Risky Business · Renters Legal Liability

Driving Business With Humility and Giving Back With Kyle Schielack and Braden Griffith From Higginbotham

·25 min·2 clips

Kyle explains how Higginbotham's free risk management services set them apart from global giants like Marsh.

Kyle Shelock and Braden Griffith lead Higginbotham's commercial real estate insurance practice across the Gulf Coast, covering property and casualty insurance for real estate operators, owners, managers, and developers. Kyle came to Higginbotham after stints at a boutique Houston firm and Marsh McLennan Agency, attracted by Higginbotham's Day Two platform: post-binding risk management services including claims guidance, loss management, and compliance resources provided at no additional cost to clients. Braden entered insurance after a consultative sales background and was mentored into the industry through the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, where he connected with Kyle. The episode examines how the team maintained operations during COVID-19, primarily by leaning on existing remote work habits built after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and by serving as a resource hub for clients navigating pandemic-related claims that carriers were mostly denying. Kyle draws a line from Hurricane Ike in 2008 through Harvey in 2017 to COVID, arguing that each catastrophe trained the team for the next one. On the Texas winter storm, Braden emphasizes that clients must file claims immediately and proactively — because carriers process claims in order of receipt — and that preparation plans need to exist before events strike. Both discuss the unprecedented five-year hard market in coastal insurance, with shrinking carrier capacity, tightening reinsurance, and consecutive catastrophe years creating friction with buyers who may have had no losses but still face premium increases. Kyle and Braden also discuss the role of community volunteering in building insurance careers: Kyle describes how giving back aligned with Higginbotham's corporate values and opened relationships that became career-defining. Braden advises new producers to prioritize patience, build strong internal mentorship, cultivate an external support system, and enter the industry with humility. The tone is conversational and practical, aimed at insurance professionals, agency producers, and commercial real estate risk managers.

As heard by us

Insurance resilience, volunteering, and practical agent advice make this a steady listen.

Risky Business turns an insurance interview into something practical: a look at how Kyle Shelock and Braden Griffith kept the work moving through COVID, why Ike and Harvey still matter, and how the Texas winter storm changed the way they think about readiness.

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Why you'd press play

How two insurance leaders kept business moving through COVID, the 2021 Texas winter storm, and the kind of giving back that opens doors.

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