Executive TLDR
Self-awareness and bigger vision unlock the next level in Primerica.
Daily recruiting focus and more directs drive expansion.
Licensing growth creates stability and leveraged income.
Operate like a CEO—work in and on your business daily.
Social media, standards, and systems separate average from elite.
Video Summary
Mastering The Art Of Recruitment And Licensing In Primerica
Sheldon Baptiste lays out a clear blueprint for scaling inside Primerica using what his mentor taught him: SSI — Size, Standards, and Income.
Growth is intentional. The next level is earned.
Self Awareness: Know Where You Really Are
Most people do not plateau because of effort.
They plateau because of lack of awareness.
You must know:
Where you are financially
Where you are in production
Where you are in recruiting
Where you are in licensing
If you don’t know your numbers, you can’t fix the leaks in your business.
Self-awareness precedes growth.
Make The Decision To Change
Results won’t change unless you change.
Leaving an event the same way you walked in defeats the purpose.
Growth requires a conscious decision to:
Think bigger
Raise standards
Expand vision
He calls it overcoming “small visionitis.”
Your vision must be large enough for your teammates to fit inside it.
Sell Yourself First
Before your team buys in, you must.
Commit — then recommit.
Like marriage, leadership requires daily recommitment to the mission.
If belief is weak, team conviction will be weaker.
Operate Like A CEO
Sheldon emphasizes schedule mastery.
He works every single day in Primerica.
Not randomly. Strategically.
You must:
Wake up with intention
Plan your day
Work in your business
Work on your business
Working “in” means personal production.
Working “on” means systems, training, structure.
You are the CEO — not the employee.
Fix The Leaks: More Directs
Every business needs people.
He simplifies it:
“I need more directs.”
Wider beats deeper early on.
More directs increase influence, production, and stability.
Focus on what you can control — personal recruiting.
Stop stressing about what you cannot control.
Environment Determines Perspective
Hanging around higher earners shifts your standards.
When you’re around leaders operating at higher levels, your thinking expands.
Your circle influences:
Expectations
Income ceilings
Urgency
Execution
You are a brand. Promote daily.
Social Media Is A Recruiting Machine
Recruiting has evolved.
Many team members were recruited through Instagram and direct messages.
Social media is not optional — it is leverage.
If you are already on your phone, use it to:
Post consistently
Send direct messages
Share opportunity stories
Build visibility
Modern recruiting requires modern tools.
Daily Goals Create Daily Results
Monthly goals are not enough.
Ask:
What is your goal today?
Who are you recruiting today?
Who are you presenting to today?
Business owners expect results every single day.
You must develop the same expectation.
Licensing Creates Stability
This is where the leverage multiplies.
When licensing increases:
Income becomes more stable
Effort becomes more leveraged
Production diversifies
Early on, most income came from Sheldon’s personal effort.
After growing licensing codes:
Income became more distributed
Stability improved
Long-term growth expanded
If someone doesn’t get licensed, the effort rarely compounds.
You need a system for licensing.
Bring People To The Office
Zoom is convenient.
But in-person connection builds culture.
Get people physically present:
Opportunity meetings
One-on-ones
Training sessions
Culture grows in proximity.
Recognition And Standards
Recognize your people.
Rally your team.
Raise expectations.
If you could have brought more people to an event, own it.
Standards determine income.
Income Vs Outcome
Recruiting must stay personal.
Leaders cannot outsource belief.
At scale, you still recruit.
The best recruiter in your organization should still be you.
Always Another Level
Every time you think you’ve arrived, there is another level.
Outgrow one room — get a bigger one.
Set bigger goals:
$500,000 SVP target
RVP promotions
Expansion beyond comfort
Growth never stops.
FAQs
Who delivered this talk?
Sheldon Baptiste.
What company is this strategy built around?
Primerica.
What does SSI stand for?
Size, Standards, and Income.
Why is self-awareness important?
Without knowing where you are, you cannot build a path forward.
What is “small visionitis”?
Thinking too small and limiting your team’s potential.
Why focus on directs?
Direct recruits increase width and personal influence.
Why operate like a CEO?
Ownership mindset produces higher discipline and better strategy.
What does working “in” and “on” the business mean?
“In” refers to production; “on” refers to systems and infrastructure.
Why is social media emphasized?
It is a scalable recruiting channel when used intentionally.
Are daily goals necessary?
Yes. Daily expectations create consistent momentum.
Why is licensing critical?
Licensing builds leverage and long-term income stability.
Is Zoom enough for team growth?
No. In-person culture strengthens belief and commitment.
How does environment affect income?
Proximity to higher performers raises standards and expectations.
Should leaders still personally recruit?
Yes. Leaders set the pace for the organization.
What is the long-term objective?
Sustained growth through recruiting, licensing, leadership development, and higher standards.
Glossary
SSI Size Standards Income
A framework emphasizing business expansion, higher expectations, and income growth.
Directs
Personally recruited team members.
Licensing Codes
The number of licensed representatives contributing to production.
SVP Senior Vice President
An advanced leadership level tied to significant income and organizational scale.
RVP Regional Vice President
A leadership position earned by building and sustaining distribution.
Working In The Business
Personal production activities such as recruiting and closing sales.
Working On The Business
Building systems, training leaders, and strengthening infrastructure for scalability.Executive TLDR
Self-awareness and bigger vision unlock the next level in Primerica.
Daily recruiting focus and more directs drive expansion.
Licensing growth creates stability and leveraged income.
Operate like a CEO—work in and on your business daily.
Social media, standards, and systems separate average from elite.
Video Summary
Mastering The Art Of Recruitment And Licensing In Primerica
Sheldon Baptiste lays out a clear blueprint for scaling inside Primerica using what his mentor taught him: SSI — Size, Standards, and Income.
Growth is intentional. The next level is earned.
Self Awareness: Know Where You Really Are
Most people do not plateau because of effort.
They plateau because of lack of awareness.
You must know:
Where you are financially
Where you are in production
Where you are in recruiting
Where you are in licensing
If you don’t know your numbers, you can’t fix the leaks in your business.
Self-awareness precedes growth.
Make The Decision To Change
Results won’t change unless you change.
Leaving an event the same way you walked in defeats the purpose.
Growth requires a conscious decision to:
Think bigger
Raise standards
Expand vision
He calls it overcoming “small visionitis.”
Your vision must be large enough for your teammates to fit inside it.
Sell Yourself First
Before your team buys in, you must.
Commit — then recommit.
Like marriage, leadership requires daily recommitment to the mission.
If belief is weak, team conviction will be weaker.
Operate Like A CEO
Sheldon emphasizes schedule mastery.
He works every single day in Primerica.
Not randomly. Strategically.
You must:
Wake up with intention
Plan your day
Work in your business
Work on your business
Working “in” means personal production.
Working “on” means systems, training, structure.
You are the CEO — not the employee.
Fix The Leaks: More Directs
Every business needs people.
He simplifies it:
“I need more directs.”
Wider beats deeper early on.
More directs increase influence, production, and stability.
Focus on what you can control — personal recruiting.
Stop stressing about what you cannot control.
Environment Determines Perspective
Hanging around higher earners shifts your standards.
When you’re around leaders operating at higher levels, your thinking expands.
Your circle influences:
Expectations
Income ceilings
Urgency
Execution
You are a brand. Promote daily.
Social Media Is A Recruiting Machine
Recruiting has evolved.
Many team members were recruited through Instagram and direct messages.
Social media is not optional — it is leverage.
If you are already on your phone, use it to:
Post consistently
Send direct messages
Share opportunity stories
Build visibility
Modern recruiting requires modern tools.
Daily Goals Create Daily Results
Monthly goals are not enough.
Ask:
What is your goal today?
Who are you recruiting today?
Who are you presenting to today?
Business owners expect results every single day.
You must develop the same expectation.
Licensing Creates Stability
This is where the leverage multiplies.
When licensing increases:
Income becomes more stable
Effort becomes more leveraged
Production diversifies
Early on, most income came from Sheldon’s personal effort.
After growing licensing codes:
Income became more distributed
Stability improved
Long-term growth expanded
If someone doesn’t get licensed, the effort rarely compounds.
You need a system for licensing.
Bring People To The Office
Zoom is convenient.
But in-person connection builds culture.
Get people physically present:
Opportunity meetings
One-on-ones
Training sessions
Culture grows in proximity.
Recognition And Standards
Recognize your people.
Rally your team.
Raise expectations.
If you could have brought more people to an event, own it.
Standards determine income.
Income Vs Outcome
Recruiting must stay personal.
Leaders cannot outsource belief.
At scale, you still recruit.
The best recruiter in your organization should still be you.
Always Another Level
Every time you think you’ve arrived, there is another level.
Outgrow one room — get a bigger one.
Set bigger goals:
$500,000 SVP target
RVP promotions
Expansion beyond comfort
Growth never stops.
FAQs
Who delivered this talk?
Sheldon Baptiste.
What company is this strategy built around?
Primerica.
What does SSI stand for?
Size, Standards, and Income.
Why is self-awareness important?
Without knowing where you are, you cannot build a path forward.
What is “small visionitis”?
Thinking too small and limiting your team’s potential.
Why focus on directs?
Direct recruits increase width and personal influence.
Why operate like a CEO?
Ownership mindset produces higher discipline and better strategy.
What does working “in” and “on” the business mean?
“In” refers to production; “on” refers to systems and infrastructure.
Why is social media emphasized?
It is a scalable recruiting channel when used intentionally.
Are daily goals necessary?
Yes. Daily expectations create consistent momentum.
Why is licensing critical?
Licensing builds leverage and long-term income stability.
Is Zoom enough for team growth?
No. In-person culture strengthens belief and commitment.
How does environment affect income?
Proximity to higher performers raises standards and expectations.
Should leaders still personally recruit?
Yes. Leaders set the pace for the organization.
What is the long-term objective?
Sustained growth through recruiting, licensing, leadership development, and higher standards.
Glossary
SSI Size Standards Income
A framework emphasizing business expansion, higher expectations, and income growth.
Directs
Personally recruited team members.
Licensing Codes
The number of licensed representatives contributing to production.
SVP Senior Vice President
An advanced leadership level tied to significant income and organizational scale.
RVP Regional Vice President
A leadership position earned by building and sustaining distribution.
Working In The Business
Personal production activities such as recruiting and closing sales.
Working On The Business
Building systems, training leaders, and strengthening infrastructure for scalability.
Transcript:
Hello. Hello.
How you guys doing?
All right.
Thank you, Keith, for that amazing introduction. Thank you, Wilma. And everybody back there planning this meeting. And now real quick, man, I’m just excited. Anybody excited, man, shout out to the head animal of the A unit, Chris a Chung, right, without him, no, we want to be here today. Shout out to my wife in the back of my son, Jeanette. Jean Baptiste in the back, right, guys?
Right?
And shout out to the prom, Tom team, the number one team in the dag on know. You guys make us look good, right? So I’m excited, and I’m definitely shout out to God, because without him, none of this is possible, right, guys?
Right?
So I’m excited. So real quick, I remember Chris, he did a talk a little while back, and the name of the talk is called SSI, not the SSI that most people know. This one is size, standards and income, right? And I don’t know if he knew, but that talk, it really changed my life, right? And just the other day, I got a chance to, me and the team, went down to Florida, got a chance to hang our with our coach, and, yo, we gotta get to the next level. There’s another level out there. You guys follow me, right? And we got a chance to hang out with him and Wendy, and they just showed us a different life.
And so I wrote this talk, actually, as soon as I came back from Florida, right, just in case Keith asked me to, guys, right, you know, manifestation, you guys got. So the first thing, let’s talk about self awareness for a little bit. I think the problem, the reason why people don’t go to the next level is they don’t know where they’re at. And I don’t think if you don’t know where you at, then you don’t know where you’re going. Does that make sense?
Right?
See, you got to know where you at in your business. You got to know where you at in your finances, right? And even if you think you’re doing good, guess what? There’s always another level. We can always do better. Right, guys?
Right?
So you got to know where you at, right? The next thing is you got to make a decision to change. You can’t expect the things around you can’t expect your results to change. If you don’t change, if you leave this meeting the same way you came in, then there was no point of coming here. You guys got me, right? See, we got to leave a different person, and we got to get better, right? And I’m going to talk to you guys, I could talk to my base, shop for a little bit. Is that all right?
Right.
All right, cool. So, what’s the vision? What’s your vision? And the question is your vision big enough, right. For your teammates to fit in it? See, the problem is, a lot of us suffer from small visionitis. We have small visionitis. We have small thinking.
Right?
See, the biggest mistake I made in my business was I didn’t think big enough.
Right?
I know you’re thinking big, but you could think bigger, right? So there’s always another level. And I think a lot of us, we like to sell our team on a vision, but I think before you can sell your team on a vision, you got to sell yourself on a vision first.
Right?
See, the reason why your team isn’t buying in, because you haven’t bought in yet, right? See, you got to go every single day, Chris teaches us we got to commit, but we also got to recommit.
Right?
It’s like marriage, right? So what are some things that we’re doing right now? Keith asked us to talk about some things that we’re doing right now. I think one of the things that we’ve mastered, and we got it down Pat, is a schedule. See, I remember I was meeting with a teammate the other day, and she was asking me, how often do you work? Like, do you work every day? And I said, yes, I work every single day in Primerica.
Right.
So you got to have a schedule. What time do you get to the office? Do you come in early? Do you leave late?
Right.
You got to wake up and plan. See, you got to behave like a CEO.
Right?
You can’t just be a workhorse. You can’t just get up and just go. You got to wake up. You got to strategize. You got to execute.
Right?
You are the CEO, not the employee. See, every single day, you got to work in your business, and you got to work on your business. You got to work in it. Like you said, three by 10,000 personal.
Right?
We’re working in it, but we’re also working on it. We have systems, we have trainings. We have certain things in place, so we’re working in it and working on it. And what does your business need? See, everybody, business needs something different. Right, guys?
Right?
But I tell you one thing. Everyone in this room, our business needs more people. Who needs more people? That’s it. So we all need more people.
Right?
So where are the holes in your business? I’m talking to you guys like, this is a board meeting. Do you know what the holes in your business are, because your business is like a bucket and there’s a leak in it. See, if you don’t know where the hole is at, then you can’t, what?
Fix it.
Right, guys?
Right?
We got to identify constantly, every single day, look for the holes in our business, right. One of the holes are. And I want you guys to say with me, I need more directs. Everybody say with me real quick, I need more.
What?
I need more directs. Every single day, you got to wake up saying, I need more directs. I’m at six personal recruits so far this month. We’ll do ten this month.
Right?
I need more directs.
Right.
Even if you got a lot of people, you still need more what directs. You got to get wider. See, what Chris taught me? He says, Sheldon, he said, the problem with most people is the things that they can influence, they don’t focus on enough. The things that you can control, you don’t focus on that enough. You rather focus on the things that you can’t control. And that’s why you’re stressed out all the time. That’s why you’re always frustrated.
Right?
So you got to focus on the things that you can’t control. And I realize that if I’m going to get big, if we’re going to take this thing to the next level, I love my team, I love my guys, but I’m the coach. I’m out front right now, right? See, I’m not making a million dollars yet, right? We’re not at $2 million yet. We’re still on it. We’re still on the grind. See, you got to know where you at in your business. Do you know where you at? Self awareness. A lot of us think we’re somewhere, but we’re really not there. Does that make sense?
Right?
And that’s what Chris teaches us all the time.
Right?
See, that’s why environment is so important. That’s why who you hang out with is so important. See, the problem is you’re hanging out with people that’s doing the same as you or a little bit less.
Right?
See, when you hang out with Chris, I make 20 grand a month. Chris makes 100. The conversation is a little bit different. You guys follow me, right? Like, when we go to the club, he pulls out his card, and my card stays in my pocket, right, guys? Right? You guys follow me, right? See, you are a brand. Every single day, you’re a brand, right? And you got to promote your business daily. What are we doing? Social media. See, social media, I know a lot of. There’s a lot of people who maybe promote on social media, people who don’t promote on social media. But we’re in 2023. Social media is where it’s at. I recruited all six of my directs this month on social media. Raise your hand if this room right now if you got recruited on social media. Raise there.
Raise your hand right now. Look at the room. Look behind you. Look at the room. Raise your hand if you got recruited on social media. There’s a lot of people in this room that got recruited on Instagram. There’s a lot of people in this room. You’re on your phone anyway, use it. Learn how to send out a DM, learn how to send out a message, learn how to repost, learn how to put something in your story.
Right?
We got a girl on our team, her name is Angelina Capono. She got recruited on social media, right? Guess what, since she got licensed the last couple of months, double digit recruiting, right, Mark, recruit Mark LaRose, right? Recruited her on social media last month. Mark did 23 recruits last month, right, guys?
Right?
Look at that. Social media, right? Love you, Lewis. Almost 30 recruits last month, right? Love you, recruited Mark on social media. Check this out. Love you recruited her. Biggest guy so far, Mark, who recruited Angelina all through social media, right? I’m just saying maybe you might want to try it, right? So we need to promote our business daily. So everybody knows about monthly goals, but you got to have daily goals. What is your goal for today?
Right?
Who got Zoom appointments today? I got a Zoom appointment at 530 during the break. See, I’m another level of hungry. I got an appointment right after the meeting tonight. See, it’s another level of hunger out there, right? You got to have daily personal goals, right? You need results. Not just sometimes, you need results when all the time, every single day. You name a business owner that doesn’t wake up thinking about making money today, the guy at the deli, he knows he’s going to make money today. The guy who owns the McDonald’s, he knows they’re going to make money today. See, they expect a result. Do you expect that same type of result for you and your business? It’s just a different type of mindset, expectation. See, we got to increase the standards a little bit, right? Next thing is.
So you got to recognize people, make people feel special, right? Always rallying. Like, who realized they could have had more people at this event? Raise your hand. Be honest. We should have sold this out. We should have had way more people here. I’m talking to myself, right? Income versus outcome, right? See, listen, recruit, you got to get back in the recruiting business. You’re the best recruiter, you’re the best. Stop sending your guy to do it. No, you got to do it. A lot of times, like, guys in my base shop, when they got an interview, they’ll come up to me, it’s like, hey, Shell, can you do the interview for me? I’m like, nah, man, you got this, man. You know how to do this. Nah, it’s like, coach. But if you do it, I’m like, he’s like, coach, come on, man.
You got the credibility, you got the contract. And I’m like, champ, they’rE stupid. They’re stupid. Don’t matter right around, right? Licensing, that’s something that we made a decision to start doing. We made a decision to start focusing on licensing, right? If you’re not growing your license, check this out, right? It’s the craziest thing. Two years ago, went to a meeting with Omar Orapesa. We had a retreat, right? Our income was about 200,000, right, Chris? And 200,000 only had 40 codes, right? Now we make 250. We got 100. At that time, 80% of my income came from my efforts. Now it’s only 50%. Why? Because my licensing grew. See, when your licensing grows, the stability in your business grows. You guys got me, right? See, you got to focus on licensing. If the person doesn’t get licensed, it was a waste of time, right?
You got to have a system for licensing, right? The next thing is building relationships. We got to get back to building relationships. The zoom is cool, but they got to come to the office. Stop sending them the link, stop being weak. I know, I know. You want to get the guy in the zoom. They’re not paying attention anywhere. Trust me. They’re not.
Right?
They got to get in the office.
Right?
They’re not paying attention. Trust me. I’ve tried.
Right?
Op meetings. Got to get back to Op meetings. One one interviews, competing, being grateful, man, and self improving. We got to work on this, guys. We got to constantly work on this. And every time you think you’re doing good, just realize there’s always another level. Every time. When you start out growing one room, that means it’s time to get another room, right? So that’s what I got for you guys. We are so excited, man. Listen, SVP 500,000, we get ready to promote RVPs. Let’s bring it back. Keith, you’re.
