I Come From Nothing
It’s been said the journey of a thousand miles begins with the very first step.
Mairelys Rojas knows all about this journey because the one she endured gave her and her family a new lease on life. Without that journey, USHEALTH Advisors would be without one of its top leaders in the past several years.
“I was born in Cuba,” says Mairelys (who prefers to be called May), “and in 1994, when I was six years old, almost seven, my father had the idea to leave. So we fled the country on a boat and came over here to Florida. It was a tough trip, on a 24-foot boat with 32 people on it. My grandmother, grandfather from both sides, uncles, cousins, and all of our immediate family – were all on that boat.”
“My mom did not explain what was going to happen. It was the middle of the night and they had everything planned out. My mom said, “Okay, well, we’re going to go see your sister in college.” I thought, okay, it’s another trip to college. But then we get in a Jeep with 15 people inside. You could barely breathe. Everybody had to be quiet as we went through the forest – traveled for miles to find a small canoe that was underneath the water. Everything was marked, everything was strategic, it was all planned out. You couldn’t make a noise and you just had to do everything you were told. And we get on this canoe to wait for our boat. I mean it, it’s like a movie. Insane.
“It was a unbelievable story, just having to travel and the sacrifices that my father made to make this whole thing happen. I mean, there are so many people that I’m sure you’ve heard that lost their lives in the process of trying to come to the United States for the American dream, but we made it. We were very lucky. The whole process was very stressful. We shouldn’t have made it. We got saved by a group of Cubans that were already here in the states and they had their own plane. They would circle the waterways between Cuba and the United States in search of those people that were leaving Cuba and save them. And we got saved by them because we were actually drifting. We ran out of fuel and we were drifting to Guantanamo Bay, which is where there are detainees and everybody is still in jail. And so thanks to those people looking out for us is how we were able to actually make it here to the United States. So it was just unbelievable.”
“Back then around 1994, Key West, Florida had refugees, stations. So back in the day, it was wet foot, dry foot. If you landed in the states, you were good. They couldn’t send you back. So they had those refugees camps. We landed there and then they provided us with food. We had clothes, they gave us toys, and then we traveled to Miami where we started our documentation process, getting our social security numbers, our information licenses, all that good stuff. So then I lived in Miami for years.”
It’s a tale of risk-taking, hope, faith and a vision for a better life – almost a metaphor for what May experienced when she came to USHEALTH Advisors, since to go after a new dream and a new life, you must share the same attributes that got her family from Cuba to the US. May lives and breathes this courage and confidence. Since joining USHA in August of 2020, May has issued more than $5 million in personal insurance policies and as a Field Sales Leader her teams have produced nearly $8 million in business.
That’s the “now,” but May’s past still drives her adult desires for the best life possible, for her and her family. May’s appreciation of this life in the US is a dream come true, and she never forgets the road she took to get to the life she currently enjoys.
“Childhood was really good,” says May. “I never understood our struggle because my family always provided everything, as much as they could. We didn’t have much, so I didn’t understand what it was to ask for something because we didn’t have it. My dad was a fisherman in Cuba, so we had food that he was able to bring and provide for our family. And then my mom’s side of the family had farms, so we always had food on our table. I remember when my mom tells me stories now, how she would have to save every penny to provide and to be able to give me either a dress, or a pair of shoes, or put food on the table. So now is when I understand those struggles. But when you were that age, you really don’t get it.”
May lived in Miami until age 27, going to school there and then ended up earning an Associate’s Degree in business and a minor in accounting. But throughout most of her high-school and post high-school career, May was working, she wanted to be independent, and also watching her parents, knew the value of hard work to get what you want.
“Coming from that lifestyle where I saw how much my father and my mom worked, I always understood I wanted my own money too,” says May. “And so I started working when I was 17-years-old. And I worked at Publix. And then when I graduated high school, I started working in sales at what is now LA Fitness. I was in the fitness industry for a long time, for years, right before I came on board with USHEALTH Advisors. Sales was always what I inclined to do. I always gravitated to that.”
“So I’m working at LA Fitness, and one of my employees who I became really good friends with, Gershom (Gee) Fernandez, decided to leave and told me about USHEALTH Advisors. I also met my wife, Vanessa, at the club and she decided to leave LA Fitness before me to try and work with USHA. But Vanessa really didn’t like it much. Gee had told me everything that he was doing at USHA, and I said, well, if you can do it, then I can do it. My wife and I wanted to start a family, and I needed flexibility, and it was COVID time so I didn’t want to be at the gym where you could pick up so many germs, so that’s when I stepped in and told Vanessa, I can work with USHA instead… and so I did. It started virtual and I took off from there.”
May says she had no choice but to make it work at USHEALTH Advisors, because she had people relying on her, Vanessa and now a baby on the way.
“I understood the foundation of this was hard work,” says May. “I was already putting in 60 hours a week at the fitness facility. So now transitioning to being a 1099 self-employed individual, and not having that W-2 paycheck every two weeks, that was the hard part for me. I had a wife at home who I’m supposed to support. I have my son who is going to be born soon. So I was like, “Okay, I’ve got to make this happen. There’s no other option. I can’t turn back.” So I worked hard. I was working from eight o’clock in the morning to 11 or 12 o’clock at night, just doing as many dials as possible, trying to make it happen. I knew that if I put in as much effort and I put in the time every day, Monday through Sunday, no matter what it was, just in front of that laptop, I knew I was going to make it happen.”
What helped May is what has helped so many agents, with no prior experience, to find unparalleled success at USHEALTH Advisors – mainly the support, encouragement and accountability – of great leaders.
“I was very lucky,” says May. “I was lucky that I had my best friend Gee, who was working for the company and he was the one that was able to teach me everything. So Gee came and then he brought in Scott Vitali and Scott also helped me so much, as did Brian Velasquez. We’re also very close personally, and when you have that support and see that in the beginning of their careers they’re having so much success – and see their work ethic and watch what they’re doing – you’re like, “Alright, well I’ve got to make this happen. If they can do it then I can do it too.” My wife Vanessa also understood the sacrifices I had to make to be successful, because she first tried to do this, so she knew the hours that I had to put in, she understood and she was my backbone. She is the one that held everything down while I was in the office trying to start my career.”
“I met Garrett Laughlin as well and he kind of took me under his wing. And I met his dad, “Pops”, Michael Laughlin. I mean, they’re just humble people. They’re so genuine and they take you in. All you can do is be thankful. You do have to work your ass off to to show that you deserve everything that this company offers you. And I just kind of trusted the process. I knew that I had to sacrifice time for me to have what I have now. So I always understood that from the beginning.”
Now, four years+ into her career at USHA and working as a Field Sales Leader, May says she has witnessed first-hand, how this company impacts people.
“My life has changed completely,” says May. “I will never forget where I came from because that’s my motivation and that’s my drive. I always think about the struggles, but I’m living the American dream. This is what people come here for and USHEALTH Advisors can provide that.”
“They give you the system here and they give you the opportunity and then the sky’s the limit. All you have to do is put in the work, put in the time, and you’ll be able to reach all the milestones and become successful. When I was working in the fitness industry I did okay, but I mean, I was working really hard for someone else, for a corporation, for them. But as far as building my own book of business, my own clients, I never had that before… until coming to USHA. I never experienced anything like this. My dad is a construction worker who never liked school, never graduated from college or anything like that, because all he knew was work hard with his hands to provide for the family. And my mom is the educated one, she got to go to school, get a degree, and become a teacher. But for them, till this day, they really don’t understand what it is to be self-employed, because they’re used to having a title and working for a company.”
Between seeing how her family has always worked hard – and what she learned working, for years, in the corporate, May believed she had all the tools to want to dive into leadership.
“I think with the experience I got from LA Fitness, I understood how to be a general manager and to run a club, I learned how to hire, how to train, how to handle customer service, develop people, all that good stuff. With USHA, I have a team of about 40 agents. I love helping. I really, really love helping people to reach their maximum potential. But you always feel like you could do even more. When you feel like you matter – and can make a difference – you want to share yourself with others. Being in this environment gives you that ability and that opportunity that you can show people how much you care and how much you value them. I mean, it kind of sounds cheesy, but it’s really how it is. I never had that before. So that’s why for me, being in this environment where everyone is so driven and you have so much potential, and still have some time for your family, I would never see myself doing anything else.”
From Cuba, to the United States, to her journey to find her way to USHEALTH Advisors, May says the struggle has been worth the risk and the ride is a great one.
“They always say hard work pays off, but there’s a lot more challenges to that. I mean, honestly, I would say my drive, my sacrifices, my motivation, are all about my family. My kids, 4-year-old Chase and 1-year-old Luke, they are my motivation. So is Vanessa. They’re my drive and my energy, everything that I do is to provide for them. They are everything that I am. And although hard work pays off, when you have an opportunity and a company like USHA, that provides so much, you have so much respect for that, especially when you come from nothing. So I have a lot of respect for the company and have a lot of respect for what I do and what I’ve done, because I come from nothing. And so for me, I am proud of who I am and the opportunity that I’m a part of and that I offer to others.”
It was under a night sky and the cover of darkness when May and her family first began their dangerous journey to escape from Cuba. But the light that appeared in their lives when they arrived in America has led the family to joy and fulfillment. May found her way to USHEALTH Advisors and has now built a family and is living her dream.
She might come from nothing, but May found her way to a place in life where she has so much more to give.
Until next time, thanks for taking the time.
Your Storyteller,
Mark Brodinsky
