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Grace Morales: Hello, and welcome to employee podcasts, where Costco employees share their stories of how their benefits help them with their personal health challenges. Today, we’re joined by Teresa Tapp. Welcome, Teresa.

Teresa Tapp: Thank you. Hello.

Grace Morales: So, Teresa, tell me, how long have you worked at Costco? What’s your position? And which location do you work at?

Teresa Tapp: I started at Costco, Richmond, California, about 6 and 1/2 years ago, and then I transferred to the new store in Napa, which is a little closer. And my position is a cashier. I love it because it’s just everything is brand new. And 80% of the employees are new hires. And so they all love their jobs, and everyone is just very positive there. And it’s just a great place to work.

Grace Morales: Oh, that’s wonderful. So, Teresa, tell me, what is the story that you’d like to share with Costco employees?

Teresa Tapp: So I was going to the urgent care, and the urgent care told me that I had long COVID. And I thought to myself, how long is this long COVID going to last? Now, when I caught COVID in July, we’re coming on to October 2022, and these symptoms are still persisting. And they’re not getting any better.

And my friend in San Francisco, who’s a liver specialist and a nurse practitioner, told me to stop going to the urgent care and to get a primary care provider, or PCP, not to continue to go to urgent care. I need somebody on a regular basis. So I did that.

And when I had these blood tests done, the following day, they called me back, and they told me to go to the emergency room as fast as I can. I said okay. That was kind of alarming. So I went to the emergency room, and they went to draw my blood again. And I said, they just drew my blood the day before yesterday. They said, yes, we’re going to do it again.

So they drew my blood, and then they sent me back in the waiting room. And the emergency room was really packed, lots of people there. And I’d been waiting for a couple hours. And I was tired, and I was hungry. And I just was uncomfortable there.

So I went to the desk, and I said, I’m going to go home and eat and rest. They said, per our policy, you leave, you leave. We’re not going to call you back. So I left, and I live about a mile away from the emergency room. And no sooner than I got through my front door at home, they were calling me, telling me, you need to get back here as soon as you can.

And as soon as I went through the door, they jumped up, and they said, Teresa, come in. And they cleared out a bed, and they had me go straight in, no waiting. And at that point, I found out that I was extremely anemic, and they were going to give me some blood transfusions.

I ended up getting 2 blood transfusions. And after the first transfusion, the fatigue and everything was just going away. I was feeling so much better than I had felt in months.

And after that, I told myself that I would get back on track, get healthy and lose weight, and take care better care of myself because of this anemia that I had. And my son, who’s a personal trainer, made me sign up for the gym that he goes to.

And at first, I was doing the treadmill or the elliptical, and stuff like that. I think, Oh my god, this is so hard. I’m not going to be able to do this. This is terrible.

And as I was walking around the gym, I heard some music. And I went to that part of the gym, and they were having a class, a Zumba class. And I thought, this is it. This is how I’m going to do — what I’m going to do to get healthy and get fit, and stuff like that. I’m going to dance.

I had a registered nurse that would call me weekly to check on me to see if I was doing well. I had a dietitian that called me. I signed up for Omada and signed up for Cylinder. Cylinder is a place for gut health, and it’s an app that you could do. And you could talk to a coach and a dietitian.

And also, Omada is another place for diabetes and weight loss. And Omada will send you a scale that you would stand on, and it automatically gives them the information from the scale of my weight. It just by wirelessly went to the app and went to them.

And also, through Costco, the “We’re in This Together” and all the benefits that they have. And through all these different avenues is how I got healthy again. And I lost a total of 60 pounds.

Grace Morales: Wow, that is quite an accomplishment. So you mentioned “We’re in This Together.” And I’m assuming you’re meaning the WITT emails, those monthly communications that you get from Costco benefits. That’s great. So you found those helpful as well?

Teresa Tapp: Yes, I did. And they have you take a pledge every year. And I don’t know how many employees go through with it, but I went through with it. I checked them out. I looked at the emails. I read about all the different things that offer, and I took advantage of all those benefits that Costco has to offer.

Grace Morales: That’s a good point, Teresa. There’s so many things. And the point of the WITT pledge is to help make it a little bit more digestible and highlight certain benefits, that even if you don’t need them right now, maybe they’ll come in handy later. So we’re glad that they’ve been helpful to you as well.

And also, you were not feeling well for a long time. I can’t imagine how difficult that was. So these phone calls that you had with the dietitian and the RN, were they with the Live Healthy Team?

Teresa Tapp: Yes, it was. It was through the Live Healthy team. The RN that phoned me, her name is Dana. Shout out to Dana. She was so positive. I just loved talking to her every week. She would give me advice and tell me, just give me advice and things to do to get on this healthy track back and get my life back on track and to get healthy again. She was so awesome. I just loved her.

Grace Morales: So, Teresa, if there’s only one thing that employees take away from this podcast, if nothing else, what would it be?

Teresa Tapp: To use the benefits that you have on offer. And that’s what I did. And this whole podcast is about letting employees know that there’s things out there that Costco offers you in their benefits that you should really take advantage of. Because it helped me a great deal.

And most employers, they pay you a salary or hourly wage just to do a job. But Costco wants more than that. They just want you to be well. And it shows in their employees. And we make sure our members are happy.

Grace Morales: I completely agree. And, Teresa, I do like to ask about favorite Costco products. But is there something that you found will satisfy an itch for a craving that you can get at Costco?

Teresa Tapp: Well, one, a guilty pleasure of mine — and I think it’s hands down the best sweet they have in the store — and that’s their s’mores. It’s a Kirkland brand. So every once in a while, I’ll get some s’mores. But what happens is because I live alone, if I took that whole bag home, I’d eat it.

So I always get some, and I eat a couple out of them. And I go to a friend’s house, and I bring the s’mores to their house. And I leave it there, because I don’t want to eat the whole bag.

Grace Morales: That’s wonderful. Well, thank you, Teresa, for sharing your story today and for your time. And thanks to everyone who listened in. Until next time, remember, We’re in This Together.

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