Too Easy

Storytelling for Business: Too Easy

“I want to leave a legacy while I’m alive, not necessarily when I’m gone.” – Marcos Figueroa

Feel the fear and do it anyway and never forget you’re in service to others. This is easy for Marcos Figueroa because it’s part of his DNA, part of his makeup as a human and part of the experience he has lived as a soldier and as a businessman.

Marcos is one of the most successful Satellite Division leaders at USHEALTH Advisors and has served two tours of duty with the U.S. military, the most recent a combat tour in Afghanistan. What he learned on the field of battle he uses to inspire and push his sales team to greatness in the civilian world.

Have a strategy, have a plan, feel the fear, but don’t let it rule your day. “I volunteered for this second tour of military duty,” says Marcos. “I knew my guys and girls were over there and I should be over there too. I was looking for a combat tour, I wanted to be with them. I was allowed to do a lot to training six months prior to my deployment to prep for the mission. On March 6th, 2013, I deployed.”

 

Understand Marcos was already having success as an agent with USHEATLH Advisors, helping more people and earning more income than he ever had before in the mortgage business, which he had been a part of in the late 90’s and up until 2008, when the market crashed. But his call to service beckoned, and still healing from the loss of his mother to breast cancer, Marcos made the choice to serve his country again. Though this time, on this tour, there were times he thought he might never return.

 

“A few times over there I was worried I wasn’t coming back,” says Marcos. “Shortly after we landed and started settling in there was a civilian airliner that crashed on takeoff. I remember it clearly, it was a windy day, dark gray clouds and you could hear the crash and see the smoke. The airliner had machinery on it that had not been secured, so the plane went up and came right back down. We drove by the wreckage and the spot where it happened every day for 30 days. That’s when the enemy rocket attacks started as well and it all became real. The Taliban would launch rockets at night mostly, firing many of them on anniversaries, like the anniversary of 9/11, the death of Osama Bin Laden, or if an Al Qaeda leader was killed, you knew another attack was coming. There’s not much you can do about a rocket. We wore improved outer tactical vests and we would run into concrete bunkers to take cover.”

Despite taking precautions Marcos says if a rocket came within 50 yards of you, life could be over. It was after September of 2013 Marcos says his group was getting hit hard. “I would shower quickly at night, or not shower at all, and get back to my area,” he remembers. “People were being killed by these rockets. We didn’t lose anyone personally in our platoon, but we lost other soldiers and airmen to rocket attacks. For me the closest a rocket came was two-to-three hundred yards away, but you don’t know when you hear it or see it coming where it’s going. It (death) could be anytime now, there is no time to talk to your family and let them know.”

Staff Sergeant Figueroa made it back home and after taking some paid leave to visit family and friends, he got back into the normal routines of civilian life. In the spring of 2014 Marcos was back at work with USHEALTH Advisors – with a renewed sense of purpose and service.

“My experience in the military makes me realize you never take things for granted. It helps me in the sense of going through that and other challenges that come my way. It has taught me not to stress about situations, just focus on what I can control and have an appreciation of the people I served, and still serve, with my leadership skills. I remind myself that not everyone has experienced the things I have experienced personally in life. And my service makes me want to do as much as possible until I am not around anymore, with no regrets. Over there (Afghanistan) I would say if it’s my time, it’s my time. I have no regrets. I’ve done a lot in my life and I am content with everything going on in my life right now. And now that I’m back, I’m cramming it all in, to do as much as I can.”

That “cramming” took Marcos and his USHEALTH Advisors team to new heights in 2016, leading his team to the top, as the number one Field Sales Leader in the company and now he’s doing it again in 2017, as a Satellite Division Leader. It’s his service to his country and the foundation of his family which Marcos credits to his success.

  

Growing up just south of Detroit in Trenton, Michigan, then moving to Cleveland Ohio, Marcos learned about his work ethic from his dad, who worked for the Ford Motor company, and his mom, who became a secretary for the Cleveland Browns. Because of her work the family got to go to the Browns games for free. Marcos says he got to bond with his dad, attending nearly every Browns home game with him. As a young man, Marcos frequently got the chance to see those warriors on the football field, before becoming one in his own right, on the battlefield, in his two tours of duty for the U.S. military.

 

Dad & Sister Dora

Marcos says despite being a class clown in high school: “my friends were smart,” says Marcos. “I goofed off, they did their homework and studied, I was trying to make people laugh,” he still managed to learn. He says there was one teacher, Mr. Pryjomski, his typing teacher, and the one class Marcos excelled in, that taught him that repetition is the mother of all learning. It’s not just practice, it’s perfect practice that makes you better. “Get great at it and get paid for it,” says Marcos.

Marcos & Erika

Despite barely graduating from high school, passing by the skin of his teeth, mainly just to make it into the Army, Marcos says he never really pursued college, but he was smart enough to find a mentor that got him into reading. “I’ve read a lot of books and I continue to read a lot of books,” says Marcos.

Inspired by books and the ability to get great at something – like sales and leadership – Marcos is now sharing his strategy of life and business success in his own bookToo Easy. Make Six Figures in Sales in Six Months, (Book 1) by Marco Figueroa, which was just published and is available on Amazon, (http://amzn.to/2fZV4dk).

  

Part of the book description reads this way:

It’s time for a change. It’s time to shift your mindset and increase your activity. It’s time to work, act, and live like a professional. Amateurs get rejected over and over again only to lose deal after deal. Professionals either win or learn, they never lose. In Book One of the Six Figure Series, Too Easy, author Marcos Figueroa obliterates the faulty thinking that has kept sales professionals from earning six figures in their first 12 months in sales. It’s time to exchange your poor people problems for rich people problems. There’s only one thing left to do. Execute!”

Marcos says he wants to leave, “my footprint on the world.” He says the book is a way to help, to educate, to inspire and be a platform for him to write other books and do seminars on success in sales. The title for the book came from Marcos’ military experience: “It was a phrase our platoon leader would always tell us – here’s the brief for the day – he would say, ‘too easy’.”

The book is also a way to give back to those who have served. 10% of all proceeds from the sales of Too Easy are being donated to the Wounded Warriors nonprofit organization. Marcos says his goal is to ultimately donate 100% of the proceeds to the charity, (https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/).

It’s all about service, giving back and providing that living legacy.

“I just don’t want people to go through the normal routine of life, there is too much out there to see and to do. There are so many people to impact who need our help. Life goes by very quickly. We don’t work our butts off during our life to then just sit home and watch TV. Don’t grind Monday to Friday to go through the weekend and go through the motions. Don’t be selfish. Be worried about other people. The more people you help, the more gratification you are going to get. Be tired and worn out at the end of every day. If you are not, then you are not doing enough.”

In other words, live and strive to reach your potential. Don’t just take it too easy.

Until next time, thanks for taking the time.

Your Storyteller,
Mark Brodinsky

Recent Posts

The Constant is Change – Michelle Hensley
“Everything is sales.” – Morgan Housel, Author, Same as Ever Discipline, focus, setting goals, working hard. We could end the story right...
Read More about The Constant is Change – Michelle Hensley
Pick Yourself Up – Jordan Shaked
“Success is measured by how high you bounce when you hit the bottom.” – General George Patton Since coming to USHEALTH...
Read More about Pick Yourself Up – Jordan Shaked
2024 Season of HOPE
Giving back to our communities through service and love for others is who we are at USHA USHA - Dallas,...
Read More about 2024 Season of HOPE