I had planned to post this a couple of weeks ago, but was distracted by a phone call from MetLife on the way back from the Keys. But I will post it anyway since I want to acknowledge our leaders in sales for 2015. We invited them to Key Largo for a couple of days of fishing and hanging out. Three of our dibroker east Sales Partners (we have nine all told), Clarke Morris, Tim Murray, and Michael Tyler qualified for our reward trip. Clarke Morris was the over all winner–congratulations!
The three have rather different styles for how they run their businesses. Clarke wanders all of the Southeast, from Mississippi down to South Florida and up to North Carolina, working with more brokers than any of our other Sales Partner. Tim has a smaller, but very successful group of brokers primarily in the Tampa and Central Florida area. He has been very successful with brokers who target doctors in residency. Tyler (too many Michael’s to keep track of–so he is “Tyler” for us) partners frequently with Group Sales reps and often goes on joint calls with his brokers, and has a real expertise in voluntary GSI.
Tyler he caught two beautiful snook in the Keys backwaters.
We spent the better part of a day fishing amidst the aquamarine waters of the back country Keys. Our guide, Lain Goodwin (http://www.dirtywaterscharters.com/), navigated the shallow waters and narrow channels of the small islands and outposts of mangroves with a skill that impressed us all. He sped us through winding, narrow channels all the way to Crocodile Lake (we didn’t enter because it is protected). Without a GPS and a knowledgeable navigator, I am sure we would still be out there. And as my brother Michael noted, “he brought just the right mix of quiet and conversation,” and of course we caught fish because of him. If you ever need a fishing guide in the Keys, Lain is a great option.
We also were witness to a mud circle, mine first. I had heard of these, but had never seen one except on youtube–so cool to witness. A mudcircle is created when bottlenose dolphins swim in a circle in shallow waters stirring up the mud to confuse mullet (a type of fish), which then jump into the air making them an easy meal for the dolphin. You can catch a very dramatic version of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzfqPQm-ThU
The food from our days in the Keys was fantastic. The first night we went to Pierre’s (http://www.moradabay.com/pierres/). Tyler and I both tried seafood curry with Himalayan Black Rice. Just the right level of spice to allow the flavor of the seafood and the sauce to come through. The wine and the service (a nice woman from Bulgaria of all places) were excellent–it was a celebration.
Tyler was a sales rep for Metlife before joining dibroker east. Given the recent news about MetLife suspending their disability insurance sales in September (and letting their underwriter and sales force go), I am imagine he is happy to have made the move.
In any event, we are grateful for their hard work and hope that they have a great 2016.
