Meeting a mentor when you most need one

There are some people who you’ll never forget the day you met because that’s the day your life changed. For 1998 MDRT President Gene L. Mahn, CLU, ChFC, that was the day he met his mentor, Millard J. Grauer, CLU, ChFC, of Evanston, Illinois. Grauer later became MDRT President in 1980. Grauer passed away in 2016 after being an MDRT member for 58 years.

By Gene L. Mahn, CLU, ChFC

Gene Mahn is seated in the middle. Mil Grauer stands behind him, slightly to the right.

Early in my career — around 1967 or ’68 — my cousin asked me if I’d like to meet his neighbor and friend who, like me, was in the life insurance business. Unlike me, at the time, he was a successful member of the Million Dollar Round Table. His neighbor was Mil Grauer, and he was going to a convention in Los Angeles, California, which is near where I lived then, and where I still live.

At that point in my career, I didn’t know anything about anything so I welcomed the chance to pick Mil’s brain. I drove to where he was staying at the Century Plaza Hotel outside of Los Angeles. I parked in a garage about three or four long blocks from the hotel because the parking was free there. I hot-footed it to the hotel and talked with Mil.

Because I wanted to keep talking to him, I offered to take him to the airport and he agreed. Nonetheless, I didn’t want to let him know that I couldn’t afford valet parking. So in the sweltering Los Angeles summer, I ran to pick up my car, drove to the hotel and picked up Mil. Once at the airport, I drove into a parking lot. As the parking lot arm swung down, with a sinking feeling, I realized I wouldn’t have enough money, which may have been only $2 back then, to pay to exit the lot. All I could do was turn to Mil and ask, “Can you loan me a couple of bucks?”

He loaned me the money, took me to lunch and became my mentor from that day forward. He taught me to never give up, be myself and always keep growing.

A few years later, I qualified for and joined MDRT. It was Mil’s mentorship that enabled me to join MDRT. I never looked back.

Gene Mahn, a 48-year MDRT member, is the CEO at the Mahn Organization in Westlake Village, California.

MDRT has a long history of mentorship. Learn more about how to join MDRT. See more from Mahn in the videos “The economy and common-sense brilliance” and “10 minutes of favorite sales ideas from two industry greats.”