Anne Webster: Welcome back to your employee podcast, where you can hear and learn from other Costco employees who have overcome or managed their own challenges with the help of Costco Benefits. Today we’re talking with Costco employee, Mason Ruesch. Hi Mason, and thanks for joining us.

Mason Ruesch: Hi, Anne. Thanks for having me.

Anne Webster: So how long have you been with Costco?

Mason Ruesch: For about 12 years. I started in 2012.

Anne Webster: And which location are you at?

Mason Ruesch: I’m at the St. George, Utah location.

Anne Webster: And what do you do there?

Mason Ruesch: I’m the assistant general manager. I’m specifically over fresh and auxiliaries.

Anne Webster: That’s a big job. I’m curious, how many members do you have through your doors in one day?

Mason Ruesch: We get about 5,000 members each and every day.

Anne Webster: Wow. That is a lot of people. So what does life look like outside of work? What do you like to do in your spare time?

Mason Ruesch: I like spending a lot of time with my family and I’m really busy right now working on the house that we just bought.

Anne Webster: Okay. Yeah, that will keep you busy. Let’s move on to your story. What health challenge led you to seek help from your Costco Benefits?

Mason Ruesch: Yeah, so our firstborn, Finn, he’s now eight years old. At about two and a half years old, we started noticing some delays. At first it was eating solids and then it was crawling, walking, just every major milestone we noticed that there were some delays, so we got him checked out and he eventually got diagnosed at two and a half with autism. And over the years, we found out that those delays turned into frustrations and he would have a hard time expressing himself and communicating the way that he wanted to. His vocabulary was very limited as he grew older into three and four years old. Those frustrations eventually turned into aggressive behavior as well, and he would end up biting, hitting, screaming. He would have full-on meltdowns in public places, and it was very challenging to say the least.

Anne Webster: Wow, that sounds like that would be really hard on both you and your family.

Mason Ruesch: Oh, yeah. It definitely took a mental toll on my wife and I. So I ended up stumbling on Resources for Living and I gave them a call and it was pretty quick. They were able to connect me with our Autism Advocacy program through Aetna Insurance and Christy ended up calling me from Aetna and she connected us with several different therapies—local resources. She even introduced us to a whole community on social media where different families experienced the same thing. It was great.

Anne Webster: Yeah. Oh, it’s great to get support from other parents and get the right care you need.

Mason Ruesch: Yeah, so within weeks, really, we were able to set up different various therapies. I think we started out with speech therapy, we did occupational therapy, ABA therapy, you name it, and we were able to get those therapies started for our son, and it definitely helped him in ways that we could not have.

Anne Webster: Were there other Costco benefits geared towards parents that you found helpful?

Mason Ruesch: Yeah, absolutely. Once I figured out how helpful Resources for Living was for our family, I decided to dig in and deep dive myself into the Costco Benefits website.

Anne Webster: Good idea.

Mason Ruesch: Yeah, and I ran into a benefit called RethinkCare. It’s a website and it has well over 2000 videos, lessons, articles. It has a ton of resources that helped me as a parent to be able to help my son. And RethinkCare also helped me to be able to work in conjunction with the different therapies that Finn was undergoing. So RethinkCare was more for me as a parent while the other therapies helped my son with his developmental delays.

Anne Webster: Sounds like you’ve gotten a lot of support from your benefits and you really work on keeping up to date. What are some of the things you do to make sure you stay informed?

Mason Ruesch: I take the WITT pledge every single year. They send me newsletters in my email, and I even found some benefits that can help me personally for self-care such as Mind Companion or Cylinder app. I’ve utilized those benefits as well.

Anne Webster: Wow. I’m glad that you’re taking some time for self-care. That is important for every parent, and it’s really wonderful to hear that you’ve gotten so much out of your benefits. If you were talking to a co-worker who hadn’t explored their benefits yet, what would you tell them?

Mason Ruesch: I would encourage every Costco employee to learn and educate themselves on all the benefits available. Navigate the Costco Benefits website, take the WITT pledge, and know that you’re not alone. I have a specific memory where we were in an IEP meeting with my son, which is an Individualized Education Plan, and I recall seeing six or seven people in that meeting and suddenly it hit me, wow, there’s a whole team out there of professionals dedicated to helping me and my family. That level of support really lifted the burdens off my shoulder as a parent, so I’m really grateful.

Anne Webster: I am so delighted that you got the support you needed. How is your son doing today?

Mason Ruesch: He’s doing great. Just last week he learned how to ride a bike without his training wheels, and I couldn’t be more proud.

Anne Webster: Aw, I love that. Well, Mason, thank you so much for sharing your story and spending time with us. Until next time, stay well, be safe and remember, We’re In This Together.