In December of 2018, I worked the day before Christmas and the day after Christmas, and missed my first family get-togethers as a married couple. I promised my wife I would never do that again.
In January of 2019, I started asking God what was next. A client of mine at the bank was a Farmers agent, and I felt a push to ask her how someone gets into insurance. I ignored it for a while. Eventually I asked. She took my business card, handed it to her manager, and by February 14, 2019, I had my license. I got it on my 22nd birthday.
I spent two years at Farmers. I completed the protégé program and opened my own Farmers agency. I learned a lot in those two years, and I am grateful for what that time taught me. But I knew I was going to leave. The reason was simple: I was selling a product I knew was not the best for my clients.
At a captive agency, you get what you get. The pricing is what it is. The coverage is what it is. If something better exists somewhere else, you cannot show it to the client. You cannot fight for them in any real way. The client pays the bill, but they do not get to choose.
In June of 2021, I opened Bison Ridge Insurance as an independent agency. Independent means we have access to many carriers and can put together what is actually right for the client, rather than what is convenient for one company.
That is where this started.
Where the Name Came From
I prayed about the name. I knew I did not want it to be Pitchford Insurance, because I knew from the beginning that this agency was going to be much bigger than me.
That summer, I was at a youth camp as a sponsor with our church. A pastor preached on the mindset of a bison.
When a storm rolls in, cattle run away from it. They run with the wind, which means they stay inside the storm longer. They prolong their own suffering by trying to escape it.
Bison do the opposite. When a storm rolls in, bison turn and walk directly into it. They go through the storm at their own pace, on their own terms, and they come out the other side faster than the cattle that ran.
When a storm rolls in, cattle run away from it. Bison walk directly into it.
That sermon stuck with me. Not as a marketing idea. As a way to live, a way to do business, and a way to handle the things in life that are hard. The agency took its name from that sermon, and the mindset behind it became the foundation of how we operate.
Be a Bison
“Be a bison” is the shorthand we use here for how we expect each other to show up. It applies to clients, to coworkers, to mistakes, to hard conversations, to claims that go sideways, to weeks that are heavy. It applies to almost everything.
Being a bison means a few things, in practice:
You run toward problems, not away from them. When something is wrong, you address it. You do not let it sit. You do not hope it goes away. You walk into it, on your own terms, and you come out the other side faster than the people who ran.
You own your work and your mistakes. Everyone here will make mistakes. The bison move is to name it quickly, fix what can be fixed, and learn from it. The cattle move is to hide it and hope no one notices.
You show up for the herd. A bison alone is vulnerable. A bison in a herd is one of the most formidable animals on the plains. We expect everyone here to look out for each other, to cover for each other, and to make the team stronger by being on it.
You have strength without aggression. Bison are not mean. They are not anxious. They are not loud. They are massive, calm, and unbothered by things that send smaller animals running. That is the disposition we want in this office. Settled, grounded, not easily rattled, hard to move once the direction is set.
Be a bison is not a slogan. It is the standard.
If you ever wonder what is expected of you in a moment, that is the first question to ask.
Who We Serve
Bison Ridge is here for the young family buying their first home and wondering what they do not know. For the blue-collar worker who has had the same policy for fifteen years and never been told what else is out there. For the small business owner whose captive agent disappeared after the sale. For the person who just had a bad claim experience somewhere else and is gun-shy about trusting anyone again.
We are here for all of them, at every stage of their life and their insurance experience.
When clients leave a conversation with us, we want them to feel two things:
That we met them where they wanted to be met. Some clients want every detail. Some want the bottom line. Some want to talk on the phone, some want a text, some want an email at 10 PM. We meet them where they are, not where it is convenient for us.
That they are treated like more than a policy number. They are people with houses, kids, businesses, and futures. They came to us because something matters to them. We never forget that.
This is what makes Bison Ridge different from a captive agency, a call center, or the agent down the road who has stopped paying attention. We do the work, every time, for every client.
Family Owned, Faith Driven
Bison Ridge is family-owned and faith-driven. Both of those things are real and both shape how we operate.
Lauren is my wife and my closest counsel. She is not in the office every day, but her fingerprints are on every major decision this agency has ever made. We have four kids: our son Maverick Waylon, twin boys Walker and Kyler, and our foster daughter Aurora. The family is the reason the agency exists. The agency is not the reason the family exists. That order matters.
The family is the reason the agency exists. The agency is not the reason the family exists.
Our faith is part of how we operate. We are honest. We do the right thing when it costs us. We treat people like people. We close on Sundays. You are not required to share our beliefs to work with us or be a client of ours, and you will never be made to feel out of place if you do not. But you will see those values in how we run this business.
What We Are Building
Bison Ridge is not trying to be the biggest agency in Oklahoma. We are trying to be the agency that does it right.
We are not trying to be the biggest agency in Oklahoma. We are trying to be the agency that does it right.
We want to grow because growth means we can help more people, hire more team members, and build something that lasts. We want every team member here to have a real career path, not a dead-end seat. We want every client to feel like they have a real agent in their corner, not a customer service rep at a call center.
And in the long run, we want this agency to fund things that matter beyond itself. The faith piece of this includes a vision for a foundation, what we have called Tomb Funders, inspired by Joseph of Arimathea who used his resources to do something quiet and lasting for someone else. The agency is a vehicle. It is not the destination.
When the Storm Rolls In
You are going to have hard days. Every life has them. In insurance, we see more of them than most, because we deal with people on the worst days of theirs, on claims that did not go the way they hoped, on premiums that went up when they could not afford it.
When those days come, remember the bison.
Walk into the storm. Do not run from it. Stay close to the herd. Do the right thing.
Take the next step, then the next one, then the next one. You will come out the other side faster than you thought.
That is the why.
Maverick Pitchford Owner, Bison Ridge Insurance
Want to Walk With Us?
If you are looking for an agent who will fight for you, not for one carrier: START A QUOTE HERE or call/text us at 918-921-8725. We will meet you where you are.
If reading this made you feel like Bison Ridge might be your place: We are growing. If you have the bison mindset and you want a real career path, not a dead-end seat, we want to talk. Start your application here.