Terry Robles: Her commitment to help people is going strong at 70

For people in the workforce, the general retirement age is between 60 and 65. That’s about the right time to enjoy the fruits of all those years of hard work. However, it seems Pru Life UK District Manager Teresita “Terry” Santos Robles, an exceptional Pru Life UK Agency Leader, didn’t get the memo.

For 27 years, Terry has steadily built her stellar career in insurance. At 43, she started as just one of many agents, all wanting the flexibility and high returns of a job in the insurance industry. Today, still as strong and determined at 70, Terry is one of Pru Life UK’s most celebrated leaders. She supervises 4,300 agents and agency leaders.

“How I wish someone introduced me to the insurance industry earlier,” says Terry. Because then, she could have begun her mission of helping people earlier, which, incidentally, is what keeps her from retiring.

“I can retire now, actually,” she says. “But I stay because I want to help the company, and I want to help more people.”

The numbers game

The eldest of seven siblings, Terry took on the responsibility of supporting her family early on. With her father in the military and her mother, a homemaker, it fell on Terry to help her parents steer their family toward a more comfortable life. Education was her vehicle of choice.

“When I was studying in grade 5 in Nueva Ecija, a relative told me, ‘Terry, you need to be a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) if you want to find a high-paying job,’” recalls Terry. That piece of career advice stuck in her 11-year-old mind. It would go on to shape her future.

Immediately after completing her degree at the University of the East (UE), Terry found work as a junior accountant. But most of her pay went to supporting the schooling of one of her sisters.

However, the profession that allowed Terry to support her family was not something she enjoyed. “My colleagues and I were always stuck behind our desks in front of computers, not even having the time to enjoy the occasional bonuses we received. I even found myself working in the office one New Year’s Eve,” she says.

But she swallowed up her dissatisfaction. Terry supported her ageing parents and some of her siblings and raised her own family with her husband. Budget was always tight, especially when they bought a low-cost 42 sqm house on a 200 sqm lot.

There was no way she would quit without a backup plan. So, she worked as a CPA for 14 years.

Once, bone-tired and weary from a long day at work, Terry and her husband didn’t get home until 4:30 a.m. One of their kids rushed to open the gate for them. Terry’s sister said she didn’t want to sleep until her parents were home, so she fought to stay up.

“We can’t go on like this,” Terry told her husband. “We’re never going to get a break as employees.”

As soon as she could, she requested to be included in a retrenchment roll-out at work so she could leave and receive separation pay.

Finding the perfect business that fits her needs

Terry sustained her family for 14 years through her accounting career, but auditing expense reports for salespeople inspired her to enter sales. Despite failed attempts from subcontracting businesses, she maintained a steady income as a freelance bookkeeper/accountant while trying various business ventures including a small shop and real estate sales.

Then, a friend invited her to try selling insurance.

“I realized that [a career in insurance] was the job for me,” says Terry, who attributes the positive changes in her life to prayer and big dreams. “I like talking to people and being surrounded by them. I don’t like eating alone.”

She was a middle-aged wife and mother, a new recruit, and raring to go. But she wasn’t just out to sell insurance plans. Instead, Terry was determined to help people.

“When I was new, I was embarrassed to tell people I was an insurance agent. I thought it was a step down from being a CPA,” says Terry. “But early in my insurance career, a housewife friend suddenly became a widow. She had two young kids, a property amortization to pay, and her husband had no insurance. I knew I made a mistake [by not talking to them about the importance of insurance earlier]. I could have talked to my friend and her husband if I weren’t so shy about selling insurance. And maybe I could have made her life easier after her husband died.”

Since then, it’s been Terry’s mission to share the benefits of life insurance with as many people as she can to help ease their burdens.

A former mentor sealed the deal for Terry. “She told me, ‘If you want to fulfill your mission [of helping people], you should become an agency leader. Bring in people to work with you.’”

Decades later, Terry still successfully follows this piece of advice every day.

“If it’s just you selling insurance, you’re stuck with talking to maybe just 200 potential customers you know personally, says Terry. “But with a team, each of whom has 200 people in their circles, you widen your reach. In effect, you have the potential to help thousands and thousands of families who need life insurance.”

Five months after she became a financial advisor, Terry had become one of the company’s top producers in her first insurance company. Shortly after, she was promoted to unit manager. That company was later bought by Pru Life UK, where selling and inviting people to join the business go hand in hand. With her handful team of advisors and leaders who quickly adapted to this business model, they are able to continuously build a big team, resulting in more leader promotions and countless Filipino families enjoying the benefit of insurance protection and saving.

A leader by word and deed

What has kept Terry going all these years, aside from being able to help people every day, is that her insurance career allows her to still be present with her family. As a District Manager, Terry enjoys the flexible working hours at the office. This was a welcome perk even when she was starting the business.

Another thing that attracted Terry to a life in insurance was that she didn’t have to shell out a large sum as capital. Neither did she have to spend on operational expenses—Pru Life UK takes care of those. Mostly, what Terry needed to get ahead (and stay ahead) was her talent in sales, combined with her empathy and a sincere desire to help.

It didn’t matter, for example, that Terry didn’t know how to manage and lead people when she was promoted to unit manager; she was promised some training.

But Terry didn’t wait to be trained. She was so eager and determined to become an effective leader and lead by example that she took the reins in her career. She read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and many other books on success and leadership. She watched videos on how to close more sales and how to give better presentations.

 It also helped that she asked her husband to avail of his early retirement from his employment as a senior accounting head to help her with the business as her informal business partner.

In the office, Terry is a constant presence for her agents. Already a seasoned agency leader, she still attends training seminars and workshops, a practice since she started as an advisor, even attending them solo once. Now, she has leaders and agents who do the same.

 “Some applicants may say they’re shy. I tell them, ‘Then use your heart,’” Terry says. “’ Let your desire to help people overcome your shyness.’”

Nevertheless, Terry and her team constantly design and implement training programs to develop their agents’ skills. They have one that enhances leadership skills and another that illustrates the right way to give presentations.

She now has a business development and operations team to support Quartz District and complement Pru Life UK’s various development programs.

This kind of help is the least she can do for her people. After all, “we’re mentoring new financial advisors to become future agency leaders,” she says.

The sunshine industry

Unlike other ageist industries like show business, insurance doesn’t discriminate. Terry was 48 years old when she joined Pru Life UK. In her group of newbies were other middle-aged applicants and fresh college graduates in their early 20s. To further illustrate the diversity in the industry, one leader under Terry’s supervision became an agent at 55. Within a year, because of hard work, she qualified for an incentive trip and got promoted to Branch Manager at age 60.

“Some of my friends who started as insurance advisors with me in the early 2000s are still working here with me,” says Terry. “We’ve lasted this long because of our work ethic and our passion to help people.” Most of them are now agency leaders.

Since the early 2000s, Terry has also been instrumental in lifting her family out of poverty because of her work as an insurance advisor. From not having the money to give her father P3,000 when her small businesses failed to being able to buy her niece a brand-new laptop at a moment’s notice or to build her brother a modest house, that’s how far Terry has come. As she always says, insurance advisors and leaders can improve the course of their families’ generations. She has young breadwinners in her team who can provide for their families, send their siblings to school, and continue to build teams of advisors – the best way to help more people.

“Insurance is a sunshine industry,” Terry says, who believes her chosen career brings light to people.

Indeed, success means different things to different people. Some may pin it on wealth, others on a happy family life, and others on freedom.

To Terry, being successful takes on a more selfless definition. Her success stems from being in a position to help more people and to give back to Pru Life UK, the company that saw her potential and gave her wings.

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Editor’s Note: This article was provided by Pru Life UK.