David Appel, CLU, ChFC
Newton, MA
12-Year Member

“Through MDRT, I get to interact with top industry leaders which helps me refocus my business and attain higher levels of production.  MDRT has also helped me grow with its ‘whole-person’ concept.  I can better allocate time to my business as well as my family through things I have learned through the years at the MDRT Annual Meetings.”

Kelly Bills
Salt Lake City, UT
18-Year Member

“The value I get from being an MDRT member is enormous. The primary thing about our business is ideas, and you can't help but be an MDRT member and get ideas that will enhance your profession. In fact, when I speak to various groups of advisors, I tell them that they're crazy if they don't join MDRT. I've talked to members that haven't attended the Annual Meeting, and I tell them you've got to go because the ideas you get are just tremendous. So professionally, it has been absolutely essential to my success. Personally, my life has been enhanced dramatically over the years by the experience of the MDRT Annual Meeting. Some of the presentations and the talks, in particular the Main Platform, change people. They are just wonderful, inspiring and it has helped me to become a better person.”

Elaine Bonello, ACII, APFS
Ta'Xbiex, Malta
12-Year Member

“The greatest benefit of being an MDRT member is that it has widened my horizons tremendously as far as business is concerned.  It has given me ideas on how to market myself and how to prospect with clients.  It has helped me reach, I feel, a more professional level in my business and in my work ethic.  On a personal level, I found it has very much helped to give me a sense of balance in my life.  The ‘whole-person’ concept has helped me to do away with the feeling of almost having to make excuses if I take time off work, if I dedicate time to studying, to being with my family, or any other activity that is not work related.”

Brian Burkey
Portage, MI
5-Year Member

“I constantly get new ideas for prospecting and finding new business and better ways to grow my business.  From a personal standpoint, I'm reminded that there are things in life bigger than me.  The ability to give back is one of the big things I get from MDRT.”

Jason Dudam
Lafayette, CA
3-Year Member

“MDRT helps me grow my business.  It helps me refocus on my business and the objectives that allow me to be successful.  MDRT also really shows me what we do in our business and how important it is to people.  You really see this through the policies and the death benefits that are being paid out, and it makes you stop and think what a wonderful business we're in.”

Brad Elman, CLU
San Jose, CA
16-Year Member

“MDRT has helped me become the successful agent that I am today, and it helps me continue to grow in my practice.  Each year I get together and see friends that have helped me grow and inspired me, and the MDRT Annual Meeting itself is a great source of motivation that lasts throughout the year.”

Alessandro Forte
Weston-super-Mare, England
10-Year Member

“I'm a speaker and ambassador for MDRT across Europe. And for me, professionally and personally, sharing the ideas and experiences I've gained in 20 years in the profession does two things: it reaffirms all my beliefs in MDRT and what I do for a living, and it adds a lot of credibility to what I do for my clients. They believe in me to a far greater extent because I'm part of a worthy and professional organization, and I'm actually sharing those ideals with other people.”

Angelia Fritter, CLU, ChFC
Glen Allen, VA
8-year MDRT member

“MDRT has put me in a situation where I can let my clients know that I belong to the top 1 percent of the entire world of financial professionals.  In an industry where some consider us to be a ‘dime a dozen,’ it's the elite aspect of MDRT and being able to validate work ethic and integrity in the affiliation with the organization that sets me above the rest of the pack.  That's what I really like about it.  It helped me to build confidence as a newer agent.  When I started in the business, I was only 26 years old.  In qualifying and actually attending my first MDRT Annual Meeting, I walked away with more confidence about my mission in this business and why I'm doing what I'm doing.  Being able to speak to clients with passion about our industry makes a difference.  That's what MDRT does for me.”

Ian Green
London, England
10-Year Member

“The value I get from MDRT is the Annual Meeting and the MDRT Experience meetings.  They recharge my batteries and give me the information I need to motivate me and see my business through the ups and downs of the year ahead.  MDRT also reinforces the ‘whole-person’ concept and makes sure that when times do get busy, I not only focus on my work, but on my life and family, too.”

Jim Rogers, CFP, CLU
Vancouver, BC
34-Year MDRT Member
2007-2008 President

“Sharing with other MDRT members you get practical, useful information on sales and practice management that you simply can't get anywhere else.”

Laurie Leja, CLTC
Mount Prospect, IL
6-Year Member

“Probably the first benefit of MDRT membership is career development; basically learning new skills and being challenged to do things outside your comfort zone. These skills are then transferred into the sales world. The second thing would be the friendships and relationships that you develop. You can actually call on somebody in an area that you're not familiar with and just say, "hey, how do I deal with disability insurance or how do I deal with this practice management issue" And you literally have advisors at your fingertips that would probably cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars if you had to pay for them. But through these great, special friendships, you have people you can call on and ask for their advice.”

Briggs Matsko, CFP
Sacramento, CA
18-Year Member

“The value I get from MDRT is the synergy that is created around ideas and thoughts, especially in the focus sessions in the Annual Meeting.  The camaraderie is important – getting to know other professionals in my business and being able to share concepts and ideas with them.”

Diane McCurdy, CFP, EPC
Vancouver, BC, Canada
26-year MDRT member

“MDRT means a lot to me, both professionally and personally.  Professionally, I have learned so much from attending the Annual Meetings and mingling with other members.  I couldn't believe how low I had been aiming, and it raised the bar for me tremendously.  It also helped me to take back information to my clients at home and to other advisors.  From attending the meetings, I also learned personally that you can never give as much as you receive.  I felt that I had learned so much that I should give back to MDRT by being a volunteer.  And, in being a volunteer, I always seem to get back ten-fold whatever I contribute.  It's taught me a lot about leadership skills, which is something I can take back to my community.  I'm involved in so many things because of the confidence that MDRT helped me develop.”

Walton Rogers, CLU, ChFC
Annapolis, MD
33-Year MDRT Member
2008-2009 President

“Clients like working with the best. MDRT helps me be the best and demonstrate that to my clients.”

Hank Tajkowski, CLU, ChFC
Chicago, IL
4-Year Member

“Professionally, the resources that I have and the interactions and the relationships that you build through MDRT are a significant help in transacting business. I've been able to implement certain ideas that other members have shared that, without that sharing, wouldn't have come into play. Personally, the benefits are from a "whole-person" concept. The benefit that I receive is better understanding why I do what I do and being able to help people. And, being able to achieve some success allows me to do things with my family and volunteering and other things that have come back ten-fold as far as an external benefit.”

Dave Vanderzee, CLU, ChFC
Clifton Park, NY
25-Year Member

“The value I receive from MDRT is to be energized year after year, meet new people, go to exciting places and have an opportunity to share ideas with my contemporaries.”