34 years ago I was 24 years old and was desperately looking for a path out of the construction industry. I grew up on a farm in central Alberta and watched my parents struggle financially for my whole life. I was looking for a different way to live my life. I had a dream of living a life of adventure and travel and I needed to find a way to finance it. That lead me, after a 2 year search, to the financial industry and to this company.
Twenty-seven years ago, I dreaded getting up everyday. I was a 35-year-old logging truck driver in Lumby BC. It wasn’t that I didn’t make great money it was that I had no life. Working 16 hours a day left me with little time or energy to enjoy my beautiful wife and two amazing kids. They had a great quality of life playing sports, visiting friends, and just doing what they wanted to do. . I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.
I grew up on a farm in a small rural town in Alberta and had very limited belief in myself. I didn’t do well in school and in Junior high, I was conditionally passed to the next grade due to my low marks. I never learned much in school until grade 11 & 12 where I excelled in auto-body & mechanics. I graduated school with honours only in that field. At the age of 18 I went to work in the Alberta Oil patch. After the oil slowdown I learned to drive truck and (because nobody actually trusted me to drive their truck) I became an owner-operator of my own Semi. I bought my first truck for $65,000 and financed it at 18.5%! I had no idea what that even meant financially a the time. I drove through 48 states and 6 provinces through some of the roughest terrain in North America during my time as a truck driver.
Freedom to build a business around our lifestyle is what attracted us to Primerica. We live at a small ski resort in Northern BC and enjoy skiing, biking and running.
I began full time leaving an 18 year career as a cashier trainer and was fully licensed in June 2002 and three months later achieved my RVP promotion...3 years later I had built a referral business that allowed me to work Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm.
Flexibility of my time and schedule, helping and educating others, unlimited business growth and residual multiple income streams is what attracted me to start my own business with Primerica 20 years ago.
I started part time and appreciated having no quotas as I learned and grew my business. My aim at that time was to replace my medical office assistant income with which I was employed 30 hours per week.
Growing up, I never imagined I would have a career in financial services, because my parents were non-English speaking immigrants who worked in the trades. Prior to Primerica, I worked as a collection manager with the government of Ontario, refereed ice hockey and catered events on weekends. My wife Idalia worked full time with Bell Canada.
After a few years, of working multiple jobs 7 days a week, I realized that there had to be a better opportunity elsewhere.
I didn’t want a JOB, as control of my time was my priority. I wanted to be a stay at home Mom and also bring in an income. An acquaintance (our daughters played ringette together) approached me at the arena. He asked me if I was open to a business opportunity, we talked and I came on board in February, 1995. Matt & Sherry Hackman are now dear friends.
I had set out five goals to accomplish by the time I was 25 and one of those was to run a business. I got to see first hand that a book of business in the corporate world and having an actual business we’re two entirely different timelines.
Back in 2010, earning 200,000 a year seemed like the best you could get. I worked as a project manager for a very big Canadian company. By that time I was looking for the quality of life and income that could keep up with my goals and life list. I got intrigued by the concept of earning money while I sleep or travel, and being able to have access to earning unlimited income. And thirdly, I realized, I couldn't pass my income / job to my kids, but a business I could pass for generations. I met my wife in this business and we have been building it together ever since.
Growing up on the farm in Saskatchewan taught me many life lessons. The most important of these were: work hard and stay positive. At the age of 12 I applied these lessons and landed my first job delivering papers, shortly after babysitting, and then splitting firewood to what would prove to be a lengthy list and for the next 15 years I started and left 30+ more jobs in search of more income, freedom, fulfillment and recognition with the idea that if I wanted to have more I needed to work more.
I began my journey here in 2008 and what continues to excite me is the impact we have on peoples lives. Growing up working on a farm and doing construction in Northern Alberta, I was never taught how money works. I thought my best chance of success was to move to British Columbia and attempt a career in music. Unfortunately, my rockstar dreams never came true.
18 years ago I started a new career with Team Canada and Primerica Financial Services. I did not have any experience or formal education in the field, but I had a desire to learn and better my personal position. My education and experience came from the school of hard knocks - the best kind there is!
My 2 previous careers were that of a police officer & a paid-on-call firefighter. I had always been drawn to careers that helped people in times of need. I am thankful that my best friend introduced me to our company, 32 years ago. At first, I wasn’t interested & was quite skeptical, but he described what they had done for his family & I became intrigued.
I never thought that a career in financial services would ever have the same level of satisfaction and fulfillment, that emergency services had provided. Having the ability to right wrongs that have been perpetrated on the Canadian consumer by the traditional predatory financial industry, is greatly beneficial for our clients and fulfilling for myself
What’s your freedom date, the day you decide to take control of your future and not live a life dictated by a boss, a job, or an hourly wage? Mine was April 30, 1990… when after 3.5 years at age 22 I left my first and only job as a cashier in a grocery store.
I learned in that short period of time that I wasn’t going to last working at a job for the next 45 years so when I was offered a buyout, I took it.
In 1992 I made a decision to leave the world of the job behind. Primerica offered me the freedom of time, with a great income that I was looking for. It allowed me to be with my kids as they grew up and have influence in their lives.
I had always made an excellent income, but always worked for a large corporation, or, for someone else. Working for Myself within this company has allowed me to blend and apply my excellent work ethic with my compassion for others. Now my income is reflective of how much I love to help others. It's truly wonderful how that works! I just didn't know that this industry was the wealthiest industry in the world!
I grew up in a hard working, loving, family where there was never enough money. We had what I’d consider a great life, I just didn’t realize it was funded by credit cards and a second mortgage. While I was attending university, my Mom introduced me to an opportunity to help families learn what ours had not been taught - helping families with their finances. I would get to educate families on concepts that are so important to our success, yet these concepts are not taught in school.
I was Born and raised in El Salvador where I studied Law. However, I only worked for 1 year when I had to leave the country due to the Civil War in El Salvador. I came to Canada to study French and English, thinking I would go back after the war had ended. This never happened, I met husband and we got married. After this I became a Medical Office Assistant and worked at Women's & General Hospital and during this time we had a son.