Meet Susana Zinn | Independent Life Insurance Agent
We had the good fortune of connecting with Susana Zinn and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Susana, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
Life events have an interesting way of bringing us to our present. Each career that I have embraced and the people that I have met through various organizations all had one common thread: to support families and help them succeed. It is the driving force behind my passion for being an independent life insurance agent.
I have always had a deep desire to help entrepreneurs and small businesses. Born in Caracas, Venezuela to European immigrant parents, my father was a business pioneer and founded the first company to import Kodak products into Venezuela. He was also the first vendor of Coney Island hot dogs in Caracas back in 1945. Sadly, he died when I was 17 and my brothers were in their early 20’s. Not having life insurance, it was up to my mother and brothers to all pitch in to keep the businesses running successfully.
Without really knowing it at the time, this became my first introduction to understanding the importance of life insurance and being prepared for life’s ups and downs.
Following my passion for languages, at the age of 16 I finished high school and moved to a boarding school in Lausanne, Switzerland where I studied French and English. Then continued my studies at the business school at Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, Venezuela. Eventually, I joined a charity organization called WIZO (Women International Zionist Organization) that changed my life. It was here that I learned first-hand what it was to help people in need. To raise funds for underserved communities, we organized charity events and served our society. I had the honor to be elected chairperson.
I decided to parlay this experience into opening a Public Relations agency and later was offered to help rescue the only English newspaper in Venezuela, The Daily Journal. As the Sales & Marketing Director, my team and I exceeded sales expectations and after three months I was promoted to General Manager.
Always craving greater knowledge, I enrolled in the Advanced Management Program at IESA (the prestigious PAG) where I organized many social and charity events. It was there that I embraced my passion for doing good and supported the FUNDANA orphanage through volunteer work.
One of my Public Relations clients, the wealth management firm Activalores, offered me a position as Vice President of Business Development where I worked for many years as a financial advisor.
In 2009, I decided to move to Israel to be close to my children, Tam and Samuel. There I worked as a Sales Manager covering Latin America, France, Italy and Spain for Sharon Laboratories.
When living in Israel and thanks to Facebook, I reunited with my childhood’s first love – after 38 years, who is now my husband Rafael. He brought me to live in the great city of Los Angeles in 2013. When I emigrated to Los Angeles, I decided I wanted to do something meaningful with my life.
My mother instilled in me a love for opera and the arts since I was a little girl, so as soon as I moved to Los Angeles, I decided to join the Opera League of Los Angeles as a volunteer. Within two years I was asked to be a member of the Board of Directors where I worked in different roles, supporting the artists and educational programs.
After some soul searching, I realized that helping people was something I have always done, no matter the city or country that I lived in or the career I was focused on at the time. I grabbed the opportunity to become an independent life insurance agent with gusto.
This career gives me tremendous satisfaction. Being independent means that I am not loyal to one insurance company and can take advantage of the best options from each company that has excellent ratings. I am able to help clients by finding the best fit for their needs. It is a rewarding and fulfilling career and one that I take much pride in doing each day.
One year ago, my husband and I decided to move to Sunny Isles, Florida to be closer to our children and grandchildren. I wake up every day grateful to God and to the Universe for the opportunities I have experienced; and for being able to look at the ocean every morning and understand how each decision, each reinvention, each risk I have taken in my life, has brought me to the present moment.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I lived in Los Angeles for 8 years and the first place I would take my friends who came to visit was the Getty Center. The views, the architecture, the museums, the gardens, the restaurant are out of this world! Another place I love is the Huntington Library where you can stroll among the Chinese Gardens, The Japanese Gardens and so much more!
Los Angeles has so much to offer, if you like music, opera, good food, museums, the beach. There something different everyday for all tastes.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are several figures that have inspired me to be a better person and a better professional. Starting with Golda Meir, Maria Montessori, Barbara Corcoran, and other talented people who started with nothing and changed the world. But the three persons who are my real inspiration are my mother Regina, my daughter Tam and my son Samuel
They say it jumps a generation. Regina, Tam and Samuel have always been in the right place at the right time. they are simply genius, beautiful inside and out.
My mother Regina taught me to love the arts in all its forms, To exceed in anything I did, to always learn as much as possible.
Tam knows how to balance her work and family, as my mom did, which is no easy task, given the professional level she has achieved. Samuel is my anchor, the wisest person I know, gifted, witty and balanced.
Regina, Tam and Samuel are fluent in several languages, entrepreneurs, cosmopolitan renaissance people of the 21st Century.
Website: susyzinn.com
Instagram: @susyzinn
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susana-zinn-25838422/
Twitter: @ZinnSusana
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susyzinnadvisor
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_jVTaYE5Z0dxS746k2K57A
Nominate Someone: ShoutoutMiami is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
