Employee Spotlight! Anne Kennelly
June's Employee Spotlight is an impressive figure in the world of behind-the-scenes work here at Abt. You've likely never seen her on the sales floor, and certainly not on an Abt truck ... and if you haven't met her, you're missing out. Everywhere she goes, Anne radiates positivity, and she always has a little something for everyone she meets, whether it's a friendly greeting, a compliment or even a lollipop. But she's a powerful figure in the Customer Service department and the wider Abt community. That's why when Anne was diagnosed with breast cancer, her Abt family gathered around to support her through the struggle. She's happy to be back at work, and we're excited to highlight everything Anne has done and continues to do for Abt.
Meet Anne
Anne Kennelly has been at Abt for 12 years now, but she knew of the store long before she began her work here. "My husband and I, when we got married, we bought our first appliances here. We were going on our second set of appliances when I started working here. I came in to see if we could get a TV and thought, 'Well, I wonder if they're hiring'. I filled out an application, and that was that." She began her work in Customer Service. "It was new, and I was older than everyone else. I was working with a bunch of kids!" Anne was unfazed, ever the friendly face and a true hard worker. She easily learned the ropes, shared her own knowledge and became fast friends with many of her coworkers.
A Multi-Talented Customer Service Super User
12 years later, Anne is still technically in the Customer Service department, but she has a completely different role than when she started. Today, our Employee Spotlight has cross-departmental reach and works to make sure that employees are well-trained, customers are satisfied, and that things are handled in a timely manner, minute by minute. "I've done both Customer Service and Appliance Services at the same time—if I can take care of a problem without needing to switch the customer, I try to take care of it right away. I train employees and monitor calls occasionally to make sure our team is doing well, too." Going beyond Customer Service, she also fields communication between customers and drivers while our trucks are on the road. The result? Safe transportation for both our team members and our customers' goods, and our customers have a better idea of when products will arrive. There are all kinds of communications that Anne works to manage, and with over a decade of expertise, she can move quickly from task to task. That being said, not everything is intuitive. "The younger girls behind me made me a cheat sheet for text terms like 'LOL'. It started as a joke, but I've used it. I've told them I'll help them read cursive when they struggle, so it's a give and take."
Anne's not just fast on her feet, on the phone and in the chats; she's got great judgement when it comes to bringing other employees over to Abt. In her tenure, she's referred three different employees, including her own family members. They've all fit right in, whether they're here at the store or traveling on trucks. Even her son-in-law is at Abt—he works on garages, garage doors and garage floors, a service not everyone knows we offer.
Her Cancer Diagnosis
Two years ago, Anne Kennelly was diagnosed with breast cancer, and her journey through a difficult diagnosis began. The priority was no longer switching from phones to text to chat; her focus had moved to something that could be life-threatening. Looking back, Anne mentioned that she felt supported at Abt through every second of her journey, from the moment she got her diagnosis through her double mastectomy and beyond. "You know, I've heard it before, that Abt is a family, and you don't necessarily realize that it's true until you need it." Co-workers, managers and friends gathered to make sure that Anne had what she needed when she needed it. Different people volunteered to help in all kinds of ways, from covering her work to reaching out to see if, how and when she needed help. "They took the worry about my job off the table, and I want to thank everyone for their well wishes." We usually ask our Employee Spotlights what their favorite memories at Abt have been, and Anne's was simple. "It's the way that people rallied around me and helped me when they found out I was sick. 'Whatever you want, whatever you need.' It was inspiring."
One of Anne's friends asked her the following amid her battle with cancer, and it truly struck her. "She asked me how I was and if I was still working. I explained how easy Abt made it for me to continue working, and she said, 'Isn't that how all business should be run?'"
Anne, Back in Action
Unsurprisingly, our Employee Spotlight has been in "Go, Go, Go" mode recently, moving back into her role as a Customer Service super user and tackling task after task. That being said, she's balancing her work life with therapy. "Between cancer and treatment, you sometimes forget little things, like a person's name. They call it chemo brain, it's a kind of brain fog. And people help me with that all the time, and I've gotten a lot better over the recent weeks and months. But I have so much support here, even though it was a hard time to go through." That's just another thing Anne has no trouble juggling, and she makes it all look easy.
While she's come far, the battle with cancer isn't over. Anne will be going through therapy until January of 2027, but she'll have the support of her entire family here at Abt, no matter what she needs. Whether Anne's heading in for a scan or going in to see a specialist for a checkup, the team at Abt—her team at Abt—will be here, ready for her to hop back on the phones whenever she's ready.
