Forty Under 40: Joy Wooden Hagerty

Wal-Mart has spawned its share of entrepreneurs who have taken lessons from the company and struck out on their own.

Joy Wooden Hagerty, 39, is walking that path as a Chinese immigrant who rose from a Wal-Mart loss prevention manager in 1995 to the first director of the company’s diversity office in 2004.

In between, she became the senior director for corporate affairs in China as the Bentonville retailer went from two stores to 28 in her home country. Her responsibilities were obtaining permits and licensing from a myriad of government officials including central ministers, provincial governors and city mayors.

As the director of loss prevention in China, Hagerty helped get the first bribary prosecution of a privately held company’s employees.

The shift in government policy toward cracking down on corruption earned her the Loss Prevention Country Director of the Year award from Wal-Mart in 1999.

She eventually moved on to the role of buyer and is now using that knowledge to help companies on strategies and synergies as an independent consultant.

“Every step I have taken, everywhere I’ve worked, I have always met people willing to step up and help you,” she said. “I have a strong will to succeed, but without the people at Wal-Mart I wouldn’t be where I am today.”