My first job in the insurance industry was in 1998, when I worked with an agency that exclusively sold personal life insurance. I was responsible for preparing life insurance files for underwriting, and it was in this position that I developed a healthy respect for risk and prevention. It was also my first introduction into the weird things that people do to themselves physically and mentally. After a year, I knew I was hooked and that the insurance industry would be my home for a very long time, but I also knew I wanted to be involved at a different level—a level where I had a chance to make a change in someone’s life, rather than a financial solution for their death.

In 2000, I went to work as an Administrative Assistant for a small insurance agency in Orange County that focused on Employee Benefits management for small to mid-sized businesses. I spent thirteen years working every job there was to work within that agency: data entry, administrative, marketing, membership—you name the task and I mastered it. The only position I hadn’t been brave enough to tackle was that of a sales agent. Throughout my tenure there, I watched agents come and go, and assumed it must be the hardest job in the world and therefore wanted no part of it. I was perfectly happy being the administrative backbone for everyone else for more than a decade.

In 2013, I went on an industry group trip to Italy with thirty-five of the best insurance agents from all over the United States. I was obviously honored and excited to be there, but I had no idea how much that trip would change the path of my life. In fact, I can remember the exact moment everything changed for me. I was sitting in a fancy Italian hotel conference room, debating with the country’s best and brightest agents about the onset of the Affordable Care Act. During the debate, I took a mental step back from the conversation to just listen, and it came to me like a wave: I was every bit as good and capable as these guys, and it was about time to prove it.

Since that moment, a lot has happened. Within a few months of making my decision in Italy, I took over a small failing agency partnership and spent three years trying to pull it together, and I almost did it. While I learned a lot in this venture, I realized early on that I would need to be completely in control (sans partners) to get the specific agency result I was looking for. Subsequently, in December of 2016, I made the decision to dissolve my ownership in that agency, and to start my own agency from the ground up, in the exact image I had imagined during my wave of Italian daydreaming. 

Clients of Vitam Insurance Services will find that our foundations are built on strong Account Management. Any agent can present you with a proposal for insurance, but it takes someone with a healthy understanding of carrier logistics to make the client experience as pleasurable as possible. I have seen insurance agents fail because they start from the sales position, rather than in the Account Management position and move up; they learn to get the sale, but they never learned to keep it. We believe we have the best insurance industry solutions for both consumers and agents. Vitam Insurance Services is the brave, new way of offering life, health, and travel insurance. Give us a shot and we will show you just how different we are!

Jacqueline Savidan

President

Alumni:  Penn State University

Hometown:  San Clemente, CA

A MESSAGE FROM OUR FOUNDER