“Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.” – Dalai Lama
Rebecca Privette says she’s on a mission. The mission is to take everything she’s learned, everything she’s experienced and the vision she sees – to change the lives of other people. For Rebecca, sharing is caring.
“I love sharing our opportunity,” says Rebecca. “What we do is a true blessing and my mission in life is to create mini-me’s, as many as I possibly can. That’s what this is about, HOPE, helping other people everyday and helping them see the opportunity that’s right in front of them.”
Rebecca is a Division Leader for USHEALTH Advisors, having joined the company back in 2015, the Monday right before Christmas. Rebecca says she knew in advance of that holiday her contracting with USHA would be one of the biggest gifts in her life because she already knew the man leading the charge, Troy McQuagge.
“The number one reason I joined USHEALTH Advisors was Troy,” says Rebecca. “When Troy is in charge you are in good hands. Troy cares, he has the gift of vision, he delivers on that message of hope and service, so you know you can absolutely earn more than you ever possibly dreamed.”
For much of her career with USHA Rebecca has been sharing that dream with other people, to the tune of more than $28 million in team production. She now leads three offices in Austin and Belton, Texas and another in Charlotte, North Carolina. Rebecca says she’s built to serve and to teach.
“I really love taking people to the next level,” says Rebecca. “Besides just teaching them about our products, I love teaching period. I think I wanted to be a teacher in my younger life and I’ve created these different courses here to educate the agents, from insurance 101 to marketing 101.”
Rebecca says it comes naturally – her desire to show others the way – because she learned so much from the man who led her family, her dad.
“My dad was an entrepreneur,” Rebecca says. “He worked two jobs every day to start building toward his own business, which ended up being a restaurant. I not only helped in that restaurant, but I also helped to build the building for that restaurant! I learned to read blueprints when I was only ten-years-old. But that’s where my work ethic comes from. I started working 10-12 hour days in my parent’s restaurant – flipping burgers, making shakes and serving up home-made curly fries. Once I got older there was some anger there as I watched all my friends go out and party and have fun while I worked long hours. And it wasn’t until I got into my thirties and into the insurance business that I realized the value of what my dad taught me – and how important it was for my success.”
For Rebecca however, it’s not just the success, but creating that success as a businesswoman.
Starting in the insurance business back in the early ’90s, Rebecca says she observed that it was the men who were ruling the roost. “I remember walking into my first meeting at this insurance company in Wichita, Kansas,” says Rebecca. “The boys said, ‘you know there’s never been a successful female in the midwest with this company.’ “That fired me up, I was out to beat the boys, and I did. And look how far we have come now in this industry and especially with this company when it comes to creating successful women. At least 30-percent of the USHEALTH Advisors field force, agents and leaders, are females and incredibly successful females at that!”
For Rebecca, it has been and continues to be such a great ride that she not only shares the opportunity with agents who become like family but with her own family as well.
“I love the fact we have created an opportunity for our children to come in and be successful,” says Rebecca. “I would not have allowed my daughter to come here if we were still knocking on doors every day and going into people’s homes. Years ago I was driving 600-to-700 miles a day. But knowing she wouldn’t be in that same situation makes all the difference. I am very thankful and very blessed we made the transition to virtual sales.” Rebecca says not only are virtual sales safer, and more efficient, but she points to what virtual presentations did for the company during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic – not only in increasing sales – but in the continued ability to offer this opportunity to those who lost their jobs or were furloughed.
It was exactly the virtual platform, as well as the opportunity for freedom and financial independence that eventually led Rebecca’s daughter Michelle to join the company.
Rebecca says Michelle was on her way to becoming a veterinarian after putting in the time to earn the 1000 hours needed to go to vet school. But in the spring of 2017, something changed.
“In April of that year, Michelle comes to me to tell me she got accepted to vet school in Colorado,” says Rebecca. “I was so happy for her. I was 100% behind her decision and knew all the hard work she put into it. Michelle says to me, ‘So I got accepted to vet school and it’s gonna be eight years of schooling and put me about $100,000 in debt. When I come out I will be making about $85,000 to $100,000 a year. Then she looks at me and says, ‘Are you crazy? I’m coming to work with you!’ “I had to agree,” laughs Rebecca. “I figured if she failed at this she could always go to school. What was the downside of her coming to work with me?”
“I put Michelle on April Clark’s team, April is a very tough, but successful Field Sales Leader with USHA. But first, we made Michelle go through the same interview process every agent has to go through. She made it through the interview,” laughs Rebecca. “And Michelle has been trained very, very well. I’m so excited for her to have this opportunity, as well as all the young people joining this great company.”
But just as important as the USHEALTH Advisors opportunity has been for her daughter, Rebecca says it’s this same freedom of being self-employed, of being an entrepreneur, which allowed her to be there for her family in another way, during their greatest time of need.
“One of the toughest things to happen in my life was when my dad passed away,” says Rebecca. “He was my rock and the strongest man I have ever been around. I have two brothers and a sister, but I was the only child who could drop everything and be beside him during his cancer struggle. Because of the financial freedom and flexibility the insurance world gave me, I was literally able to jump on a plane and fly to Wichita to be with and care for him and my mom. My mom was my dad’s caregiver and when he passed away and I moved her in with me. I call her my permanent guest.”
It’s the spirit of serving and giving back that Rebecca says helps her focus every day on finding and nurturing her mini-me’s, the agents she can help make successful and then develop into leaders.
“The way to achieve your own success is to be willing to help somebody else get it first.” -Iyanla Vanzant
“That’s what it’s about,” says Rebecca. “Our mission of HOPE. My aspect of HOPE is truly helping people see the opportunity, train them well and create more leaders. My goal is to add between four-to-five Field Training Agents to the team and continue to create more Field Sales Leaders. I recruit and do a virtual orientation every single day. The fact that COVID-19 happened and we as recruiters went virtual has been a blessing because we can share the opportunity and look to grow even faster than before. I love the virtual platform too because when I’m on camera, I only have to dress up from the chest up!”
For Rebecca, being a strong leader, especially a female leader is important, but she says it’s just as critically important to find happiness and meaning in what you do.
“My dad taught me at a very young age if you are not happy with what you are doing, you need to go find a new place that makes you happy. I love coming into my office and seeing my people and enjoying the day with them. What a blessing. How can you not love what you do, especially when it’s helping others, making sure self-employed, families and individuals can find affordable health coverage and showing our agents and leaders what is possible – to work hard and live an incredible lifestyle.”
For Rebecca part of that lifestyle includes cruising, not on a ship, but instead in her little red corvette. Rebecca is a sponsor of the Corvette Invasion, one of the largest gatherings of Corvettes in the nation. She also recently got her pride and joy wrapped with the USHEALTH Advisors logo and colors. It’s an artistic representation of what Rebecca loves to do, to steer her career forward – just like her favorite sports car – smart, sexy and stylish, and she is thrilled to bring others along for the ride.
“I love taking the convertible out and cruising,” says Rebecca. We sponsor one of the largest gatherings of Corvettes and I love my new wrapped beauty, that’s the car I take to the shows now.”
Wrapped up in what she is doing with her role at USHEALTH Advisors, Rebecca says she is focused on keeping the company mission alive and well. “I love sharing our opportunity, this is a true blessing, changing the lives of other people, the clients we serve and the leaders we create.”
In her early days in the insurance industry when it was simply Rebecca’s goal to beat the boys, but now, having more than proven her worth and ability, it’s Rebecca’s mission to share what she’s learned and help others to do the same.
She’s serving in life as a strong woman, a strong leader – and what Rebecca describes as her greatest accomplishment – a strong mom – mom to Michelle and to Rebecca’s son Brandon, who works in Kentucky as a firefighter and EMT and has a family of his own.
For Rebecca, it’s all about creating a living legacy of someone who loves to share and to care.
Until next time, thanks for taking the time.
You Storyteller,
Mark Brodinsky
