By Joanna Wright, Customer Service Agent (CSA), Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR), Harvey Monteith Insurance

Five and a half years ago when I started as the receptionist at Harvey Monteith Insurance (MHI), I never would have imagined myself where I am today. After about a year and a half I got my license and started my career as a customer service insurance agent in the middle of a small town in Kennewick, Washington.

We have more than 30 agents specializing in personal and commercial lines, life, heath and farm, and our agency is well known throughout the Tri-Cities. Progressive is one of the companies we work with, so when I got the opportunity to enter the "Help Flo" contest to make a video and win a chance to meet Flo and be the "most Progressive agent" in a TV commercial, I could not wait to get started.

It all started on Halloween. Every year my office has a chili cook-off and a costume contest. I went dressed as Flo from the Progressive commercials. My friend did my makeup. I made my Progressive apron and my "I Love Insurance" button. I even won the costume contest. So in March, when I received the e-mail from Progressive that they were having a contest, I about jumped out of my seat!

I approached my boss, Mark Monteith, and told him we had to do this. I think he was as excited as I was. We called an office meeting to consult on ideas, and put the video together within 24 hours. With the help of co-workers, friends, family, clients and 3 and a half hours of filming, we managed to get the 50-second video required for submittal. It took a real team effort to make it happen.

I was really nervous the day of the filming. I forgot my lines and tripped over my words. There was just so much that was going into this really short video. I think we did 10 takes on the first scene alone. But I have to say, I really loved it. The best part was when all the cars driving by the agency stopped in the parking lot next to our office to see if I was the real Flo. When we were all done, I could not wait to see the finished video and upload it to the Progressive contest site.

I couldn't believe it when our video made it into the top 10. It was so hard to be patient during the voting process. I had to wait 2 weeks before I could find out if I was in the top three. When our Progressive representative, Kevin Smith, called to let me know that our video won me a trip to L.A. to meet Flo, it just didn't seem real.

My trip to Los Angeles was amazing. Everyone on the set was so incredibly nice. Progressive treated us like stars. I loved meeting Flo (played by actress Stephanie Courtney) and being behind the scenes of the video shoot. When we all sat down for lunch, I sat next to her. She was wonderful, funny and full of personality. I'll never forget it. And I enjoyed the production as much as I enjoyed meeting Flo. The entire process was fascinating, and it was so interesting to see another side of Progressive.

This contest has been an exciting adventure for me and our entire agency. I'm thankful that Mark let me do it, and I wish I could have taken everyone with me to L.A. The "Help Flo" contest is another example of how Progressive goes the extra step to build relationships with its agents. Our agency shares that passion for service.

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The new Progressive commercials begin airing nationally starting November 26.

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CSR wins Progressive video contest, meets &quot;Flo&quot;

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