Ever feel like you’re putting in all the effort to build a top-tier team, but the momentum just isn’t there? You’re not alone. Many reps struggle with finding the right people and keeping them motivated. But what if you could change that? What if you could create a team that not only stays but thrives? That’s exactly what Blake Otto dives into in this powerful session. He shares his personal journey and the leadership formula that helped him build a resilient and successful team. It’s packed with insights and strategies that can transform your approach to recruiting and team-building. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from someone who’s been in your shoes and come out on top. Watch the video below and discover the breakthrough tips that can elevate your business to new heights.
Video Transcription:
All right, so first of all, I just want to say this is like a big full circle moment for me.
Some of you guys in the front here, I’ve known my whole life, some of you guys have been such a positive impact on me for my whole life, and you’ve seen me grow up in this company.
And some of you I don’t know, I’ve never met before, maybe this is your first leadership school.
Maybe this is your first few months in the business.
So I hope what I have to say resonates well with you as somebody who just got started, you know, a few months ago as well, I want to let you know that you might be thinking, you might be sitting there thinking, oh, man.
This is Keith Otto.
This is Daniel, Otto’s son.
He’ll be put in this position and given advantages and propelled to this spot.
But I want to let you know that the only advantage that I have in Primerica over someone who’s just starting out is my belief level is just way up here, right? Because all I’ve known my whole life in Primerica, success.
And the people that are in this front row right here that I’ve just been around forever, the trips, the winners, my parents and their success.
And so I don’t have any special advantages because for the last 22 years, until I got started, I had never one time ever seen a kitchen table presentation, never saw an op meeting.
I never saw a recruiting one one, never one time ever.
I only saw the success of Primerica.
So I don’t.
I just started from the bare bones beginning, just like everybody else.
And so I want to tell you a little bit about the route right out of college, my dad said it, I just wanted to jump both feet in.
I told him, I don’t want to pay for.
I don’t want you to pay for the rent, all this stuff.
And I felt like if I could put two feet forward and feel like my back was up against the wall, that I can make this thing work full time for me immediately.
And so that’s what I did, right? My goal was immediately, the first month was to learn this presentation.
I had my dad do so many one ones for me, so many.
We met with every single one of my friends.
He sat down and did a ton of kitchen table presentations for me.
And so I’m forever grateful for that, first of all.
And that helped me.
It really propelled me for the first month.
I had a lot of info dumped on me in a month that really helped my growth.
And so I understood that If I could get this presentation down, if I can learn this thing, then I can go duplicate myself.
And that’s everybody’s goal, right? Duplication.
But I know if I want duplication going on, I first have to be duplicated myself.
So I have to duplicate my own self.
I’ve got to take.
I can’t let the presentation just come to me naturally.
I’ve got to go attack it.
I got to go study it and practice it and learn it and listen to them over and over again.
Listen to some of the other speakers.
David Kim.
I watched your one one or your kitchen table presentation like 100 times before I got it down, right? And so just mixing and mastering and piecing my own presentation together to then go share to somebody else and teach them how to do what I’m doing.
So that led us to the convention, right? We had a lot of momentum going into the convention.
I had.
I just passed my sie.
I had about eight guys with me on my team from the convention, and a lot of you guys saw us there and we all met there.
Am I out of time already? Oh, no, I’m good.
And so a lot of you guys saw us there.
And there’s three of us left from the convention, and the three of us are in this room right now.
I know Daniel and Hannah made the trip, which I’m super excited about.
I appreciate you guys coming, and I know your guys business is about to take off, and so the three of us, we’re still rocking strong, and our business is now bigger and better than it’s ever been because we just replaced those guys, right? Those five people that came with us to the convention that quit were some of my closest friends, some people that I grew up with that saw the lifestyle that my parents provided for us, and they still quit, right? So if you’re sitting there and you think you’re immune to somebody quitting on you, right, it’s my friend.
He’s not going to quit on me.
They’re never going to do what they say they’re going to do, and they’re going to quit on you.
And that’s just the reality of it.
They’re going to quit on me.
They’re going to quit on you, they’re going to quit on my parents, they’re going to quit on us all.
And so it’s how you look at that, is it? Man, that guy quit on me, right? That guy, that guy.
My month is ruined now because my best buddy quit on me.
Or is it? I feel bad for that Guy, he just threw away a million dollar opportunity to go work for somebody else for the rest of his life.
And so that was the mentality it takes, right? It’s really no next, all right, we’re replacing them and we’re just going to keep going until we got some stars.
And so that’s really what it is.
And that’s the mentality that, you know, I take just because of my parents and giving me that mentality my whole life and just pushing through and persevering.
Let me just see what else I wrote down here.
Okay, so now that’s where we’re at.
Right now I’m in Tampa, I live there full time.
And the first two months of me living in Tampa, I’ve been there for about four months.
First two months of me living there, every single for the first eight weeks.
I got up on a Monday morning at seven, drove to Naples, two and a half hour drive.
And then I was there for the managers meeting at 10.
I would stay till Tuesday night’s meeting and then I would head back and be back in Tampa at midnight.
And then I’d build my business in Tampa for the remainder of the week.
And that was the first eight weeks until I got a little bit of sustainability in Naples where we got some guys, you know, doing their own thing and doing their own presentations or individuals.
And so I don’t have to go there every single week anymore.
I go there every few weeks now.
But it’s doing the little things, it’s showing your team that you want to do the things that you’re going to do, it no matter what you’re going to show, you’re going to get there, you’re going to show up, you’re going to drive that time, you’re going to be there on time, you’re always going to be in a meeting, you’re never going to miss a meeting.
And so I know that I want to attract the top talent, I want to have the best people working with me and I want to build a crazy awesome team that works together that have the same mentality I do.
And so I understand.
And you guys know this too, right? If you want to attract top tier talent, that has to be you first.
You’ve gotta start, it starts with you.
So I wrote this down, I said, the law of attraction.
Be that person you are looking for in others and you will attract like minded people.
So that’s what I wanna do.
I wanna build a team that’s like minded, like myself.
But it starts with me.
And I’ve gotta do a great job.
Being the perfect recruit.
We always talk about it being accountable, money motivated, right? Ambitious.
They do what they say they’re going to do.
They do the little things that nobody wants to do.
And so it starts with me.
And that was my goal, right off the gun.
I want to make sure.
I don’t want to be that person that tells somebody else what to do.
Tell somebody else, oh, you got to be here, do this many appointments and not do it for myself.
So my goal is to always show my team that I’m on that leaderboard as a personal producer, that I’m going to keep doing that and doing what it, you know, what it takes to get it done.
And so I had some other teammates, Brad and Wendy.
They flew in from Florida and one drove from New Jersey, and I’m so proud of them.
And we’re going to kick butt this next half year.
We’re going to have an awesome year.
And I’m excited to be in business with you guys.
And, man, I got some more time left, but I don’t really know what else to say.
I mean.
All right, guys, we’ll see you at the top.
