Eight months after opening her own American Family Insurance agency, Sara Johnson held an open house week on Dec. 3-7, giving Montgomery County residents a chance to meet the new agent as well as see the remodeled building, located at 303 North Sturgeon.

“My initial thought was to have one this summer, but with everything we had going on, it didn’t work,” Johnson said. “So I thought I would have people in at Christmastime. That way, it would be almost like a Christmas party/customer appreciation so people can come in and see the place.”

Johnson was appointed as AFI agent on April 15, replacing Jackie Brower. She found out about the opening at AFI in February.

“I love it,” Johnson said. “Jackie owned the building. When I was going to take over, I said, ‘Are you interested in selling it?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.’ So my husband and I bought the building. We came in and did lots of things to make it our own.”

Johnson worked as a teacher at the Montgomery County R-II School District for 16 years before being hired at AFI. She said after eight months, she is enjoying her new career.

“I had all kinds of training and I’ve been to meetings all over the place,” Johnson said. “The week before Thanksgiving, I was in Madison, Wisc. It’s good.”

Johnson shares the Montgomery City office with Michele Taylor, who is an insurance specialist and has been working at AFI for 15 years.

“Having Michele has been amazing because she already knew everything,” Johnson said. “She worked for Jackie for 15 years. Everybody knows her.”

Now, Johnson and her agency are looking forward to participating at Hometown Christmas, which starts on Friday and ends on Sunday in Montgomery City.

“We’re going to get Christmas lights put up before Hometown Christmas,” Johnson said. “They asked if I could do a fire pit here. So this Friday, I’ll have a fire pit.”