Success Stories

"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

“I just wanted a place to earn a living on merit, surrounded by people I trust. But I couldn’t get beyond the issue that keeps many people from coming into the industry: Life insurance isn’t sexy.”

“Get licensed and give it 90 days,” advised Bob Segal, when his daughter Stacy inquired about a career at American Classic Agency (ACA) back in 2003. Stacy had watched her father become one of the company’s top independent life insurance professionals and recruiters. And she’d had plenty of opportunities to engage other top producers about what it takes to thrive at ACA, during numerous incentive trips.

Stacy knew that her work ethic, coupled with ACA’s processes and support systems, provided a strong foundation from which to launch her life insurance business. “I just wanted a place to earn a living on merit, surrounded by people I trust,” she recalled. “But I couldn’t get beyond the issue that keeps many people from coming into the industry: Life insurance isn’t sexy.”

Grounded in the belief that anything is possible, Stacy joined ACA in 2004. She wrote $16,801 of business her first month, working leads the company provided. And it didn’t take her long to qualify for the coveted ACA ring, an incentive earned by hitting certain production levels. She and Bob are ACA’s first parent-child duo to earn rings.

Eighteen years later, ACA and the life insurance industry continue to exceed Stacy’s expectations. “I value the ability to ‘do life’, and work around that,” said Stacy, who competed in an IRONMAN triathlon in 2014. She even sponsors Team Elite, which trains triathletes year-round in Orange County, CA. The University of Virginia graduate returned to the Washington, DC metro area in 2021, but she maintains a large client base in southern California, where she lived for 20 years.

Stacy helps individuals and families eliminate debt, protect income, and retire comfortably. And as a small business owner who understands the challenges of entrepreneurialism, she takes pride in working with men and women who work for themselves. “Business owners are so committed to their customers and employees that personal finances usually run on autopilot,” she explained. “I want to help enable them to have the peace of mind that comes from financial efficiency, liquidity, and tax-efficient programs designed to attract and retain high-performing employees.”

Desire to serve? Dare to dream big?

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

Stacy S. Segal

“Well-meaning clients sometimes refer prospects who don’t have the discretionary income necessary to implement an income protection or retirement planning strategy. I can help solve their immediate need with ACA’s debt elimination program, knowing the investible assets will eventually follow.”

Robert Henderson Jr. and his eight-producer team are driven by a single purpose: Helping clients break the chains of economic bondage. It’s a mission few people can relate to, quite like Robert can.

He and his two sisters were raised by their mother, who worked three jobs. Money was tight. And the opportunities to stray were limitless for Robert when he was growing up. But he took refuge in his art. And he was laser-focused on not disappointing his mother, now 82, whom he affectionately calls his “first love”.  

When Robert’s professor noticed that he wore the same jeans to class every day, he recommended him for a part-time job designing graphics for nightly stock market updates at the local television station. The work piqued Robert’s interest in securities and real estate. He studied both, and began his financial services career in 1983.

Deeply spiritual, Robert is grounded in the belief that the wealth he’s been blessed to amass is bigger than he is. Conviction moved Robert to leave a firm that catered solely to high-net-worth investors. “I started my firm in 1990,” he explains, “because it is just as important to help my local barber protect the income he earns one haircut at a time, as it is to help a prospect with $2 million in investible assets.”

Robert uncovered an opportunity to reallydeliver on his brand promise, when he met one of American Classic Agency’s (ACA’s) co-owners in 2018 at an industry meeting for top producers. “Well-meaning clients sometimes refer prospects who don’t have the discretionary income necessary to implement an income protection or retirement planning strategy,” explains Robert, who was one of ACA’s top producers his first year. “I can help solve their immediate need with ACA’s debt elimination program, knowing the investible assets will eventually follow.”

As Robert celebrates 38years in the industry that changed the trajectory of his life, he is determined to pass his legacy of hard work, always striving to do what’s right, and serving others, to family members who aspire to follow in his footsteps. His daughter Hyacinth is the firm’s managing director. His sister-in-law Linda is vice president. And his nephew Charles is a financial consultant.

Desire to serve? Dare to dream big?

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

Robert Henderson Jr., CFP®

“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

"Not everyone with a heart to win has an impressive resume. But American Classic Agency (ACA) is a company where a Nigerian immigrant and former IHOP waiter can become a co-owner based on his merit.” says Douglas Eze, reflecting on his 21-year journey at ACA. Douglas joined the independent marketing organization (IMO) in 1999 because he was, “Hungry for knowledge and an opportunity to do more.” His decision was life-changing.

Once he was entrenched in the company’s culture, which prioritizes integrity, loyalty and an abundance mindset, it did not take Douglas long to shift his thinking. “I began to see myself as a business owner, a marketer and an agency builder,” he recalls. “I was driven by a desire to serve people who were sick and tired of being sick and tired, like I once was.”

At ACA Douglas learned to eliminate debt, borrow from himself for major purchases, create a financial legacy, and minimize taxes using cash value life insurance. “It’s a strategy that wealthy families have used since the 1800s,” explains Douglas, who now travels the country teaching others to do the same. “ACA’s product mix allows me to meet the needs of high earners, Middle American families, and institutions alike.”

Since ACA’s training program gives agents the tools to sell, recruit or do both, Douglas is equally passionate about offering professionals the same opportunity he was given. His team of 600 active agents includes career financial services professionals with various designations, part-timers looking for extra income, and career changers eager for a new beginning. Two traits unite Douglas’s recruits. They all desire to serve and dare to dream big.

“Not everyone with a heart to win has an impressive resume,” he insists. “But I will share my time and talent with anyone eager to put forth the same effort.” Douglas has led a product and best practices training class, which is open to all ACA agents, every Wednesday at 10 p.m. EST for the past 15 years.

He was rewarded for his drive, focus and commitment in 2018, when ACA founder Jerry Policastro offered him and three colleagues an opportunity to purchase the company. The transfer of ownership makes ACA the largest African American- and female-owned IMO in the industry.

Douglas still actively recruits and sells, while working with ACA’s leadership team to build on the company’s 26-year history of recruiting, developing, retaining and promoting the next generation of industry-leading entrepreneurs.

Desire to serve? Dare to dream big?

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

Douglas Eze

“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