My name is Simon Arias, and I was a State General Agent in Pennsylvania and
currently West Virginia. I like to say I was introduced to the AIL opportunity by the grace
of God. If there was ever good luck for me, it was being introduced to American Income
in 2005.
I was playing football and continuing my education at Mercy Hertz College, where I got
my degree. I was called by Marcus Smith, the State General Agent in Cleveland, Ohio,
and I was introduced to Marcus and Jim Surace at that time. At the time, I was just
finding myself. I was going to move to Florida. I had gotten my real estate license in
Florida, and I was about 99 percent sure I was done with the cold weather. If you know
anything about Erie, Pennsylvania … just do a couple of months in Erie, and you’ll be
ready to head down South really quick. But I was introduced to Jim and Marcus and
they brought me into the opportunity.
It felt right in my heart. It felt like it was the right thing to do. It was just one of those gut
feelings that I had that this was the place for me. I started out and in a short period of
time, less than a year, I found myself in one of the best positions that I could have
prayed for or asked for with this company. I was in a leadership position with less than
a year with the company, where a lot of the people that I was friends with or that I had
befriended in college - teammates and classmates - didn’t even have a job. A lot of
them were still looking for a career and are just now possibly landing the career that
they had wanted. I was blessed to be introduced to American Income Life, a company
that I’ll hopefully spend the rest of my life with.
I was taught at a very young age and in this business that if you want to do great things
for other people, the first person that you have to do something great for is yourself. In
order to help others, you have to be able to help yourself first. American Income Life
gave me the vehicle and the opportunity. America itself, not just American Income,
stands for opportunity unlimited. It’s the opportunity to put your mind to something and
to take advantage of what this country is all about. Through hard work and effort, you
can be in a great situation financially. At the age of 23, being out of college for about a
year-and-a half, I was able to buy a half-million dollar home and provide for my family in
ways that I never thought was possible. I come from very modest means in a small
town in Ohio called Youngstown. My freshman year in high school, we sold the house
that I grew up in for about $11,000. I don’t even know if you could buy a garage for
$11,000 anymore.
I was able to do things financially not only for myself and my family, but extended this
opportunity to some of my friends and family members who currently work with the
company. That really shows how much I believe in this Company, and how much I’ve
come to love this company. My mother works for the company. If you trust, and I’m a
mamma’s boy, you know, if you trust your mother being in the hands of this company, it
really shows how much I believe in this great company that I’ve been blessed to work
with. So, it’s been four-and-a-half great years. They’ve flown by quicker than they
could possibly have. You know, they say time flies when you’re having fun. So, I’ve
had a blast in the last four-and-a-half years, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the
years that God will bless me with.