Ep #165: Navigating health insurance for business owners with Adriana Montgomery

In this episode,  Adriana Montgomery, the 'health unicorn,' is a nationwide health insurance broker who has been in the business for 7 years. She now runs an award-winning bilingual brokerage from the sunny state of Florida with her husband who has 10 years of experience as a broker, their brokerage offers 150 companies to truly ensure people get to choose from what works best for them. Their company “Health  Unicorn Mike LLC'' is a one-stop shop, offering Health Insurance(Private, Group, Marketplace, Family, ETC) , Life Insurance, Dental, Vision, Disability Insurance, Indemnity, Health Savings, and Travel Insurance.

Adriana also highlights the importance of insurance, particularly in the context of reducing medical debt which is a significant issue in the U.S. Moreover, she offers insightful advice on choosing insurance plans, emphasizing the benefits of consulting a broker for personalized and comparative plan analysis.


00:36 The Journey of Becoming a Health and Life Insurance Broker
01:39 The Unicorn Mascot: A Symbol of Uniqueness in Insurance
03:19 The Importance of Insurance in Personal and Family Life
04:13 Empowering Business Owners with Insurance Solutions
06:16 Addressing Group Benefits and Individual Needs
09:45 Final Thoughts and Advice on Choosing Insurance
10:36 How to Connect with Health Unicorn

Where to find Adriana:

Website: www.HealthUnicorn.Co

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HealthUnicornMike

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthunicornnn/

Promotion:

Open Enrollment begins November 1, be sure to give her company a call with your inquiries at your earliest convenience. The best phone number to contact is 727-808-4705, text or call services available. To communicate via email, reach out to Adriana@healthunicorn.co or you can read more at www.HealthUnicorn.co as well! To learn more visit them on Instagram @TheHealthUnicorn & Facebook under “The Health Unicorn” for Health Benefits you can believe in! 
 

Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to another episode of the Helecia's Dorsey podcast. I have the health unicorn in the house, Adriana Montgomery. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. Thanks, Candace. Happy to be here. How are you? I'm doing well. Yay. So tell everyone who you are and what you do. I am a nationwide bilingual health and life insurance broker, right? That's a mouthful. But that isn't everything that I do. I'm just there for people who need it, family, group, or individual. I love it. Love it. Love it. So let's talk about the inspiration behind you starting your business. What was that like for you? Oh, sure thing. That's a good story. That was around COVID actually. I've been a broker for I think seven, almost eight years now. But when everybody, you know, started transitioning to working at home because that's what was safer for everyone. We were trying to still work for the same company, but with the three kids we have, you know, that schedule just wasn't working out for us. So that was definitely part of the inspiration was just being able to control our own time. I managed everything that we were doing for ourselves. Plus, when you work on your own, you get residuals. So we'd be able to provide more for our family. It just it worked out really like we wanted it to. And we've been doing it ever since. Awesome. Yeah. So many businesses just like spring from COVID and he thought it was going to be doing this time, but it actually was a flourishing time. So yeah, definitely. I'm not going to shout out to COVID because a lot of things happened during that time, but it definitely was a wonderful time for businesses. So can you remember a time in your business or in your life where you had a hello moment? Yeah. Basically the unicorn, when we came to the whole unicorn being our mascot, it was a hello moment, really. That was like, right before we decided to open our own LLC. Because I really do feel like we are unique, like the unicorn, you know, you don't see that a lot. And we are that, my husband and I own the brokerage together. And between him starting in life insurance and just having a different experience between the dental and the vision and, and just saving up and doing annuities and then also doing Medicare. We just had a wide reach and understanding that we're able to use for our clients. Everything that we know about all the experiences that we have, that doesn't usually happen in just one brokerage in that one stop shop, just, you know, massive abilities and We do it in English and Spanish as well. So we really felt like that made us unique and people need that. People need that all in one place, especially after COVID, you know, we needed to make it more convenient and more easily understandable for people when we went on our own, our time wasn't so controlled. So we were able to give people more attention. That they deserve when it comes to health insurance. It's not easy, but it is very important. Considering that the majority 69 percent of bankruptcy in the U S is just medical debt. We definitely want to help with that. So it was an aha moment for me realizing, man, we're unique out here and we really can make a difference, so we've got to do this. I love that. Because you, when you hear like the word insurance in itself, like people start to hesitate or, you know, they, they kind of take a step back and I, I just recently got life insurance and I'm so grateful for it because my mom been hounding me on about it. That's another story for another day. But we don't realize how we really, really needed whether it be medical, whether it be life or, you know, just that long term care. It is so, so important for us as human beings. And that's like a number one staple. Like you need that. You have to have it. Absolutely. It's setting yourself up, you know, it's another form of love for yourself and for your family. If you are financially dependent on anyone or if anyone is financially dependent on you, it's like you said, it's absolutely a need. Yes, definitely. So let's talk about how insurance help business owners. Can you talk more on that? Oh, sure thing. That's something we're doing a lot more of, you know, now that we've been on our own for a few years speaking of time and business, let's talk about productivity. So here's the thing. I always have brain fog with my one cup of coffee in the morning. So I grab another cup Or I make a homemade iced coffee or green tea for that middle of the day boost However, it only lasts for about an hour and i'm back to feeling stuck again And sometimes coffee give me the anxiety feels, you feel me? Instead of grabbing that extra cup of coffee or tea to boost my energy, I just grab a little shot of magic mind. It helps me drink less coffee throughout the day and keeps my energy and focus on point throughout the day. Just enough so that I can focus on doing client work for my business. Magic mind is all natural ingredients, no sugar, nut free, vegan, keto. Keto and paleo friendly. If you're like me and you have brain fog and need an extra boost to focus, I recommend you try it. Just one shot, get a natural, I mean, natural boost of focus and clarity. You can get it at magicmind. com slash CS Dorsey with code CS Dorsey 20. You also get 56 percent off your first subscription or 20 percent off your one time purchase. That's CSDorsey20 for 56 percent off. It also works if you're already a subscriber and you can save on your next subscription payment. So if you don't like those jitters, shakes, and afternoon crashes from the coffee or having trouble being 100 percent throughout the day, then try MagicMind. Need to know what's in it? Check out the ingredients below in the show notes. Again, go to www. magicmind. com forward slash CS Dorsey with code CS Dorsey 20 for up to 56 percent off your subscription. I'd get the 30 pack if I was you. Best value. Just saying. Group benefits we're able to offer like CHAMP that can help groups specifically 10 or more to get 0 copays, seeing the doctor virtually, or 0 to go see your your psychiatrist, your psychologist, so you can get your mental health benefits. Those are things that people pay for a lot, so they end up having, having a lot of out of pocket costs. So that's something that we definitely want to be able to address and help with to make it convenient for people because like you said, insurance makes people just kind of nervous. Just the word, right? There's definitely a big trust factor that comes in before anything. If people don't trust you, they really won't even continue the discussion. So that's what we want to be able to be there for, to build trust. Also with families, right? Families have kids that are. You know, the next in line, they are the future, the children are in the future. So that's really what we're here for. There's a lot of families, for example, that are business owners, right? Lots of parents that are looking to pass that on eventually, but they need to be in a stable place financially. And if the disturbance, something does happen to your health, because no one can plan that. That is where we come in to make it as understandable as possible. Sometimes even just going to get a lab test on your insurance can cost you 3, 000. I was having a conversation with someone the other day that that happened to them. But if you speak with me, you know, I can help you do things. I get you discounts for that. And we were able to make it actually literally as low as 90 for that lab test for that person. And that's amazing. You know, after a 10, 15 minute conversation, you can save thousands of dollars, but it does take a little bit of trust to get into that conversation and listen, you know? So my question is how do you, not convince, but more so in our community, the black and brown community, like what is your approach to approaching health insurance with them? Okay. That's a great question. It's really thinking about our future and, you know, our black and brown community. I feel like they have a lot of faith and that's a beautiful, wonderful thing. But like they say, faith without works is dead. So you've got to put in the works as well, which in insurance just means sitting down and having the conversation. It doesn't mean that it's going to cost you several 100. It does mean that you need to pay your time Which is so worth it to understand where you know, where is really the best position for you Sometimes people are just like my income my income. I just can't do it Well, do you know you could really get a super inexpensive plan instead of living uninsured? So those are the kinds of things that I try to make them aware of sometimes They are seeing a weight loss doctor for example and dealing with a lot of out of pocket costs We have coverage for that for those things that you're like my insurance should cover that but they consider it optional You So I try to make them aware of little facts like that. Also, insurance should be about 10 per your age. So for example, if I'm 30, it should be, ballpark, around 300. Unless, You're going to qualify for a subsidy. So these are facts that, you know, can really change your perception after a good conversation. These are the things that I like to share and, you know, to build that rapport, to build that trust because it doesn't cost me anything to share that, but it can help open up their eyes and their mind to, okay, you know what, this might be doable. If it is doable, it's certainly worth my time. Any last minute advice you have for our listeners out there? Absolutely. I would say take the time, you know, your appointment will be less than half an hour and change your life. Make sure you converse specifically with a broker. Agents are awesome and they're wonderful. I love that they're out there doing name brands, But if you want to make sure you do comparisons and you search high and low and you are for sure getting the best price, if that is a factor for you and you need to make sure you're at the lowest cost for yourself, speak with a broker that represents different companies because everything they have, you have everything they're aware of, you become aware of and you have access to that makes a big difference when it comes to price. And benefits that fit you. Some people are needing to get a lot of lab tests done. These are the little things that we can help with if we know. Yes, yes. This is wonderful. So where can everyone find you? Oh, that would be at our website, health unicorn.co. There is no M at the end. It is not.com. It is health unicorn.co. Awesome. And we'll definitely link those up in this show notes. Well, thank you Adriana, for coming on the show today. It was really informative. I'm happy to be here and I'd happy to be happy to come back if you need me. I'm always here as a resource. Candace. Thank you. Thank you.