Life Lessons: Travis’ sto­ry on liv­ing through loss with­out life insurance 

Travis Bryan keeps a few special insurance policies close by in his office in Denver. As an Assurity Regional Wholesaler in Individual Sales, he has handled thousands of policies through the years, but these protect his family, and he remembers the mix of relief and elation when he signed them. “It’s still a great feeling... I’m always looking over them, making sure it’s all good.”

What’s so special about a couple of life insurance policies?

Travis lived through a family crisis without them, slogging through the aftermath when his father died unexpectedly without life insurance in place. It nearly cost his mother everything and it stole a bit of Travis’s future, too. He would do it again for his family - he makes clear - but wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

While each supplemental health insurance product is important, he brings extra fervor to life insurance discussions with producers, wanting to convey how crucial he knows it to be. “I listen first. When it’s right, I’ll say…’Let me tell you a little about what happened to me.’”

Travis takes them back to 2004, when he was a young man of 24, an E-5 in the U.S. Navy. That’s the line separating the before and after portions of his youth. ‘Before’ was really good. He grew up in Stuart, Iowa. His mother, Sue, worked in commercial insurance. His father, Larry, was a steamfitter/pipefitter at a Firestone plant in Des Moines. His sister, Brandie, rounded out their tight-knit family of four. “We weren’t rich by any means, but we had anything we needed or wanted just by the hard work my dad and mom put in.” Larry had survived leukemia at the age of 18. Because of his cancer treatments, birth children weren’t possible. The couple adopted Travis at the age of four.

About the time Travis started college, his parents bought 15 acres of peaceful land outside of Des Moines, where Larry liked to hunt, and they built a new home.

Travis changed his career path and joined the Navy. After 9/11 he was stationed overseas at times. He called his family in September of 2004 to let them know he would be out of touch soon on a three-week tour. The conversation was low key. They wished him well and caught up on events. Then Larry mentioned something in passing: he’d been having acid reflux troubles and would be getting tests done while Travis was deployed.

When Travis shipped out, he was just beginning to think about his future as an adult. He had a very healthy savings account, thanks in part to military savings. Maybe he’d buy a house. Maybe he’d make the military his career.

In those three weeks, however, life changed on a dime. Travis returned to port in Virginia and called his family to check in. They shared heartrending news: Larry had pancreatic cancer. Surgery was not an option. His father passed away in April of 2005 at the age of 45. The loss was devastating, upending their life and future.

“We found out the hard way that nothing was set up for my mom to be taken care of in the event of his passing,” Travis shared. Those were heavy days. The grief was hard enough, without the additional financial burdens.

They pulled together. He and his sister stepped up to help take care of the funeral and ongoing expenses. It’s not a road you expect to travel in your 20s. His sister, raising three children at the time, pitched in what she could. Travis shouldered more of the burden. Single, he contributed savings and earnings to help.

“We were able to keep (my mother) in the new house and keep her afloat until we could get everything taken care of, things a normal life insurance policy would have done.”

It took years of work and sacrifice, his savings account, and more to do so.

Between funeral expenses, the mortgage on his parents’ home and car loans, the family was left with about $250,000 in debt to cover without his father’s income.

As hard as it was, though, he remains thankful he could support his family and offer strength to his mother and a beloved grandmother. “It has been 18 years since he passed, and I still get emotional talking about it.”

It’s behind them now - his mother is remarried and ‘living the RV life in Arizona’, while Travis found success in banking and insurance, joining Assurity in 2021. It would take more than 15 years to get back on his feet and be able to start saving again, years without rainy day money to fall back on. But today, he feels successful, hopeful, and “in a comfortable spot” financially.

The story ties directly to his career and the passion he brings to it. “It’s the backstory; the reason I began (in insurance): I wanted to take action and let everyone know the dangers of not having insurance because of what we went through.”

He shares his experience to help other producers connect their prospects and clients to life insurance. It’s not a doomsday speech, but rather a trusted message of advice, one that says, “I’ve been through a worst-case-scenario, but you don’t have to.”

“That’s my mission, to make sure everyone knows that they can be protected by insurance.”

His mission began with his own family in Colorado and in Iowa, including his wife, Melissa, three children and four grandchildren. There’s life insurance coverage in place that would pay the mortgage and a little extra; there are juvenile whole life policies for peace of mind. He has helped cousins and other extended family find insurance solutions. “That’s the biggest success and win, is when family members come to me, to be their liaison to get where they want to be and be protected.”

Life has come full circle in a way. He doesn’t want anyone to walk through difficult times without insurance to help them and he can help make that possible. The family policies in arms’ reach of his desk remind him, every day.