What Foster Care Transport Taught Me About Insurance — A Lexington SC Agent's Story

I spend a few mornings a week doing something most insurance agents don't.

I drive kids in foster care.

As a transport driver for SCYAP — a South Carolina organization that supports youth and families in the foster care system — I drive children to appointments, placements, and family visits. It's not glamorous work. It doesn't pay much. But it's some of the most meaningful time in my week.

And it's made me a better insurance agent than any licensing course ever could.

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It always starts with silence

Every ride begins the same way.

A kid gets in. The door closes. And then — nothing. They look out the window, or at their hands, or somewhere in the middle distance. They don't know me. They don't know where they're going, not entirely. And they've learned, often through hard experience, to wait and see before they trust anyone with anything.

So I don't push. I drive. I keep it calm. I let the silence do what it needs to do.

And then, without fail, something shifts.

It's never a big moment. It's a question about the radio. A comment about something outside the window. A joke that lands unexpectedly. And just like that, the guard comes down — slowly, carefully — because they've figured out that this is a safe space. That I'm not going to judge them or make their situation harder than it already is.

One ride in particular has stayed with me. I had a young passenger who hadn't eaten. He didn't say anything — he was too uncertain, maybe too accustomed to not asking. But I noticed. We pulled over and got him a real meal, something he actually got to choose. He lit up in a way I won't forget.

He didn't know he could ask. He just needed to know it was safe to.

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The same thing happens in insurance conversations

I'm relatively new to this industry. My wife Jennifer and I opened Mauldin Insurance Group in Lexington, SC intentionally — because we wanted to do this work differently than we'd seen it done. And the best preparation I've had for that didn't come from a study guide. It came from those quiet rides.

Here's what I've noticed, even early in my career:

People walk into insurance conversations the same way those kids get into my transport vehicle.

Guarded. Waiting to see if they're about to be sold something or actually helped. Unsure whether they can ask what feels like a stupid question. Not certain if the person across from them is working for them or for a carrier.

Most people don't fully understand their coverage. Not because they aren't smart — but because nobody has ever walked them through it in plain language, without an agenda. So they nod along, sign where they're told, and hope for the best.

They end up underinsured, or over-paying, or finding out what they didn't have at the worst possible moment.

And the whole time, they never felt safe enough to ask.

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What I try to bring to every client conversation

As an independent insurance agency, Mauldin Insurance Group isn't tied to any single carrier. We work for our clients — shopping multiple carriers to find coverage that actually fits your life, not just a policy that's easy to sell.

But beyond the structure of what we do, I care deeply about how we do it.

I try to create in every client conversation what eventually happens on those drives — a space where the silence is okay, where no question is off limits, where you don't have to pretend you already understand everything.

Because most people don't. And they shouldn't have to pretend.

The best conversations I have start slow. I listen more than I talk. And somewhere along the way something shifts — and we get to the real stuff. What you're worried about. What you're not sure you have. What you're hoping never happens.

That's where the work that actually matters gets done.

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Why I'll keep driving

I don't share this part of my life to make myself look good. I share it because it genuinely shapes how I show up — as an agent, and as a person.

Those kids have taught me more about patience, presence, and what it means to truly serve someone than anything else in my professional life.

If you've been looking for an insurance agent in the Lexington, SC area who will take the time to actually listen — I'd be glad to have that conversation. No pressure. Just a real discussion about where you are and whether your coverage still fits your life.

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Ben Mauldin is co-owner of Mauldin Insurance Group, an independent insurance agency serving Lexington, SC and the surrounding Midlands area. He is a licensed SC insurance producer, a transport driver for SCYAP, and a board member of Our Place of Hope. Mauldin Insurance Group offers home, auto, life, Medicare, and commercial insurance through a network of top-rated carriers.