Evric Davis, protection expert at London & Country, speaks to Health & Protection about building a career in protection after being expelled from school, being given a chance with an apprenticeship, why his parents are his biggest role models and why hard work beats talent every time.
How did you get your start in the sector?
In 2010, at the age of 15, I was permanently expelled from school and wasn’t even offered the opportunity to sit my GCSEs.
I did a few years on and off in college doing a catering course but to be honest, this was more to keep my parents happy and to give the perception I was staying busy and not going down a path of crime which unfortunately, a lot of peers went down in their teenage years.
I grew up on a council estate in East London, so the environment (as you could probably imagine) wasn’t exactly a breeding ground for success.
Luckily, at the age of 18, I got a chance at a small company in North London doing a business administration apprenticeship which allowed me to develop my skills in customer service and to a certain extent, sales.
I knew immediately this was the path I was going to take as I really enjoyed speaking with people from different backgrounds to myself and solving problems for people no matter how big or small. In a weird way it gave me a sense of purpose and a ‘high’ I couldn’t put my finger on, but I loved going home at the end of a long day knowing I was productive.
In the middle of doing a 9-5 apprenticeship, I also had a job at Tesco to supplement my £3.20 per hour apprenticeship income.
Fast forward to 2013, I got my first fully salaried job with a payday loan company in the collections department and quickly became one of the top collection agents in the business.
After a couple years at that job, I got my first break doing sales full-time for a small recruitment agency in Croydon and floated around different agencies until the age of 23 when I decided I wanted a change.
I ended up working for a small life insurance brokerage in Liverpool Street where I become one of the top advisers within a few months of being at the brokerage which took me by surprise.
I loved the fast-paced nature of the industry, and it suited me much more than the recruitment agency did. I’ve been working in the industry since then.
In November 2021, I joined L&C mortgages as a protection advisor after working in businesses such as LifeSearch and Alexander Hall and I’ve been here ever since.
What do you enjoy most about your current role?
There are unfortunately sales jobs where people are being sold products that might not help solve any of their problems (anyone ever been sold a dodgy phone or car?)
But what I love most about what I do is that whatever I advise for my client, it is to help them and their families if the worst-case scenario happens.
Whether my client is a single mum doing her best to provide for her children on just one income or a high-net-worth client who has a portfolio of properties, they trust my advice on how to best solve their problems and cover their shortfalls in the event of a sickness, injury, or even death.
To believe people from all backgrounds and different walks of life buy into me as a person and trust my advice is what I love most about my role.
Who is your role model – in life or in work?
My parents are my biggest role models.
To think they both grew up in Jamaica and made the sacrifice to leave all their friends and family just to make sure their children would have a better life than they had back at home is something I find hard not to admire.
One of the first jobs I remember my mother working was a job in Poundland in Stratford, East London.
From an early age I knew through both my parents that a high work ethic was needed to get what you want in life or at the very least, to pay the bills and put food on the table.
My father, by his own admission, is not very ‘book-smart’ but what he lacked academically he made up with pure tenacity to pursue his goals, whether they were financial or to make sure his kids got the Christmas presents they asked for come the 25 December every year.
He also had a very entrepreneurial mind and was very quick with numbers (something I inherited).
He fulfilled a dream of his which was to open a Caribbean take away in Leytonstone, East London (where I was born and grew up) despite coming to England with nothing.
I could go on and on about how much I admire my parent’s work ethics and excellence in their own ways, but regardless, they are my biggest role models.
What advice would you give to people thinking about a career in the sector?
Whatever you do, make sure the first value you live by in the sector is ‘integrity’.
Doing right by your client should always be at the forefront of your mind when you join this sector before you even think about personal gain.
Like with anything relating to advice and sales, you need to be resilient, handle objections and have patience with yourself. The more you put in the more you get out. I see it as simple ‘cause and effect’.
Despite my not-so-great start in life by any stretch of the imagination, this industry has given me the opportunity to complete change my life.
If a school dropout from a council estate in East London can have success in this industry, there’s no reason you can’t. Hard work beats talent every single time.
What has been your biggest setback and how did you overcome it?
My biggest setback by far was being permanently expelled from school. I thought my life was over before it started.
We believe we all have a desire to please our parents and at that point in my life, I felt like a huge failure.
At the age 18, I turned to a group of my friends. I was spending the day playing football with my friends and I just said out loud “enough is enough” and made a promise to myself that I was not going down the road that, unfortunately, some of my peers I grew up with went down.
Looking back, I’m glad I had that innate mental strength to make that promise to myself, but I had to dig deep to find it.
Laugh or cry – what did your most memorable client or case make you want to do and why?
I had a client that I advised to take an AIG Over 50s policy and got the email that the client had passed, and the policy was going to pay-out to cover the client’s funeral.
It was the first time I had a client that I had spoken to who had actually passed away. It was a very surreal feeling to know you could advise on a product one day and on another their family would need to make a claim.
It made me realise how important my job is and made me think “imagine if I didn’t advise that product for the client, the family may have had to start a GoFundMe page to cover their mother’s/grandmother’s/sister’s/aunt’s/cousin’s/friend’s funeral”.
She had many existing medical conditions that made her unable to get conventional life cover, so I’m glad I still found a solution to her problems and needs.
What’s your ultimate goal for your career?
My ultimate goal is to have my own brokerage either as an appointed representative with a network or directly authorised with the FCA.
I want to continue protecting families all over the UK, but at scale. There’s a saying by a sales guru called Zig Ziglar: “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want.”
I feel as if I have much more to give to the industry as a whole and I’ll stop at nothing to achieve that goal.
How would your boss describe you?
Driven, self-motivated and a very hard worker. I must admit, I can be a little difficult to deal with sometimes, but it all comes from a good place.
What’s your biggest talent away from work?
I’m a very good gamer. Funnily enough, it was this hobby that kept me out of trouble when I look back at my teenage years, as I stayed indoors rather than roaming the streets and avoided the trouble that a lot of my peers were getting up to at those ages.
If you were against me on a game of FIFA or Call of Duty, you were in trouble…
What mantra do you live by?
‘Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment’ – Jim Rohn
What song would you regard as your theme tune?
Frank Sinatra – My Way
This song really makes me think back to all my trials, tribulations, and obstacles I’ve had to overcome to get to where I am today.
Despite being kicked out of school, and other life setbacks, I still found a way… and did it my way.