Employee Spotlight! Maria Mavraganis
When you hear about a person who's spent nearly half of their life at Abt, you might not expect July's Employee Spotlight. It's not a seasoned salesperson or someone who's been working in our warehouse for decades. This month, we're spotlighting Maria Mavraganis, our head of Customer Service. She started her career doing one of the most entry-level jobs at Abt: making cookies on the weekends. Now she runs the Customer Service department—all while organizing Abt employee events.
From Chocolate Chip Weekends to a Well-Seasoned Manager
At just 16, Maria began her career at Abt by making everyone's favorite weekend treat, our famous chocolate chip cookies. If you've never heard of them, come on in to Abt on the weekends—these chocolate chip cookies are free and freshly baked in the BlueStar kitchen. High school days were spent prepping for college, and weekends were spent here at Abt. She already had a strong connection to the store through her father, longtime employee George Mavraganis. George has now been at Abt for over 20 years as an appliance salesperson, and the father and daughter work together every day (and have been for years).
After she finished high school, Maria started working in customer service at Abt while she attended community college. She never left Abt for long, though. "Once I transferred schools, I became a seasonal employee and worked Merchandise Pick Up on my breaks and during any weekend I came home from school." Maria has worked at a few different positions across Abt, whether she was in Security or taking calls in our Car Audio department. And with the right amount of hard work and experience, Maria grew to be a respected figure at Abt—and tough enough to handle managing Customer Service.
What Happens in Abt's Customer Service?
Maria currently manages Customer Service at Abt, a department of over 50 employees who both take calls and assist customers in-store. "We're a team that handles over 30,000 calls a month," she notes. When customers have questions, they come to Customer Service. From there, Maria's team can direct them to the right department, whether they need their appliances fixed, an installation date changed or want to buy another appliance altogether. Customer Service is where most Abt customers go to have their problems solved ... and it's also where many employees begin their journeys here at Abt.
Maria notes that "Customer Service is where employees get their foot in the door, and it's where many people start." From this starter job, people can move to all kinds of positions across Abt, just like Maria did. "I like to tell people that Customer Service helps foster confidence as you handle all types of situations. That's a part of customer service anywhere." Maria runs a tight ship, and every Customer Service employee is ready to help the customer on the other side of the line. "We know a little bit about everything here, and so many calls default to Customer Service. It builds a lot of character. If this is your first adult job, you'll learn a lot at Abt."
One of the things Maria appreciates about working here at Abt? "The stability. This is the most stable, consistent and steady job I've ever had. I'm proud that Abt stayed steady even during COVID-19. Our drivers kept going, we kept going and we worked hard to stay steady while other companies were cutting down staff." It's that stability that keeps employees and managers like Maria confident in this family-run business.
Event Planning at Abt
If managing Customer Service wasn't enough, Maria also handles all of the employee event planning here at Abt. "It's really fun to be able to get everyone together, whether it's for the annual Holiday Party (this one's a lot of fun), the summer picnic, retirement parties or the summer food trucks!"
While these are all behind-the-scenes events, they mean a lot to our team of employees. Whether families are bringing their children to the summer picnic or enjoying a free lunch from local food trucks thanks to the Abt family, it's because of Maria that employees get to enjoy some of the best aspects of Abt in the summer. In the winter, she coordinates an evening of food, dancing and fun so that Abt employees can celebrate the holidays. No matter the event, Maria plans out every element perfectly (and the food is bound to be incredible).
Friends and Family Under One Roof
When asked what she loves about her job, Maria mentioned that "I love my day-to-day work and the team I get to work with every day. The relationships I have formed with so many of my coworkers are amazing." Finally, one of our favorite questions to ask Employee Spotlights is "What is your favorite memory at Abt?" Maria had the perfect answer. "Many, many years ago it was Bring Your Kid to Work Day. My sister and I came with my dad and built bird houses with the woodshop. My parents kept those bird houses for nearly 15 years. Being able to come to work with my dad and now managing Customer Service really is a full circle moment."
When You Call Customer Service...
You can count on Maria's dedicated team to handle just about anything that comes their way. She loves to see those on her team grow, excel and move on to new positions here at Abt. And next time you grab a cookie from our BlueStar kitchen on the weekend, think about just how far the person who made your cookie will go!
