Anne Webster: Welcome to your employee podcast, where you could hear and learn from other Costco employees who have overcome or managed their own well-being challenges with the help of Costco benefits. Today we’re talking with Costco employee Liz Maddux. Hi, Liz, and thanks for joining us. 

Liz Maddux: Hi, Anne. Thanks for having me on. 

Anne Webster: Let’s get to know you a little bit. So how long have you been with Costco? 

Liz Maddux: This May, I’ll be eight years with Costco. I started at our warehouses in the Midwest, and I now work at the corporate office here in Issaquah, Washington. 

Anne Webster: Great. And what do you do for Costco? 

Liz Maddux: I work in the gas operations department. I oversee all the day-to-day for about 548 of our US gas stations. 

Anne Webster: Wow. That is a lot of gas stations. 

Liz Maddux: It is a lot. Yeah. 

Anne Webster: How about when you’re not at work, what do you like to do in your spare time? 

Liz Maddux: I love to spend time with my family. We are working on remodeling our house right now. And then I am relearning how to play the drums. And I also love to spend time at estate sales, and thrift shopping as well. 

Anne Webster: Wow, that is a full schedule. It sounds like a lot of fun. 

Liz Maddux: Yeah. 

Anne Webster: So, Liz, let’s get to your story. What health challenge led you to seek help from your Costco benefits? 

Liz Maddux: So I am a six-year breast cancer survivor. I was working in the warehouses a few years ago, and healthy as can be, and I went for an annual exam, and I was told to get a mammogram. And I didn’t think much about it, and a few months later I thought, “Oh, I should go get that taken care of.” At my first mammogram, it was discovered that I had breast cancer on the right-hand side, and it was immediate devastation, and kind of a shock and blow to me. 

I was worried, I had two young kids, and I didn’t know what was going to happen to our family. I’d spent 15 years at a different company, where the health insurance was not the best. And I was actually concerned I was going to bankrupt our family with what we had in front of us. 

Instead, I found, through our Costco benefits, I was matched with an amazing surgeon that allowed me to seek different options for my treatment. And I found out, through just small copays, I could go and seek out these other doctors, and really choose the path that was best for me. What was best for me was actually a double mastectomy in the end, but I got to go to different doctors and learn about what the treatment was going to be, and what was going to happen for me. So it was something I didn’t think I had the luxury or the ability to do, and it was something I didn’t know about. 

So I had surgery in January, about six years ago. I was off work for a few months, and during that time period I used our short-term benefits through Unum. I received pay still, I was able to kind of keep everything going. They made sure that everything was taken care of, but they kept all of our benefits together, and kind of told me everything going on. And it allowed me to take time and heal, and spend time with my family. 

I think the biggest thing for me, is I really had great support with my team, and my management in the warehouse as well, which was really kind of a cool thing. So I was out of work for about two months. And then I came back, and had a few surgeries afterwards. And, right now, knock on wood, everything’s going well. So we’re six years cancer-free at this point. 

Anne Webster: That is great to hear. What a journey for you. And it’s great to hear that you found the support you needed, and you got a little bit of control over each situation, right when you needed it most. 

Liz Maddux: Yeah. 

Anne Webster: You told me in an earlier conversation that you are actively sharing your experience with other Costco employees. Can you tell me a little bit about that? 

Liz Maddux: Yeah. For me, I get a really great interaction with new employees, and employees that are in different roles, and a lot of times they might not understand what our health benefits mean to us. You have a tendency to see your pay that’s in front of you, but a health benefit is something you can’t see, so I really discuss it. It may not be something that you need now, but when you do need it, Costco’s benefits are really truly there for you. 

And it’s not just the health ones, there’s a lot of mental health ones as well. There’s a lot of other options that are on there too. So it’s just making sure that we understand all the benefits that come to our job and with us with our company. So there’s some really cool things that are there. 

Anne Webster: And you were mentioning that there’s benefits for not only yourself, but also your family. 

Liz Maddux: Yeah. That’s what I think is really neat too, if my children had been a little bit older, I probably would’ve had them in different therapy when they were going through. There’s benefits for your spouse as well, and partners and things like that. The things you can’t see that are available there are just amazing. And we’ve got a great website, where it’s got all the options on it. So once that time does come up where you might need it, there’s a lot of great things at our fingertips that are there. And it’s a really great value too as well. 

Anne Webster: Yeah, you can find lots of information at costcobenefits.com, or wittpledge.com. At wittpledge.com, you can take the pledge, which we started about five years ago, to help people take that first step in getting to know about their benefits, and getting the most out of them. I know that you have taken the pledge, which is great, and I encourage other listeners to do the same when they get a chance. Do you have any final words of advice for coworkers who are new to their benefits? 

Liz Maddux: No, I would say just know that they’re there, and stay healthy, and know that they’re available to you. And you may not need them now, but you can rest assured that if you do need them, the support is there, and the options are there. And, honestly, that’s a great peace of mind to have with a job. And it’s tough to see right now, but it feels great to know that it’s there. 

Anne Webster: Well, Liz, thank you so much for sharing your story, and spending time with us. 

Liz Maddux: Thank you, Anne, I appreciate it. 

Anne Webster: Until next time, stay well, be safe, and remember, we’re in this together.