Community Highlights: Meet Jon Maves of Para Insurance Solutions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Maves.

Hi Jon, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

I originally started my career in ministry and received my education in ministry to be a pastor. My wife and I are from the Midwest but after we got married, I found a pastoral job in Northern California, and we moved everything we owned in a little U-Haul and ventured out West for what we thought would be a brief season to check off the box of living in California, but it ended up being 18 years. During that time, we had 3 beautiful girls, and I was able to be involved in several different ministries and non-profits.

In 2017, our house burned down in one of the wildfires in California and we lost everything. We were woken up by my mother-in-law at around 1:30 am and fled to safety with our kids and dog with only our clothes on our backs and a few random items. That marked the beginning of years of transitions for myself and my family.

At the beginning of 2020, I transitioned away from ministry and started working at a non-profit that I had worked at before only to come face to face with the reality of Covid and my job moving from full-time to part-time and eventually terminating due to Covid.

Not a lot of businesses were hiring during 2020 so I found myself looking into the abyss of unemployment with no visible path forward. This was a very challenging time, as it was for a lot of people, with the uncertainty of how everything would unfold.

My wife had a friend that she used to work with whose father had recently had a stroke. They would occasionally talk and check in to see how her father was doing. He had owned a Medicare business and was no longer able to serve his clients so had been wondering what to do with it. On a whim, my wife wondered if that would be something that I (Jon) could do. That started the ball rolling as both of us contemplated the possibility of taking over his Medicare business.

I had never met this gentleman before and had only interacted with his daughter. We met for the first time over a Facetime call, and he said that he would be willing to transition his business over to me. We expressed our interest and that would be willing to purchase the business which he refused. He then said that he would sell his business to me for $1. In one day, I went from being unemployed to being a business owner. That was a crazy day!

All of this was contingent on getting licensed and certified as well as learning a completely different industry. I began slowly meeting with clients and learning the ins and outs of Medicare and the complexity of that arena. Later that year, in the summer of 2021, we moved to Tennessee as my wife had an amazing opportunity, and based on the age of my kids, if we were ever going to move it would be now or never.

Moving to Tennessee, felt like starting all over again as it was a new market to learn as well as starting from scratch with relationships and networking connections. It takes time to invest and develop meaningful connections personally and professionally so that has been the mark of this season in my life, family, and business.

The longer I work with seniors, the more convinced I am that seniors need to be surrounded by people that they can trust. That includes family, friends, and professionals whom they can ask questions and navigate decisions with.  That is where I see the greatest need in the Medicare field. My goal is to be a trusted resource for seniors as they navigate Medicare.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, the road has been incredibly challenging. Between fires, moving to different states, and starting over in a new place it has been challenging at every turn.

Another challenge has been figuring out how I will run my business. There are a lot of different ways that people choose to operate. One of the biggest challenges for me has been to assess what my greatest strengths are and what would be the most enjoyable way to do business. In essence, how do I offer my best self to this industry?  I’ve concluded that for me, it is about building trust through relationships.  While that journey has been anything but smooth, I am very thankful for the challenge and the personal discovery.

I read a book a while ago entitled, “A Long Journey in the Same Direction,” which pretty much sums it up. Challenges and all, just keep walking forward.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Para Insurance Solutions?
I’m a licensed and independent broker that specializes in Medicare insurance plans. I work with all the major carriers in several states and help seniors who are turning 65 and are new to Medicare and also people already on Medicare who have questions or need to change plans they are currently on.

Medicare is a completely different animal than the rest of healthcare. I focus on educating people on what Medicare is and isn’t and explain the whole gamut of options available to them. Medicare is not one size fits all so a lot of my time is spent asking questions and learning about people so that I can present them with the best options. I help people signing up for Medicare and then assist them with supplement plans, advantage plans, hospital indemnity plans as well as dental and vision plans.

My business name is Para Insurance Solutions and that sums up what gets me out of bed in the morning and sets me apart in this industry. Para is a Greek word that means “to come alongside.” It is where we get words like parallel, paralegal, etc. Everything that I do is people first and service first. Seniors are bombarded with information on TV, in the mail, and getting tons of phone calls. They need trusted people that they can ask questions to that will have their best interest in mind and not take advantage of them.

I pride myself in that process and seek to be a trusted and respected voice in the Medicare insurance space.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Trust and persistence.

I believe that in any job focusing on finances or health, trust is probably the most valuable and distinguished asset to have.

Persistence is the path to establishing trust. It is a long journey of doing the right and best thing for clients again and again and again regardless of whether they are making a sale or not.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.parainsurance.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Parainsurancesolutions
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-maves/

Image Credits
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