Liza M. Shaftic
Contributed photo
NEW CASTLE —
Susan Johnson had a 10-year plan.
Although five days past her deadline, she made it happen.
A decade after being hired as a customer service representative at the New Castle office of Liberty Mutal Insurance Co., the 1980 New Castle High graduate became the director of the company’s Springfield, Mass., call center. It is one of just six such Liberty Mutual facilities around the country.
That kind of ambition and dedication has been typical of Johnson all her life. Just ask her father, Robert.
“In high school, she got into anything she could,” Robert recalled. “She ran track, she was a Candy Cane, and so much more.”
Johnson, who also is a daughter of the late Susie Bell Johnson, enlisted in the Air Force the summer after her high school graduation. She was an electrician for carrier aircraft and also worked in industrial engineering, management analysis and consulting. She recieved her associate degree in electrical technology from the Community College of the Air Force in 1987 and remained in the service until 1992.
ROAD TO LIBERTY
After the military, Johnson owned and operated a child care and preschool business for three years.
Following her divorce, she moved back to New Castle with her children, Stephanie, Erin and Isaiah. She worked for Lawrence County Head Start.
A single mother, Johnson knew she had to set an example for her kids and continue striving for success.
Cedric Hawkins, a New Castle resident and childhood friend, ran into Johnson while dropping off his kids at Head Start.
“I told her ‘I really think you should apply at Liberty Mutual’,” Hawkins noted. “I told her ‘I work there and I know you’d be perfect for the job as a customer service representative.’ ”
Johnson went into her interview at the New Castle facility with confidence, even telling the interviewer “I will be running this place in 10 years.” She was hired as a customer service representative in March 1998.
UP THE LADDER
Johnson was promoted to a supervisory position in 2001, then became supervisor for the first-ever service assist team in 2002.
She also received her Pennsylvania real estate license in 2001.
“I was told I was the first female African American real estate agent in New Castle,” Johnson stated.
She not only succeeded in her work, but also was a role model for her employees at Liberty Mutual.
“Susan is very loyal and a tremendous friend and worker,” Hawkins explained. “When she knew one of her employees was on a bad call, she would wait until the call was over and bring us a Hershey kiss.
“It definitely helped and was just so thoughtful and uplifting.”
Karen Johnson, a New Castle resident, also was a co-worker of Susan’s.
“She is awesome,” Karen Johnson said. “She was a great supervisor, but also knew when to draw the line. Everybody respected her.”
In 2003, Johnson went to Arizona to help conduct interviews for the Liberty Mutual facility in Scottsdale.
“While I was there, I met a woman who was a manager for Liberty Mutual,” Johnson remembered. “She told me about an opportunity at the Orlando facility and she thought I’d be great for it.”
Johson posted for the job, sales support customer service manager, in December 2003. By the following month, she was living in Orlando with a new position.
“I had no time to think,” she said. “All I had were my clothes and my car. Liberty Mutual moved those down for me. Just me, my clothes and my car.”
Johnson’s children stayed behind with her parents until she was settled and they finished their school year in June 2004.
In 2006, Johnson received yet another promotion. She became the customer response center service team nanager at the Tampa, Fla., facility. A year later, Johnson acquired her bachelor of science degree in business management from the University of Phoenix online.
“It’s an everyday sacrifice to have a job, go to school and be a single mother,” she said. “You have to make time and balance.”
At the start of 2008, Liberty Mutual announced it would be opening a new facility in Springfield, Mass. Johnson was intrigued and soon enough, she was packing her bags and making the move. She was named the call center’s director in March 2008 and began hiring employees four months later. The first call was made Sept. 2, 2008.
Ten years and five days after that first fearless interview, she was literally “running the place.”
“It was a difficult task,” Johnson said. “We had to hire all the employees. It was tough choosing out of thousands of amazing applicants.”
SPRINGFIELD
Joseph Sternal, who worked under Johnson’s Tampa team management, also made the move to Springfield and became the team manager.
“In my 22 years in this business, I have never worked for someone as dynamic as her,” Sternal said. “The best part about working with her is that she gives you the freedom to go do your job and also tells you straight like it is.”
This new branch of the company was able to bring 300 jobs to the area.
While living in Springfield, Johnson has become a part of various local activities. She has sat on city boards and is part of Develop Springfield, a nonprofit corporation created to advance projects, stimulate and support economic growth, and to expedite the revitalization process in the City of Springfield.
“I am able to have a voice,” Johnson said. “This position I have comes with a lot of community exposure. Develop Springfield is to help rebuild the city and make it as attractive and beautiful as it used to be.
“My company is committed to supporting the communities in which our employees live, and the city of Springfield is definitely one of them.”
Johnson is pursuing her master’s degree in management and human resource management from the University of Phoenix. She will graduate in the spring.
“I couldn’t ask for a better daughter,” Robert Johnson, her father, said. “I am so very proud of her.”
