My name is Jason Van Zante. I currently live in Sully, IA which is where I grew up. I have been married for 24 years. I have 2 kids- 20 and 16.
My family and I love to watch and play sports and travel. My son and I have been to a major league baseball game in every city except for Seattle, which we will hit in August 2020.
I have been in the financial services industry for 25 years in a variety of positions. Currently I am an AVP of Advanced Markets for Global Atlantic Financial Group. My main emphasis has been life, annuities and Long Term Care. I believe experience in a variety of roles- from agent, wholesaler to home office- give me a broad view of the industry.
I started teaching CE classes for Community Educators 5 years ago. Another instructor asked me if I could give it a try. I developed a class on Life Insurance from information and presentations that I have used over the years. I believe it has been a successful class and I have received great feedback. I have really enjoyed teaching. It lets me out of the office and I get to keep my presentation skills sharp. I also get to meet and interact with some great people and keep current with topics that agents are dealing with in the field.
My classes tend to be pretty laid back and have I have a lot of interaction with the students. I try to keep things interesting by showing videos and asking for input from the students. That is probably why i enjoy teaching in a classroom setting more than the webinars. The webinars are a great way to present information and easier for people to attend, but a little harder to have the conversations we have in the classroom setting.
I believe my class is very informational, but I also illustrate how you can use some of the knowledge and information in your business. We cover different types of life insurance and how they work, and how you can use some of those products in different types of scenarios like retirement and long term care planning.
CE classes with Community Educators are a great way to keep current, expand your knowledge, and enhance your network at the meetings. I think most people would be surprised and probably pick up on 1 or 2 things they didn’t know before that can help them.
My advice to someone new in the industry is to not be afraid to ask questions and partner up with someone that has experience.
I would encourage you to sign up for a class today as it is a great way to learn more and hear from other people in the industry.
Jason Van Zante