JoAnn’s Cancer Battle
JoAnn S. is an agent with Senior Life Insurance Company who recently beat cancer. However, it wasn’t her first fight against cancer. JoAnn says,
“This is my fourth fight against cancer, and I’ve won four times. The first three times were prevented, so they were able to get it before. In January of this year, after being cancer free for 20 years, I was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. It’s interesting because I didn’t even realize I had it. The way that it was found was at my regular checkup. They found a 20-inch mass in my body and, I just thought I had gained a little bit of weight. It was found while I was actually still participating in events with Senior Life. I was at the last Run Fast Leadership conference, and I knew something was wrong then, but I just never had any pain or anything. So, when my doctor found the 20-inch mass and we found out that it was stage 3 cancer, it was a shock.”
After finding out that she had stage 3 ovarian cancer, JoAnn’s doctor sent her to a specialist immediately. She says, “My question was, ‘Okay, how am I going to adjust everything according to this now.’ Because my only answer was, I was given a 50/50 chance of surviving. My specialist immediately said to me, ‘You don’t look like you have anything. I don’t know what you’re doing but keep doing it. But you do have stage 3 cancer, and we have to go in and remove the 20-inch mass.’ All that was going through my head was, okay I might not actually survive this time because I’ve never gone this far.” JoAnn S. realized that in order to beat her cancer, she needed to change the way she thought about it. She says, “When I found out that I had to have chemo, that was scary to me. But then I began to think, if I’ve survived cancer three times, what can be so harsh about going through chemo? So, I just buckled up and said, ‘I can do this with the help of the Lord and my savior, God.’ It’s 90% courage behind fighting cancer. It’s a mental thing, that’s what I’ve found. My slogan now in going through this, and in going through the pain, and having to get up every morning, and wondering whether I was going to live or not, has been that cancer is not contagious, it’s courageous. It takes a lot of courage to get up each morning knowing that you just went through a battle last night, going through chemo and your body is burning inside out. And then on top of that, to continue your job. In the midst of that, there were times that my fingers were literally frozen or to the point where I couldn’t even move them, so I couldn’t even be on the keyboard. I had to create ways and adapt because of this chemo and it’s never been this hard before. It was all new for me. But by the grace of God and determination, I knew that I could beat this.”
“CANCER IS NOT CONTAGIOUS, IT’S COURAGEOUS.”
JoAnn talks about how her time at Senior Life has helped her change her mindset. She says, “At Senior Life we talk about the mental battle, and that if you want to do good, you’ve got to change your mindset. It was about mindset, and what I had learned about mindset from Senior Life. I applied that to beating cancer. I applied that same mentality at a leadership meeting or listening to an upline. I’m a pretty optimistic person already and pretty determined, but I realized that cancer was one of those things where I had to be more determined to change my mindset.” She also explains that working at Senior Life has been the perfect job to have while trying to recover. JoAnn states, “In many cases, I was lying on my back doing my work, making lead calls. I’ve always been determined to do things and to be impactful. And It couldn’t have been a better time workwise, for Senior Life to be in my life. I was able to work from home with flexible hours. Even in pain, I was able to make calls, check on my agents. I was able to sustain the small business that I’m trying to build. It was because of the system in place that Senior Life has to help you become independent and an entrepreneur. With the flexibility, you can fit it in your life, even if you’re ill. What other job lets you do that? It was on my recovery bed that I realized how important this company was not only to me, but to people who really need insurance. Because I was in their shoes now. I have a preexisting condition. I became one of the leads, as crazy as that sounds, and I was in the shoes of one of the leads. It made me more compassionate for the leads that were calling in, and it made me more serious about the product I had in my hand and realize how it can help people.”
JoAnn also realized the importance of recruiting and how it can be beneficial if you become ill. She says, “I saw the value in recruiting. You have a team under you that can continue what you’re not able to do, and that’s very important. That’s what recruiting is about as well, because there may come a time when you’re not able to do it and you have a team of people that’s supporting you and helping to continue your business. Once I began to get clients and build recruits, that residual income helped me because what I couldn’t do, they were doing. That residual helped me stay afloat. It secured my future. I have already worked hard, not knowing I was getting ready to come into a difficult situation. But because of the work I did before to get recruits and clients, that residual helped keep me stable. It was crucial for me during this time, and it helped me sustain my financial life. Residuals are not only about you making money, it’s also about you investing back into your business to help sustain it and make it better.”
JoAnn expresses her appreciation for Senior Life during this time in her life. “When I first came on at Senior Life, I knew it was a great opportunity, but I didn’t know what was ahead. This opportunity has afforded me to be able to continue my life financially, mentally, and even spiritually. Because I have time to spend time in the word of God and continue the ministries I have. To me, Senior Life has helped me to help others who are not able to get insurance because of preexisting conditions, and they’ve been able to be covered. And to me, when you’re able to help people when they’re hurting, if you’ve got a company that does that, and when they think they’ve got no other help, then you’re doing something. That’s when I knew Senior Life was special, and that it was right for me because my heart needs to help people. Senior Life is a place where you know you’re being supported whether it’s in your life or in your career. You’re being supported, and its agents helping agents. That was key for me, because most of the time, you’re climbing over each other and trying to outdo one another, but what Senior Life provides is agents actually helping agents. That was the president’s goal, and it is right, and it is real. There’s money to be made by helping each other.”
