The Journey Begins - The Classes

An insurance agent, or someone who "sells" insurance, is called a "producer". To be qualified as an insurance producer in Illinois, the State of Illinois requires 20 hours of pre-license education for each line of insurance you are going to produce. That is a combined 80 hours of pre-license education for the four main lines of insurance; property, casualty, life, and health insurance.

After your pre-license education is completed, you then qualify to take the state required exams for each line of insurance you desire to produce. There is an exam for each line, so 4 separate exams for the four main lines of insurance.

Now, I haven't sat in a class, or taken a real exam since about 1993. So, the idea of this activity was a little bit freaky for me. But, I haven't backed away from very many challenges over my lifetime, so I didn't back away from this one either. John Wayne said: "Courage is being scared to death... but saddling up anyway." So, I saddled up, and hit the proverbial educational trail!

The actual classes were 2 days long, and each 2 day session covered 2 lines of insurance. One line of insurance the first day, and one line the second day. These classes were attended by a wide range of attendees. About 30 people were in attendance. Most were younger adults with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, motives, and grooming habits. A few others were older persons, like myself, somewhat professionally dressed, and excitedly embarking on a new phase of our working lives.

Each two days of class were fast-paced, intensive, streamlined, presentations designed to efficiently prepare each student to be able to study, and successfully complete the state required exams. Let's just say that it felt a lot like cramming for a final exam in a class that you had never taken. As I remember it anyway. At the end of the first day of class, I was exhausted. Luckily, I had chosen to spend the night at the hotel where the class was presented. So, I was able to relax, rest, take a practice test, and prepare for the second day.

By the end of the second day, my little old brain was fried. I had exceeded my ability to receive data, and could barely keep up with just underlining and highlighting the course materials I was given. The classroom atmosphere was distinctively more subdued that second day, and it was obvious that I was not the only one suffering from data overload. None-the-less, we trudged on, and finished the day with a "mid term", open book type of exam that we were required to pass to complete the classes. I passed the first try! I was elated!

As I made the long journey home, I realized that I was now on my own. It was now up to me to study independently and go face my first two of the state exams. I had a few days to prepare for the tests before I had to get ready for the next two classes. I studied intensely, cramming every fact and figure into my brain that I could. I took a practice test, and then studied some more. Finally, after several rounds of practice tests and studying, I believed that I was ready.

About My Journey

Insurance sales is not, or was not my forte'. I did not set out at a young age to be the greatest insurance agent in history. My background is in art, architecture, computers, automotive repair, good old hard work, sweat and some agony. (Not necessarily in that order.) I have worked construction, fast food, worked on a hog farm, changed tires, repaired cars & trucks, fixed computers, designed houses, and created construction documents for multi-million dollar commercial building projects. I have done many things in my life, but the insurance industry was not even on my radar.

In the fall of 2004, after my first heart attack, I left my job in architecture and began doing the computer business I had started in 1997 full time. Over the next several years my computer business continued to thrive and grow. By 2009 I had a 2,400 square foot retail and repair shop with 4 employees. In the fall of 2011, the shifts in computer technology began to directly affect my business' bottom line. Over the next two years I was required to lay off all of my employees, move 2 times to ever smaller facilities, and eventually ended up in a 300 square foot office all by myself. During those business years I learned many valuable management lessons, several life lessons, and a lot about people.

My mother passed in 2009 after a long battle with many health issues. My father passed in the fall of 2012 unexpectedly. During their lives, my parents had amassed a large amount of antiques, collectibles, some properties, an enormous amount of junk, and a massive amount of debt. My brother and I began the daunting process of dealing with our parents estate in the fall of 2012. During which time I gained an intimate understanding of the tremendous need for estate pre-planning. My father's life insurance was minuscule, but even this small amount was greatly appreciated, needed, and somewhat life changing for my family and I. It took us three painstaking years, many, many hours, and every friend we could find, to clean up my parents estate. The estate process was a very valuable, eye opening, and educational experience.

In the fall of 2015, I was working on a computer for one of my good business clients and discussing the many challenges of business ownership. In the process of our conversation, we discovered that I had a need to adapt my working environment, and my client had the need for a new agent with their growing insurance agency.

The process of my parent's estate had awakened a new perspective within me. I had a new understanding of the necessities of things like life insurance, estate planning, planning for the unexpected, and anticipating that certain events may happen in our lives even if we don't want them to. We must protect our loved ones, and do our best to strengthen our family's security.

With my new found perspectives, I daringly embarked on a completely new adventure in the unknown world of insurance! At the age of 52 I was beginning a whole new chapter of life.

This blog is a documentation of my personal journey into the unknown. My Journey Into Insurance!

KC