Por Jesika Millano
Para AL DÍA TODAY
MELBOURNE — There is an inspirational quote that Cinthia Kettering keeps handy; “Think that everything is possible…what you have to do is try.”
It’s something the Guayaquil, Ecuador native and community leader reminded herself as she overcame obstacles thanks to her tenacity and constant effort.
With over 20 years of experience in finance and over 12 years in the real estate investment and insurance industry, Kettering is now the owner of CMK Global Consulting LLC, a consulting firm specializing in growing businesses and increasing success.
Kettering immigrated to the United States in 2000, along with her husband Paul Kettering. “We were both in our twenties and had little money, but we knew that if we worked hard, we could achieve our goals and get ahead, and that’s exactly what we did,” she said. By then, she already had a law degree from Guayaquil. She had banking experience and spoke English, which made it easy for her to get her first job at a bank in the trustee department.
“However, since the initial plan was to save everything we earned to buy a house, I also cleaned offices on weekends, taught Spanish at a community college, and taught Latin aerobics and hip hop classes at a gym,” she said. “We both work a lot and managed to buy our first house in six months since I started working.”
After three years of hard work, Kettering said she managed to get a job at another bank where she worked processing loans until 2006, the year she and her husband decided to open their own loan broker business.
“Nobody knew me, and I started calling real estate agents to present my services. Little by little they sent me clients and our new business prospered. My husband owned a construction business, so I handled the loans on my own,” Kettering said.
However, in 2007, a year before the global financial crisis that was triggered directly by the collapse of the housing bubble in the United States, Kettering decided to become an insurance broker.
“Because I was new in the business and had an office in a new neighborhood, I would knock on doors, walk many miles every day and introduce myself to neighbors because my phone wouldn’t ring,” she said, adding that after about two weeks, the phone started ringing and she hired an assistant.
“I never stopped making loans, but my priority was to sell insurance.”
She also claims in the 11 years she had her agency, she hired and trained many bilingual employees with no insurance experience, making her company one of the best agencies in the county.
However, in 2018, she decided to sell her agency after a tempting purchase offer.
“It was not an easy decision. I worked Monday through Saturday, averaging 60 hours a week,” she said. “Even though she had 11 agents, we had more than eight thousand clients, and of those clients, many had more than two policies.”
After selling the agency and all her buildings, Kettering took a sabbatical and with her family decided to travel the world.
Later, she received a call to work as a consultant and that is how she opened her company CMK Global Consulting LLC.
“Later we were able to move to Florida, which was always my dream. Pennsylvania was nice but too cold for me,” said Kattering, who now lives in Melbourne.
“Now we are building a house on the beach, I have a travel blog with 17,000 followers as a hobby, I am also a consultant, business coach, insurance agent, loan officer, and work from home.”
Cinthia Kettering’s services include management consulting, business coaching, financial services consulting, mergers and acquisitions, insurance consulting, residential and commercial loans, sales strategies and strategic planning, human resources, image consulting, customer service and teamwork.
For her, the philosophy of life is based on loving what you do and never giving up.
“Treat everyone well. Remember, almost nothing is easy in this life, but with perseverance, a positive attitude, and good intentions, you can achieve many of your goals,” she says. For more information about Cinthia Kettering and her services, visit www.cmkglobalconsulting.com or call (717) 408-8144.