NaToya Champion Listened to Leaders to Become One at Walmart

Welcome to Stepladder,?by Todd Dybas, a new newsletter about career journeys. We all endured twists and turns during our work careers. Experiences, bad and good, shape us as bosses or employees. This newsletter will explore various work paths via deep conversations with newsmakers, business builders, content creators, and more.

NaToya Champion, 41 | Leader, mother, one-company person | Oklahoma City

Champion is an outlier in the era of job-hopping. She started work at Walmart after filling out a form by hand when she was 19. Since then, she’s moved up rung by rung, managed several stores in the South, and turned a one-off trip to her local store into a decades-long career. As she approaches year 23 in the company, now holding the position of market manager, Champion reflects on the benefits of staying in one place, what rising from the bottom can do for leaders, and how to manage it all as a young mother.

Champion's answers from a conversation with LinkedIn News were lightly edited for clarity in this as-told-to format.

Mississippi is home. I grew up in Madison, Mississippi.

It's kind of like country living, almost. There were a lot more trees there when I was smaller than there is now.

They call it Brick City, because every building in the city looks the same. The Mayor, Mary Hawkins Butler, she wanted everything to have some unison.?

We also have the Taj Mahal of Chick-fil-A's.?

It's very pretty out there.

My first job was at a Western Sizzlin restaurant. I think I was 15 or 16. Did not work out. I was trying to learn the line with a young lady that was teaching me. People would make their orders and then she would say, ‘How do you want it cooked?’ And people would say well done or medium-well. It was my time to try and a lady ordered her meal number and I said, ‘How would you want it cooked?’ And she said, ‘I hope it's well done.’

Well, I didn't know it was chicken.?

I didn't get to do the order things anymore. They let me go back there behind the kitchen and try to do the dishes and stuff like that. One night we were closing down, finished all the dishes, cleaned all those cups and everything, and we were putting them away.

My foot got caught on something or maybe I was just clumsy. I dropped all of the cups and they went everywhere and everybody was so mad at me because we had to rewash the cups.

The next week I was looking at the little chart and I didn't see my name on the schedule. And I was like, ‘I don't see my name on the schedule….’ So I got fired. I was no good at that (laughs).?

And then a few years later when I was graduating out of high school, that's when I found the Walmart. My mom took me to the Walmart and they had paper applications on the layaway desk back there. And I had a pencil and I filled it out. And so 22, almost 23 years ago. Walmart was my first real job.

Little Things Can Become Big Things

Back on the first day, of course it was a lot of paperwork. And then I was just like, I have a job, a real, real job. I was going to be making $5.25 an hour.

It was a lot to me. At the time, I had a daughter. She was two when I started there. And I think the most exciting part for me was that I could help my mama and daddy, because they had been taking care of us. And it's not like we'll be a burden anymore.

I was a cashier. I was really nervous because you have the people that work in the cash office where they sort all the money and prepare the deposits. You had a goal of how many items you had to scan per hour. And so I'd just be scanning, scanning, scanning and trying to get the customers out fast and my money drawer was messy (laughs).?

When they used to come around, because they wouldn't leave all that money on the floor, [the manager] fussed at me one time about that drawer because I had the stuff just in there. I didn't do it again after that.

Me and her, we laugh about it now when I get the chance to see her sometimes.?

I'm always a giver, so I'd be helping out in other areas and that was really fun to me. And back then they used to give you merit raises.

And so the store manager that was there, we were doing a reset, I think in the back to school department or the stationary department, and they brought me to the office, my assistant manager and him. They brought me back to the office and were telling me how good of a job that I had been doing. They gave me this merit raise and it was 10 cents.?

I was really excited about it. And I was really glad to be there. But I never thought that I would stay and make a career.?

It was like, I just need to make some money, start supporting myself.

I wanted to teach high school English, English literature. I like to read. And also too, whenever we had papers to do, I was always the one that could help people. They asked me for help getting their papers done.

When I went down to Hattiesburg to go to college at Southern Miss, that was my major at first. But then I changed it to business because I started working at the [Walmart] store in Hattiesburg and I was like, I like this. I like the retail thing. I like how the store manager does all of this with people. And then I got my big shot.?

I was working in the photo area. And the manager that we had, he was out sick.

And so I just kind of took it over. And we had one of our big regional [managers] for the photo area, her name was Deb, coming in for a visit. And she was really amazed at what I had done. And it was like, ‘Why isn't she promoted?’ And all this kind of good stuff.?

When they did make me an offer to go into management training, I was like, ‘I'll go back to school later.’ And then I never got back. Well, I did. I attempted to, but then I just kept growing. And so I never finished my degree. I just stayed at the Walmart.

Real Life And Work Life Meet

My dad is a pastor and my mom, she's a missionary, and she's also a caterer. She does weddings and things like that.?

We grew up in church, and we had a Pentecostal background, and so I already knew I messed up having the child and I wasn't married. I missed a prom because my little girl, she was sick then. And so it's just kind of one of those things like no, you don't get to go in. And they didn't have to tell me that, but I wouldn't have dared even ask, ‘Y'all just keep her and let me go to the prom.’ Plus they'd have to buy a dress. And here it is, they're already buying diapers and formula and all of that.?

They helped me out a lot. Even when I was gone and away from home when I transitioned some with Walmart, she got to stay with them just for a bit until I could get settled in.

That's when I moved to New Orleans to work for Walmart. And she stayed [with the grandparents] for a few months until I could find my way with a good routine around everything.

You have to find your village because it does take a village. And for me, my village was some co-workers. We had the same situation.?

I can remember when I very first went down to the college, they had family housing there, and that was one of the reasons for me choosing there because that way I could have somewhere where I could live. I didn't have a car, but there was childcare onsite. And then I ended up, we called our little area The Quad, and it was four of us, two of us were upstairs and two of us were downstairs. And we each had a child and everybody worked somewhere different, but we helped each other.

Sometimes I'd have to leave class and go to work at Walmart. And so my neighbor that was across from me, she'd pick up my daughter and her son from the daycare because they all went to the same little daycare there. And then she'd do dinner. If she had to work, then I'd do dinner. We just figured it out.?

So you have to find your village and make it work for you. And just be sure not to over-commit to other things, especially knowing that you have a family.?

Then, always have a plan. I always have a plan. You can adjust it and alter it as you need it, but have a plan and be transparent about what you need. Be very transparent about what you need from people.

From Running the Floors to Running the Stores

So again, I had no intentions of staying [at Walmart]. I always just had someone that supported me. For instance, I was a co-manager, and I was sitting out at a football game with my family, one of the high school games, and my store manager texted me and he said, ‘Hey, store 1069 in Newton is open.’ He said, ‘If you're ready for a challenge, I think you can do it.’ A lot of times people have said to me, ‘I think you can do these things or you have this much potential,’ or they would see it. And I never did.?

And so when he said that, I was like, well, if Jason thinks I can do this, then I probably can. I applied, and that's how I got my first store.?

And the stores that I've had — I ran four Walmart stores — and the stores that I've had a chance to lead, somebody has asked me, ‘Hey, can you go here? I would like to see you here. I think you can change this store, turn it around.’?

For me it's almost overwhelming because I'm questioning, what do you see? And I'm bad at that, too. What do you see that I don't? Because a lot of times I'll be not feeling good about something, and I have one of my leaders say, ‘No, I think you might be being a little bit too hard on yourself.’

So it really motivates me when they do say things like that or tell me that I can do something. Because even the role that I'm in now, it's not one that I ever dreamed of. And I had a mentor that told me, ‘Dream bigger. Not only do I see you doing this, I see you being an officer in the company.’ And so at first I'm like, 'OK, he's just saying stuff.' And then I was like, it's really real. It's really real.

Being a Manager Doesn’t Mean Learning Is Finished

You can't let your past define your future. Because I wasn't always how I am now.?

I like to consider myself relatable and empathetic right now, and I wasn't always like that. I used to be just really hardcore. I'm not like that anymore. And because of who I was before, it cost me some promotions.

If you want to lead, well, you have to be empathetic. And it doesn't mean being weak, it just means that you have to understand where a person is coming from.

In my role, I have to sort through and help them to figure that part out. Is it a performance issue because you don't know how or you're not capable?

Another thing that I've learned is that many other people may give up on you, but you can't give up on yourself.?

You have to, especially if you do want to grow, you do have to dream big. You can't settle with what you're in or what you're looking at right now.?

Things have been hard. There were some days that I couldn't figure out a babysitter or different things like that. But challenges are no reason to ever give up, to ever give up on a dream. You can get through them, you can get through all of them.?

So now I'm dreaming bigger.

I've learned a lot from my leadership just around planning. And I always am a pretty decent planner.?

I use the Outlook calendar and I still use just the normal planner. I have to write. It helps me with memory.

Enjoying The Benefits of The Long Run

You know what? I stayed because, honestly, the leaders that I had and that I have now. The people that I've worked for. That's the reason why.?

Like I said, I never saw myself going into a leadership role or anything like that. And then when others saw the potential, I acted upon that. And so now what I get to do in this role that's so rewarding is to show other people that you know, you can make a career out of this.

If you look at the number of store managers that are women or African-Americans, the numbers just were not there. It's better now than it's ever been, but [still] predominantly white males.?

Have I been in some situations before where...my hair is natural, and there was a job that I wanted, and I had someone tell me that, well, ‘I'm sure they're not going to pick you’ and start telling me about straightening my hair.

And I'm like, ‘I'm not straightening my hair. I guess it's just a job I won't have.’

Just brand yourself well, and then you probably won't have anything to worry about because there's a stigma that's related to us, maybe about being noisy or being loud or even how we react to things. And even sometimes where I felt like I was probably mistreated, there was no reaction. I just move on to the next. [If] it was a job that I didn't get, OK, well I’ll apply for another one.

I'm always telling [my kids], be yourself. You can't be anybody else. That's exhausting.?

And don't change who you are, but be a good person. Be a good citizen, but don't change who you are.?

My daughter, she's in school, but she's working at Starbucks and eventually she wants a career out of that.

She's in a little hourly leadership role, so she's always asking me questions about, ‘I have an employee that…’ and she'll give me a scenario and I said, ‘Here's what you have to do. This is how you have to handle it.’

[My career] shows people that this table here, there's a chair for you, you can sit there.

It makes me feel really good that people look at my career trajectory and then they want to mirror it. So why would I stop now?