WORKING moms today continue to face the challenge of juggling responsibilities at home and at work. While there is no concrete formula to achieve perfect work-life balance, this single mom of three shares how she took a leap in her career and ended up not just having more time to mother her three kids but also becoming the work mom to all her associates.
“I have three children, Casey (18), Julien (13), and Johann (11), and I’m solely fending for the whole family. My dreams and aspirations are simple: I want my kids to be able to go to the best schools, finish studying, and have the best experiences in life to help them become even better versions of me. Everything I do is all for them. They are my why,” shares Leica Cruz, Agency Manager at AIA Philam Life.
This great love of a mother coupled with the fact that she wants to have more time for her kids motivated Leica to leave her previous work as Head of Production in an established Cebu-based production company. With this decision, she took charge of her career by starting something of her own, eventually leading her to become a Financial Advisor at AIA Philam Life. “As a single mother, I needed constant income to feed and send my three children to school—not just any school but the best. I want them to be able to enjoy life and see the beauty of this world too,” she confides. “I took the leap because I have seen many others succeed in this industry, and I am very happy I get the chance to learn from them, especially those who have been in the company for twenty years or longer. The fulfillment I have in this career is unparalleled because it is hinged on the dreams I have for my family,” Leica adds.
More than just hitting business targets, Leica sees this as a chance to build her own business as she takes part in her clients’ financial journey, whether they are just starting to learn about the beauty of insurance for the first time or are already well-versed about it and fully know what they want. Having experienced difficult situations herself, she wants to help them have better lives and never experience the hardships she had been through due to lack of preparation for whatever curveball life may throw their way. In the process, she helps them uncover their whys, as well as their goals, and how insurance can help them achieve those.
Apart from this, being a mom even at work gives her joy. “AIA Philam life presented to me a clear career path from the very beginning. Start as a financial advisor, build a team, and then your own agency. It is an opportunity to be an insurance entrepreneur and have your own business. The path is to become a manager of managers in the next five years—I made it in three. There is a family culture that guides us through this. Hence, I look after the career and growth of my 70 associates, including four Unit Managers and one Associate Unit Manager, and make sure to guide them. No mom would want any of her children to go astray. We want success for our children, whether biological or at work because their success is also our success many times over,” she explains.
The real highlight, however, and what she considers to be the best and most important perk is she never has to sacrifice time with her kids to do all these, “I can make sure I personally bring my kids to school every morning, that I am present in all their school activities, and that I get to pick them up from school every single day. These are precious times I cannot let go of,” she disclosed. “I can schedule my vacations too when kids are on break. I travelled a lot in my previous job too but there was no room to bring my children. My trips were all purely for business. So, I’m really glad this career gave me the chance to enjoy this while my children are young.” Through travel, she teaches her kids to be independent not just in terms of reading maps, managing their own budget, packing their things, and scheduling and sticking to it but also to be prepared and to learn how to adjust if a worst-case scenario happens. “All travels with my kids have been truly memorable but our favorite trip was going to the US, traveling halfway through the globe for them to meet my friends from when I was younger and didn’t have them yet,” Leica expounded.
The opportunity to balance time with her family and work is something Leica deems to be of utmost importance. She is grateful for having found a business both financially rewarding and emotionally fulfilling, driven by a sense of purpose, all while making her dreams come true. Hence, she continues to be inspired by AIA Philam Life’s mission to race against risk to protect every Filipino family—and focuses on doing her share to fulfill it.
Leica encourages individuals like her to become insurance entrepreneurs with AIA Philam Life, so they too can join in on the pursuit to save lives, protect dreams, and secure the future of more Filipinos, and help them live healthier, longer, and better lives.
AIA Philam Life continues to welcome passionate individuals, with its new program focused on driving an entrepreneurial mindset for future financial advisors. Interested individuals can become part of AIA Philam Life, the country’s premier life insurance company, whose Hong Kong-based parent company is AIA Group Ltd, the largest independent publicly listed Pan-Asian life insurance group. With a rewarding and purpose-driven business, AIA Philam Life financial advisors have the power to change their story, just like Leica.
Aside from enjoying a performance-based development plan and receiving rewards such as unlimited income potential, travel incentives, awards, and more, AIA Philam Life Financial Advisors are enabled with state-of-the-art digital platforms that allow them to provide seamless service to their clients anytime and anywhere.
