Community Matters – Daniel Mead

Here’s a question that might seem off-topic for a business story, but stick with me, and it will all become clear. Have you ever paid close attention to the sports of shot put and discus? Many people have watched them in the Olympics, but how closely have you studied them? Shot putters and discus throwers need a combination of strength, speed, balance, agility, and explosive power to be successful.

And so, there you have it, the magic equation to a successful career in sales. 🙂

The strength and courage to begin. The speed to go from one task to another or to get to that new lead before the next person does. The right balance of a lot of hard work, long hours, and free time. The agility to wear all the hats necessary for your business, from prospecting to selling to servicing. The explosive power needed each day to keep going at the highest level.

Maybe that’s why Daniel Mead experienced such a fast start at USHEALTH Advisors. Since high school, he’s been an expert in those two sports. Push that shot as far as it will go, and throw that discus flat and true. Launch yourself into sales and include all the extraordinary traits already mentioned.

Push, throw, repeat.

Daniel Mead

In only 14 months, between November 2023 and the writing of this story (January 2025), Daniel has produced more than $3 million in individual insurance sales at USHA. That’s called going above and beyond. Athletic prowess and smarts transitioned into business acumen with grit and determination.

Strength, speed, balance, agility, and explosive power. Daniel has it all. He’s been on a record-setting pace at USHA and credits so much of it to simply being part of a tribe, rather than a lone wolf.

For Daniel, being part of a group means being part of something special.

Mind you, Daniel has always been able to make it on his own. Describing himself as a life-long learner, through trial and error, Daniel changed paths, changed states, and changed career trajectories. It worked well, but it was always work. Daniel was a solo entrepreneur on an island, making waves, but soon realizing he wanted to be part of something more.

A lot more.

Daniel grew up on the New Jersey shore, with his parents, who have been married for more than three decades now, and a sister, five years older than he.

For most of his life and even into his junior year in college at Cornell University, Daniel believed he wanted to be a doctor. Then, after an internship experience he didn’t enjoy, Daniel changed his mind. So late in the college game, he had to reboot, pivot and redesign his goals. He graduated from Cornell with a degree in biology, as well as a love for teaching. First and foremost he wanted to be an educator, so he started tutoring, as well as continuing to explore the world of science.

“I actually got a clinical research job at the University of South Florida,” says Daniel. “So I moved down south to Tampa. While working the clinical research job, I was still doing tutoring on the side and I started doing online tutoring for biology, chemistry, physics, anything science related. I just loved teaching it. It was just very therapeutic and easy for me. And people, for whatever reason, they loved learning from me. So I kept doing that and that’s where I got the bulk of my income, because typically if you do well, you get referrals.”

“I soon gave up the clinical research and I was tutoring literally 12 hours a day, seven days a week, for five months straight. I wasn’t hanging out with anybody, wasn’t doing anything else. And it was great. But it was getting to the point where I would get to my fifth student of the day and I would literally be half asleep and they’re like, “Do you want to reschedule in a couple of days?” Because I wouldn’t be able to comprehend what they’re saying. I realized I had to pull it back a little bit, but that’s kind of how my post-college life went for the first year out of college.”

To lighten his tutoring load, Daniel decided he would need to delegate and expand.

“I got a couple of tutors under me and we started coordinating clients,” says Daniel. “And that’s when I started getting a taste of the business life and having people work for you. And I’m going to be honest with you, it was a very interesting thing and it’s something I was definitely curious to learn more about. I never really took a business class. I just knew that I liked working hard and I liked seeing the direct results of the effort that I put in.”

“The issue for me was I didn’t have a community. I was in my room for 12 hours just teaching. And for me, my personality, I can do the same thing every single day, and it takes a lot for me to get bored. I’m a very routine-oriented person. So this new career in sales, I’m not going to say it’s easy, but it’s very manageable for me.”

“But with the tutoring I was getting burned out and I pulled back the hours I was working and recognized how important having a community was for me. I thought back to college, I thought back to high school, just how important it was having people around me that supported me. And I thought, “Okay, I can keep doing this tutoring thing, but it’s a very individual experience, and it wasn’t bringing me the fulfillment I needed. So the funny thing is I applied for a sales position to make money, but honestly, I would’ve been content if I maintained my current income. The biggest thing, I just wanted to be around people. I literally just wanted to be around people, that was it. In a weird way, if I kept making multiple six figures, I’d be happy. I didn’t need to make $10 million. I was like, I just want to hang around people and make money.”

“I was earning a good living working mostly by myself, but if there are people that care about me, people who can support me and just friends to go out with on the weekends, that’s the most important thing for me. For a long time I thought it’s really not that important to have a big community, but that was when I already had that lifestyle. And then I voluntarily changed that life after college and I realized the importance of getting back to the group. So that was my number one driving force. You can ask my leaders – they asked why I joined sales. I wanted a community, a group of people to rely on and ultimately to rely on me as well.”

“We are not made to live alone. We are all part of a tribe, connected by invisible threads of love and belonging.”  – Anonymous

We all want to be seen, heard, and understood; it’s not easy to do that alone. When you only have the opportunity to talk to yourself and only be around you, it’s hard to get out of your own way. We’re all part of a social tribe, and need others to fuel us as well. Daniel thought he was different, but soon learned he’s like everyone else. Though once he was aware, he was still scared.

“Honestly, the day I was walking into that office in Tampa, I was terrified’” says Daniel. “For me, I’m pretty good in the confines of what I consider to be my realm of expertise, but when you get me outside of my comfort zone, it takes a lot for me to get comfortable. So I hadn’t been in any situations like this, this was my first interview. I pull up and for the actual group interview, and I was literally shaking. I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is overwhelming. Then they walk me through “the pit” in the office, I see all these guys having so much success, having a good time and I’m thinking I’m like a little guppy in a big pond here.”

“But AJ Baker, who was a Division Leader at the time, but is now a Regional Leader, he finished up the pitch and AJ just has a way with words. He’s a cool cat, he’s very chill and I ended up signing on that day. And then honestly, I came in every single day that week just to study for the exam. I didn’t even do any training yet, I didn’t do any dialing. I was just so consumed by the culture of the environment. This was exactly what I was looking for. So that got me hooked from the very beginning. And from then, it was a continuous effort, and I started to see the results of that effort.”

“I have to say though even though I started that November in ’23 I really didn’t capitalize on open enrollment that first year. Frankly, because I didn’t really know what I was doing in the most concise way possible. So I kind of had to find my groove and figure out my footing, and I didn’t understand what prospecting is. I’d never taken an entrepreneurship class. I didn’t understand what margins were. I just dialed, I just called people and I was like, “Okay, all right, I’m getting some traction here and there.” And I think back to my foundation of being a life-long learner and so I started to figure out what worked and what didn’t work very, very quickly – a lot quicker than my peers. But obviously the constant there is effort. Effort is always going to work, but if you apply your efforts towards different avenues and fail forward – and fail quickly – you can see the most optimal way to get the most out of your constant effort.”

Sounds like a scientific equation. And why not, math and science never lie. The magic is in the numbers. And Daniel knows numbers matter.

“I feel like what I fundamentally grasped a lot more than other people is just numbers,” says Daniel. “And if you give yourself more shots at the basket than the guy next to you, even if you have a lower shooting percentage, you’re still going to score more points. So that’s what I understood. I’m like, “Okay, there are almost 400 million people in America. If I get myself in front of more people than the guy next to me, I don’t care if he’s a better closer than me, I’m going to get more deals than him.”

“So that’s what I did. And essentially I just optimized systems. I did more outreach. I started to really understand the importance of investing in my business and the fact that this actually is a business and just making sure to do right by your clients. That’s how you get referrals. Don’t try to pull one over on people and genuinely put them in a better situation than they were prior to getting on the phone with you. It makes it a lot more fulfilling to come in here and know that you’re actually making the world a better place. It’s very important to me.”

What’s also important is to invest in yourself and in your business. Learn from others who have been where you are and are now having the success you want to experience. Everyone has lessons to share, successes and failures.

“I didn’t truly understand the importance of investing into a business until I had a conversation with, Justin Pilloise, he’s now a fellow Field Training Agent, like me. Justin has a team, and they’re doing great. And I sat down with him because during my first open enrollment I saw he wrote over $500,000 in AV. To me, he was like Superman.

“And I’m here beating my head against the wall on the dialer, calling and not getting much traction, and every five minutes, Justin’s dropping another huge policy in the group chat. So, to me, it was like I’ve got to talk to this guy, but I was so nervous to speak to him. I finally built up the courage to talk with him and Justin is such a cool guy. He taught me so much about just understanding how to fundamentally grasp investments in a business. And that’s when my issued average AV, I think went from $20K a week to $55K a week, and it’s been stable there, very consistent. Last week I wrote over $100K in a week, but my production has been stable for a very long time. I know that investment, that true concept that your system is going to work and having belief in your system and your prospecting methods, is probably one of the most important parts of selling – other than, obviously, being a really good communicator. So I just started understanding margins and even if I spent $3000 a week in leads, if I made $6,000 that week, I actually made my $3000 back right? And then I could reinvest it in back into the business.”

We all can use a little help from our friends. Once Daniel learned to reinvest in himself and his business, he created new momentum, now pushing his numbers higher and further – just like he had pushed that shot put or thrown that discus. Daniel knew the value of doing the reps and increasing his strength, in his body or in his business.

“I think it’s that fire,” says Daniel. “You have to find somebody with that fire inside of them to learn from. The reason I went from a scrawny freshman to one of the top five in the state in shot put and discus in the span of four years, is because you’ve got to be someone who has that intensity inside you. It’s going to help with anything competitive, whether it’s athletics, academics, or sales, you can focus on that competition. That’s kind of an intrinsic thing. I’ve always had that – when I do something I’m one of those people who are naturally going to want to gravitate toward the extremes. When I do something, I’m not going to do it and not put my all into it. Same thing with the tutoring I was doing after college. If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it 12 hours a day, seven days a week. I’m not going to do it for three hours here, three hours there. And the same thing with sports too. If some guy’s standing across from me trying to beat me, in the nicest way possible, that’s going to piss me off and that’s going to make me want to push even further and do even more.”

For Daniel, it’s all about the more, in his production as a USHEALTH Advisor, and in how he wants to lead his team, having been promoted to a Field Training Agent. It’s what Daniel has always wanted, to be around other people.

“I’ve never been in a management position once in my life, and so it’s uncharted territory,” says Daniel. “It’s a lot of everything now – making sure everybody’s happy. It’s making sure all my agents are happy, making sure my assistant’s happy, and checking all the boxes and realistically, if everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to do, the team is going to thrive. So it’s definitely shifted a lot more from individual prospecting to more team maintenance. I treat my team more like a family. We’ll go out together. We have a good time together. One of my best agents was an organic recruit I brought on that I met in Tampa, while I was still doing the tutoring, and he’s awesome. I think he’s in his 8th week and already over $500K AV, so he’s doing phenomenal, I’m super proud of him. I think the best way to grow a team, from what I’ve seen thus far – you have to get a bunch of people who already trust you and then trust the process. If there’s an innate connection there, then you have an opportunity to strengthen it. And I believe from there you can grow something super special.”

“I’m excited to introduce people to this opportunity because when you bet on yourself in life and you truly have confidence in who you are and what you can accomplish, you’re never going to lose. So essentially, we have to find people like that. People who are willing to bet on themselves, people who get goosebumps doing that. And that’s a very specific type of person. It’s a very small percentage of the American population. So especially in a sales environment, and focusing on 100-percent commission, for most people, that scares the ever-loving you-know-what out of them. You’ve got to find the people who, get very excited to have this chance – and they understand what the opportunity actually holds and how you can capitalize on it. I think, especially going into leadership, you can change somebody’s life using this vehicle called USHEALTH Advisors.”

“And I think that is something special because try finding an opportunity like this anywhere else, where anybody can succeed with no prior education. Even the Ivy league schooling I received was not really necessary for this job, but I learned so many lessons, which allowed me to excel here. There are so many different things that you can do and so many lives you can change once you give the right person this opportunity, and at least lately, that’s what’s been bringing me a lot of fulfillment, and a lot of joy.”

Helping Other People Everyday. The opportunity to work, to give, and to serve. It’s at the core of leadership and the core of what Daniel was looking for when he joined USHA in late 2023, a place to call home, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other people focused on a common mission, common goals, and all who share common values.

It’s what you might call community. And for Daniel, especially, Community Matters.

Until next time, thanks for taking the time.

Your Storyteller,

Mark Brodinsky