Take Care of Your Parents! Ft. Cindy Varela, Life and Health Broker

Welcome to the Un Billón (1 Billion) Mindset Podcast!
Special Guest: Cindy Varela
Biography: Daughter of immigrant latino-american parents, Cindy is on the quest to service ONE BILLION lives! Listen here to learn about her mindset, her drivers, and how she got to this point in her life and career.

Transcript

Marysol: Hello and welcome to the Un Billón Mindset Podcast. My name is Marysol Uribe, aka @marysol.1billion.mindset, and today I have a special guest with me. Her name is Cindy Varela, and I’m so excited to introduce her because #1, she’s another female entrepreneur on the show, and #2, she’s Latina, as am I. Go ahead and introduce yourself, Cindy. Thank you for being on.

Cindy: First of all, thank you for having me on. I’m very excited to be here. Thank you for inviting me. I admire you and everything you do. You’re very inspiring and very knowledgeable, so thank you. My parents are from Mexico. My mom is from Guanajuato and my dad was from Jalisco, and I was born here in Orange County. I am a life and health insurance broker, and I specialize in helping seniors with their Medicare.

Marysol: That's awesome. So what would you say that you got from your parents in terms of work ethic and hustle and how is that showing in the Cindy Varela of today?

Cindy: So you know what? Just by knowing that our parents came from another country and came to this country fearless. Because you have to be fearless to jump into another country where you don't know the language, where you don't know what's going to happen, and just work hard to provide for your family. That's amazing. That’s super encouraging. It makes me think, “Damn, they did that. What am I going to do for my family?” That just pushes me to keep moving forward and reach for my goals.

Marysol: Tell me more about your family, your nuclear family. You have a little one, correct? So for all the moms out there, please share a couple of tips, whereas a morning routine can help others, sometimes a nighttime routine can help others more. So is there something in your day where you can say, “I can share this with someone else because this has helped me stand out in my career and in my family life”? So what would that be?

Cindy: Wow, that’s kind of a hard one. I have three kids. I have a 15-year-old girl, a 12-year-old boy, and I have my pilón, my 4-year-old boy. God, it’s so hard because - trying to start your business, be with your kids, and not be tired is super hard. I’m very blessed because I have my mom, and she helps me watch them when I’m working. I'm very blessed with that. For me, I try to- every single spare moment I have in between work is just to be with my kids. Going out with them, going to the park, taking them to amusement parks, spending time with them, watching movies - things like that. For me, it’s pretty hard because I’m trying to build a business. But thank God I have my mom right there, and she’s supporting me. I know I will have more time with them in the future, but right now it is pretty tight for me.

Marysol: Tell me. It’s tight for everyone, but when you say, “I have three kids, I have my mom for support,” that’s already something. That’s amazing. What would you tell those who are shy about asking for help and want to do everything by themselves?

Cindy: Actually, I was in that position before. Before I started getting coaching and mentorship, I wouldn’t want to ask for help. I would want to do everything myself, and it was just very draining for me. But then after I started getting that mentorship, I started noticing like, “Damn, I help everybody, but I don’t want to ask for help.” And that’s wrong. You have to ask for help. You can’t do everything by yourself. It’s like a job - it has to be a team, and my mom is my team and she supports me. I'm just so blessed. But yeah, don't be afraid to ask for help.

Marysol: That’s awesome. That’s really important advice because we’re in the day to day and we have a history of doing things alone, and we think that’s the norm or how it needs to be. To be honest, if you have help, that’s an extra blessing. I think the more people on your team, the further you will get faster. In your case, Cindy, what brought you into your current career and what would you tell someone who is ready to start something new, but they’re looking for that extra push? What would you tell someone to go ahead and dive in?

Cindy: The way everything unfolded for me was crazy because I never even thought I  was going to be in the medical field. I was in the medical field for 12 years, managing a doctor’s office - internal medicine. That’s where I started, helping a lot of seniors, and that’s where I saw that it was my passion. To help our seniors. I saw the need. Everything unfolded for me, and like I said, I didn’t think of being in the medical field, but I ended up taking this course that was talking about administration. I did not pay attention to the administrative medical assistant, so I just jumped into it thinking, “Oh, I’m just going to be scheduling appointments. It’s just going to be all clerical stuff.” And I took a course, I jumped on it, being there in the course already I realized, “Oh my god, this is medical. What am I doing here?” But I was already there, so I just moved forward. I learned. I was able to find an office to do my externship. You go in with fears, and me especially at that time, because I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But then being there hands-on and seeing everybody’s situations and learning in the office-

Marysol: So in your case, you didn’t really learn about the whole role, what it all entailed and job duties, but you know what? You went after it. You stayed consistent, and you were receptive to the new knowledge and you put your fear and uncertainty to the side. I think that’s a huge tip right there. If you want to do something new, you’re going to be faced with a lot of challenges, a lot of things that you’re still going to be learning on the field as you’re doing the job, and so sometimes the true experience is in the job role. No matter how prepared you are on paper or how many books you’ve read, you just have to dive in, right?  

Cindy: Yes, that’s correct. That’s exactly what happened to me. After being in that office, I got introduced to the life insurance world. I got my life and health insurance license and started doing some life insurance, but then when I saw I could do health insurance, I just thought, “Oh my god, this is for me.”  I can still help patients and help them go over their medications to make sure their medications are covered. I just thought, “Oh my god, this is for me.” So that’s what I do now. It was kind of scary at first because it’s new. It’s new to me, but everyday I learn and I love it. I know that this is what I am to be doing.   

Marysol: That’s amazing, Cindy. For those of you who don’t know, I am a dually-licensed nurse. I’m a registered nurse, and I’m a licensed life and health agent for the state of California. With those two knowledge bases, I can also see what the needs are in terms of financial, social, economic - you name it. And then, I have a family team who has their own office and can help people in that way more specifically. I definitely see how those two, life and health, can help people that much more. Coming from the field, actually seeing patients one-on-one in a home health setting, which I’m still involved in, what would you tell someone who’s new with Medicare? They’re just turning 65 and they’re getting a little overwhelmed by all the mail that’s coming their way, right? They’re saying, “Oh, call us if you need help with finding your plan,” and this and that. So how would you ease those people?

Cindy: What I would tell someone that’s just turning 65. There’s so much information out there that they’re receiving in the mail and watching on TV because there are so many different plans with different benefits. But everyone has a different need. Not every single plan is for everyone, so I would say contact a broker/agent to get some input and review what medications you’re on, what diagnoses you have, and see what plan benefits you more according to your needs. Contact an agent - you can contact me as well. That’s what I would say. It can be very confusing to them to understand part A, part B, part C, part D - all the Medicare parts. 

Marysol: Real quick, can you give us the Sparknotes of what is part A versus part B? Let’s go from there.

Cindy: Okay. Part A is what covers your hospital. Part B covers durable medical equipment. Part C is a combination of A, B, and D. D is for drugs/medication. So part C is when you go into a HMO (health maintenance organization) plan and it puts all of these together to give you more benefits. They give you extras like a gym membership, monthly money for food, benefits for hearing aids, things like that. Every plan has different benefits that they offer, like I said, depending on everyone’s needs. 

Marysol: Hearing aids are now over the counter, right?  

Cindy: Yes, they are, but they’re very expensive.   

Marysol: Yeah, there’s pros and cons there. I wouldn’t want just anyone to walk in and buy hearing aids without a proper consultation because things of the ear - you’re looking at cranial nerve aids, and that can manifest into different diagnoses as well. Sometimes you don’t just want to apply a bandaid. You want to dig deeper and look into the cause, so I want to encourage you all to get your second and even third opinions. There are several diseases that have to do with that cranial nerve eight. Thanks for that input of what Medicare parts A through D represent. Which one has to do with giving patients money in terms of preventative healthcare like acupuncture or different complementary alternative medicine? 

Cindy: Right now, all these health plans, basically all of them, are offering acupuncture services, chiropractic services, transportation - they’re offering a lot of benefits. They’re all in competition like, “I’m going to give more. I’m going to give that.” But they’re all pretty much offering the acupuncture and chiropractic services as well.   

Marysol: On paper do you need to have a referral from a physician for these services or could you walk in, similar to a PPO insurance (preferred provider organization) and you just want to try something out?

Cindy: Depending on what type of plan you have - if it’s an HMO, then it requires a referral  from your physician. You would need to go to your doctor and basically tell them the need like, “I need to go to the chiropractor because my back hurts.” The doctor will document. They will submit an authorization to the insurance, the health plan. They will approve, and then they will give you the information of the chiropractor you can go to, or acupuncture. Versus a PPO. Pretty much, you can go to any doctor that is contracted with the PPO that you have and you just choose whoever you want - just maybe take your doctor’s order and that’s it. You don’t need to wait for an authorization. 

Marysol: Great, so thank you for highlighting the differences between HMO and PPO. For those of us who haven’t had health insurance before and are wondering about the expense, how economical have you seen these plans and how expensive have you seen them? What’s the range?

Cindy: For our Medicare members, a lot of people that have Medicare do not know, until they’re going to get it, that they still have to pay a premium. Because you know all these years we’re paying from our checks towards the Medicare benefit, so we think, “When we turn 65, we’re not going to pay anything,” and that’s wrong. We still have to pay a premium, so the premium right now for a senior is $170 a month. They’re taking away $170 from their social security check every single month for them to have their Medicare benefits. It’s kind of sad because a lot of seniors don’t get a lot of money in their social security checks. $170 a month -  that’s a lot, unless they have Medi-Cal. If they have Medi-Cal, then Medi-cal picks up that premium. But if they don’t have Medi-Cal, then they have to pay for that premium. We also have plans that are reimbursing some money to help them with that premium for whoever has just straight Medicare.

Marysol: That’s interesting because some people think, “Oh, I turned 65 and all the money I’ve spent with my employer to pay for that social security. It’ll be free!” No, you guys. You still need to pay a premium, and that automatically gets deducted from the money you get, and then you can have your expenses. Thanks for that input. By the way, thank you for supporting the movement. I see you have your “Un Billón” crop-top. Limited edition. I have the original that I’m no longer selling. So guys, when you follow @marysol.1billion.mindset on Instagram, you will get to know what’s happening in terms of sales. Thanksgiving is happening right now, but by the time you watch this it may be Christmas. So, take notes. We’re all about empowerment and shutting down limiting beliefs. This movement started with a song that I wrote with Savage Saint. He’s an artist from Northern California. We come from a Latino background - immigrants who came here not knowing the language, having all these obstacles and barriers. So that’s kind of how the movement started - bringing up that upbringing and that mindset. The mindset of never giving up no matter the circumstances. If you’re watching this and you’re new to the show and have no idea what “Un Billón” is, that’s a little glimpse of it. And Cindy’s going to tell us what “Un Billón Mindset,” what this movement means to her. Go ahead, Cindy.

Cindy:  “Un Billón Mindset” for me, is being able to touch un billón (one billion) people, whether it be inspiring them in something, educating them in something, helping them in some way, encouraging them - that’s what I want to do. Being able to touch un billón people in any of those ways. On my Instagram, I post a lot of motivational quotes and encouraging messages, so that’s what I want to do. I just want to touch un billón de personas (one billion people).   

Marysol: Un billón! Woo!   

Cindy: *singing* “Un billón está mi mente!”

Marysol and Cindy: *singing together* 

“Yo se que es mucha gente. Un billón está mi mente, no se tu!”             

Marysol: That’s right, everybody! That is a running theme throughout my song. If you haven’t listened to it already, it’s in Spanish. It’s 99 cents. That will help support the show with post-production and future movements and events that we have planned for you guys in the future. Definitely follow Cindy. Tell us your handle please.

Cindy: It is cindy_lifeandhealthbroker.  

Marysol: That’s right, everybody. cindy_lifeandhealthbroker

Sometimes you look at a page and you may say, “Oh wow, they have a little bit of followers,” but don’t look at that. Look at what that person will be five years from now, okay? So you’re going to follow Cindy for what she is now and what she’s going to be five years from now. She already told you she’s touching a billion lives, whether directly or indirectly. We take that seriously on this show. Everybody that’s on this show is going to make a huge impact - I already know it. If you like this episode, go ahead and like, share, subscribe, and we’ll see you on the next one. Thank you, Cindy, for your time. 

Cindy: Thank you.