Insurance office marks 44 years in same family

The Farmers Insurance office at the corner of Main and Sixth streets has been in that location and operated by the same family for 44 years.

“So we’ve been at this street corner since 1971,” said owner Amber Ramirez.

The agency was originally owned by Ramirez’s stepfather, Harold Cullen. Her mother, Karen Cullen, helped out in the office, but that changed when Harold died in 1978.

“It was really hard because she didn’t have her insurance license,” Ramirez said, adding that her mother had never owned a business and had four children.

“She had to go through and get all her licensing and become a business owner,” Ramirez said.

It was not Ramirez’s intention to work in the family business. When she married, she moved out of Ramona but still lived in Southern California. Then, when she divorced in 2000, her mother suggested she come back to town and offered to help with Ramirez’s two children.

“I said, ‘Great, that would be awesome,’” Ramirez recalled.

Now, she looks at the move as a blessing.

According to Ramirez, her mother wanted her to first work for someone else to gain office experience. Ramirez worked for Al Slocum at Wateridge in Ramona for about 1-1/2 years and then her mother’s health began to decline.

In 2004 Ramirez became a Farmers agent and began working alongside her mother. She was starting with zero policies while her mother had about 800.

The flexibility in Ramirez’s work schedule allowed her to attend her children’s softball games and other events.

“That was really amazing,” she said.

By the beginning of 2006, Karen Cullen fully retired and her daughter purchased the agency, and merged their business.

“And since I took over, or joined forces with my mom, I’ve doubled the agency, doubled the size of it,” she said.

The 800 policies have grown to about 1,700.

“I attribute that to a lot of marketing and networking that I do in the community,” said Ramirez.

She has been a chamber director for eight years and in the Ramona Rotary Club since 2005. She was president of Rotary in 2013-14 and is serving as past president.

“That takes a lot of time as well,” she noted.

Ramirez also enjoys sponsoring groups, such as Ramona High School football, or individuals for different events.

In addition to writing insurance policies for such areas as auto, life, home, commercial and workers compensation, Ramirez is a registered representative for Farmers Financial Solutions® and is able to sell annuities and Individual Retirement Accounts.

Every two years she has 50 hours of continuing education to complete.

“It’s really a good thing to keep us on board with what’s going on,” she said.

The broker/agent said she loves working with her customers.

The office at 603 Main St. is staffed by all females today. Working for Ramirez are Colette Hayes and Sonja Funk, who are licensed and can handle property and casualty insurance for auto, home or commercial. Sally Westbrook is the agency’s marketer.

While Ramirez’s son, Joseph, 24, is in the Air Force, based in Washington and married with two children, her daughter Ashley, 21, is a student at University of Washington, majoring in business.

Will her daughter follow in her mom’s footsteps?

Ramirez said she asked and her daughter said no.

“At 21 I didn’t want to work with my mom,” said Ramirez. “But then at 30, just the way the cards fell, and I was like this could be a perfect opportunity for me. And it really has been a blessing.”