Forty Under 40: Bill Akins

Bill Akins said never accepting mediocrity and being an early adapter to technology have helped him most in his career.

Im never satisfied in the status quo, Akins said.

That attitude, enthusiasm and his blueprint idea for a software package called Trait Master has Akins boss, Lisa Bohn, singing his praises. Trait Master helps suppliers to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. identify sales traits at specific stores, thus increasing volume. And the Trait Master product, now developed by BSA, is an add-on to the companys core software as well as a stand-alone program.
Originally from Atlanta, Akins said that in his career world of retail and technology, all roads led to Bentonville.

He earned his undergraduate degree from California State University in 1996, and finished his masters of business administration at the University of Arkansas in 2005.

His first job out of CSU was with JDA Software Group Inc., a retail supply chain company, as a market manager in Chicago. Then from 1997 through 1998, he worked at Spectra Marketing as an on-site manager in Minneapolis. From 1999 to 2005, he was a global category manager for U.S. Cotton, selling products to Wal-Mart. He joined BSA in July 2005.