The Brightside: One Way Insurance, Mobile Insurance
SEAFORD, Del. – A few years ago we met the owners of One Way Insurance Group, a multilingual independent insurance agency providing languages in English, Spanish, and Haitian-creole. A business that’s been making waves in the small business community in Delaware, even receiving the attention of Governor John Carney.
Now, after only being in business for five years, they’re creating some firsts for Delaware, creating the first mobile insurance. “I remember talking to my husband Ebens and saying you know it would be cool if we had like insurance on wheels like have a mobile office just jokingly, he’s like oh that’s a great idea let’s do it!”
Delaware’s first fully functional insurance mobile office, a random idea from One Way Insurance group owners, Ebens and Gigi Jean. “Whether it be seminars or workshops, whatever it may be,” says Gigi. “We want this to be an experience. When it comes to insurance, it’s just a chore, you’re like I just want to get it done but we want it to be an experience, we want to take you from your board room and bring you to a safe place where all your transactions, everything that you need.”
A business that prides itself in helping the community, especially the hardest-to-reach areas. A well-known voice in Delaware now has a way to be in the community no matter where; and after receiving the EDGE grant award, they’re making it happen. “We can quote policies issue policies, there’s internet in there, there’s AC, there are chairs, there’s a TV, there’s a coffee station so everything that you need from start to finish we can go ahead and do with the mobile office.”
Ebens and Gigi started out wanting to simplify insurance, make it fun, and be a business that community members know and trust. Ebens says, “I’m glad that we took the risk, five years ago, I looked at my wife and said this is the plan, this is what I’m going to do, we’re going to have to take the risk.” Gigi adds, “But to think of where we are right now, five years from now, and how we have grown, I never thought that we would be here. We are always changing the game and we owe all of this to the community.”
Beyond that, the ability to partner with more businesses is growing as well as their footprint on Delmarva. The owners tell us, it’s all thanks to the love and support they’ve had for one another since the beginning. A love for each other and insurance that’s leaving a legacy for their children. “They’re just seeing the mom and the dad just working hard being a woman in this country, being a male, a black man in this country,” says Ebens. “We keep pushing ourselves, we keep taking risks, that’s the big thing that we do so they’re seeing that.”
They’re also a role model for other small businesses. “So if we can be an inspiration if I can partner you with some resources that have helped us out, we want to go ahead and be that inspiration to go ahead and build more businesses,” says Gigi. Ebens adds, “If you have a dream if you have an idea that’s in your head, the idea you have, has to come out. You have to put it out there and you have to take the first step.”
One Way Insurance has even caught the attention of other state leaders such as Senator Tom Carper and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt-Rochester.
We’re told, however, their journey is far from over, and now with the van fully functioning after being decked out from Sound FX, another small business in Delaware, they’re booking events for the future traveling throughout Delmarva and to other states. The owners tell us they hope to partner with other organizations and businesses to continue on this mission to bring easy-to-understand insurance to everyone in the community.
