The Swypit Inner Circle Spotlight: Steven Guilfoile

On the most recent episode of The Swypit Show, I sat down with Steven Guilfoile, President and CEO of AffordaCare Insurance, to discuss his professional growth and how he helps businesses provide better healthcare options to their employees.

Steven and I kicked off the episode by swapping stories on our early work life. As it turns out, he and I both worked at McDonald’s during high school! Steven was the grill guy, then got promoted to be the fry guy. As a guy who loves to cook and went on to be a professional chef, I too started out cooking burgers during my McDonald’s days. Man, those were some interesting times.

Motivated by an Interest in Business, Health and Helping Others 

I asked Steven how he came to the insurance business. He shared that he knew he wanted to do something in business, so that was his focus in college. He was also interested in health and knew he wanted to help people. He became a personal trainer and started working in a gym parttime during college. Steven didn’t mind working hard. In fact, he said that as early as the age of 5, he had a mindset that he didn’t mind what he had to do, he wanted to work and make as much money as he could. He always asked himself, “how many hours can I work.” According to Steven, mindset is more important than anything else. He said your mindset will motivate you to get to where you want to get to.

You Have to Do What Others are Not Willing to Do 

During college, Steven worked 4 or 5 jobs. He had a full college schedule, worked a day job at the gym and worked an overnight shift. As Steven mentioned, it was never necessarily the love of the job that motivated him, it’s where he wanted to be. Steven’s the kind of guy who wants everything he does to lead to a successful outcome.

After college, Steven applied for a variety of low-paying hourly wage jobs and was turned down by all of them. Then he was approached by a company for door-to-door sales. He said it was a straight commission job, certainly not a dream job. But, what Steven saw was the opportunity that was presented. Steven shared, “Five years in I made my first million.”

Steven saw opportunity where others might have seen nothing but hard, unrewarding work in the short term. With the experience Steven gained, he saw there were other, bigger and better ways to do things. Out if this door-to-door sales opportunity, Affordacare was born.

What Makes Affordacare Different 

Steven learned a lot in door-to-door sales. He learned how people wanted to be treated, and he learned how he, as an employee wanted to be treated. He learned that people wanted things that his company at the time could not provide. He felt there were innovations that could be made that would benefit individuals and companies in a better way. Affordacare was born to deliver comprehensive health insurance with extraordinary coverage at unbeatable prices. Steven explained that they accomplish this through a different process. Affordacare is proactive versus being reactive. They provide group health plans for employees, where the employer will be able to at least 40% on their group major medical expenses. The process of how the insurance is issued that makes the difference. We have discovered better ways to underwrite health insurance for companies.

Going Above and Beyond What’s Expected is Never Forgotten 

Many people are still under the impression that success is an overnight thing. Steven and I both know that is not true. Success takes time. Steven talked about how when you plant bamboo, it takes five years before you see it come up out of the ground. What’s going on under the ground for those five years is that it’s spreading its root system so that it will have a strong foundation. The same is true in business. Steven’s business, like Swypit, is 99 – 100% strictly founded on relationships. When you’re building relationships, you must be patient. It takes time. And, while you’re building those relationships, you go above and beyond what’s expected. Your customers never forget that…it lasts forever.

Listen to the podcast HERE.