Andy Johnson
Andy is a proud graduate of the “U”, MSU that is. Having graduated from Michigan State in 1990 with a Finance Degree, Andy soon found a Farmers Insurance Agency for sale in Battle Creek, his hometown, and swiped it up. He quickly learned how the insurance industry worked, how to run his own business, and how to create a successful customer centered operation. Andy is a bit into sports and spent many a night and weekend court-side and field-side coaching youth teams for over 20 years. His floor hockey, basketball, softball and badminton teams won championships all over the state and region. He was awarded “Coach of the Year” by the Michigan Recreation and Park Association in 2007 for giving so much of his time to help shape area youth into successful athletes and young people. Andy married Deb (also a Spartan alum) in 1991 and together their children are Nicolette, Jozlyn, Drake and Dane. In 2012, Andy sold his Farmers Agency and joined Pete Baum to form the Baum-Johnson Agency. Andy enjoys helping people with all of their insurance needs and educating people about different insurance products. He also loves watching sports, especially Michigan State, the Detroit Red Wings, Tigers, Pistons and … even the Lions. At the top of his bucket list is hitting a hole-in-one in golf, and the guys in his league would love that, too.
Pete Baum
Pete graduated in 1990 from Central Michigan University (Fire Up Chips!) with a Parks and Recreation degree and began working for the City of Battle Creek right after his Recreation internship. He gained many worthwhile experiences, met a lot of great people and learned a lot about helping others while working for the city. He met his wife while there. In early 2006, Pete dove into the insurance world hook, line and sinker when he bought a small independent agency in Mendon, Michigan. His favorite parts of the job are getting to know his customers, explain coverages and insurance in general, and provide better than expected customer service. Pete married Carrie in 1995 and created a family of Aiden, Chloe and Owen. His interests include sports, travel, home projects and learning new things. It’s on his life agenda to travel to every U.S. state, Germany and Great Britain. He’d also like to partake in events on Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and visit Augusta National Golf Course to watch the Masters.
Deb Smith
Deb is family, literally, and she’s proud of it. She is also a born and bred Battle Creek native and she too saw the fruits of Insurance Agency ownership early in her formative years as her mom, Nancy, was a local Allstate Agent. Deb worked part-time for Nancy beginning in 1989, and in 1991 she studied for and received her insurance licenses. In 1999, Deb bought her mom’s agency and it was a classic case of working hard, creating lasting customer relationships and growing a successful family business. After 12 years of going it alone, Deb joined our agency as a Sales Producer and that decision created a triple win for her, her customers and us. Deb continues to flourish in sales and service and enjoys having options of which carrier to use for her customer’s needs. She claims she has the best co-workers and we’re not going to argue with her. Deb’s been married to Greg since 1994 and she calls him her handsome firefighter. Again, no argument. Deb and Greg have one kiddo, Jeremiah, who just so happens to be in the United States Air Force Academy. Not too shabby. Deb enjoys music, gardening and home and office redecorating projects (which we all appreciate). And it’s funny because her bucket list includes one day being done with those very redecorating projects.
Heidi VanNest
Heidi grew up a proud Sturgis resident and continues to thrive there with husband, Tony, and energetic sons, Dane and Luke, along with their fluffy, boisterous Sheltie dog, Dutch. Heidi was hand-picked to work at our agency in 2009 and boy has that decision proven to be a winner. Her demeanor, patience, problem-solving skills, determination and work ethic (to name just a few of her skills) made her the perfect person to tackle the sometimes tricky customer service position. But let’s not kid ourselves; she’s the office manager with a great memory for detail (sans taking the PO Box key home a couple of times). She prides herself on making customers happy and the results are clear as she’s won the Employee of the Month award right around 120 times. Heidi enjoys decorating, crafting and watching cooking shows, though she claims that she isn’t much of a cook (Tony is handy in the kitchen). She also loves camping, concert going, watching her children play sports and spending time with family and friends. Her bucket list is also filled with taking trips to places like Scotland, Hawaii and going on a Caribbean Cruise.
Jim Baum
Jim is Old School, loves paper copies of documents, visiting with clients face-to-face, drumming up business with a cup of coffee and conversation, and rehashing his favorite “back in the day” stories. He, too, grew up in the insurance world as his father, Ed, was an agent, as was his grandfather, Joseph Baum. His destiny was to become an insurance agent and that’s what he did upon the completion of his schooling at Michigan State and New York’s Royal Globe Insurance School back in 1959. Jim worked for Ed through many years of learning and growing the business into a nice size of commercial and personal accounts. Ed retired in 1974 and it was Jim who bought the business and ran it until an offer to sell came along in 1985, which he accepted. Shortly after that he got into real estate and worked for Stetler Vanderveer before landing a great opportunity to sell homes for RE/MAX Perrett Associates. In 2009 Jim retired from real estate and moved back into insurance to help the gang out by creating a book of commercial accounts and teaching the lingo to the young bucks. It worked well and Jim continues to come in daily to greet staffers, call on his customers and lend an ear when needed. His civic duties haven’t ceased as he’s still very active in the Cereal City Lions Club (60-year member and founding father), Friday Honor Squad at Fort Custer National Cemetery (30-plus years), St. Philip Catholic Church volunteer (since about birth), Friend of Bill W (34 years), Battle Creek Ski Club member and 28 Gallon Blood Donor for the American Red Cross.
Marty Pessetti
Marty is a retired teacher and education administrator who hails from Battle Creek. Marty taught and coached for 10 years in the Battle Creek Public School system before working for Gull Lake Schools for two years as an Assistant Principal. He spent his last 21 years in the Lakeview School system, eighteen as an Assistant Principal and three as the Director of Operations. Marty is married to Jennifer and is the proud father of Cory and Staci and stepfather to Cameron and Connor. Marty ended 2018 by getting his insurance license and started at our agency in early 2019. He’s learning more about insurance every day and really likes helping people save money and providing the right coverages for customers’ needs. Golf, travel, working around the house and restoring his 1971 Porsche 911 are some of his favorite things to do. And it’s no surprise that traveling the world and golfing in Scotland are on Marty’s bucket list.