The Business: Boxwood Insurance

Boxwood Insurance partners

rooted in community, faith and family

For local insurance executives Blake Lambert and Patrick Baggett, branching off into their own insurance business was a leap of faith. The two most recently opened their doors to their new practice- Boxwood Insurance Group after both spending years working for local insurance company Full-Service Insurance.

“We get to help people,” said Lambert. “That sounds corny but that is where we shine, we have a passion for writing the proper insurance, and making sure our customers are taken care of. We take incredible pride in making sure our clients have the right insurance for them personally or for their business.”

Lambert is a Franklin native, a Centennial high school graduate and started his insurance career in Brentwood before joining Full Service in 2006. “I followed my dad into the insurance business,” said Lambert. “He always encouraged me to get into the business.”

Baggett who grew up in Decatur, Alabama and graduated from Samford moved to Franklin in 2010 when he started his insurance career. However, it wasn’t the working the together that bonded the two, it was a family connection to Baggett’s’ wife Amy with Lamberts’ family that brought the two together.

Baggett said his wife’s family and Lamberts’ family attended 4th Ave. Church of Christ in downtown. “My in-laws and Blake’s family are friends and have known each other for over thirty-five years,” said Baggett. “I started coming to Franklin 2005 when I was dating Amy, they have been approving me for years!”

“Our families have ties well before we started working together,” said Lambert. “It’s funny to think about us now owning a business together.”

The two started in the insurance business from scratch, cold-calling, learning the community, meeting business owners and cultivating relationships.

“We learned a lot working at Full Service,” said Baggett. “We started in this business with zero customers, and built our business from the ground up. We plan to do the same thing with Boxwood, we are starting from scratch but have a lot more experience now.”

Lambert and Baggett could see changes coming in the insurance business and knew that an opportunity to fill a niche in the local insurance business could be in the future for them. After Full Service sold out to larger company, the timing was right.

“There have been many acquisitions in our industry from large private equity companies,” said Baggett. “Those companies are not as interested in our target customers who prioritize relationships and professionalism. This leaves a pretty large gap. We plan to serve this void that is not served by these larger insurance agencies. We are a local business that is involved in the community that might sit next to you at a Rotary meeting or at church.”

Lambert said what makes them different is making sure they are providing coverage, not selling a price. “We saw a need for more detailed service for personal line clients, home, auto, excess liability,” said Lambert. “We started to specialize on writing policies for homes that needed more detailed coverage and we have specialized in this service, “a tailored boutique service” customized niche in this business. We also found that when young people buy their first home, something changes with them and they realize that buying insurance is important where maybe in the past it wasn’t.”

Lambert said that Boxwood is leading the charge to deliver unparalled service that so many industries seem to be overlooking. “We believe that customer service is what makes us different, with incredible response times and we will go above and beyond to help our customers. We treat people the way we would want to be treated. People are yearning for good service, insurance or whatever it may be and we specialize in service.” The duo feels so strongly about customer service that they will be sponsoring a local award recognizing local business for exceptional customer service. Baggett and Lambert have also added two female leaders to their team, Paige Sellers and Jill Holzen.

Boxwood new offices are located at 3020 Stansberry Lane in Franklin but neither Lambert nor Baggett will be hard to find. Baggett is president of Franklin Tomorrow, serves on the Franklin Board of Mayor and Alderman, he is a past president of the Franklin Noon Rotary and was elected to the most recent class of Leadership Franklin. Lambert is a graduate of Leadership Franklin and serves on the board for Youth Leadership, also serves on the board for the Joy Mission and on the board for FrankTown Open Hearts. And if you don’t’ see them at a meeting or serving you will probably find them at one of the many events in Franklin with their children, both Baggett and Lambert have three children under the age of 9.

“We both have amazing wives,” said Baggett. “Without them we are not able to do this.”

“We love to serve this community,” said Lambert. “Our partnership and friendship is something that we value tremendously.”

For great customer service and insurance rates contact Boxwood Insurance at 615-245-5851. They are located at 3020 Stansberry Lane, Suite 202, Franklin, TN 37069 and can be reached at www.boxwoodins.com