NOTE: Throughout the month of July, BrownwoodNews.com is publishing stories daily on 40 standout citizens under the age of 40 making a positive impact and contribution within the Brown County community.

A traumatic life experience led Dustin Larremore to his professional calling, and his desire to extend a helping hand has allowed him to reach much farther than his local business.

“My dad passed away in a car accident and if not for the insurance companies, my family would have been up a creek,” Larremore, 35, said. “That meant a lot and changed my life at that point, and I decided I wanted to do the same thing for people.”

The Dustin Larremore Farmers Insurance Agency in Brownwood has been open since 2019, but Larremore has been aiding customers in Brown County and the surrounding area for almost a decade.

“I basically moved away from Brownwood and decided I want to come back,” Larremore said. “Later on in life you decide the big cities are not for you. Brownwood’s home for me and I decided I was coming back to start a career in insurance, and I did that in 2015. I started working in personalized insurance, which is just home and auto, then branched out to home, auto, life and health. My main purpose when I really got into this was to help people.”

Three years ago, Larremore decided to take a leap professionally.

“I wanted to expand not only myself I wanted to develop a good team to help people,” Larremore said. “The only way I could do that was to open my own agency, which we did. And we do everything – commercial, boats, RVs, travel travelers, motorcycles, you name it we do it.”

Starting his own agency wasn’t without its challenges, however.

“Any time you have a small business, I know we have a big name like Farmers, but things are challenging and there are things you have to work through and figure out how to operate,” Larremore said. “I found some really great people that really helped me out, mentored me, and then had a good staff come in. The process was about a year long to get started in my own agency before we ever opened our doors. Now we have a staff of three plus myself, and we help over 1,000 people at this point all over Texas.”

Larremore considers educating his clients the most rewarding aspect of his job.

“So many people think this is a sales job and they are absolutely incorrect,” Larremore said. “This is an educational job, it’s to educate our clients, whether they are with our agency or somebody else’s. Most people see the commercials, they go online, they pay a premium, and they have no clue what it really means. I think the most rewarding part is educating people on their policies. Educating them on why you have the coverage and why you need the coverage. Then when something does happen that’s life changing, they understand why they’re getting the money or why they’re not getting the money.”

Outside of work, Larremore is involved in several community improvement projects.

“I was just elected vice president of the Kiwanis group in Brownwood, so I’m very involved in Kiwanis and the Pancake Supper,” Larremore said. “I’m very involved in the Boys and Girls Club and on their board as well. I help with the Barn Dance Committee and the education program. I’m still with the chamber of commerce as a past president, and I’m still very active over there and help them support the community. I try to work with most cities in the county and any fundraising events we can. We’ve been a sponsor of National Night Out the last few years and support our local law enforcement and first responders.”

Shifting back to his business, Larremore has long-term goals in mind.

“My 5-year goal is to expand to another agent, so basically add another person to the office,” Larremore said. “Long-term goal, in 10 years I would like to own another agency in another community, which we can do with Farmers.”

Larremore credited the community for the success his business has enjoyed thus far and looks forward to becoming further ingrained in Brownwood.

“My business wouldn’t operate and run, we couldn’t help people if it wasn’t for the support of the community and the county and the area,” Larremore said. “One of my mentors is Rex Tackett and he says if you’re helping the community, the community will help you. I think that’s a huge statement. If you’re not willing to open your heart up and give, you never can receive.”