T H E D I V E R S I T Y E M P L O Y M E N T M A G A Z I N E

WINTER/SPRING 2010

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ENRICHINGLIVES

ENRICHINGLIVES

Here Are Four Stories

Of Men Who Thrive In

The Insurance Sector.

There are no action figures of

insurance agents. When second

graders are asked what they want to

be when they’re big, no child raises

his hand and says, “An insurance

executive!” Nevertheless, there are

African-American men who found

their way to the insurance sector,

who left basketball courts,

engineering, and the projects

behind, and now work in jobs

where each day is different and the

challenges enrich their lives.

ANDTHEIRLIFESTYLES

By Katie McKy

Chris Gandy,Executive Vice President,

Watertown Financial Partners,MassMutual

[ ]Insurance

CHRIS GANDY,EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,

WATERTOWER FINANCIAL PARTNERS, MASSMUTUAL

CCHRIS GANDY, EXECUTIVEVICE PRESIDENT AT WATER-TOWER FINANCIAL PARTNERS,WHICH IS A GENERAL AGENCYOF MASSMUTUAL, AND SALESMANAGER AT MASSMUTUAL,

PLAYED DIVISION ONE COLLEGE BASKETBALL.HE EVEN WENT ON TO PLAYWITH MICHAEL JORDAN INTHE NBA. AND ALTHOUGH HENO LONGER KEEPS SHAQUILLEO’NEAL OUT OF THE PAINT, HESTILL PUSHES HARD; IT’S JUSTTHAT NOWADAYS GANDYPUSHED AGAINST AN OLD PER-CEPTION.

“I’VE GOT AN ITCH ANDTHAT’S TO CHANGE THE PER-CEPTION OF HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE ATHLETES,” HEDECLARES. “THAT’S MY BURN-ING DESIRE OF WHY I’M INTHIS FIELD. PEOPLE THINKTHAT DUMB JOCKS GO TOSCHOOL FOR SPORTS AND WENEVER HEAR FROM THEMAGAIN. THAT’S WHY I’MINVOLVED WITH THE UNIVER-SITY OF ILLINOIS IN THE ATH-LETIC PROGRAM AND THE

ACADEMIC PROGRAM. I WAS ALWAYS TOLDTHAT SPORTS HAS A DEADLINE FOR ATHLETESAND AT THAT POINT, YOU LIVE THE REST OFYOUR LIFE. IT’S ONLY A SHORT TIME FRAMEAND ONE SHOULD USE SPORTS TO ACHIEVEDISCIPLINE. THAT’S WHAT MY MOM TOLD ME,TOO.”

Gandy has given his mother many reasons tobe proud. “I was the first in my family to go to col-lege, play professional sports, and become anexecutive,” he boasts. “You hear of so many ath-letes who go broke and mess up their lives. I get toimpact how people think of athletes and change

that whole perception of what they do after work.I’ve been able to leverage that in this career andit’s been awesome. I use the ‘jock’ to meet peopleand my brain to impress people.”

And instead of keeping Shaq out of the paint,Gandy has helped O’Neal to remain in the black.

“I’ve done a lit-tle financialplanning forMr. O’Neal,” henotes.

Gandy works in Chicago, IL, and is one ofMassMutual’s 5,000 financial service professionalsin more than 80 agencies across the country. Hisplaying days inform his executive style. “They callme the coach. I played sports so my goal is to helppeople achieve their goals and ultimately we’llachieve ours,” he explains.

In high school, Gandy was a two-sport star.He earned seven varsity letters in basketball andtrack and was the IHSA Sectional High Jumpchampion. He was also voted to the All-State bas-ketball team for three years. He played at the Uni-versity of Illinois in the Big Ten, where he waselected co-captain, 3rd team All-Big Ten, and wasthe second leading scorer his senior year. Hedidn’t just play for the NBA Bulls—he also playedin Europe. “I played for two and one-half years in

“My whole vision isto inspire people.

I aspire to inspire.”

[ ]Insurance

Nantes, France and along the French Riviera,” herecalls.

From all of his world traveling, Gandy haslearned that there’s no attribute like heart. “I hiremost of our employees. We look for people who arewell rounded, which means that they care aboutsomeone other than themselves and have spenttime in the workforce and have a story to tell. Thetests don’t measure someone’s heart, one’s will tosucceed,” he remarks.

And Gandy also looks for “heart” away fromwork. “What are jobseekers involved in outside ofwork? From a social standpoint, what are they in -volved in? What kind of history can they show thatdemonstrates their ability to overcome obstacles?”

Gandy frequently speaks about the imperative ofbeing disciplined and alert to opportunities. “Theone thing I tell the students at the University of Illi-nois when I go back and talk to them is to takeadvantage of an opportunity that teaches you. Youcan create your own impact and story if you learnhow to manage your time effectively and efficiently.

You have to learn how to meet new people and cre-ate a sphere of influence. This is where self-disciplinecomes in. You have to do these things on a dailybasis when your boss is not looking over your shoul-der,” he advises.

And Gandy seeks to inspire with his self-disci-pline. “My whole vision is to inspire people. I aspireto inspire,” he comments. “If you design your lifearound that, you’ll do well and have a good time,too. I am a team player. Without other people suc-ceeding, I won’t succeed. This is a win-win situationhere. I help them become successful and bring theirpotential to life. If they don’t grow, we don’t grow. I

believe in getting in early and leaving late. Early inmy career, someone said, ‘Act like the CEO if youwant to be the CEO,’ so I do. I’m the guy who locksthe door at the end of the day. That’s a simple disci-pline that everyone can do: get to the office early.Give the perception that you will be successful beforeyou become successful. I was very successful veryearly because I ran so hard, coming in early and leav-ing late and telling my story.”

Part of Gandy’s success came from the latitudeof operating a business within a business. “I like thefact that we are a business within a business. Wecan brand our business and put our personalityinto it,” he states.

However, Gandy aspires to more than simplywealth. “There’s an opportunity to be successfuland make a lot of money and do very well, butthere’s also the opportunity to lead others andprogress along a career track, which is why I joined.There is a clear career track. Because I am an AfricanAmerican, I lead the way for African Americans toprogress through the corporate structure. I carrythe flag,” he declares.

Having carried that flag for years, Gandy hashad the opportunity to witness the long-term effectsof his efforts. “The coolest thing for me is to watchthe people who have come from nothing, who grewup with a single parent, like I did, and my momnever earned over $20,000 or $30,000 a year. I wastold that if you make it past four or five years, you’llbe overpaid for the rest of your life and that’s true,”he says. “I work with athletes, executives, and smallbusiness owners. I’m still young at 35, so I’ve grownup in the business and watched my young clientsand reps buy their first homes and that’s gratifying,to see employees and clients achieve the things thatthey want. I didn’t have a huge network of wealthypeople who could use our products and services, butwith my determination, failure is not an option.”

And Gandy doesn’t want failure to be an option

“I want to get more and more AfricanAmericans involved in this type of opportunity.”

[ ]Insurance

for other African Americans. “It was a difficult deci-sion to leave sports. I was injured. I tore my knee up.It was long nights, but I kept saying, ‘I’m going todo what I have to do to achieve what I want,’” heremarks. “I went from working out for 16 years andplaying sports and when it was done, no one callsyou and says, ‘I can’t wait for you to come onboard.’ I had to do some soul searching. I put myhead down and just ran with it. For me and forAfrican Americans in the marketplace, this sector isuntapped. People want to work with people whocan inspire them and if you want to work in aniche, you will build prestige in that arena and youwill get to please people, too. And it’s essentialwork. You get to coach people through life events. Iwant to get more and more African Americans

involved in this type of opportunity. I’ve watchedmy clients retire and one of my target markets is theAfrican-American executive. I work with them andhelp them understand that we have wealth builtnot just for us, but to inspire other generations.”

And if you want in, how do you get it? “Weoffer internships, so take the leap of faith and dosomething where you think you might haveimpact,” Gandy advises. “The internship programgives you that chance. And find a mentor, whichis how I ended up in the business. I was looking tobe an investment banker. That was my whole rea-son behind earning my degree at University of Illi-nois. I wanted to work at a Fortune 100 company.So, I got involved at a local level.”

Reprint provided courtesy of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. Springfield, MA 01111

Posted with permission from African-American Career World, Winter/Spring 2010. Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved. Online at www.eop.com#1-27589711 Managed by The YGS Group, 717.505.9701. For more information visit www.theYGSgroup.com/reprints.

Christopher Gandy is a registered representative and an investment advisor representative of MML In-vestors Services, Inc., Member SIPC, Bldg. Watertower Financial Partners, LLC, 20 North Clark St., Suite1850, Chicago, IL 60602, Phone: (312) 984-1000. Mr Gandy is licensed to offer insurance and/or securi-ties products and services in CA (CA#OE37946) and IL.

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