Who is the swappian that can effortlessly make a 5 minute discourse about something so peculiar as rowan berries, and make it so intriguing to the listeners that they cannot help but dare to taste this bitter flavored forest delight? 

“Yes I actually have this thing that I can pull an in depth conversation out of a pencil with a person that I don't know anything about!” states Swappie’s Repair Shift Lead, Allar Satsi. He is the man behind the rowan berry knowledge, but also the man who connects so effortlessly with people that he feels a bit sad to take his annual leave because it means not getting to spend time with his Repair family for a while!

Allar joined Swappie 3 years ago and he has led teams of 30 to 60 Production Specialists.  At the moment he leads a shift of an average ~120 people working in Swappie’s repair operations, and it is no wonder that Allar is so valued at Swappie when you listen to how he describes his current role in a very people-centric manner:  “My job is to take care of our repair professionals, Team Leads and Process Leads. Each day my goal is to make sure every individual feels good. They are there for me, and I am always there for them. They know what is expected of them and to me it feels like a small family”. 

A good example of this family like culture is that once Allar wanted to bake profiteroles for the whole shift for his birthday, and instead of it being a one hour piece of cake, he ended up baking for 5 hours and got 1 hour of sleep that night.  But what would Allar not do for the team!

Allar actually has an impressive 15-year career in the restaurant industry before joining Swappie.  He indeed has some serious cooking skills but he was also a professional chef, bartender, catering specialist and eventually built his own business.  However in 2022, it was time for a change, and since Allar has always been a strong advocate for recycling and trying to fix things before letting up on them, it was somewhat self-evident that he wanted to apply to Swappie when he saw the job ad.

 “It appeared so cool to me that one would basically be swimming in a pool of iPhones and I would get to fix the issues in each! I still remember on the first on-boarding day I was introduced to the operations site and walked through it thinking how amazing it was that there really is this kind of a sustainability company in Estonia hidden so well that nobody knew about.”

Even though Allar’s career path at Swappie has been inspiring as he has “climbed the ladder” faster than he himself had expected, he mentions that the actual phone repair work at Swappie’s operations is something that requires constant improvement and keeps you on your toes: “There is always a new fault no one has experience about, new legal regulations we want to be compliant with, new diagnosis challenge that needs digging into - it’s a neverending learning job!” 

In addition to the constant improvement mindset, Allar is a strong advocate for Swappie’s inclusive culture: “I experience inclusivity come to life in the way we work in our team and how everyone is kept in the loop and not left behind. We win as a team and we make mistakes as a team and learn from them.  This is possible if we keep the communication honest and respectful, and I want to respect everyone in my team equally. The respect comes back to me because what you give to others you will receive yourself.”

Allar has lived by the values of respecting others and treating them equally for a long time, and his passion for hip-hip music has actually had an effect on his world view. “I must say that movies like Straight Outta Compton and 8Mile have left an impact on me when I was young. It truly shaped my world view to understand diverse communities and how pointing fingers is not a productive way of interacting with others or getting things done”. 

Outside work and in addition to hip-hop music, Allar’s free time revolves mostly around his family.  Together with his wife, Allar spends a lot of time with their 3 children. The family usually prefers to spend time in nature as much as possible, whether it is a weekend hiking trip or teaching the kids about flora and fauna, or how to realise that it is possible to survive without technology. Also his colleagues can bet on Allar knowing how to make fire without matches, but there is actually one talent he has kept a secret until now: “I am quite good at embroidery and needlework! This is something that not many know about!” 

So, if you were to choose a person to end up on a deserted island with, Allar would be a good choice: He knows how to make fire, sew your broken clothes back together, tell you which plants are ok to eat and, last but not least, is so much fun to be around!  Thank you Allar, for being a part of Swappie’s journey and the mission to make refurbished electronics mainstream - we will all join in celebrating your 3 year swappieversary in a couple of weeks!