Sylivia’s Career
Ten years ago, Sylivia Atwijuka traveled from her native nation, Uganda, to seek a better life and more opportunities in the United States of America. She entered this new country holding a bachelor’s degree in human resources management and a master’s degree in business administration. Her educational background helped nurture Sylivia to become a savvy businessperson. Yet, it was not until 2019 that Sylivia found her calling as an insurance agent in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. That year, a friend recommended getting licensed to sell insurance. He was already enjoying a successful partnership with Empower Brokerage. As she looks back, Sylivia is grateful for finding the organization immediately.
Over the last five years, Sylivia has enjoyed helping people in her region with predominately ACA products but also sells Medicare products. She is also learning more about selling life insurance. Most of Sylivia clients come from the migrant community. “These are people who are under-served, who do not have access to healthcare services,” explains Ms. Atwijuka. “They do not have access to group plans because they don’t have those kinds of jobs.” Sylivia further states that language, culture, and economic barriers additionally affect these people from receiving adequate insurance and healthcare. When she began her insurance career, Sylivia was pleased to find that she could help her community. She started acquiring customers by word of mouth, and the good news spread quickly. Currently, she is brimming with new clients calling her every day. She says it is so helpful that new consumers call already knowing her background and that she is the right person to speak to about their insurance needs.
Sylivia recalls receiving many phone calls and messages expressing thankfulness for her assistance and guidance. She understands this career is more than just writing an application for someone. Often, she goes the extra step and finds doctors for her clients or takes them to visit the doctor. “So, I don’t just do it for the paycheck. I do it for the families,” says Sylivia. She further illustrates how she will soon be taking a customer, who only speaks Arabic, to see a urologist whom he has waited to visit for the last three months. Cases like this one encourage her to keep pressing forward and help people. “To know this man is going to receive care after being in pain for a long time. That motivates me,” says Sylivia.
Sylivia Atwijuka enjoys traveling and gardening.
Sylivia’s Recommendations and Family Life
She could not do it without Empower Brokerage. Fortunately, she followed her friend’s FMO recommendation to get her started. “Empower has been the greatest help for me to grow, especially with the training and the availability in the office,” exclaims Sylivia. “If you have a question, it is just a phone call away. They respond to emails. They are always available to assist. It is rare. There are so many FMOs out there. Then, to find somebody that is available!” Amazed by Empower Brokerage’s efforts, she is also grateful for all the mentors like Jeff Hess, DeWayne Long, Tyler Culp, Katelyn Culp, and Savva Zingas, to name a few. Moreover, she finds the agent portal to be structured well and beneficial. Sylivia strongly recommends new agents partner with Empower Brokerage because their support and training will surely benefit them as they enter the field.
The seventh-year resident of Texas says that those interested in this career must realize they must be available to help people. She believes an agent needs to be the spokesperson for their customers, communicate effectively, network with providers, and not be solely driven by monetary profits. She has instructed other new agents and tells them, “This is a service. You have to be ready to serve. You are not going to get [financial benefits] unless you serve.” She agrees that a special person is needed to do this job well, but the career remains very rewarding.
Sylivia treasures spending her free time with her daughter, and she affirms that this career has provided a way for her to be more present in her child’s life. She explains how her previous job hindered her from being there for her daughter. Now, Sylivia’s insurance career allows her to work around her schedule so she can take her daughter to and from school, attend school activities, and be present on holidays. If they want to plan for a trip, the mom and daughter have the freedom to do so. Along with traveling, Sylivia enjoys reading and gardening, including community gardening.
Whatever she does, Sylivia strives to do it to the highest quality. “I am an immigrant. Usually, we have limited opportunities, but that is a misconception. We can do it. Yes, we just have to put our mind to it,” says the sixth-year agent. Sylivia would also advise all agents not to overlook anybody because that person is potentially your client.
Agents
We hope this agent spotlight on Sylivia Atwijuka is interesting to you.
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Joey Hinojosa graduated with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and a master’s degree in mass communications. He began working at Empower Brokerage in early 2022 and enjoys being creative in his writing, photography, videography, and other projects.
