Fast 15: Logan Dodd
by May 13, 2019 10:45 am 2,380 views
Fort Smith native Logan Dodd accepted an internship with candy maker The Hershey Co. at the end of his junior year of college and hasn’t looked back.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international business from the University of Arkansas in 2013. After the internship, he became a sales analyst on the Walmart team supporting Hershey’s grocery business. In 2014, he moved to San Francisco and worked in category management as a sales analyst, calling on three major retailers along the West Coast.
He returned to Arkansas to become a strategist — a manager level role — and worked on the Walmart adviser team covering Halloween and Valentine’s Day. He started in the role in September 2015 and planned and executed nearly $1 billion in orders annually for Halloween and Valentine’s Day for all Walmart stores in the United States.
In January 2018, he became senior manager of category management and leads the Sam’s Club adviser team, driving initiatives, product layout, sales plans, seasonal orders, promotional planning and product availability. The team of four offers guidance on more than $1 billion in candy orders annually, across all brands.
“Being able to walk into stores — Sam’s Club now, but Walmart in my previous role — across the country and seeing the impact of my work, that’s a huge accomplishment and really a source of motivation,” said Dodd, adding that going from an intern to senior manager in a little more than five years is “pretty cool.”
His existing role allows him to manage a team, and over the next three to five years, he looks to help build talent within the company, see the employees succeed and make an impact on the business.
After moving back to Arkansas from California, Dodd earned his pilot’s license from Summit Aviation in Bentonville in 2016. His grandfather was a pilot, and Dodd enjoys backcountry flying, which is taking an airplane to a grass airstrip and camping for a weekend. He flies Cessna airplanes, rented from Summit.
Dodd leads the music at New Heights Church in Bentonville, is a board member for Tailwind Aviation, hosts social events, maintains grass airstrips and raises money for student pilot scholarships. Along with flying, he also enjoys kayaking, mountain biking and riding motorcycles.