For most of her career, Penney Ooi, a licensed World Financial Group, Inc. (WFG) insurance agent and Transamerica Financial Advisors, LLC (TFA) securities professional, never thought of herself as a trailblazer. When she joined WFG three decades ago, she couldn’t anticipate the impact she’d have on the organization or the fact that she’d become the first woman in WFG’s history to achieve its highest field advancement. It wasn’t until years later that the significance of that milestone truly resonated with her.

“I didn’t think much about it because I worked in predominantly male environments early in my career. Actually, many times, they forgot I was even a woman!” she explains. “In those days, I didn’t have many female role models within the organization.” 

Today, WFG proudly supports a predominantly female field force, and Penney is one of the organization’s most active female mentors, frequently speaking at WFG conferences and events.

Long before she became one of WFG’s most recognizable leaders, she was a young immigrant with a finance degree, trying to stay close to an industry she loved. After graduating in investment finance, visa restrictions kept her from pursuing the Wall Street career she had imagined, so she took a job as a financial analyst at a small company that could sponsor her green card. “It wasn’t glamorous, but it gave me a foot in the door,” she said.

Shortly after Penney started, a friend introduced her to WFG. At the time, the company looked very different from what it does today, but much still holds true, such as growth and success being driven by relationships. It’s something Penney knows all about.

 Under the mentorship of agent Xuan Nguyen, Penney quickly learned that building a successful business meant building trust with people first. It’s a philosophy that’s become the foundation of her career. In a male-dominated industry, her work ethic, discipline and determination to be heard helped her stand out. After finding success as a life insurance professional, she expanded into securities through Transamerica Financial Advisors, earning her securities license and continuing to grow her business.

 The WFG that Penney joined more than 30 years ago has since evolved into a modern platform that supports agents at scale through digital tools, streamlined systems and leadership development programs. For her, that evolution is part of what continues to set WFG apart. Building leaders and a long-term career trajectory for those entrepreneurial-minded individuals — from all backgrounds — is at the heart of WFG’s model.

“I originally joined with the purpose of becoming financially independent,” she said. “But now I stay because there’s more purpose in life through what I do with this company. It transforms people.”

Building a Leadership Style

For years, Penney was too focused on the work itself to think much about making history. Becoming the first woman to reach WFG’s highest field advancement didn’t fully register until recently, when the company asked her to host a women’s event and she read the biography written about her career.

“I never thought status should define who I am,” she said. “But at that moment, I felt really good about myself.”

The experience reshaped the way she thought about leadership. After spending much of her career without visible female role models, Penney has made women’s self-care — financially, physically and emotionally — a central part of her business purpose. That philosophy carries over into how she builds teams. For Penney, leadership starts with relationships and understanding people individually before pushing them toward growth.

“Once you have the relationship, you identify their gifts,” she said. “Some are technical. Some are relational. Only after identifying the gift can you give instruction and then challenge them.”

Penney also believes that great leaders help people see their potential before they fully recognize it themselves. She speaks openly about the fact that not everyone begins as a top performer, often describing herself as an “80-percenter” early in her career. That belief still drives her leadership style today.

“The 20-percenters will always be there to inspire the 80-percenters,” she said. “I was an 80-percenter once, but I was empowered to see a bigger vision.”

A Legacy that Lives On Through Others

Over time, Penney has built her business around what she calls three pillars: relationship, systems and culture. Culture, especially, has become non-negotiable. She emphasizes compliance, integrity and doing the right thing even when it would be easier not to. For her, success means very little if it comes at the expense of character.

And that philosophy extends to the advice she gives newly licensed agents with WFG. She’s direct with them. WFG cannot guarantee success, she says. What it can provide is an environment that can change people who are willing to grow within it.

“The power of the environment must be bigger than your willpower. Don’t miss any meetings. Submit yourself to a bigger environment that can grow you,” Penney tells them.

Since arriving in the United States in the early 90s with borrowed money and an uncertain future, Penney still approaches the business with the same discipline and hunger that first pushed her forward. But the meaning behind the work? It’s changed. Success is no longer only about what she built for herself. It’s about what other women can now see for themselves because someone like Penney stood in front of them first.

“It sounds almost not real,” Penney Ooi said. “But it is real. This company changed our lives.”

People experience various levels of success with World Financial Group Insurance Agency, LLC. This statement does not guarantee or represent that all participants will achieve the same results. Individual results may vary.

World Financial Group Insurance Agency, LLC, World Financial Group Insurance Agency of Hawaii, Inc., World Financial Group Insurance Agency of Massachusetts, Inc., (In California doing business as World Financial Insurance Agency, LLC) and/or WFG Insurance Agency of Puerto Rico, Inc. – collectively WFGIA – offer insurance products.
California License #0679300
 

Securities and investment advisory services are offered by Transamerica Financial Advisors, LLC (TFA), a Registered Investment Adviser and Broker-Dealer, Member FINRA, SIPC. 
WFGIA and TFA are affiliated companies.  5526803-0626
Headquarters: 6400 C Street SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52499. Phone: 770.453.9300
TFA Headquarters: Two Liberty Place, 50 South 16th Street, Ste. 3700, Philadelphia, PA 19102 Phone: 770.248.3271
 

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