Soutsakhone Soukphaly’s success stems from a life marked by perseverance and hard work. After escaping from Laos with her family during the Vietnam War and setting up new roots in the United States, Soutsakhone never hesitated when it came to chasing after the opportunities available in her new home. Excelling academically, Soutsakhone studied economics at the University of California Davis before starting a career with Key Bank, where she worked for seven years.
During Soutsakhone’s time with Key Bank she gained experience in financial services and learned about the importance of life insurance. Realizing that life insurance was paramount in preparing young couples and families for the unexpected, Soutsakhone became passionate about educating her clients and informing them about their life insurance options. “I’ve seen it before where people don’t have life insurance and how it can put them in a financial bind. They have to sell their house, uproot the kids. Seeing this got me interested in a career in insurance, but it took me two years to really dive in,” says Soutsakhone.
Now ready to start a career selling insurance, Soutsakhone began looking into different companies she could work for. During her research, Soutsakhone was impressed by Farmers Insurance’s emphasis on educating their clients and decided that she not only wanted to become a Farmers Insurance agent, but that she wanted to own her own agency.
Soutsakhone enrolled in the Owner Operator program at Farmers District Office 10 in University Place. With her educational and professional background, she felt like she had an advantage – and she did – but that didn’t change the fact that the work ahead would be rigorous and challenging. Luckily, she had a lot of support.
District Manager, Alec Lewis, and his experienced staff provide ongoing support throughout the entire program and after, so that agency owners have the tools and information they need to start and grow a successful agency. Soutsakhone believes District Office 10 is unlike other district offices because Lewis was an agency owner himself before stepping in as District Manager. “He understands what it’s like to be an agency owner and is able to provide resources he wished would have been there when he was an agent. He’s always there as a coach,” she says.
This type of support has been of great value to Soutsakhone and is also what she attributes to so much of her success. That and her unwavering persistence, of course. Soutsakhone recently celebrated two years as an agency owner – along with some noteworthy achievements and national recognition – and she wouldn’t trade it in for anything. “I work longer hours and have more stress, but it’s something that I’m building that’s mine. I run my own business with my own creativity. I put systems in place, hire the people I want to hire. It’s very rewarding in that sense,” she says, “And, I make way more than I did at the bank.”
One of the other perks of becoming an agency owner with Farmers is that Soutsakhone knows that, even though she’s her own boss, she will always have Farmers support to fall back on if she has questions. With continuous support and ongoing training available, Soutsakhone knows she can build a strong, successful business that she can pass down to her children someday.
Soutsakhone says selling insurance and being an agency owner isn’t for everyone though. “You have to have a certain type of demeanor,” she says. “You basically have to become a professional beggar. You have to suck in your pride, and you have to be persistent.” Soutsakhone says if you embody those characteristics, then a career in insurance could be right for you, and there’s no better place to get your training than at District Office 10. “It’s a fun place. Alec cares about his people and has a great staff on hand to help. If I had to recommend a District to go through, I’d say go with his.”
To find out more information about Farmers Insurance District Office 10, or to take the first step in making a change in your career, visit Alec’s website here. You can also read more about Farmers’ Owner Operator Program here, and learn about Farmers’ incentives for members of the military here.