Being an advocate for my clients comes easy for me. If I have to call an underwriter and twist their arm a little bit because I understand that the client is a great risk, or if I have to hound my team to get documents organized quicker, I will do that until the desired result is there.

That was not always the case. I lost many a client because I didn’t follow up with clients or underwriters or others involved in the process diligently enough. I didn’t’ want to bother them, knowing how busy they are. I didn’t want to tell them for the fifth time, something they already knew. And by being the “nice” guy, I got overlooked. A lot.

Documents magically seemed to get lost, the last possible day things needed to get in was always a scramble, other producers seemed to get priority status, among other things. I started to wonder what about me was keeping people from being cooperative. I had a meeting with my boss and he told me I was too nice. He said I was always trying to help everyone succeed except myself.

While being so giving was a great personality trait, it wasn’t going to get me the results I needed in the demanding job I had. I needed to put myself at the front of the line. It occurred to me how many areas of my life I was doing this!!!

I had recently discovered the badger and adopted it as my spirit animal. Lucky timing, because I needed that boost of badger energy. Now the saying is, be the ‘badger not the mouse’, and I don’t tolerate being ignored or put at the back of the line. Don’t worry, I’m still very giving and kind, but only until the badger needs to come out.