In 1915, Pacific Mutual began honoring its top-selling agents—those with over $100,000 in sales—with induction into the Big Tree Club. Named after Wawona, the mighty sequoia that was the emblem of Pacific Mutual, the club began holding periodic meetings to bring together qualifying agents and Pacific Mutual officials to engender loyalty and understanding, and promote cooperation.

Qualifying for the Big Tree Club was no small feat, but the real challenge lay in consistently qualifying for the club. In 1925, Pacific Mutual upped the qualifying threshold to $200,000. By 1933, only four of the charter members had qualified for every one of the 18 iterations of the club.

Isabel Daugherty, who went on to serve as superintendent of the women’s division at the Home Office, consistently qualified from 1924 through 1937. She recalled, “The commissions had all been helpful—the knowledge of good service rendered was uplifting—but to be a Big Tree Club member—that was overpowering!”