Lifestyle

By Best Buy Lifestyle

08 Jun: Store Fulfills Boy’s Dream Of A (Curbside) Shopping Spree

When Best Buy leaders in Pittsburgh learned that a 13-year-old boy with cancer wanted to do a shopping spree at a local store, they were determined to make it happen — even if he couldn’t step inside.

Tony was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis at just 9 months old. He has since been on multiple experimental treatments, and he recently learned that he has a large cancerous tumor in his abdomen that requires chemotherapy and radiation.

Jamie’s Dream Team, a local nonprofit that helps fulfill dreams of individuals facing severe life difficulties, was hoping to fulfill Tony’s wish to go to an amusement park and a pro basketball game.

By Best Buy Lifestyle

08 Jun: Sew Good: Best Buy Employees Make Face Coverings

COVID-19 has changed the way we think about social interactions at work, and many companies, including Best Buy, are requiring employees to wear face coverings.

While the company is providing face coverings for employees, some have chosen to add a little personal flare by making their own. Others have chipped in to make them for their colleagues around the country, especially early in the pandemic when face coverings were in short supply.

So far, close to 6,000 homemade face coverings have been distributed to employees across the country.

By Kevin Flanagan Lifestyle

21 May: Fitness-Minded Manager Focuses On Her Team’s Mental Health

On Caitlin Waugh’s second day as general manager of a Best Buy store in Portland, Oregon, one of her employees told her they wanted to take their own life.

Needless to say, it was an eye-opening experience for her.

“In that moment, I realized I wasn’t really equipped with the skills to navigate these conversations,” Caitlin said.

Thankfully, she was able to help the employee through the crisis, but she knew a situation like this could happen again with someone else.

By Jessica Moes Lifestyle

21 May: For One Transgender Employee, A Culture Of Care Makes All The Difference

When Jack Dixon was ready to share his big news with his Geek Squad co-workers, he wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he would get.

With a childhood photo of Jack holding a baby doll in one hand and a pellet gun in the other as the backdrop, his manager made the announcement: Jack had made the courageous decision to transition from female to male.

The room erupted in applause.

Jack grew up in a home where he was expected to wear dresses on Sundays.

By Best Buy Lifestyle

21 May: Best Buy Surprises Michigan Teen In Birthday Parade

Josh and Jennifer Wesolek wanted to outdo all the drive-by birthday celebrations they’d seen during the COVID-19 crisis. After all, their son Matt wasn’t just turning 18, he was graduating high school, too.

They thought he deserved something big. And that’s why Josh reached out to his local Best Buy store in Saginaw, Michigan.

“I called you guys to add a little extra spark to it,” Josh said.

And it worked. No one expected to see a Geek Squad van in the lineup of firetrucks and friends’ sedans.

By Best Buy Lifestyle

11 May: Clear Face Coverings Make Big Impact For Hard-Of-Hearing Manager

When Dennis Parry learned that Best Buy would require face coverings for employees as a safety measure during COVID-19, he grew concerned.

Dennis is hard of hearing, and as a general manager, he relies on reading lips to communicate with employees and customers at his store in Easton, Pennsylvania. Face coverings would make that impossible.

“When I first heard about the change, I felt like I was going to be a hindrance to the team,” he said. “I wanted to make sure I’d be able to communicate with my staff.”

By Best Buy Lifestyle

11 May: Face Painting On Hold, She Uses Windows To Draw Smiles

It’s not every day you meet a tech analyst who moonlights as a face painter but then again, you probably haven’t met Lynda Tysver.

She paints faces, in part, to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Her favorite part is what she calls the big reveal, when she holds the mirror up for a child she’s transformed into a butterfly or a dinosaur.

“It’s like Christmas morning,” said Lynda, who has been a contract worker for Best Buy in Minnesota for the past three years.

By Best Buy Lifestyle

10 May: Best Buy Employees Offer Virtual Hugs For Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day might look a little different this year because of social distancing.

Despite the fact that many of us can’t be together, Best Buy employees celebrate moms everywhere via video.

We’re sending virtual hugs and thank yous to all the moms, grandmas, aunts and other special people in our lives. Happy Mother’s Day!

By Ale Valeriano Lifestyle

06 May: How To Stay Connected For Life’s Big Moments

From drive-by birthday parties to Zoom weddings, many celebrations are looking different as we adapt to life in a pandemic. And with Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and graduations right around the corner, we’ll soon be commemorating more holidays and life events apart from our loved ones.

Thankfully, there are plenty of innovative ways to spend the day together — separately. Technology plays an important role in keeping us connected for life’s big moments.

Here are a few tips from our experts at Best Buy on how to use tech to stay engaged with the special people in our lives on their special days.

By Best Buy Lifestyle

06 May: Moving Game Night With Friends To The Small Screen

If your family is anything like mine, having so little interaction with friends and loved ones has been a bit of a challenge. It’s just us, every single day.

We have three boys who are used to running from activity to activity and soaking up lots of time with friends. Coming up with ways to stay entertained, laugh and play has led us to completing a 998-piece puzzle (we lost two of the original 1,000 pieces), reading books aloud and streaming lots of movies and TV shows.

By Best Buy Lifestyle

01 May: Manager Uses Experience To Talk To Employees About Mental Health

Warning: This post discusses depression and suicide.

TJ Ellis is no stranger to struggle.

His grandma raised him, but she died from breast cancer when he was 11. After that, he couch-surfed so he wouldn’t have to sleep in the back of his mom’s van. At 16, he juggled school with a full-time job. And at 19, feeling overwhelmed and alone, he tried to take his own life.

Now the general manager of a Best Buy store in suburban Seattle, TJ uses those life experiences to shape how he cares for his employees — especially the ones with whom he can empathize.

By Best Buy Lifestyle

22 Apr: Best Buy Employee Helps COVID-19 Causes In Philippines

Like many of us, Jen Teves can ride out the current pandemic in relative comfort, ordering takeout and having groceries delivered. But she knows that’s not the case for millions of people in her home country.

Jen, who works on Best Buy’s customer experience team, grew up in a small agricultural town in the Philippines. COVID-19 has the potential to devastate her home country, where one in five people live on less than $2 a day.

“If America and Europe are struggling, how much worse is it in a country like mine,” Jen said.

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