress up, and keep looking up. It’s the positive mindset and perseverance which have been Yasmine’s greatest gifts. She also credits her mom’s influence for part of her success.
“My mom always worked in sales,” says Yasmine. “She worked for Z Galleries furniture store and was always a top seller on their board every week. I like to say I get my sales stuff from her.”
“I’m so motivated to just be the best, but not in a cocky sort of way. It’s not always easy to be a top producing female. Once I made the move to West Palm everything kind of expanded and I put more pressure on myself to not just produce but to grow a team as well. If I didn’t have my team I feel like I would have nothing, they are my everything. They’re why I come to work every day to do something to make their lives better. This is about way more than just health insurance. It’s about changing lives.”
Life is a gift meant to be experienced in every facet of its miracle and Yasmine believes much of what you need to live that miracle you already have, it all comes from the inside.
“I would say if I can offer one piece of advice it’s to know your value and know your worth,” says Yasmine, “then do the work that exemplifies that belief. If you truly feel you are amazing and you put that out in the universe you will do amazing work. So know your value, know your worth and go out there and do your best.”
For Yasmine, it feels the best is yet to come.
Until next time, thanks for taking the time.
Your Storyteller,
Mark Brodinsky
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