 
By Helen Thompson
Zachary Parker, LUTCF, CFP, didn’t become an agent straight from college: He’d already been in the business two years when he got his business finance degree from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2000. “This is my first career,” says the affable 28-year-old. “When I was in college, I worked part-time for my father-in-law as his office assistant. He is an insurance and investment advisor, so I got a lot of what this business is all about those two years. It really helped a lot when I went into the business; I didn’t have the learning curve that some people do.”
Parker’s father-in-law also insisted, after he got his license in early 2001, that Parker join his local association, NAIFA-Lincoln. He remembers feeling very awkward at the first couple of meetings, not knowing anyone, but before long he started meeting people and building relationships. “I have to brag about our local. They are always putting on excellent programs, and we are constantly learning new things, whether it’s good sales ideas or practice management tips. Without NAIFA, I don’t know that I would have been here as long as I have,” he says.
It doesn’t look like he’s leaving any time soon, either. Since 2003, he’s earned his LUTCF and CFP designations, completed the Leadership in Life Institute (LILI) through NAIFA and served on the NAIFA-Lincoln board as the LUTC chair and secretary treasurer. In 2004, NAIFA-Nebraska honored him with the Gene and Shirley Aabel New Agent Recognition Award.
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“When they see 1,000 people from one organization, they take note. We really made a stand there by taking that many people.“
—Zachary Parker
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From Lincoln to Washington
In September, Parker joined nearly 1,000 of his fellow NAIFA members to support All Hands! Day on the Hill, an event on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., held in conjunction with the NAIFA Convention and Career Conference in Baltimore, Md. “This was one of the best times I’ve ever had at a convention,” says Parker, who has been attending the meeting since 2003. “Our senators and representatives see people going in and out every day, but when they see 1,000 people from one organization, they take note. We really made a stand there by taking that many people.”
Parker and the rest of the Nebraska delegation, which included Trustee Terry Headley, LUTCF, and NAIFA Past President Robert Nelson, CLU, LUTCF, was able to meet with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), and a member of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s (R-Neb.) staff took the group around to see some sights. Parker, who had never been to D.C. before and is interested in politics, was fascinated as he got to see advocacy up close. “I have to learn more about how it works, because the House and Senate work differently,” he says. “It seems like everyone is there with the same purpose: to get their congressmen on their side, to hear their ideas and move them forward.”
Bringing the message home
Parker is looking forward to future Day on the Hill events, such as the one anticipated for the 2007 NAIFA Convention and Career Conference. But, he notes, advocacy doesn’t only happen at Day on the Hill. He’s met Sen. Nelson at NAIFA events in Nebraska, for instance. “It’s nice to go out there, but it’s also important to make them welcome here,” Parker says.
He’s also looking forward to developing his own leadership skills. He’s currently working on bringing more LILI classes to Nebraska, for instance. “Before I went through the LILI course, I thought that leadership skills were just given to people, that you either had them or you didn’t,” he says. “Afterwards, I realized that’s not necessarily true. You are given leadership skills, but you can be coached to use them better. A professional athlete can’t make it to the big leagues without some coaching on top of his natural athletic ability.”
Parker has laid down a solid foundation for success. And he attributes much of it to things he’s learned in LILI and his designation classes. “A lot of people who are in their earliest months in the business don’t understand that, sure, these classes require an out-of-pocket financial obligation, but that commitment will make you all that back and much more,” he says. “They’ll say, ’We’re going to wait to see if we make it before we take classes,’ but that’s not the best way. Take the classes and then you will make it.”
October 2005
Get the Word Out
New Practice? No Problem.
Growing Your Business
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