Roselle Cobangbang: Because Family Comes First

Two years ago, I missed my opportunity to meet Roselle Cobangbang.  Roselle is my cousin Clariz’s manager in Sun Life. My cousin was then just starting out in the insurance company and felt that her manager would be better at explaining to me what I needed to know, but I refused for her to come.

Part of my refusal was my first impression of financial advisors. You know how it is — Filipinos have a mindset that financial advisors are only after their commissions; and partly because I was going through an emotional time. I didn’t want to end up all over the place in the presence of someone I just met.

Not one, but two financial advisors

I opened a mutual fund account with my friend Che who was also a financial advisor, but when I won in #Sinag last year, I started investing on a Variable Universal Life Insurance account (VUL) under Clariz with my cash prize.

Obviously, after meeting with my first FA and learning about the different insurance products, and reflecting on how they can help us and our children, my opinion on FA’s have changed.

In case you’re wondering why I ended up with two financial advisors, it’s because in Sun Life, an FA can only sign you up for the products they have trained for. I talked about licenses in my blog, How we chose our financial advisor.

Roselle and her “real success” story

So I finally met Roselle last week. We met at one of my favorite coffee shops in BGC and I got to know her more. The more I listened to her, the more I saw her heart to help people. I’m not sure if you’ve seen her on Facebook, but here’s her mantra for the people she’s reaching out to:

It’s easy to come up with a good tag line to advertise yourself, but with Roselle, I sensed her sincerity and her passion to teach people how to manage their finances and achieve a financially assured future — from baby steps to leaps and bounds.

Roselle led a very successful career in advertising and TV research. But because her work required her to be on the field a lot, her marriage with her husband, Ryan, was deteriorating, and she was missing out on her child’s growing up years.

She was earning a lot and have earned accolades, but she felt unhappy, unfulfilled and empty.

It all began with Lorna

That’s when her Financial Advisor Lorna invited her to join her team in Sun Life. She met Lorna through her sister-in-law when she looked for an insurance agent.

At first, Roselle didn’t understand that there would be training to go to and that the pay was on commission basis. She thought it was a salaried job! So when it was explained to her, she hesitated.

However, the potential of growth and having more time to spend with her husband and her son to work things out was promising, so she first signed up as a part-timer. Determined to succeed, she took care of all her financial obligations – such as credit card debts, and saved up enough in the months the followed so she could take her newfound career into full swing.

“By the grace of God, I was able to earn 3x more than I used to earn, and for less hours in my first three months as FA.” Roselle sounded so humble when she shared her initial success. “I was worried at first because of our house loan but we earned more than enough to pay for it.”

Roselle was also able to work out her relationship with her husband, Ryan. In fact, he joined her in the business and is also enjoying his own share of victories and successes.

Roselle also exclaims happily, “I no longer miss any of my son’s events!” She’s enjoying her freedom to manage her time and schedule her meetings with clients without them conflicting with her time for her family.

Roselle’s husband and son are also happier with her around. For Roselle, the once empty life is now a love tank filled!

To push a point, let me show you a few photos of Roselle in her career evolution:
Can you spot the difference? The Roselle now looks fresh and rested and happy. Why? Because she’s able to find time for the people that matter to her – her family, for whom her hard work is in the first place.

Helping out the burnt out

After only two years of being Financial Advisor, Roselle was appointed a Manager candidate tasked to form her own team. Roselle’s heart is to find people burnt out from the demands of corporate world, just as she had been, and help them find their place in the industry.

In 2015, she was appointed Unit Manager, growing a team of 4, to now 16 happy and fulfilled FA’s – 50% of whom are Gen X’ers and 50% are Millenials.

“Each member of my team have a specific niche to focus on. For example, Clariz focuses on family,” Roselle explains.

She continues, “I treat my team (Mt. Athos) like family. I teach them everything I know and everything I learned so they can be successful, too,” says Roselle. 

Mt. Athos gets together outside business meetings and spend time growing their friendship, as well. Clariz, on the side, laughs about how much they eat when their team comes together.

Join Roselle and be a successful Sun Life Financial Advisor

“I found happiness in what I do now so I keep on looking for people whom I can help change their lives for a brighter future,” says Roselle. “If you are one of them or know someone we can help,  please send us a message and we’ll be glad to welcome them in the team.

Each person in Mt. Athos has a story to tell, a history that brought them to the success they have now. I’ll be meeting the rest of the team soon and I’m excited to share their stories to you in the coming days.

If you are interested to join Roselle’s team, you can leave a message through their Facebook page, Pesotive Mind, and schedule a meet-up so you can know the details firsthand, and perhaps mark a new career season for yourself as a Financial Advisor. What do you say?
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“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” Matthew 6:33.