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Billy Ross is one of Baton Rouge's best-known businessmen, his name synonymous with State Farm Insurance, the company he has faithfully served for over forty years.

"I have a passion to help people meet their insurance needs according to their expectations," he says from his office on Jefferson Highway. Comfortable in front of a tape recorder, Billy recounts his beginnings with a twinkle in his eye and the humble, reflective voice of experience.

"I come from modest circumstances and I am proud of that," he says. "My mother raised ten of us almost entirely by herself. She provided me with the work ethic it took to succeed.

"I began my career as a scared young country boy from the Felicianas. I ended up marrying a Baton Rouge girl in 1957. At that time I discontinued, except sporadically, my formal education process. Instead I took a job with the Baton Rouge Coca Cola Bottling Company. I was very fortunate to be told that I was the best employee they had. I was also their highest paid employee."

When State Farm Insurance heard about Coca Cola's standout worker, they tried to lure him away.

"How fortunate I was," Billy recalls, "that State Farm recruited me time and time again, and made things interesting enough for me to say, 'I will meet with you and talk with you.' They would issue literature for me to read and textbooks to study and so forth. Eventually my wife and I decided to give it a try. I was 24--young enough, I felt, to try something else if the State Farm effort didn't materialize into a career. And I was scared to death that my happen, because at that time there were a lot of people who didn't make it in the insurance industry."

Billy started working for State Farm on January 1, 1963. "That's the first day they started paying me a salary."

At the outset, Billy was sent door-to-door. "That was a requirement for me, to tell my story. As you can imagine, I got a lot of rejections. But I guess it built a little bit of character.

"My pitch was something like, 'Hi. My name is Billy Ross. I'm a new agent with State Farm Insurance companies, and just maybe we can provide a better buy on your homeowner or auto insurance when it comes due again. By the way, when is your next renewal for your car insurance? Nice car, by the way.'"

Billy says the easy part was saying hello to his former Coca-Cola employees, many of whom became his new State Farm clients. But new prospects were daunting. "I was forever seminaring to try to polish my salesmanship and prospecting skills. I listened to tapes of Earl Nightingale and Zig Ziggler and Norman Vincent Peale. I even invested in a fine company called Success Motivation Institute; I don't know of any greater help that I received."

The schedule was demanding. "It seemed I worked 24/7. But I am grateful to have succeeded and to be able to provide a better quality of life for my family. Over the years I have had many ups and down, physically, emotionally, and mentally. . Right now I am a the dinosaur in this general metropolis. No one is active in their agency anymore who dates back to 1963."

Billy's determination led to top-500 rankings among his fellow State Farm employees, and years of acclaim as a State Farm icon. "It all goes back to my childhood years, my Mom, and my belief in God. I am grateful that I get lots of kudos from the people I help and serve; some of them are not even clients, just State Farm policy holders out of the wet areas, the windblown areas, the damaged and devastated areas of Slidell and New Orleans, the East Bank, and West Bank. I try to render help that will meet their expectations.

"My life has been so rewarding to me in so many ways. Needless to say I get paid way more than I deserve," says Billy, and adds with a smile, "But I'll take it anyway."

Billy says he has no intentions to retire. "I have no plans or ideas to just step down and go play in the yard or the garden, or sit on the corner or travel. I get lots of rewards for doing this work besides an income."

Billy Ross can be reached at (225) 923-2050.

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