How Failure Builds True Business Longevity

When people see a speaker on an MDRT stage, it’s easy to assume that their journey was smooth — that success came naturally, that confidence was always there, and that the results followed a perfect upward curve. But the truth is very different.

And at MDRT Day Thessaloniki, I shared a story I don’t often tell publicly because it’s a reminder of where real longevity in business actually comes from.

The Untold Story Behind My Early Career Failure

At 21, I stepped into the life insurance profession full of enthusiasm and absolutely no skill. I was young, naive, and, quite frankly, terrible at the job.

For six months — six! — I didn’t make a single sale.
Not one.

I made every mistake imaginable. If there was a wrong way to prospect, I found it. If there was an awkward way to ask for business, I perfected it. Looking back, I can laugh about it, but at the time, it was nothing short of humiliating.

Eventually, I quit. I walked away from the profession entirely.

Why Six Months of No Sales Became a Turning Point

After leaving insurance, I took a job at a real estate agency. It felt like a fresh start, something new — until I discovered I was even worse at selling property than I was at selling insurance.

And that’s saying something.

Very quickly, I realised I had a choice:
Stay in real estate and continue to struggle… or return to the profession I had abandoned, swallow my pride, and try again.

So I went back.
Not because I felt confident.
Not because I suddenly believed I was talented.
But because I had to make it work.

That moment — the lowest point in my early career — became the defining turning point of my entire professional life.

Failure as a Foundation for Long-Term Success

Here’s the lesson I learned:

My success in this business wasn’t built on my strengths.
It was built on my failures.

Failure forced me to get better.
Failure forced me to learn, refine, listen, and grow.
Failure gave me humility and hunger — two ingredients every top performer needs.

Every mistake I made early on became a stepping stone, not a setback. And even today, decades later, I look back and recognise that those first six months were one of the best things that ever happened to me.

The Real Reason Top Performers Stay Ahead

People often believe top performers take a different path — that they know something others don’t, or that they have some magical ability. But here’s the truth I shared on that MDRT panel:

Top performers aren’t different. They’re just still standing.

They stayed in the business long enough.
They endured more.
They failed more.
They kept showing up.

Longevity isn’t about brilliance.
It’s about persistence.

It’s about sticking around long enough for your skills to catch up to your ambition.

What Longevity Really Means in Business

Longevity isn’t a straight line. It’s messy. It’s uncomfortable. It challenges you more than you expect. But it also rewards you in ways you can’t imagine at the beginning.

For me, longevity meant:

• Turning humiliation into hunger

• Turning mistakes into mastery

• Turning doubt into discipline

• Turning inexperience into insight

Your toughest seasons can become your greatest advantages — if you don’t quit.

Lessons for Financial Advisors and Sales Professionals

If you’re reading this as a financial advisor, insurance agent, salesperson, or entrepreneur, let me tell you this:

Whatever struggle you’re going through right now…
whatever challenge feels overwhelming…
whatever setback feels like a failure…

It might just be the moment that shapes everything you become next.

Every successful advisor I’ve ever met has a story of struggle. A story of mistakes. A story of nearly giving up.

What separates those who reach MDRT, COT, and TOT isn’t talent.
It’s longevity.

Your Worst Moments Can Shape Your Best Outcomes

If I hadn’t failed so spectacularly at the start of my career, I wouldn’t be here today. I wouldn’t have the privilege of speaking to amazing advisors around the world. I wouldn’t have built the career I have now.

So the next time you feel like you’re failing, remember this:

Your story isn’t over.
It might just be beginning.

Stay in the game.
The rewards are worth it.