Faces of Shift with Drew Lewellyn & the Team from Glovebox

(Pictured left to right:  Drew Lewellyn, Ryan Mathisen, Andy Mathisen & Sean Mulhern)

One of the most exciting parts of our coworking industry is watching our members grow and achieve success and it is clear that GloveBox is ready for takeoff!  In August 2019, GloveBox, a mobile app that provides access to insurance documents for consumers, expanded its partnerships with several large insurance carriers.

This new partnership gives GloveBox the ability to roll out initiatives that will be groundbreaking for policyholders. As the mobile app enters their second phase of development the companies will further solidify the ability for policyholders to have an enhanced and functional insurance experience.

Based on the recent success of Glovebox, it was a perfect time for us to sit down with their co-founder,  Drew Lewellyn.  We discuss how Glovebox was developed, their growth and future development, where the company will be in five years and why they chose Shift Workspaces. 

How did you decide on the moon man as your logo (we love it!)?

You mean the Glovebox Spaceman!!! The idea initially started when we were “launching” our app.  Our goal is to launch insurance into the future and our Spaceman is our designated pilot!  Like you guys, everyone loves him and now he is here for good!  Plus we love getting suited up and blasting off with him wherever we go.  So far he has been to about 10 states and 100 meetings! 

How did you develop the concept for GloveBox?

For the previous 8 years, the three of us grew an insurance brokerage to $100M in premium consisting of 95% personal lines coverage (Home, Auto, Umbrella, Motorcycle, Boat, etc), one of the largest in the country.  With our 100,000 clients, we experienced about 10,000 or more service phone calls a month.  85% of these requests were Tier 1 issues (where is my policy, what carrier am I with, what is my deductible, where is my auto ID card, I need to make a claim, I need to pay my bill, etc).  We set out to find a technology solution or app, that would help alleviate these Tier 1 request and provide more clarity to our customers in regards to their policies.  After we were unable to find a solution (and about 100 meetings over beers), we set out to develop our own solution, thus GloveBox was born with the idea of aggregating all insurance carriers to one simple app with a consistent experience for users regardless of coverage or carrier. 

How do you see GloveBox growing and developing?

The GloveBox is a solution unlike anything else in the marketplace.  Our goal is to continue to develop functionality that provides clarity to consumers about their insurance coverage and a simple interface to complete basic service items they may have.  Also, we aim to provide a mobile solution to every insurance agency in the country to help reduce service costs and provide their client base with a consistent mobile app experience for their insurance coverages, regardless of what carriers the agent selects.  Finally, we are working very diligently to connect as many insurance carriers as possible to provide another portal for their agency partners and insureds to utilize.  Our goal is to support each insurance carrier technology initiatives and utilize the cutting-edge GloveBox technology design to enhance their various offerings (Pay a bill online, report a claim, request additional coverage, integrate vehicle telematics, etc).

What are your backgrounds in terms of tech and building out apps?

Drew Lewellyn, our CTO, has 10 years experience in assisting companies in various stages of software/app development and deployment.  He is key in helping develop our technical team and roadmap to provide all the features and functions of our users, agencies, and carriers need.  The rest of our team all has over 10 years of experience in the insurance industry.  This experience and direct communication with consumers lead to a realization of the issue existing between agencies and their customers, which is the driving force of our mission and development.

What were you doing prior to starting GloveBox?

All four partners were working for a local insurance Brokerage called Colorado Insurance.  During our time there we grew the agency from $10M in premium to over $100M in premium. Ryan and Andy Mathisen were building teams throughout the United State consisting of some of the top producers in the country.  Sean Mulhern was the top producer in the company, and country, for many years before also building successful sales teams and commercial insurance practice.  Drew Lewellyn was previously helping companies develop and deploy various technology solutions before going Sean and Ryan in building a commercial insurance practice at Colorado Insurance. 

It’s unique that your team has known one another since childhood, how is it working together?

THE WORST!!!  Hahahaha, JK.  Seeing as we have all been best friends for over 20 years, there are not many situations that arise that we have not been through, together.  Having such a tight relationship allows us to openly and candidly communicate, but more importantly, is the trust.  As I said, we have been through it all together and we all know that GloveBox is the most important thing in each of our professional lives which drives us to do everything we can for each other every day.  

How did you come to choose Shift Workspaces as your “home away from home” (aka office)?

As soon as we walked in to Shift Workspaces Corona, we knew we were home.  For us, we wanted a place that we were excited to come to and get to work and Shift absolutely provides that.  We also made our decision based on the people at Shift.  Again, as soon as we were introduced to the Shift team they worked with us to get us a location because they wanted us there.  This was a great feeling to know the team was so connected to us and our success.  Even throughout our time here, we have been blown away by the attention to detail and support of the Shift team.

What do you all enjoying doing in your spare time?

Ryan, Sean and Andy all enjoy being Dads while I can be found out golfing!  Ryan and Sean are also very interested in jujitsu and train 2-3 times a week.  Andy is the biggest sports nut you have ever met, especially for those Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, and Kansas Jayhawks!  

Where do you see glovebox in the next 5 years?

We see GloveBox as the top technology partner to consumers, agencies and insurance carriers in the world.  Our goal is to provide every person in the world with a simple tool to interact with and understand their insurance coverage.  Also, we want to provide every insurance agency/brokerage a tool that continually improves to provides their customers additional value through technology and increase the agency’s ability to focus on real service issues and selling more business.  

Finally, we will be connected to every insurance carrier in the world we can to provide their client base with a parallel portal to their company and offerings.  Our goal is to help all three parties involved communicate more clearly and efficiently.

If your agency is interested in partnering with Glovebox, you can schedule a demo here.  You can also follow them on Facebook or follow their blog page.