To give you an idea of how long Sarah Cassius has been working at Best Buy, just look at the retail value of the DVD player she won for having perfect attendance her first year: $400.
Sarah, who joined the company in November 1999, moved on from that seasonal media associate job in Gainesville, Florida, and has held many different leadership roles over the past two decades. She’s currently part of the social media customer support team in the company’s Enterprise Customer Care department.
“She can do anything,” says Joe Audino, general manager at Store 271 in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, and Sarah’s longtime colleague. “She can master any role quickly. She has fantastic emotional intelligence.”
Sarah is always ready to embrace new challenges. She has spent a lot of time working with customers, who receive the benefit of her experience and what Joe calls her “amazing soft skills.”
“Most people have to wait to see how someone is going to react,” he says. “Sarah knows exactly what her tone should be when she first encounters someone. She’s perfect for working with customers.”
Sarah says she likes breaking down technology to alleviate customers’ apprehensions and confusion.
“When people come into the store sometimes it can be very overwhelming, because they might not know what we have to offer or what to ask about,” she said. “It’s always cool to be able to introduce them to something new, or something they weren’t aware of and how it could possibly make their life a little easier.”
‘Endless cheer and knowledge’
Another longtime colleague, Geek Squad Agent Derek Meister, recalls Sarah being a “huge asset” to Geek Squad’s in-home installers.
“She was always there for our customers when they had a concern. She knew both our in-home service and our distribution and inventory systems — and people — well enough to make magic happen.”
Now that’s she’s on the team that interacts with customers through social media, Derek says, “she uses her endless cheer and knowledge to help customers nationwide.”
Sarah’s 20 years at Best Buy have included some personal highlights, too. It’s where she met her husband, Sebastian, who is an In-Home Advisor helping customers understand how technology can enrich their lives. She and Sebastian have three kids, ages 14, 13 and 9.
“Most of the people I know in my life I’ve either met at Best Buy or through my kids,” she says. “I’ve had such great relationships with so many people. I can’t even tell you how many Best Buy weddings I’ve been to, how many Best Buy babies I’ve seen born. It’s an extended family that you can really think of as your own family.”
Sarah is hoping she can be part of that Best Buy family “for another 20, 30, 40 years.”
But if she decides to change careers, her old boss Joe facetiously wonders if there might be a position waiting for her at the airport.
“She should be in lost luggage,” he says. “Because you’d walk away feeling happy that your luggage was lost.”
To learn more about working at Best Buy, check out our careers page.