Meet Meshell Dowell-calderon | Financial consultant/Life,Health, and Annuities agent

We had the good fortune of connecting with Meshell Dowell-calderon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Meshell, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started my own business in life insurance because of my dad and my brother in-law both passing away from cancer. My dad had brain cancer and begged me to help him but unfortunately I couldn’t and 9 months later during the Covid’s pandemic he decided to deliver pizzas to the community and caught the virus himself. So 2 weeks later he passed away and my brother in-law also had cancer and 9 months later he to passed away leaving behind nothing to support there families the only income was now gone forcing my best friend to go to work for the first time in three 30 year marriage. No ged and no skills or experience. She now works as a pool cleaner at the age of 53.
To add to that we have a 23 year old daughter who is autistic and will need to be taken care of for the rest of her life and so many other families I know are in the same situation and life insurance can help. And to top it off the reasons why I like working with military families and veterans is because I personally know the struggles that they deal with and the lack of coverage or any cash value on the military’s life insurance policies to include health coverage.
As I think you can see it has become a passion of mine to not have another person having to experience what my family has gone and still are.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Today I’m grateful to the Almighty Father for giving me this opportunity and I love what I do. I never thought that this would be my path in life after being a stay home mom of a severely disabled autistic child for 21 years and married to a military man who served 21 years and a veteran who was often deployed during his time in the service. Furthermore I believe wholeheartedly in what I’m doing because I have experienced so many levels of what I educate others about. I think what sets me apart from others is that I ca empathize with my clients because I know what they are going through and maybe not exactly the same thing but an understanding of what they’re feeling I have lost my dad, brother in law both to terminal illnesses with out any insurance and neither of there work placed offered it. So I love working with people who’s not being insured because of their work for example tattoo parlors, hairstylists, restaurants, and many others. At the same time I have adult children trying to buy insurance for their parents because they are worried about the financial impact on the family and I can sympathize because I have been there. For those who have disabled family members that they are struggling to support and are concerned about their family members life once they pass away are looking for cash value policies and policies on the family members and again I can sympathize because I am going through it. Lastly I love working with the military families because the military member is covered but the policy builds no money and goes up every so often and then there is no insurance for the family members outside of healthcare and with a family members child reach 21 they have to have their own insurance and it’s almost $400. A month. So I think what sets me a side is that I’m just like them I have the same concerns so I am not considering myself successful because of money but because I am successful with my clients well being. I try to work with people who are less fortunate because most agents are not interested in them.
I’m extremely proud of the business that I have started just a short while ago. I started out just a broker at 2 very unethical companies in which I was in no position to challenge either one of these companies. The first company the owner took myself and another female employee away from the group of new hires and had us work with him only but not making calls or even allowing us to speak with the other employees he would set up the appointments and have her and I make contact with the clients and he would be on zoom with us and we would get to the point of closing and he would lock us out saying that we were going to lose it and that he saved the sale and didn’t pay us for it. The second company my boss was paying himself off of the policies I sold and only paying me less than a quarter of the commission. To make matters worse I had no idea of what I was even doing and he was never available having his unlicensed wife try and handle any of the problems I would so at one point I reached out for help through discord the team chat and got help on how to do something on a hand written contract to which first thing the next morning I am being threatened with my job and told that she almost lost her job for helping me and I almost lost mine because I spoke to someone in the company. There’s a lot that happened but what I learned was that I had to educate myself on everything to listen to podcasts, webinars, and social media groups and unfortunately I had to realize that the insurance industry has a big what call the “good ole Boys Club “ women are still not equally treated.
It’s not been easy at all and questioning myself if this was really worth all the stress and sacrifice but I have to say though I never had a coach, mentor, or a manager who helped me get to where I am now but the lack of them made me realize that I had passion, drive, and motivation to figure it out on my own and to grow into a financial professional with every fall or going through loosing clients because of lack of training I realized I could either be the victim and make no money or I could be a survivor and make great money.
What I had to overcome was s*x discrimination, age discrimination, and being taken advantage of by the men in the industry and the understanding that the less I knew the easier it was to be treated as easy target.
I really believe that overcoming something has more to do with how you feel about yourself than how others perceive you as. You have to accept that you have work to do on your own to be successful and others will see you differently and you are less likely to be a victim of circumstances. And never be afraid to stand up for yourself especially if it is against stated rules
Wow, what do I want the world to know about my brand and story…my brand Meshell 4Life, Insurance Matters is all about your whole life will come down to the biggest show in your life outside of being born and it is a different celebration because it is saying good bye but the most beautiful things that you have done and the people you care about are all there and insurance matters because at the end will it be something you want or will it be decided by the state. Will your spouse or children have to get a job right away because the main source of income is gone and bills are piling up? If you’re a female and have kids is there something to help cover the costs that it takes to support them? My brand is about what matters in the end.
I pray that people can see that against all odds I am still passionate about helping others and them knowing that because of my personal experiences I can understand what they are going through or are concerned about going through it. I also hope that my story helps someone who is on the fence trying to decide what to do or someone who is struggling with their loved ones disability and didn’t think there was any way to get help.
Lastly I want them to realize that I am not here to sell them anything I am only providing them with information and if they decide to move forward with an application that is up to them. I am not going be calling, texting, and emailing them none stop pressuring them into something.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well I not from here originally and have only been here a few years. However let’s say that she came Thursday night the next’s day I had planned a concert at empower stadium so that morning we would hang out and chat for the afternoon maybe grab a pizza at edgewater pizza before heading to the concert. Then the next day on Saturday we would head to Glennwood Springs stay at these cabins that I found I can’t remember the name of the place I think it was Glennwoods canyon campground.. we would get in late afternoon towards the evening and head over to the hot springs swimming pool and enjoy the hot springs water and afterwards get a bit to eat at ihop. On Sunday we would just eat at the cabin she is not much on eating out. So we would hike the trail up the mountain to go see Doc Holiday’s grave. Oh man that climb will about kill you going up. But we find the grave which has been moved and back down the hill. That evening we would go into town and look at the little shops and then stopping at Doc Holidays restaurant with the original bar from his time where he was sorted at most nights.. Monday we head back to Denver and before going home we stopped at Coyote bar and had a couple drinks and some appetizers and danced on the bar. Then went back to my place and the next on Tuesday we ordered food from old Chicago pizza restaurant the Italian nachos were amazing and we went to the pool at Chrome apartments and just swam and laid for the day. Wednesday we got up and ate at donut hole and we’re off to see a week day baseball game at coors field and then went home so she could pack to leave out the next morning.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to be able to recognize my husband Alfonso Calderon he slept on the couch so I could study for the exams with out bothering me at it was only for 4 nights. He has been my biggest supporter emotionally, mentally, and financially. Plus I have to give a shout to Joanne Bailey from Symmetry Financial she is my manager and close friend and she has always believed in me even if I didn’t. Chris Risko from Transamerica has been incredible, specially during the constant interruptions with my schedule. He has been extremely patient with me and supportive he is my manager and I think he is the director of Transamerica.

Linkedin: Https://meshell-calderon.link.insure

Facebook: @meshelldowellcalderon

Other: World Wide Women Professional
US Chamber of Commerce