77-year-old Texas insurance agency owner Travis Johnson hasn’t let health problems or a changing industry environment slow him down.
Known as an icon in his hometown of Round Rock, Johnson has run Johnson Insurance Agency for more than 50 years. He has worn a jumpsuit every day for the past 25 years, drives an old truck and employs an office manager who still uses a typewriter.
“To me, he epitomizes Williamson County in some ways, and Round Rock especially,” former City Council Member George White told the
Statesman, which recently covered Johnson’s merger with Bill Muench Insurance and Investments.
“He has helped set the tone for the fundamental beliefs and mindset of Round Rock – valuing family and community service. He did that through work with the Boy Scouts and helping an untold number of people.”
Johnson is well-known in the community for taking the Round Rock Boy Scouts to Canada for a 100-mile canoe trip as well as the Grand Canyon. At the time, his son Dain Johnson – now Justice of the Peace – was in the troop.
The connections have helped him maintain his relationships with a number of local consumers, including 82-year-old Carolyn Hardin, who says she has never had another insurance agent.
“Travis is a straight-up guy, what you see is what you get, no fake business,” Hardin told the
Statesman.
Johnson has owned his insurance business for 51 years, witnessing the growth of his community from 1,500 residents to more than 100,000. Despite five operations and a bout with cancer, he continues to work, though he has slowed down a little in the past year.
He is combining with Bill Muench in order to ensure the future of his two employees when he eventually retires.
But that won’t be for a while. Johnson says he is still in a friendly rivalry with one of his high school friends, auto repair business owner Gail Hester, and Johnson says he won’t retire until Hester does.
Hester, one of his customers, laughed at the challenge.
“I think he’s an icon in the insurance business in Round Rock,” he said.
