Kinita King, an independent Aflac Inc. agent, is the 2018 All Council chair of the JAX Chamber councils. A past president of the chamber’s Professional Women’s Council, she leads 10 groups — the Arlington, Downtown, Mandarin, North, South and West along with the Health, Information Technology, Professional Women’s and the Transportation and Logistics councils. She serves on the boards of the Professional Women’s Council, Mandarin and health organizations.
I’m gauging the temperature of the councils. I attend their board meetings as well as their luncheons and activities. I am like your middleman to ensure that they’re getting the best out of their chamber membership.
To get your best, become involved, join a committee. You have to build those relationships. A lot of times, people feel like once they join the chamber they’re going to get a bunch of leads and referrals. But it’s about the relationships and being visible.
I joined the membership committee of the Professional Women’s Council and from there became the chair and worked my way up. I became the vice president and then the next thing I know, I’m the president of the council.
I am an Aflac agent. I like to call myself a consultant. I go to different businesses and extend my services. That could be a small business with a minimum of three employees all the way up to 100 employees or more. My main focus is to educate the business owners and be able to provide them with a service to their employees. It doesn’t cost the business owner anything, but it benefits the employee. It’s like a gap protection.
I became an Aflac agent and joined the chamber all at the same time six years ago. Before that, I did human resources, benefits and payroll. In 2010, the market started changing and the company decided to go in a different direction. I lost my job and was unemployed for two years. The Aflac agent for that company extended an invitation for me to come to a meeting. I did, and I thought to myself, ‘I love helping people. I know family members that have been affected by illnesses. Why not give Aflac a try?’ I passed the test and I’ve been doing it ever since.
I was born in Alabama and raised by my young parents. My grandparents helped to raise me as well. Dad was in the Army and he did four years. We lived in Columbus, Georgia. He got out of active duty and we moved to Pensacola, where I grew up.
In high school I played first base and pitcher on the softball team. People don’t look at me as an athlete, so that’s a surprise.
I was living in Tallahassee, working for the Florida Lottery, and got a job offer here at a government contracting company. I packed up and moved to Jacksonville and have been here since 2010.
I like to work out, I like to read, I like to cook, and I like to volunteer at my church, Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist. I have a 95-year-old grandmother in Alabama, so I like to visit her.
There still are good people in the world. It’s a matter of putting yourself out there and being willing to meet and to help as many people as you can because it will come back to you tenfold.