It was a great honor for Rick and me to be invited to the Pacific Life Educational Symposium at the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, California. The invitations were earned by 400 of the top independent life insurance producers in the country.  The event is much more than a reward for these top producers. It is educational in nature and has three main benefits for the attendees.

In the morning we would enjoy many different keynote speakers that spoke on items like personal growth, leadership, failure, deepening relationships, essentialism, innovation and many other items that would be important to any successful professional regardless of the industry you were in.  

The speakers included Admiral William McRaven, Greg McKeown, Molly Fletcher, Kindra Hall, Anders Sorman-Nilsson, Steve Levitan and the one and only Magic Johnson.  Admiral William McRaven who is former Commander of U.S. Special Operations and orchestrated the Bin Laden raid was one of my favorites, but Magic Johnson’s talk about competition and being a winner was amazing. Pacific Life wanted us to leave a better “us” and we sure did.  

In the afternoon, we spent time in industry-specific sessions discussing and collaborating on important planning strategies and products for our clients. The topics varied from tax planning,  estate planning, business owner planning and of course life insurance planning. We spent time in sessions about the new tax code 199A, premium finance, employee benefits designs, long-term care, succession planning for business owners and five underutilized strategies for business owners.  

In the evening the goal was to network and collaborate in a social and fun atmosphere.  This included some great dinners and a beach party. It is not often you get 300 of the top producers in the country together. We were able to share experiences, stories, and ideas. It was great for Rick and me to share the success we have been having at Camas, but even more important to take pieces of the success the other advisors are having back with us.

While it is four days away from our families and clients we are very honored to attend and excited to bring the new ideas and personal growth back to our affinity partners and clients.