Today we’d like to introduce you to Diana Lee.
Hi Diana, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story is rooted in family, community, and the entrepreneurial spirit. I grew up as the youngest of five girls in a family originally from Jamaica. My family has deep roots as caregivers and leaders in the assisted living field both in Jamaica and here in Florida. Watching them build businesses while taking care of others taught me early on that business and community impact go hand-in-hand.
Before diving into insurance, I spent years building a diverse professional foundation, earning a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration and gaining hands-on experience in real estate and property management. These fields gave me an intimate, unique look into the exact needs, vulnerabilities, and real estate risks that South Floridians face every single day.
In 2022, my husband, Robin, who is originally from Guyana, and I decided to channel our backgrounds into building something of our own. We opened Brightway, The Mavic Agency. We chose the name “Mavic” by blending the names of our two biggest inspirations: our children, Maverick and Victoria. Our diverse cultural backgrounds—connecting Jamaica, Guyana, and South Florida—have been an incredible asset. They allow us to truly understand, relate to, and work with a wonderfully wide range of customers from all walks of life.
We hit the ground running, running day-to-day operations as a team. We attributed our rapid success to accessible customer service, sales savvy, and a personal understanding of what matters most to local residents. Today, as a licensed Property and Casualty Insurance Agent, I’m incredibly proud to represent top national carriers like Progressive, Nationwide, and Florida Peninsula, helping our neighbors protect their homes, vehicles, and futures.
But for me, being an entrepreneur means showing up for the community outside of office hours, too. I’m incredibly passionate about education and local leadership, which led me to serve as the current PTA President of the Pembroke Pines Charter Elementary School, sit on the advisory boards for Pembroke Pines Charter Schools and Atlantic Technical College, and chair the West Broward Leads group.
It’s been a whirlwind journey of hard work, family collaboration, and community trust. Being recognized by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce as Small Business of the Year in 2025 is a beautiful testament to what happens when you build a business centered around taking care of the people around you.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Launching an insurance agency in South Florida in 2022 meant stepping directly into one of the toughest, most volatile property insurance crises in modern history. We opened our doors right as major carriers were restricting guidelines, pulling out of the state, or going insolvent. For a new business, navigating sky-rocketing premiums and shrinking options for our clients was an immense hurdle. There were days it felt like trying to build a bridge in the middle of a hurricane.
But instead of letting that deter us, we chose to use it as an opportunity to over-communicate and educate. Because the market was changing weekly, our clients didn’t just need a policy; they needed a trusted advisor to guide them through the chaos. Demystifying the insurance landscape for stressed homeowners became our primary mission.
Beyond the industry itself, the other major struggle was the sheer balancing act. Running a family business alongside your spouse while raising two young children, Maverick and Victoria, takes an incredible amount of coordination. On any given day, I am wearing the hat of agency owner, business strategist, community leader, and mom. Between managing day-to-day operations at the agency, leading the PTA, and serving on multiple education and business advisory boards, time is a premium luxury.
There were long nights and moments of exhaustion, but doing this alongside Robin made all the difference. We learned how to build strict boundaries, lean on each other’s strengths, and stay focused on the bigger picture. Overcoming the instability of the Florida market and finding our rhythm as working parents didn’t break us—it solidified our foundation and proved that we could thrive under pressure.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Brightway Insurance, The Mavic Agency is a full-service insurance agency physically located in beautiful Weston, Florida, but we are fully equipped to cover and protect families and businesses across the entire state of Florida.
We specialize in personal lines and customized asset protection. What we are most known for is our ability to simplify the often-confusing world of insurance, specializing in comprehensive home, flood, auto, boat, condominium, renters, and life insurance policies. Because Florida’s climate and real estate market are so unique, we also place a major emphasis on specialized coverage like flood and personal articles protection.
What completely sets us apart from traditional agencies is the sheer power of choice we offer. Many insurance agents are “captive,” meaning they work for one single company and can only sell you that company’s specific policies. If those rates go up or their guidelines change, you are stuck. As a Brightway agency, we are a fraction of the elite few who have access to dozens of top-rated, established national and regional carriers simultaneously—including brands like Progressive, Nationwide, and Florida Peninsula. We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach or making clients do the stressful “do-it-yourself” shopping online. Instead, we do the heavy lifting, comparing multiple quotes side-by-side to find the absolute best coverage at the most competitive price.
Brand-wise, I am most proud of two things. First is the deeply personal foundation of our name; “Mavic” is a combination of our children’s names, Maverick and Victoria. That means every single time we pick up the phone, we are operating a business named after our greatest loves, driving us to treat our clients like family. Second, I am incredibly proud of our reputation for accessible, deeply empathetic customer service. In a digital world where it’s nearly impossible to reach a live person, Robin and I pride ourselves on being completely reachable, consultative advisors for our community.
If there is one thing I want readers to take away, it’s that you do not have to navigate the volatile Florida insurance landscape alone. Whether you are buying a new home in Weston, protecting a boat on the coast, or looking to secure life insurance for your family’s future, The Mavic Agency is here to stand as your financial shield. We bring the ultimate combination to the table: the massive, market-leading choice of a national brand paired with the trust, heart, and touch of a local, family-owned business.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
My perspective on risk is slightly unique because I live in two completely different worlds when it comes to it. On one hand, I am an entrepreneur, which inherently requires a certain level of comfort with taking risks. On the other hand, I own an insurance agency, which means my entire professional life is dedicated to identifying, calculating, and mitigating risk for other people.
The biggest risk I have ever taken was a personal and professional leap of faith: walking away from a stable career path to open Brightway, The Mavic Agency in 2022. Launching an independent business is always a gamble, but launching a property and casualty insurance agency in Florida during an unprecedented market crisis felt like jumping out of an airplane and trying to stitch the parachute on the way down. On top of that, it wasn’t just my career on the line—my husband, Robin, joined me full-time to run day-to-day operations. We put our family’s entire financial future into this single basket, named it after our children, Maverick and Victoria, and poured everything we had into making it work.
To me, being a risk-taker doesn’t mean being reckless; it means having a calculated vision. I don’t look at risk as something to fear or avoid. Instead, I see risk as the toll you have to pay if you want to leave your comfort zone and achieve true growth. If you are never willing to take a risk, you are essentially deciding to stay exactly where you are.
The secret to successful risk-taking is preparation and diversification. When we launched the agency, we didn’t do it blindly. We relied on my diverse professional foundation in healthcare administration, real estate, and property management to understand the landscape. We leaned heavily into our deep-rooted family background of caregiving and entrepreneurship. We knew that if we combined an relentless work ethic with a genuine desire to protect our neighbors, we could weather whatever storm the Florida market threw at us.
In my business, I tell my clients that you can’t live a full, vibrant life if you are constantly trying to avoid every possible risk. The goal isn’t to live in a bubble—the goal is to have the right financial shield in place so that when you *do* take big swings in life, you and your family are completely protected if things don’t go according to plan. Taking that leap to open our agency was the scariest thing we’ve ever done, but it proved to me that the greatest rewards in life sit right on the other side of your biggest fears.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.BrightwayMavic.com
- Instagram: @BrightwayMavic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrightwayMavic/
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/diana-lee-14708025
