“BriteBee? What an unusual name! Where did the name come from?”
We get this question a lot! Yes, the name is unusual — and no doubt memorable — but what does a bee have to do with insurance?
After a sit down Q+A with BriteBee CEO, Keagan Henson, we are finally putting your questions to rest!
Q: “So, why the name BriteBee?”
A: “Well, actually, BriteBee wasn’t the first name we chose. In fact, I think it was the third or fourth name. The evolution of how the name came to be is actually pretty funny.”
Q: “What were the other names you considered?”
A: “We started with ‘Insurance Beehive’ and ran into some trademark issues. After that, it became Waggle. A ‘waggle dance’ is a term in beekeeping and refers to a specific way that bees communicate. We thought ‘surely there’s not another waggle out there!’ but there was. So we went back to the drawing board. After that, we tried Stupendous Startups — which I loved — but after testing it out and asking others in the office what they thought about it, the general consensus was that it sounded too much like ‘stupid’. So we passed on that idea, and shortly after that, ‘BriteBee’ just came to us. There was nothing out there like it, so we ran with it.”
Q: “Why B-R-I-T-E Bee instead of B-R-I-G-H-T Bee?”
A: “We actually started with BrightBee, but when we went to purchase the domain, it was going to cost $35K. As a startup, we knew we couldn’t afford that. When we considered alternate spellings, BriteBee.com wasn’t available BUT britebee.co was, so we bought it. Since then, we have acquired BOTH BriteBee.com and BrightBee.com, alleviating any fears of misspelling.”
Q: “Did you know you wanted ‘bees’ to be the theme/mascot?”
A: “We kind of just started with bees because they were trendy, but actually, bees were a really great choice because of how they work together for a common goal. Now, looking back, the name BriteBee reminds me of my favorite verse, Matthew 5:16. It says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” This was so fitting because insurance can already be an undesirable topic — there’s a stigma of hassle and most people don’t like shopping for insurance. We want BriteBee to ‘be a light’ for others in their insurance search. We want to give the control to the customer and change the stigma associated with the entire process.”
Q: “What was the inspiration behind the BriteBee idea?”
A: “Having a background in insurance, I knew there had to be a better way for insurance agents to connect with consumers online. The problem currently is that insurance agents aren’t using the most effective tools to appear where consumers are searching online, nor are they utilizing the data that is at their fingertips. That’s exactly what BriteBee is working to fix.”
Q: “How long has BriteBee been in the works?”
A: “I’ve honestly been thinking of a way to advocate for insurance agents for about four years now. Back then, it was just a question of “how?” I had the idea for what BriteBee would become about a year and a half ago. I told Kelly about it in the very early stages of my thought process and after a year and a half of harassing him with different ideas — some good, most bad — he was on board. We began our startup consulting with a company called Bowtie in September, moved into Branding and Identity in November, and finally began development in December 2017. BriteBee has pivoted from good to better to even better over the past year and a half. Our goal is to end up with a product that truly provides value to independent insurance agents everywhere.
Visit us online at www.britebee.com to learn more.
