Then & Now: Arroyos focuses on making an impact

Adam Arroyos’ parents taught him to serve other people and “make an impact” in the lives of those around him. That lesson resonated with him in starting his professional development firm, Serve2Perform (formerly known as Grandslam Performance Associates), in 2012.

The firm provides thought leadership, training and technology for organizations, including Walmart, Sam’s Club, P&G, PepsiCo, Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt, Coca-Cola, Harps, Bayer and Simmons Foods. The company’s mission is “to grow leaders and grow communities in the Serve2Perform way,” Arroyos said. To explain the difference in Serve2Perfom leaders, Arroyos uses a baseball analogy of a home run netting a single run versus a grand slam netting four runs.

“Serve2Perform leaders are about collective impact. They’re not about individualism, and they’re not about unilateral decision-making,” he said. “They’re thinking in a collaborative manner of who else can be included. And so, they’re engaging people in an ongoing way, serving them, developing them, empowering them to grow them. And in the process, you’re achieving a Grand Slam impact, collective impact, which is much bigger than you would ever be able to achieve on your own.”

One of nine children, Arroyos grew up in a tiny town in the Texas panhandle, graduating with a degree in foreign languages from the University of Arkansas in 1998. Then he worked for two years in JCPenney’s merchant program in Nashville, coming back to Northwest Arkansas to work for Walmart. He left to get his master’s degree in education from the University of Arkansas, completing it in 2002 while working for Fayetteville’s Boys and Girls Club, then for SVI Consulting.

In 2008 Arroyos founded the local chapter of ALPFA, the Association for Latino Professionals for America, which became one of the largest chapters in the nation. Recruited back to Walmart in 2010 as corporate affairs director, he completed his doctorate in public policy that same year. Then Dr. Becky Paneitz, president of NorthWest Arkansas Community College, asked Arroyos to join her cabinet as vice president of college relations.

In 2011 he designed and launched the ALPFA Institute at the UA’s Sam M. Walton College of Business. In 2012 he was named to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 class. At his wife’s urging, Arroyos started Grandslam in 2012, changing the name to Serve2Perform in 2020.

“If you look at the common thread throughout my career, I’ve never had to apply for a job outside of when I first started my career. I’ve always had opportunities come my way. The litmus I’ve always used is: will it allow me to serve and make an impact at a greater level? If not, then it’s not for me,” Arroyos said.

Arroyos’ firm, Serve2Perform, has helped launch three major initiatives to bring diversity and inclusion to Northwest Arkansas: Banco Sí, EngageNWA, and LatinXNA.

Tasked with serving the Latino community, Serve2Perform partnered with Signature Bank to create Banco Sí and recruit and train its Latino and Latina advisory board members. Part of the Northwest Arkansas Council, EngageNWA “brings diverse people, organizations and communities together,” according to its website. This past summer Serve2Perform was named managing agency for Community Cohesion Project, created by Walmart, P&G and Crystal Bridges to encourage and celebrate diversity in Northwest Arkansas. Funded by Walmart, LatinXNA was launched five years ago “to engage, empower and elevate Latino and diverse talent in Northwest Arkansas and beyond.” Of the 6,000 members, half are non-Latino.

“Real inclusion is where everyone is included, everyone sees themselves in what we’re trying to achieve, everyone’s playing a role in helping their community grow and advance and plug in. We have about 28 corporate funding partners, and all share the cost of the operations of the new programs and services throughout the year,” Arroyos said.

A past board member of the Arkansas State Board of Career Education and Workforce Development, Arroyos is on the boards of Signature Bank of Arkansas, White River Bancshares Co., The Jones Center, Junior Achievement USA and Theater Squared.

Married to Kate, with five children, Arroyos enjoys family time and trips to Disney World or Branson. His two oldest daughters, Samantha and Megan, work at Serve2Perform.