Symmetry Financial Group was founded on eight core values, and it’s important to us that our agents exemplify them. And Symmetry Financial Group Agent Roddy Jessup does just that. Through his story, Roddy showcases his dedication and passion to our seventh core value. Learn about how working with Symmetry helped Roddy rediscover his “why” in life below.
I’ve always been a salesman and I’ve never been afraid of work. When I was 5 years old, I can vividly remember taking old square bottles out of the trash, wrapping them in masking tape, covering them with shoe polish and selling them door to door in the condominium complex that my single mother and I lived in. I got a job on a ranch when I was 10, a paper route when I was 12, worked at McDonalds when I was 16… you get the idea. When I was 19, I moved away from home and eventually ended up working for a product demonstration company where I traveled the country selling various products in fairs, retail stores etc. I caught the acting bug at 23 and pursued my dreams in LA for 12 years. Throughout my time there, I never really had to live the life of a “starving artist” because I was always able to make money selling. I loved my time in LA because I had a driving purpose. I had a “why”. Then in 2013 when my wife Jessica and I had our first son Colton, we decided that LA wasn't the place that we wanted to raise a family and moved out to the Midwest where Jessica was originally from. In doing so, I unwittingly robbed myself of my why.
When we arrived in Chicago, I went to what I knew best – sales. I was doing fine from a financial standpoint… but I didn’t have a why. I was just making money to support my family, but there was no real purpose to the work. It was just about the money and I was miserable. On airplanes, they tell you to put your own oxygen mask on first before assisting others for a reason. Because if you’re dead, you can’t do much for anyone else. And without really understanding it at the time, I was slowly dying inside. I was dying because I had no purpose, other than to provide for my family. I was so busy putting on their oxygen masks that I was slowly suffocating myself. And that’s when Symmetry Financial Group fell in my lap.
I had reached a breaking point with my other job. I knew there had to be something better, and more fulfilling than what I was doing. So, I hopped on Craigslist and there it was. Now, I have never been afraid of work, but I have also always had it in my mind that I wanted to create a life where I was working because I wanted to not because I had to. I have always had my eye out for something where I had a combination of time and money and enough of both to really be able to enjoy it. I had looked into every “opportunity” out there and they all had big holes in them. The people at the top were the only ones making any money. So, when I saw Symmetry Financial Group, and did my due diligence, I could see very quickly that this was something different. I had my hands on something special and I was not going to let it slip by.
I responded to the ad on November 18th, 2015. I quit my job shortly after Thanksgiving. I dove in full force, which is the only way I know how to do something. I’ve never been one to “dip my toes in.” And I am so grateful that I did. I purchased my conference ticket before I had finished my Test Teachers course. And if I had had any doubts lingering before that conference, they were annihilated after that conference. You come out of conference changed. A different person. And what I came out with was complete and utter faith that I had found a place that I could truly call home.
I had no experience in the insurance industry before Symmetry Financial Group. I came in with a willingness to learn, a positive attitude and a belief in the system. I have written over 270K in business on my own pen in less than 11 months. I have also made plenty of mistakes. Policies that got canceled or declined, clients who changed their minds. I’ve gone entire weeks without selling anything. There have been unbelievably frustrating moments where I wanted to quit. But I didn’t. And the reason I didn’t was because what Symmetry Financial Group has given me is so much greater than just the ability to make a great income. It’s given me my “why” again. My why is, and always has been, to inspire. I want to inspire into others the belief that change and the ability to bring about change in others is possible. I believe that a large portion of our society feels trapped. That things are the way they are and there’s nothing that can be done about it. I want to free them from those limiting beliefs. As an actor, my goal was to inspire through my performance. It was always my goal that I would someday find a role and a project that would allow me to touch and impact a large number of people and inspire them to make a change in their lives. In Symmetry Financial Group, I have found a vehicle that I know will allow me to do that in a much more tangible way. Now, instead of just inspiring them, I can provide them the exact system to improve their lives.
So that is what Symmetry Financial Group has done for me. I know what I’m working towards. I can see it clear as day. I’m putting my own oxygen mask on first now. And everyone in my life is going to be so much better for it.
