These days to have a truly successful business, you’ve got to change the way you look at things because when you change the way you look at things, things change. If you want to realize true and lasting success you can’t focus on the old principles of selling, consumer to consumer, (C2C), business to business, (B2B)… instead, it’s the simplest of philosophies and the most meaningful, it’s (H2H)… human to human.
Brianna Matthiesen has that concept down to a science because she leads with her heart.
Brianna loves people.
“I would say my greatest accomplishment, despite all the work I still have to do at 26-years-old, is I choose to get up every day, no matter what, and keep going for one reason, other people. I wake up every day and thank God for another day of life, to choose success, to show up for someone else, be happy and look at the bright side of things. That’s my genuine nature.”
Brianna says it’s her love of nature, especially the water, which brings her peace and a closeness to a higher power that fuels her life and her mission, to be there for others, to give back in a way that some might find extreme. But giving is living and Brianna says she knows no other way to live.
“I live right on Biscayne Bay in Miami,” says Brianna. “And I find God in the bay, in the ocean, in the water, it brings me peace. I know that for me to do all that I do and all I have been doing, I have to be on the water. The moment I get up and the moments before I get to bed are priceless to me because I get to see the water. In the morning I walk along the water, and before bed, I do the same.”
Apparently, that peaceful practice is working… because the future is bright for Brianna, as is the present.
Now serving as a Field Training Agent out of a small Miami office, Brianna and her team have produced more than $7 million in sales since 2019 – and since joining USHA about three years ago, she has personally issued more than $2 million.
But Brianna is adamant about the fact that for her this business is not about the dollars and cents, she says what makes sense to her is the purpose, to be the best leader she can possibly be by showing others that she cares, and admittedly she says, sometimes too much.
“By living our mission of HOPE, (helping other people everyday), it can also be my biggest flaw at times,” says Brianna. “Even when things are going wrong, I can get criticized for being too giving and too kind. But I don’t know how not to be. If you focus on that thought of doubt, then you feed that animal. I want to be forgiving and I can be too giving, but I want to be kind and look at the bright side of things. I want to feed the good.”
“We have a very small office in Coral Gables, and I’m a little scared day-to-day because in an office as small as mine, everyone has influence and everyone makes an impact. If someone is having a bad day, everyone feels it. It matters to me how every agent feels because it impacts everyone. But I tell them on the days you don’t feel like showing up for yourself, then still show up and think about the other people. I want us to build a foundation and a strong structure and I know we are.”
“I try to set the example. My mental state is my own greatest challenge, where my mind sometimes goes. We can fall into a pit of depression or laziness and it gets in our head and doubt takes over. I have to actively work on my own mind because it challenges me so much. But I show up every day, no matter what the heck is going on. You might not know what is going on in my life, or if I’m sad. It’s hard work, but you have to make it happen because other people are relying on you.”
Like many of the people and many of the stories that land at the doorstep of USHEALTH Advisors, it wasn’t always an easy path for Brianna, in fact, when speaking with her you can surmise that she gives so much now, because for a time, quite a long time at that, she had so much taken away. Even a beautiful shell can shield a wounded heart. The trick, and the benefit for others is not to broadcast your wounds, but to share your scars. The lessons come from how you managed to overcome.
“There is a lot in my childhood that I had to overcome,” says Brianna. “Born and raised in Miami, my parents divorced when I was 15-years-old, and I ended up at the center of the entire thing, a custody battle. I had to switch schools a bunch of times, and I’m sure that is why one of the biggest things I crave is stability and I work insanely hard because I grew up with a lot of insecurity.”
Brianna says she loves both of her parents very much, but she eventually ended up with her dad. Brianna says her experience living with him and his personality, made her a daddy’s girl.
“If you met him you’d know why,” says Brianna. “He’s just the coolest guy. He looks like Captain America. He’s so funny and smart. I’ve never met anyone more intelligent than my father. He knows everything about everything. You can be in the middle of nowhere, see a tree and he can tell you the history of that tree… and you can fact check him on it! He reads books and books and books, maybe a hundred books a year. He never stops reading or educating himself on everything. I can tell my dad anything and everything and know I will never be judged. He knows everything about me and accepts me and that can be hard sometimes. He’s my best friend. I love him.”
Besides the love for her father, Brianna says she also has a couple of “kids” in her life, Baxter and Baylee.
“I have a pomeranian, had him for ten years and his name is Baxter,” says Brianna. “At one time in my life, about ten years ago, there were quite a few deaths in my family and it was hard to cope with, I needed a stable friend. My dad was a pilot and he was gone for five-to-six days a week.”
“So I got my boy, Baxter, my pomeranian. A while back I also got my girl, Baylee, my mini-Aussie. They get along, although I think Baxter loves Baylee more than Baylee loves Baxter.”
Brianna says she loves her career as much as her pets, which now that she has an office (she used to train her team out of her own apartment), she makes the conscious choice to put the dogs in daycare each day while she leads her pack at USHA.
“My day begins early,” says Brianna. “I get up at 4:30 am to be at the gym. I get back from the gym by 6:30 am and walk my dogs by the water, and usually, it’s still dark outside. I watch the sunrise and I talk to God, who I know is there in the water. Then I have 30 minutes to shower, get ready and drop my dogs at daycare and make it to the office by 8 am. I really don’t take a break in the middle of the day unless my brother asks me to go to lunch. I’m a one-woman show there in the office as a leader, there is no Field Sales Leader, no Satellite or Division leader, it’s just me. I have to pick my dogs up by 8:30 at night, but I will come back to the office if one of my agents has a late appointment. It’s usually an unknown until late in the day, but I have to be there for them. The best producers dial until 10 pm or 11 pm. This means I usually get back and walk the dogs along the water and get to bed by 11:30 pm. Then start all over again.”
It’s commitment, it’s collaboration, it’s caring – and caring enough to invite some unexpected surprises.
“Not that long ago I brought on someone who I knew as a kid was problematic,” says Brianna. “Everyone told me not to contract him, but he’s a dad now and I wanted to give him a chance. I gave him that chance and he quit twice and came back and then ended up quitting for good. On his way out he told me, ‘thanks for the chance and I have a friend to refer you as well.’ “As a parting gift he sends me this guy, Jeff Turcotte and it turns out Jeff is a gift! He’s one of my best agents, he’s one of the top agents in the country. He’s the best presenter that I have ever heard. Plus he’s so funny and brings so much energy to the room – he’s everything the team needed. I would have never had Jeff on my team if I hadn’t given the other person a chance. It proves you just never know what can come from a situation. The other guy ended up giving more than he ever got. Jeff is a blessing to me.”
Brianna says she feels like this has all been a blessing. She says she wouldn’t have found USHEALTH Advisors if not for Seth Dorne, a childhood friend, who is now an incredibly successful Division Leader for the company.
“Seth offered me the opportunity to be his assistant,” says Brianna. “I did well with him and I knew his ultimate goal was to get me licensed and to join this career. I eventually did, but I was still going to school, and right as I got licensed I was offered a full ride to the University of Miami. I ended up with two bachelor’s degrees, one in psychology, kind of my hobby, and another in communication studies in public advocacy. I was on the pre-law track. I wanted to be a mediator for divorce estates. Law had been my goal since I was young. I actually started working with USHA really just to take a break from school. I wanted to build residual income for a year or two and then go to law school. But once I started on this mission of HOPE I realized this is my family, I’ve got a team full of friends and there’s no way I’m going anywhere.”
Brianna says her friends and her faith keep her grounded. She attends church every Sunday, sometimes with her mom who Brianna says helped teach her discipline as well, and is very faith-based, always looking out for others and sharing her beauty, from the inside and the outside.
Brianna says her focus on a higher power and her work for a higher purpose keep her focused and both are at the foundation of her life. If she sees God in the water, she knows she sees the company’s mission of HOPE in her present and in her future.
“Our culture is beautiful and I want to preserve that,” says Brianna. “I want to build more leaders who are not blinded by the money but instead blinded by their love for people. We have 14 agents now and I want to have 30 on my team by the end of the year. I don’t feel like my life is my own, it’s meant to be shared. My joy is showing up and being the best leader I can possibly be, being there for other people.”
Until next time, thanks for taking the time.
Your Storyteller,
Mark Brodinsky
