Ep. 223: Sabrina Slater and Tameika Johnson: So You Think That License is Valid?

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Sabrina Slater and Tameika Johnson are core members of ILSA, and both have been with us for over 13 years. Sabrina is the Annuals and Corporates Manager responsible for registration submissions with the Secretary of State and Department of Revenue. Sabrina holds a SILA Associate Designation, a certification earned after undergoing professional development courses at the Securities & Insurance Licensing Association. Tameika is the Annuals and Corporates Supervisor and specializes in multistate corporate franchise taxes. Tameika has also garnered awards and honors such as those for Most Litigated Cases Handled and Most Pro Bono Cases Handled.

Sabrina and Tameika join us today to discuss what happens when your agency license is declared invalid by the state and the steps the agency needs to undergo to have a valid license again. They describe their roles and respåonsibilities at ILSA and how the pandemic shifted their perspective regarding office work. They discuss why agencies need to do their Annuals and Corporates Filings, and the challenges agencies face when applying for a license. They explain why some agencies prefer to get licensed themselves and why they don’t recommend an in-house approach. They also share their thoughts on Zoom meetings, the coronavirus, and how they managed to stay positive during these trying times.

"If you want to do business and you want to be compliant, you’re going to have to do the leg work." - Sabrina Slater

Today on Spot On Insurance:

• Sabrina and Tameika’s responsibilities at ILSA.
• The beginning of the pandemic and when they realized they would have to work from home.
• The struggles of working from home due to lack of equipment.
• Their thoughts when the group started webinars.
• Comparing live webinars and podcast recordings.
• What they learned about themselves when they worked from home.
• Annuals and Corporates Filings and why insurance agencies need them.
• What happens when your agency license is invalid?
• Why agencies struggle to get their licenses validated.
• Tameika's experience working with clients and preparing them for license validation.
• The issues Tameika found when working on withdrawals.
• How non-filing can affect the way your agency conducts business.
• Where agencies can check their licensing status.
• Corporate and LLC conversions in the context of regulatory compliance.
• Why some agencies prefer to take compliance and licensing by themselves.
• How COVID-19 affected their health and the health of their colleagues.

Key Takeaways:

• The only way you're going to get experience in what you're supposed to do is if you're doing it on a regular basis.
• States do a great job at reminding agencies what they should get filed.
• When you change from a corporation to an LLC, there are states where an LLC doesn't have to file taxes and there are states where a corporation does.

Resources Mentioned:

• State Regulators Contact Information

Connect with Sabrina Slater:

• Email:[e-mail]
• Phone: [phone]
• LinkedIn
• SILA

Connect with Tameika Johnson:

• Email:[e-mail]
• Phone: [phone]
• LinkedIn

This episode was brought to you by…..

Insurance Licensing Services of America (ILSA), America’s Premier Insurance Compliance and Licensing experts. To learn more about ILSA and their services, visit ILSAinc.com.

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