“I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.”I hope you dance…
-Lyrics from I Hope You Dance, Lee Ann Womack
We all have dreams, but how many of us start living our dreams from the time we are small? If you’re Jennifer Vossmer, your dream became a reality even before you knew what was happening. Not long after Jennifer learned to walk, she began to dance.
“I grew up dancing since the age of three,” says Jenn. “I worked in a little studio, doing tap and ballet, a combo class that lasted about 45 minutes. By junior high school, I knew I wanted to become a professional dancer and I put all my effort into making that happen. In high school, my senior year, my principal pulled me into his office and said, ‘Jenn, I noticed you have not applied to any colleges.’ “I said, ‘right, I’m going to be a professional performer – that’s what I am going to do!’”
Focused on her passion, Jenn was chosen (6 years in a row) as one of the select few across the nation to perform in a show called, “I Love Dance – Sweethearts” at nationals in Las Vegas her senior year. “One of the choreographers told me to do this one audition and the next thing you know I got hired as a dancer on a brand new cruise ship. I was off to Florida and then to Finland even before my friends left for college! I was 18 at the time, so for the past 20 years it’s been all about dance.”
“It has been amazing. I’ve traveled all over the world, but I’ve always been the same person, open to everything and surrounding myself with good people and a good environment. I lived in Greece for nine months, the Bahamas for eight months, a cruise ship for six months, New Orleans for four months, Myrtle Beach for six months. I traveled to every state in the country danced in countries like Istanbul, Japan, and many more. If someone came to me with a dance opportunity I would jump on it. People would just call, the dance world is small. It’s a fantastic industry because if you are easy to work with and are great at what you do, you get calls. And I not only danced, but I also choreographed as well. Growing up I would say I practiced nearly 30 hours a week. I taught, ran classes, and trained in the evenings, Monday through Thursday. I did private lessons on Fridays and then had rehearsals every weekend.”
Living her purpose, through the art of dance and movement, being in the spotlight on stage, and traveling the world, life was good. During that time Jenn became a mother to two boys, Maddox and Calvin. Her dance of life, for the most part, was serving Jenn well, allowing her to live the dream she had in her heart since she was little, that is until 2020 and an intruder pulled her feet right out from under her.
The intruder, COVID-19, crushed the entertainment industry and Jenn knew that without work, her journey was about to change. She’d have to find a way to perform on a different stage in life.
Now, as a single mom, (Jenn’s relationship with her son’s dad ended five years prior), she found herself home, unemployed, and homeschooling her boys, now ages nine and six. This dance of life, as Jenn knew it, had turned upside down.
“I looked at the people collecting unemployment,” says Jenn. ” and then I looked at my boys and I knew I wanted something bigger and better for them. I started looking online at jobs where people were earning over $100,000 a year and Taraina Phillips ad came up on Facebook. I sat in on a pitch and felt like Taraina was speaking right to me. I can be in a room with a million people and I think the person on stage is talking directly to me – and as I listened I realized I can use this in my life. I did a follow-up interview with Jonathan Moore and he said, ‘you are so spunky.’ “I told him I want to make this happen and I am going to do this!”
The “this” was the beginning of Jenn’s career with USHEALTH Advisors. Since coming to USHA a little more than a year ago, Jenn has proven she can get in step with her fellow agents quickly, becoming one of the top agents in her Las Vegas USHA office, producing nearly $1.5 million and now as Field Training Agent, leading her team to issue more than $3 million in sales.
Jennifer says what she learned as a dancer is completely applicable to her work now with USHEALTH Advisors, it’s practice, hard work, and a never-say-die attitude.
“As a dancer, you are trained from the beginning to listen and to put forth your best effort every time,” says Jenn. “If you fall, you get back up and you keep going, and even if you can’t, the show must go on. We were once doing a performance and a girl hurt her ankle and couldn’t get up, my director came up and carried her off the stage and we just kept dancing. You’ve got to be coachable and work hard. When I wanted to dance I didn’t want to be an ordinary dancer. I did it because it was my passion. I know what it took to be what I wanted to be.”
“Now that I’m here at USHA, I’ve seen agents who come here and say, ‘well I’ll try it.’ “Not me, I say I am going to do that! And I can do anything I put my mind to and adjust to the training, be coachable, and then put in the hours it takes to be successful. I’ve been doing that my whole life.”
Then there’s her why in life that drives her to excel as well. After all, as Mark Twain said, the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.
“My why are my boys, they mean everything to me,” says Jenn. “They might be little, but they are my best friends. I sat them down when I started at USHEALTH Advisors and told them some things are going to be changing. I told them I’m going to be working longer hours and I want you to listen to granny, my mom and dad live nearby, and do your part and listen and do your best. I told them I’m going to try my best every day and the only way this is going to work is if we work together. I’m working harder because I want you to be able to do the things I have done. When I traveled other people paid for it, but now it’s up to me, and as a single mom, it’s on my shoulders.”
“We are going to Disney next week and my boys are just ecstatic. And they are starting to pay attention and be engaged in what I do. I took Maddie to basketball practice and he said, ‘mama how many sales did you get this week?’ “If I’m having a bad week, they say, ‘just try harder mama you’ll get one.’ “They’re only six and nine, but I don’t treat them as just kids. I talk to them as friends as well and they do understand. You just have to communicate with them and let them know what is going on.”
Jenn says she has accepted the challenge of being a single mom and working at USHEALTH Advisors and has other women ask her about the challenge as well, even some who say it can’t be done, so she wants to share some insight.
“I’ve been a single mom for five years,” says Jenn. “A lot of women are scared to leave their situation and scared to be a single mom and don’t know if they can do it. It was scary, I was with the boy’s dad for six years, and it was scary to go off on my own, but at the end of the day, we have one life to live. You can’t live your life being miserable in one aspect of it and be a good mom. I don’t want to just be a good mom, I want to be a great one. I can’t put on a happy face in one part of my life, while in the other part I’m miserable.”
“I went to therapy and I did research and I worked on myself and didn’t blame it on different things. You make your life and you make it happen. I had the boys 24/7 and when they started going to their dad’s house sometimes on the weekends and I was alone, I would cry. My boys are my heart. But I did a lot of self-focus and turned it around. People say, Jenn, ‘why are you so happy all the time?’ “I say because I honestly am, BUT I worked on it very hard and had to change my life and be positive and truly believe I can do what I wanted to do. It’s all in how you look at things. When something happens you can focus on the terrible things, or you can focus on how you can change it. I didn’t like the aspect of how my relationship was with my boy’s dad, so I changed it. I am so happy being a single mom because I can look at my life and give it my all and be happy. You have to do your best to give off positive energy and be uplifting for others. I only want to spend time with people who look at life the same way.”
Now that she’s working with USHA, and living the company’s mission of HOPE – Helping Other People Everyday – Jenn says she believes she is right where she belongs. While she may not be dancing, helping to choreograph custom-designed health plans for others and being in the right situation has become Jenn’s new passion.
“In our office, everybody is not only great at business, but everybody is a great human,” says Jenn. “I love to be around that in my personal and business life. It’s not really about the money. Yes, we work hard and get paid well for doing so, but the focus is on helping people and being a good person. Everything grows tenfold when you do that. If you asked me before the pandemic if I’d be selling health insurance I wouldn’t have believed it. But I’m in this career now and I love it. My clients tell me, ‘you make it so easy and awesome and I can tell you sincerely care’, “and I’m grateful to hear that, because yes, I actually do!”
There’s caring, but there’s also ambition, Jenn says she has the drive to make this work, to try and be the best, just like she always has.
“When I was younger there was a time I lived out in a beautiful farmhouse. After being at the studio, I would continue to practice in one of the barns on a concrete slab with my boom box. I did what I had to do. You just have to go above and beyond. If you do ordinary things you will just be good, I’m here to be the best I can be. It never stops, you can never stop learning. When I was dancing I was learning, I listened to people who are successful at what they do, regardless of their age. We have people in my office younger than me, but I listen, it’s not about age or background, it’s about what you are doing to be successful and how are you doing it. As a dancer you are not judging the teacher, you are there to learn and learn their style of choreography and make it your own. I’m doing this here at USHA as well. I’m here to learn from the best, take it, and make it my own. I trust in my leaders they have not led me wrong or disappointed me. And they prove that to me every day. They are passionate good people. So am I.”
It’s a validation of that law of the universe – almost like a scientific equation – that the people you decide to spend your time with, where they’re going, you’re going. Besides her fellow co-workers at USHEALTH Advisors, Jenn says she’s been so fortunate in life because the people she began life with have been there to help her every step of the way.
“My parents, David and Jewel are the most amazing humans I’ve ever met in my life,” says Jenn. “They’ve been together since high school and raised four kids, me, two older brothers, and my beautiful little sister. Family is what our parents instilled in us, from the time we were little, you only have one – so take advantage and be grateful for that one.”
“My parents would help anybody and everybody they can. They don’t even tell people when they’re doing it. They just do things, they’re selfless and giving people. My dad worked his whole life at the same company, became a top manager, and his employees say he is just an amazing man. I want to be like my parents and help anybody that needs help, not for the recognition, but because I have the capability to do so.”
Jenn says because of this great foundation, it’s made it easier for her to weather the storms, to dance in the rain, and then to amplify the sun and the light when it’s ready to shine.
“Everybody has things to overcome,” says Jenn. “I try to be positive and know things will work out, maybe not that day, but if you keep working hard you can accomplish anything. It’s just what I’ve kind of done my whole life. If you believe in yourself then that’s where it all begins. It starts with you. Someone can’t truly believe in you until you believe in you. If you can do that, you will be able to do anything you put your heart and soul into, because it all begins with you. It’s why I know I’m exactly where I am supposed to be, everything happens for a reason.”
With Jenn’s why, her boys, in full focus, the passion of her work defined, and her purpose to make a difference in the lives of others, Jenn says she feels like she is in perfect step, as she choreographs this next chapter – in her dance of life.
Until next time, thanks for taking the time.
Your Storyteller,
Mark Brodinsky
