Small Town Boss with Big Dreams

Senior Life Insurance Company
6 min readAug 6, 2020

Growing up in St. Matthews, South Carolina, a small country town, never stopped Marcea from reaching for the stars. She wasn’t raised with a “silver spoon” but her parents always made sure that she and her siblings were fine while living in a low-income community. Marcea has always been the type of woman that liked being her boss. She has done various occupations such as being a hairdresser to owning her own couponing business called “Home Sweet Home” in which she would sell products in bundles at lower rates than the ones you’d find in stores.

Marcea decided to get a regular 9 – 5 job on top of having her couponing business. She was not satisfied with her job due to being overworked, underpaid, and feeling used. She was earning more income in her couponing business than she was at her regular job. Marcea knew in those 60 days that she worked at that job that she wasn’t meant to be working for someone else. She had to find a way to be her own boss and for good. One day at work she ran across her coworker, Ms. Janet, who noticed the sadness in Marcea’s face and asked her what was wrong. Marcea answered, “I can’t see myself working here any longer.” Ms. Janet gave her the phone numbers of two Senior Life Insurance Company Agents, Alisha, and Charaka. “That phone call with Charaka was a sign from God and I knew I had to attend the career overview she was hosting at the end of the week”, says Marcea. She quit her 9–5 job on a Tuesday and drove to Columbia, South Carolina that Friday to meet with Charaka. After attending the event, she knew that was it for her, so she bought her study material that same day. She studied that entire weekend; took the test the following Monday and she became a licensed agent in less than five days. “God placed me at the career overview for a reason and I haven’t been proven wrong ever since”, she says. Marcea put her faith in God and decided to go all-in for her and the well-being of her family while helping people during the most difficult times of their lives.

Marcea Mickens standing by her husband at a fair.
Marcea with her husband

Within her first months of being an agent, she was recruiting people in the business. Marcea was so eager to help people who were looking for that financial freedom and were stuck at jobs that they despised due to them not being aware of opportunities available like the ones Senior Life offers. Recruiting to Marcea means “boss moves” because she can help that person gain wisdom and income along with helping people at the same time. She compares recruiting with the maintenance of a vehicle. Marcea states, “If you do not make sure your vehicle is up to date with everything it needs to run properly, you will not get far. Therefore, the more people you recruit into your business, the further you’ll get in life.”

Marcea is married and has three boys which mean the world to her. After joining Senior Life, she’s been able to spend more time with her children and it makes her happy to know she doesn’t need to take time off from work to attend school-related events. Her boys can be a part of different organizations that they couldn’t be a part of before due to income limitations. Marcea is creating a better future for her children and the generations after them. She was able to retire her husband from his 12-hour shift job where he sold tires. He now gets to do what he loves the most which is coaching football and basketball. Marcea’s husband has always been very supportive of her decisions. He always knew that she had the potential to be her own boss instead of working for someone else and making that person wealthy.

Marcea’s parents are her “ride or die crew” because everywhere they go, they let people know who their daughter is and what she does to help people. Marcea says, “My parents make sure I’m not a secret agent and I thank them for that.” With the publicity that her parents do for her, she has been able to recruit multiple people as well as helping people in the community become policyholders. She grew up in a household where God was the center of their lives. Her parents were greatly involved in church and taught her to put God first, serve him, and he will make sure good things happen to you. Marcea says, “God is so good to me and I give him thanks every day when I wake up because he still wants me alive.” She knows that her strong faith gives her confidence in her work ethic. God is the fuel to her fire and with him, nothing is impossible for Marcea.

Marcea with her team and mentor, Charaka C.

Her mentor, Charaka C., is one of Marcea’s role models. She assures that Charaka is a phenomenal person and that God put them together for a reason. “The way she expresses job tasks are so passive and not in a demanding form because she wants you to win”, says Marcea. She shares that Charaka knows how to multitask when you’re meeting with her and yet she’ll still make you feel like her top priority. Marcea knows that Charaka is a great leader and if she follows her footsteps, she can’t go wrong. “She’s such an inspiration”, states Marcea.

Marcea mentions that RVP Lewis B. is the epitome of the troop. She goes on that Lewis likes to “keep it 100 with no sugar coating.” Therefore, you need to have tough skin. She listens to all his advice because he has gained wisdom through his learning abilities and mistakes. “He wants you to be RICH!”, says Marcea. She sees him as a role model because he wasn’t selfish when he learned about the opportunities that Senior Life provides. Instead, he started recruiting to help people get the financial freedom they desire. Marcea shares, “He has influenced his children to follow his footsteps and I want my children to do the same.”

Marcea is excited for the new year and has shared a few goals that she would like to accomplish to kick off this new decade. She would like to expand her team to at least fifty people or whatever God is willing. She wants to share all the knowledge and success she’s had since joining Senior Life in June 2019 with people who feel trapped in jobs that they dread going to every day. Marcea states that it all starts with the mindset of a person. She says, “You need to have faith, let go, and stick to the system. If you go all-in for yourself, how can you lose?”

Marcea and Lewis at the Senior Life Home Office.

She’s been winning ever since she took that leap of faith and wants other people to challenge themselves in doing the same. Marcea would also like to create ways to get the youth community involved in extracurricular organizations in St. Matthews and Turbeville, South Carolina, the town her husband is from. She shares that kids have to wait until they are in high school to be involved in any sports teams or educational clubs due to the elementary and middle school’s limited funding to support these activities. Marcea wants to do everything in her power to assure the youth from these small towns have a better future by creating opportunities for them at a young age.

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Senior Life Insurance Company

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