Watkins Star Still Rising At Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Before she knew what she wanted to do with her adult life, Latriece Watkins knew for sure where she wanted it to start.

After graduating high school in the small town of McGehee in southeast Arkansas, Watkins headed for Atlanta to enroll at Spelman College, one of America’s oldest historically black colleges for women.

“That’s where I wanted to go and I did not apply anywhere else,” Watkins recalled. “When I think back now, that’s not a very smart thing to do, but I knew that was the place I needed to be. It’s proved to be perfect for me.”

Watkins, 39, said Spelman graduates carry with them a genuine attitude they can do things to make the world a better place.

It’s that way of thinking that makes it easy to understand why Watkins’ star is still on the rise at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

“When you come from McGehee, you don’t necessarily know where you might end up, or at least I didn’t,” said Watkins, a vice president of merchandising. “I never imagined having the opportunities and experiences and the exposures that I’ve had. Part of why I wanted to go to Spelman is it’s a place where people believe they can do more, and I have taken that with me from McGehee to Spelman to law school and to Walmart. It’s part of who I am and hopefully I get to make Walmart better every time I get to do that with other people.”

Watkins directs the alcoholic beverages category for Walmart. She got her foot in the door in 1997 as a real estate intern with the world’s largest retailer while attending law school at the University of Arkansas.

After earning her law degree in 1999, she went to work for Walmart’s real estate division and was rising up the ladder in that branch when she was chosen as a member of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 class in 2006.

In 2008, she transitioned to Sam’s Club to learn merchandising. With no prior background or experience in that area, Watkins said it was both exciting and rewarding to make such a leap.

“That is the core of what we do; we buy and sell things,” she said. “I got the opportunity to learn how to do that, and I got it in the Sam’s Club environment.”

In 2010, Watkins went back to Walmart U.S. to work in the alcoholic beverages category. As vice president, her team is responsible for the merchandising and strategy of all beer, wine and spirits sales in Walmart stores throughout the country.

“I often get to say, ‘No, this is not what I thought I would be doing with my law degree,’” Watkins joked. “It wasn’t necessarily on the list of things that I thought I might do, but I am excited and delighted I get to do it every day.”

Like most parents in Northwest Arkansas, Watkins said most of her free time is spent staying active with her children.

Her son, 15, is big into basketball and her daughter, 4, is beginning to take an interest in dance.

“I have great friends here, but for the most part we try to stay active with the kids,” she said.

A community service advocate, Watkins said she adheres to one important rule: “I have to be passionate about something in order to be involved with it,” she said.

Watkins has chaired the American Heart Association (AHA) Northwest Arkansas Heart Walk and has served on several boards, including the Ozark Natural Science Center and the AHA-South Central Affiliate. She also annually serves as a team leader in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

“For me it’s a passion of making sure I give as much as I have been given,” she explained. “I believe in people and the power of doing more through others than you can do alone.”

Watkins said she is proud of her successes thus far at Walmart, but she is just as excited about the next phase of her career, whatever that might be. Perhaps she will follow in the footsteps of another notable alumna of Spelman College — Rosalind Brewer, the CEO of Sam’s Club.

“It’s great to be able to look back and think about the things I’ve gotten to do,” Watkins said. “I would’ve never said I will do this next and I’ll do this next and after that I’ll be running the alcohol department for all the Walmart stores in the United States.

“So, I venture to say that I’ll have opportunities that are equally exciting and as challenging as what I am doing right now.”