When he’s not at preschool, Jaxson Vercruyssen works in the cellphone department of the Best Buy store in Fairfax, Virginia. Or so he says.
The 4-year-old believes this so strongly that when his mom told him she is sure he could someday work at Best Buy, Jaxson definitively replied: “I already work there. My manager has been calling me and I need you to take me there at 7:00.”
So last Friday, for career day at his preschool, the tot knew exactly what he wanted to be.
Zach Ward is a planner. The full-time college student and part-time Geek Squad Agent has to be to avoid any scheduling conflicts.
“I love my job and want to be here for my team, so I work really hard to balance that with my classes,” said Zach, who lives in Milwaukee. Still, sometimes he worries when homework and finals start to pile up. Thanks to Best Buy’s new paid time off (PTO) benefit for part-time employees, Zach can breathe easier.
Starting this month, part-time employees who have worked for the company for at least a year can receive up to 16 hours of paid time off a year.
Three-year-old Jordan loves his raptor Fingerling toy so much that he gave it a name: “Dino Baby.” Wherever Jordan goes, so goes the toy — in hand or tucked into his shirt for safe keeping.
“If we forget the dinosaur at home, we’re turning around to go get it,” said Niah Negron, Jordan’s mom. “He sleeps with it, he talks to it, there’s just something about that dinosaur.”
One day, Jordan realized Dino Baby had broken. Devastated, he ran and told his mom.
Jack and Lorene have been married for nearly 60 years.
She wasn’t impressed when she was first introduced to him. He was too quiet, she thought, not a match for her chatterbox personality. He thought she was perfect. Love’s surprising that way.
Together they built a family, traditions and a business. Through it all, they loved watching movies — just the two of them.
Then Jack suffered an aneurysm.
He recovered, but short-term memory and hearing loss remained. The technology in their home became hard for him to use and enjoy.
At Best Buy, we’re committed to embracing diversity and building a company that reflects our customers and the communities in which we serve.
In that spirit, we’re highlighting three black business leaders during Black History Month.
Here are their stories.
Temeka Penick grew up in an impoverished West Oakland, California, neighborhood where violence and drugs were all too prevalent.
But she was determined to not let that define her. She focused on her education, did well in high school and went on to college.
Christian Crawford and Denton Olson are sales consultants at Best Buy who took a journey to the place that saved Denton’s life. The teammates at the Best Buy store in Columbia, Missouri, traveled to Memphis to visit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® as participants in a health study looking at long-term effects of cancer treatment.
Denton is alive and healthy thanks to breakthroughs discovered by scientists and doctors at St. Jude — work that continues every day because of generous donations, including those made at Best Buy during our St.
Many people go to work to make money, but Best Buy gives our employees opportunities to do much more than that. One store leader’s generosity within his hometown community is leaving a footprint — literally.
Jorge Veliz is the general manager of the Best Buy store in Mission Viejo, California. Growing up in Guatemala, he remembers walking to school barefoot. Today, as a GM, Jorge buys shoes for kids who need them like he did.
Every February, Jorge and his father organize a two-day festival in their home village.
Steven Donley was excited to receive his master’s degree, but he didn’t expect it to happen during his shift at a Best Buy store.
Steven, a supervisor at the Best Buy in Marquette, Michigan, had opted not to go to his graduation ceremony at Northern Michigan University (NMU) last month so that three of his employees — and fellow graduates — could attend the same event instead.
“I know my general manager would have let me go if asked, but it was their first time being able to do something like this, whereas I already had my bachelor’s, so I didn’t feel like it was 100 percent necessary for me to be there, especially if it meant other people could,” he said.
By Gustavo Zamora
I was 20 years old when I quit the job that had promised me a promotion, changed my college major and started working for Best Buy.
Walking away from a guaranteed management position at a grocery store might sound puzzling, but there would have been a catch with that career move: The store’s leaders wanted me to quit school to show that I was loyal to the company. They didn’t understand why I was still in school if I could have a career there without having to pursue higher education.
Weight loss can be a roller coaster of an experience. But for Katie Rowsey, an actual roller coaster is what launched her journey to drop 162 pounds – and gain back her freedom.
A lifetime of struggling with weight and “yo-yo dieting” came to a head for Katie last year as she waited in line for a thrill ride, only to be turned down by the operator because her weight exceeded the safety limit.
In that moment, Katie — a Best Buy employee who supports the operations for stores located across seven states — found her reason to make a change.
Some kids want to be astronauts. Others want to be rock stars. But for one 11-year-old from Santiago, Chile, working for Best Buy is his ultimate wish.
When Daniel Hoyt, general manager of Best Buy’s East Omaha store, learned about Ethan’s dream from Ethan’s grandmother, Beverly, he was surprised.
“It was a little bit new for me,” Daniel said. “But I remember having a personal connection to Best Buy when I was young, too. I loved shopping for music here. So I get why it’s special.”
Fresh off maternity leave, Lanette Johnson found herself in a bind one day last year.
It was going to be a big day at work, and she didn’t want to feel like she was letting her team down. But the new mom didn’t have anyone to watch 4-month-old Logan. Day care had pushed back his start date, and family members who had been pitching in to help were unavailable that day.
So, Lanette — a department manager at our Best Buy store in Arlington, Virginia — brought Logan along for what became an unofficial “bring your child to work” day.