Marketing Degree Adds Value For AIG Sales Trainer
By Dan Silvia, Communications Manager
“My goal is to add value every day in my current role,” said Chris Owsley, Sales Trainer for AIG Financial Distributors. “It is extremely important to me that what I am doing has a positive impact for the people I work with and the organization I work for.”
AIG is the worldwide property-casualty, life and retirement, and general insurance operations of American International Group, Inc.
Owsley earned his Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management in August 2016 and was recently promoted to his current position, something that might not have happened had he not had that degree in hand.
“Not only from the practical standpoint of a job requirement, but from a self-development perspective; studying at Bellevue University for my bachelor's while working full-time definitely helped me develop another level of confidence, dedication and time management skill sets that I carry over into my current role,” Owsley said. “I know I have those additional gears now that I can shift into when needed.”
Owsley, who came into Bellevue University with an Associate’s degree from Nossi College of Art in Nashville, enjoyed the collaborative nature of the program.
“Everyone was always very helpful and professional. Professor (Kristin) Lynch in the Marketing program was fantastic,” he said. “I enjoyed learning with a cohort of students from many backgrounds from all over the country.”
But how did the lifelong Tennessean choose Bellevue University to pursue his bachelor’s degree?
“I had an associate's degree and when researching flexible programs that I could apply those earned credits towards, Bellevue kept coming up in my research as one of the top online programs for working adults,” he said. “I did a lot of research.”
Owsley’s began his new role at AIG in June of this year. He’s enjoyed the multi-faceted nature of the job.
“I have been tasked with building a comprehensive sales training program for our internal sales teams which are located in Houston, Nashville and San Diego. This includes training new team members, as well as current team members, with a focus on career progression and development. Our goal is to build a sales training program that empowers our team members to succeed in their chosen career with AIG,” he said.
Owsley’s day is spent largely on one-to-one sales training sessions, group sales training sessions, remote webinar training sessions, designing applicable sales training content or building out learning tracks in AIG’s learning management system.
“We want to be the best place to work in the industry,” Owsley said. “Working with so many great colleagues definitely helps keep the ball rolling in the right direction.”