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EDITOR’S NOTE: In recognition of Black History Month, The LaGrange Daily News is featuring Black owned businesses in Troup County.

Watch out Flo from Progressive and Jake from State Farm, Donte Lane from D Lane Agency is on the rise as one of the faces of local insurance in LaGrange.

Originally from Chambers County, Lane is the leader of a ten-person team consisting of independent agents and a media/graphics editor.

“D Lane Agency is an insurance company that’s changing the way insurance works,” Lane said. “We specialize in $0, or low-cost health insurance and offer auto, home, business and life insurance.”

Lane said he’s in the business of helping people and building relationships.

“I initially got in the insurance business through a friend of mine. I had got laid off from a job, and my friend connected me up with a guy in Newman who was a multi-millionaire, second-generation insurance agent,” Lane said.

“I’ve been in professional sales for about 13 years now. Insurance is what I like to do to work with people — it’s less transactional and is more relationship developing and to me, that’s the best part of it.”

Lane said the best part of being a business owner in the insurance industry is being able to help someone in need.

“When somebody calls me in a tight situation — life or death— and needs help, knowing I can help them resolve that problem efficiently and effectively has been fulfilling,” Lane said.

In the community, Lane has been making a name for himself by being charitable and giving advice on everything from how to buy a car to how to effectively market a business.

“I use my unique personality – my background, how I talk, how I look — to show people that you have options, and you can do anything as big as you want to do,” Lane said. “I like to give people valuable information like how to buy a car in your business name, how to market your business, which is my strength — a lot of free information that other people may charge you for.”

Along with changing the way insurance works, Lane plays an active part in the community as a member of the Rotary Club and diplomat for the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce. He was also on Twin Cedars’ Behind the Mask royal court.

On social media, Lane uses various media platforms to take issues surrounding insurance and makes them funny, relatable, and educational.

“When I educate my clients on social media, I do it based on what they need to know, what may work, what’s not realistic, things they have seen, versus things they haven’t seen that might be a good fit for them,” Lane said.

“I have a very strong social media presence and do a lot of marketing. I try to be all over town operating the same way billion-dollar insurance agencies do.”

For more information on D Lane Agency, visit https://www.facebook.com/dlaneagencyinc.