Her Story
About Yining
I have been practicing law for five years and working in the insurance industry for three years as an advanced sales attorney at National Life Group. Before joining National Life Group, I was an insurance defense attorney for Liberty Mutual handling personal injury cases, which taught me a lot about products and helped me realize my true passion for tax law and estate planning. Prior to that, I did estate planning for boutique firms in Seattle, where I loved working with individuals, listening to their family stories, and helping them achieve their legacy goals. My current role is unique because I'm not in a traditional legal department but work under marketing and sales. I work closely with agents who are external partners of my company, providing three main services: webinar education and training to help agents understand the importance of life insurance from an estate planning perspective, case consultation for high net worth individuals and business owners with unique needs, and document review like irrevocable life insurance trust agreements. What inspired me to get into this field was a case I had in private practice where a client diagnosed with cancer reached out for estate planning services. His last message to me was to take care of his family. After he passed, his wife called me one day, and for the first time I heard relief in her voice. She had just received the death benefit check from his life insurance policy and told me she could finally stop worrying about utility bills and expenses. That was the moment I truly felt the power of life insurance and understood its importance.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Yining
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being humble and always being open to learning. I think it's really important to always be open to constructive criticism and advice, because when people tell you what you could improve, it shows they really care about you. If they didn't care, they wouldn't say something. Even if the way they deliver it might hurt or I might not personally agree with how they said it, I should always appreciate the constructive advice. I always strive for better and try to take good advice and improve in the future. Practice makes perfection, so I keep working on implementing feedback and getting better at what I do.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is about communication. For literally every project, you can't do it alone - it's teamwork. So it's really important to communicate with people about what you are doing, the timeline, the expectations, and to manage those expectations. This is advice I cherish to this day, and it has helped me a lot in my career.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say don’t give up or get discouraged. According to industry reports, nearly 80% of equity partners in large law firms are male. Similarly, the life insurance industry has traditionally been dominated by white men. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming when you look around a room and don’t see many people who look like you.
But remember that you are there for a reason. You earned your place because of your abilities, strengths, and unique perspective. When you start to feel discouraged, take a deep breath, stay confident, and trust yourself. Keep showing up, keep working hard, and keep doing what you’re doing.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say the biggest challenge is getting some people to respect me because I look so young. It’s kind of the other side of the coin from what I mentioned earlier. Sometimes I do feel it can be harder to build relationships when we come from very different backgrounds. At times, it feels like I have to work harder to earn people’s trust and respect, and that’s something I’m still learning to navigate. But I think it ultimately takes time, consistency, and proving yourself through your work.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I’ll quote my company’s values because I truly believe in them, and my company feels like a second family to me: “Do good, be good, make good.”
Although my company is a for-profit business and part of my role is to sell more policies, I genuinely believe it creates a win-win situation because we are helping people achieve financial security. My CEO, Mehran Assadi, once described us as “second responders.” First responders like police officers and firefighters help people during emergencies, but we are there afterward — when families are dealing with injury, death, or other unimaginable situations. Instead of asking families for money to cover expenses, we are the ones writing the checks to help support them through difficult times.
That perspective gives real meaning to the work I do. By helping more people obtain financial protection and security, I feel that I am truly helping others. That’s why the phrase “Do good, be good, make good” resonates so strongly with me.
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