Aside from being an introvert, Faith Lariosa Mislang, a certified public accountant and a registered nurse by profession, admits that she never imagined that she would thrive in the insurance industry. That’s why it came quite as a surprise when she was included among Insular Life or InLife’s “Club of Honors” awardees as Top Group Producer for production year 2021.
“The emotional game in this career is too much to take, so that if you’re not grounded on the belief that you are called for the mission to advocate financial literacy, you cannot survive,” she said in an e-mail interview with BusinessMirror.
“I never planned to become a financial advisor. It just happened and I believe, it is an answered prayer to my search for a purpose and healing. On January 1, 2016, Insular Life took me in as a licensed financial advisor and that was the beginning of my journey,” she said.
The Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology graduate said that after years in the banking and nursing professions, she worked in a power generation company in Cebu. After three years, she resigned from her job due to the sudden demise of her brother.
“I started this career as a financial advisor not knowing what to do after I resigned from my job in the power plant. I just wanted to heal from the tragic loss of my brother and use fitness and the gym as part of my coping mechanism. That’s how I met Odette Lleva Po who later became my manager at InLife,” she said.
From reluctant to “master” financial advisor
Upon learning the ropes of the insurance business and mastering the role of a financial advisor, Mislang eventually realized the importance of her new-found career and reaped the success of her hard work.
“The role of financial advisors is crucial. We encourage and convince the breadwinner of a family to protect his or her income from untoward events such as sickness and death. We help people understand that insurance is not just about protecting their family’s future but also their own future by the time they reach retirement,” Mislang stressed.
From then on, there was no backing out from her new-found mission as a financial advisor. She discovered that there’s so much space to grow in the insurance industry, not just professionally but also personally. The profession set her free from an eight-hour job, and gave her the opportunities to travel to attend international training conferences all over the world.
“My first pre-pandemic incentive was in Malaysia during the 16th Asia Pacific Life Insurance Congress in May 2017. I was so amazed with the thousands of delegates coming from all walks of life (doctors, nurses, lawyers, accountants, engineers, teachers, businessmen, husbands, wives, drivers, farmers, salesmen, etc). I realized that we are a minority field. We left our comfort zones, took the challenge, faced rejections, and still live up to the mission to make Filipinos’ lives better especially in times of health and personal crises,” Mislang narrated.
Due to movement restrictions during the pandemic, Mislang related that she faced the challenge of losing her personal touch with her individual clients and eventually forgoing face-to-face prospecting and presentations. But this predicament led her to redirect her focus on group insurance.
“I was blessed enough to have a center of influence in the person of my lawyer husband, an established relationship with some industries, and the all-out support from our group marketing department, especially from our senior account executive Ariel Fuentecilla.”
From individual plans to group insurance plans
From handling purely individual accounts, becoming a group insurance specialist was a turning point of Mislang’s career as a financial advisor.
“Not everyone can afford to avail of an individual insurance policy. Thus, group insurance is very important. It is first and foremost, a company’s responsibility to protect their employees from adverse or unfortunate events, and to ensure financial stability by passing the risks to an insurance company,” Mislang said.
InLife pioneered various group insurance plans which serve as safety nets for corporations and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and their employees. Especially during these trying times, InLife serves as the companies’ partner in providing benefits to their employees through corporate solutions that provide life, accident, and hospitalization coverage. The insurance coverage provides employees the peace of mind while at work; and this in turn translates to the employees’ greater productivity and loyalty to the company.
“On behalf of the employers, the insurance plan provides the benefits to employees or their families in case of unfortunate events like accident, illness, or death,” Mislang explained.
Insular Life: The David among the Goliaths
The Cebuana financial advisor takes pride in staying with InLife “because it is our very own and the only mutual life insurance company in the country. The Filipino policyholders own it, and we are like the David among the Goliaths, being the only Filipino owned life insurance company and placing among the top five rankings along with the multinational companies in the country.”
“InLife leverages on its 111 years of experience in financial protection, savings, retirement, and investments to help Filipinos prepare for their future. I take pride in being part of the largest Filipino life insurance company in the country with a mission to provide ‘A Lifetime for Good’ to Filipinos,” Mislang affirmed.
InLife hopes to share Mislang’s purposeful mission as a financial advisor to more Filipinos. To become financial advisors, simply attend InLife’s monthly Winners Circle Business Opportunity Forum; take the licensure exam and get licensed; and complete the basic training program. Visit the InLife website for more details.