Career in Insurance — The Real Picture

I started my insurance career in February 2002 as a Sales Executive earning commission.

Today I lead the Direct Sales Force of APA Apollo Group across three countries, and I oversee a team that has won AKI Company of the Year four times.

That journey took 23 years. Here is what it actually looked like — not the brochure version.

The beginning is hard. You are building from nothing. You will hear "no" far more than you are ready for. Your income in the first months will test whether you really want this. Most people who start do not make it past year one — not because the industry failed them, but because they expected results before they had built the foundations.

But for those who stay: the ceiling disappears.

Our top agents earn more than many salaried professionals — and they control their own time, their own pipeline, and their own trajectory. Every year of effort compounds. Every satisfied client becomes a referral channel. The agents who commit to developing themselves — who study their products, invest in their skills, and treat this like a profession rather than a job — build something that pays them for decades.

The career path is real: Sales Executive → Unit Manager → Sales Manager → Regional Manager → Head of DSF → Group Head of DSF.

I have walked every step of that path myself. I have also become the first person in Africa to hold the LIMRA Associate Insurance Agency Manager designation — because at every stage of the journey, I kept investing in my own growth.

And through it all, the work has been meaningful. East Africa's insurance penetration is below 3%. Every policy you sell is not just a commission — it is a family protected, a business secured, a child's future guaranteed even if something happens to their parent.

If you are in Nairobi, Kampala or Dar es Salaam and serious about building a career in insurance — reach out. I am always looking for people with character, discipline and a genuine desire to serve.

The opportunity is real. The question is whether you are ready for it.