Success Stories

"If a country boy from Maryland’s Eastern Shore can rise from part-time life insurance professional to co-owner to President of an independent Marketing Organization, anything is possible at ACA, if you desire to serve and dare to dream."  On January 10, 2022, Anthony Stewart was named the 2nd President in the company's history.

Anthony joined American Classic Agency (ACA) as an independent life insurance professional in 1997. He was working full time for a blue chip company, and looking to earn a little extra money.

It didn’t take Anthony long to realize that there’s more to life than job security and a guaranteed paycheck. Financial stewardship, he learned is a calling. And having a heart for service himself, Anthony discovered his passion for helping clients secure their financial future.

Family and camaraderie are important to Anthony, who has nine siblings and spent much of his life playing third baseman. (He was inducted into the Bowie State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014). So it is no wonder that he credits his initial success at ACA to its support system. “This is a family atmosphere where everyone wants you to succeed.” 

Not only has Anthony succeeded, but he has given the same opportunity for success to his brother Alan, niece Shaynie, and hundreds of agents at his agency. Collectively, the team has helped thousands of Middle American families in multiple states implement strategies to protect their income, eliminate debt, and create financial legacies.

Anthony and three of his colleagues experienced the ultimate act of legacy building in 2018, when ACA founder Jerry Policastro tapped them to take over the organization. The transfer of ownership makes ACA the largest African American- and female-owned independent marketing organization in the industry.

Humbled by the opportunity he’s been given, Anthony says his conviction level is higher than ever before. He and the leadership team intend to grow ACA’s family of independent life insurance professionals significantly. Increasing ACA’s manpower is the key to helping more Middle American families put an end to the fear of outliving their money, which is a topic Anthony explores in “Saving Middle America, Securing Financial Dreams”, a book he coauthored.

Desire to serve? Dare to dream big?

Contact ACA to learn more about launching your independent life insurance practice.

Anthony Stewart

"Too many of my people see life insurance as nothing more than another bill to pay. We don’t know what the future holds. But a proper life insurance strategy with living benefits can help us prepare for the unexpected."

A tax-free retirement nest egg motivated Chereace Richards and her husband, Stan, to begin investing heavily in life insurance 12 years ago. Then a personal experience turned their desire for financial independence into Chereace’s passion for serving others.

When Stan was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015, he accessed the accelerated or “living” benefit available through his life insurance policy’s critical illness rider. The rider is designed to pay insureds a direct benefit, to be used on whatever they choose with no spending limits, when they are diagnosed with a qualifying chronic or critical illness. The benefit, which is separate from the life insurance policy’s death benefit and cash value, provided peace of mind. Also, it allowed Chereace to focus on family, not finances, during Stan’s treatment.

After referring scores of families to her agent, Chereace, an entrepreneur with an accomplished career in information technology management, decided to become an independent life insurance professional. “Too many of my people see life insurance as nothing more than another bill to pay,” she said. “We don’t know what the future holds. But a proper life insurance strategy with living benefits can help us prepare for the unexpected.”  

She enjoys working with individuals and families who have defined financial goals, but no clear path to accomplishing them. She encourages clients to explore their relationship with money, and helps them understand how their hard-earned dollars can work for them. Then she designs a life insurance plan to help her clients protect their income during times of need, eliminate debt, and create financial legacies.

Driven by a belief that everyone with the desire and discipline to create wealth and retire tax-free should be able to, Chereace is expanding her reach. She recently recruited her son Stanley, who is a college student. Her father, Harold Spriggs, joined American Classic Agency (ACA) as well.

Desire to serve? Dare to dream big?

Contact ACA to learn more about launching your independent life insurance practice.

Chereace Richards

“We immigrants usually raise funds to ship the bodies of our brothers and sisters back home when they pass away, and to help support their children who are left orphaned in a foreign country. I am passionate about ending the crowdsourcing, one life insurance policy at a time.”

Faith Maina is a lifelong advocate for people with special needs. She served as assistant director of programs for New Jersey’s Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) for 15 years. She supports a foundation that provides support services for children with spina bifida in her native Kenya. And it was her desire to be more present in the life of her 20-year-old son Patrick, who was born with spina bifida, that moved Faith to become an independent life insurance professional with American Classic Agency (ACA).

She had been an ACA client for years, despite being raised in a culture that generally does not purchase life insurance. But prudent planning with her agent, Joseph Mecha, who is also from Kenya, changed Faith’s beliefs about life insurance. Consequently, she has ensured that Patrick and her other loved ones will be provided for when she dies. And her policy’s living benefits allow her to access its cash value whenever she needs to.

Trusting Joseph’s career advice, and determined to spend more time with family, Faith joined ACA part time in 2014. Before long, she was all in. “After only six months I realized that I was earning more as a part-time, independent life insurance professional with ACA than I was making full time with DDD,” she shared.

Faith has built a busy life insurance practice and recruited three active agents during the last six years. Many of her clients are immigrants. And she is determined to help dispel myths about life insurance within this underserved community. “We immigrants usually raise funds to ship the bodies of our brothers and sisters back home when they pass away, and to help support their children who are left orphaned in a foreign country,” Faith explained. “I am passionate about ending the crowdsourcing, one life insurance policy at a time.”

Just as she had hoped, being in business for herself means she gets to spend lots of time with Patrick; 15-year-old Joshua, who wants to be an ACA agent; her other adult children, Stanley and Hilda; and her husband James. One of the family’s favorite pastimes is accompanying Faith to Bermuda, the Bahamas, and other fabulous destinations during the business trips she qualifies for at ACA. “I never thought I would be able to serve so many people, spend so much time with my family, and earn as much as I do,” said Faith, who has earned three diamonds in her ACA ring, an incentive given for hitting certain production levels.

Desire to serve? Dare to dream big?

Contact ACA to learn more about launching your independent life insurance practice.

Faith Maina

“Independent life insurance professionals come to ACA to get paid. They stay because integrity is rooted in the company’s DNA. Whether you sell a policy every day or only once a year, you’re treated with respect at ACA.”

Bob was one of ACA Founder Jerry Policastro’s first recruits. “Jerry is one of the greatest visionaries I have ever met,” says Bob, who had worked in the industry for a decade before joining ACA in 1995. “He hired competent agents, gave them access to good products, and sourced leads that had an immediate need. I made $100,000 during my first year at ACA.”

Bob was a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration for 11 years before changing careers. Prior to that he did a combat aviation tour in Vietnam, and spent four years at West Point. So it’s no wonder he often jokes, “I’m somewhere between the back nine and the club house, professionally speaking.”

But his commitment to serve, and an apparent inability to ever fully retire, have kept Bob actively servicing clients, training the agents on his team (which spans 22 states), and recruiting. He is particularly focused on recruiting teams.

“ACA is a great organization for teams of professionals for whom life insurance would be a natural cross-sell opportunity,” he insists. “Property and casualty agents and tax preparers in particular can seamlessly plug into ACA’s back office support, training, and relationships with top carriers.”

One recruit Bob is particularly proud of is his daughter, Stacy, who joined ACA in 2004. Theyare the first father-daughter duo to earn the coveted ACA ring, an incentive given for hitting notable production levels.

Desire to serve? Dare to dream big?

Contact ACA to learn more about launching your independent life insurance practice.

Bob Segal

“Many people confuse income and wealth. My drive is helping clients transform what they earn today into wealth that will sustain their family long after the breadwinner’s income-earning years.”

Teaching Middle American families the principles of financial management is a role that Jeanna has prayed about, and spent a lifetime preparing for. She worked at a broker-dealer for a few years before joining (ACA) in 2016. And Jeanna led the Department of Defense’s financial management and comptroller school for two years before retiring from the U.S. Air Force as a Colonel in 2013. She ran other programs with financial management operations oversight during her 36 years of military service, as well.  

But it is a personal experience that fuels Jeanna’s passion and likely sealed her fate. She remembers her parents struggling financially, despite being upper-middle-income earners. Jeanna’s family is not alone. America’s income gap is often heralded as motivation for financial stewardship. But the country’s wealth disparity is even more profound. And COVID-19 continues to exacerbate both. “Many people are embarrassed to talk about the state of their finances,” she shares. “They feel they should have known better.” 

Jeanna is eager to get families and their young, college-bound children talking andimplementing solutions. She is disheartened by parents who borrow to fund their children’s education while still struggling to pay off their own college loans. So Jeanna’s primary areas of focus are college funding, debt elimination, and retirement planning.

Determined to end the cycle that derails most families’ chances of ever building significant wealth, Jeanna wrote a book: “Every Penny Counts – How to Become a Middle-Income Millionaire.” She speaks to individuals and families about related topics, as well. And Jeanna is servant leader of the financial ministry at Mt. Ennon Baptist Church, where she is a member.

Striving for a greater footprint and multigenerational impact, Jeanna endeavors to build a family business that is 20 agents strong in 2021. Her sons, Jeremy and Brandon, and niece, Shundra, are part-time life insurance professionals. Even Nehemiah, her husband of 44 years whom she affectionately refers to as her backbone, assists with administrative tasks and policy deliveries.

Desire to serve? Dare to dream big?

Contact ACA to learn more about launching your independent life insurance practice.

Jeanna Pryor

“There is nothing more heartwarming than delivering a check to a client’s surviving spouse or children during their darkest hour. Helping to ensure that they will be okay financially, because their loved one cared enough to plan for the unexpected, gives me a strong sense of purpose.”

Several years ago, Monique Beidleman requested a meeting with Anthony Stewart. Her goal was to recruit Anthony to sell health insurance products for a carrier she represented. But Anthony was a top agent and recruiter at American Classic Agency (ACA). And he was skilled at spotting talent. So it didn’t take him long to turn the tables on Monique. “He recruited the recruiter,” she chuckled, recalling the 2003 encounter.

Monique joined Anthony’s team as an independent life insurance professional. And just as he had anticipated, she is thriving. Monique produces (and earns) like a full-time agent, even though she works part-time.

Monique admits that her initial attraction was ACA’s compensation plan. The published plan currently starts at 50% for new agents with no experience. But an overwhelming desire to change the financial playing field for Middle Americans has sustained Monique during the last 18 years.

She educates her clients. And she gives them access to debt elimination, income protection, and tax-free retirement planning tools that wealthier communities have used to create financial legacies for generations. “There is nothing more heartwarming than delivering a check to a client’s surviving spouse or children during their darkest hour,” explained Monique. “Helping to ensure that they will be okay financially, because their loved one cared enough to plan for the unexpected, gives me a strong sense of purpose.”

Monique is grateful for a life insurance business that continues to flourish on referrals from happy clients. She gives back to the community she serves by facilitating financial seminars for women’s groups, churches, and civic organizations. Monique presents about college planning, tax-free retirement planning, long-term care planning, and other topics intended to help attendees get their financial houses in order. “It’s important to me that my community knows about and prioritizes the basic principles of personal finance.”

Monique lives in Upper Marlboro, MD with her husband, daughter and son.

Desire to serve? Dare to dream big?

Contact ACA to learn more about launching your independent life insurance practice.

Monique Beidleman