When the Fine family needed help, their Best Buy family jumped in.
Not long after announcing that they were expecting their first baby in December, Best Buy general managers Josh and Meghan Fine learned that their son, Parker, had a rare medical condition that would complicate his birth.
They already knew they’d be less available to their Pittsburgh stores during the busy holiday season because of Parker’s due date, but his diagnosis meant that surgeries would be required. Josh and Meghan were going to need extra time and resources to keep their family and stores running smoothly.
An outpouring of co-worker and company support over several months helped them do just that. The help had such an impact, in fact, that the Fines sent a letter to company officials to express their gratitude. “It speaks volumes to the leadership of this company that we could be supported like this,” they wrote.
Expanding the Best Buy family
Josh and Meghan met at a Best Buy store opening in Cleveland in 2007. They had been married for nearly a decade when they found out last year that Meghan was pregnant.
“We could not wait to share the news with all our family, including our Best Buy family, and, most importantly, our district manager, Joseph Blasioli,” Josh and Meghan said in their letter. “Joe had been so influential to our careers and a great influence on our lives.”
Their teams were ecstatic. Then, the couple received some bad news.
An ultrasound in June showed that Parker had a rare condition called Tetralogy of Fallot, which affects the structural development of the heart. If Parker was going to survive, he would need open-heart surgery immediately after birth — a procedure that, in addition to being intensive and emotionally draining, would also take both Josh and Meghan away from work for an extended period during Best Buy’s busiest time of year.
“We knew Joe’s support for our family was amazing, but we also knew this was asking for a lot,” they said. “But before we could even finish telling him, he stopped us and told us our focus needed to be on our family and not work.”
Keeping the stores running smoothly
Over the following three months, Joe helped run Josh and Meghan’s stores so they could focus on Parker.
“Having two kids of my own, I knew something Josh and Meghan didn’t: that the priorities of their life were going to change significantly,” Joe said. “The last thing I wanted to do was talk about the business side of things until we knew their family was good. That’s just being human.”
Throughout the entire experience, Josh and Meghan’s stores continued to perform exceptionally well. “You really had people stepping up, sales managers running the show, reps jumping into manager roles, people trying out open opportunities and thriving,” Joe said. “It really shows what’s possible when you have a team that’s aligned.”
That success, according to Josh and Meghan, was a direct result of Joe’s support. “This has been a stressful and emotional time for Meghan and I, and, without Joe’s leadership, I don’t know we would be where we are today,” the couple said.
Mom and dad are happy to report that, after almost two months in the hospital, Parker is now home and doing well. He even has his first blue shirt.