Nicole Hart
Appearances
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
Not very much, I would say. Maybe an hour tops.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
Walking my floor, touring my sales floor, meeting with my associates, just day to day.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
Oh, probably about 18,000 today. Is that a lot? That's a normal day for me. What kind of shoes do you wear? It just depends. Today I'm wearing flats. I have on some Kate Spade flats and a red dress. I might come to work tomorrow in a pair of Jordans. You never know.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
I was 19 years old and I was a mother of two little girls and needed a job. So I started here as just a part-time job, never planned on it to turn into my career. But as the years went by, I noticed the opportunities that Walmart can provide. And so I decided to climb the ladder. Do you remember how much you made? $6.25 an hour. Part-time.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
Not at the time. No, it wasn't. It wasn't. But I mean, I saw the opportunity, right? That's what I saw. I was young. I had kids. I had responsibilities. And I saw that, yes, I was making 625 part-time, but I could go and be a salaried member of management.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
I would say whenever I was an assistant manager, my boss would show me like the amount of their bonuses and what the money they were making in that role. And that was the incentive to drive me because I knew I could do that. It just needed to put in the work. And so once I saw the financial benefits of becoming a store manager, I learned everything I could to get there.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
Do you remember your first day as store manager? Oh yeah. Oh my goodness. Yes. What was that like? Oh, the second that I walked in the door of that store, I had associates like come and just like corner me almost like, Oh, you're the new one. Fresh meat. Exactly. Fresh meat.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
And that was, um, that was something, you know, because I hadn't been in that type of a situation before, but it was just all in how that you present yourself to them to win over their trust. They've got to be able to trust you.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
Good morning, everybody. Good morning. How's everybody doing? Great.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
If I don't fill that up early now, then how many sales am I missing throughout the day?
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
Snoop cereal on the shelf. I used to have those and they never sold. Thank you.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
I mean, I was excited about it. It's awesome. I mean, it's nice to be appreciated for the work that you put in. Why is Walmart investing in store managers now? I would say for retention, right? To be able to get quality leaders in these positions because it's a very important position to hold. And I think that they want to get the right people in the right place to be able to deliver results.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
They're investing in our associates as well. I mean, there's been several changes over the last few years. This was just another piece of the puzzle. And I think that they just looked at the management as well because we are associates too. You know what I mean? Like you've got to be fair and consistent across the board and you've got to be able to compete with competitors when it comes to pay.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
Did it feel like a shift in sort of how corporate appreciates people in your position? I don't know about a shift. I just think that they're recognizing that we have a very important role and that, I mean, I don't know. I feel like they're taking care of us right now. Like, it's... It's good. I mean, they're not giving us all this money. I don't know. It's not just like, here, take it.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
Yeah, because I do this every single day. This is my morning. Every morning, we walk a new tour. So there's things that I already, I mean, we walk by granola bars on the cereal aisle. I already know they're coming in on the 25th.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
We have things that we have to do if we want to meet the metrics that are expected for us. So it's not just handed to us, but it's there within reach if you want it.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
Right? All the things that we're doing is working. So keep doing what we're doing. Keep going after the items. Keep filling the holes. Right? Keep working the meal takes. Doing all the things that we do because it's working. It's working. And it's something to be super, super proud of. I'm proud of y'all. I mean, definitely.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
Yeah. And I mean, it just continues to grow, you know, year after year after year, it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And the company just is rolling out many more initiatives that make people want to shop online. It makes the experience better. So it's a moving piece, but it's fun. I like change and I like challenges. How has that changed your day to day?
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
It's not just the shoppers coming into your store. You've got thousands of shoppers that are outside of your store that are expecting you to deliver excellence to them. They want the items that they're ordering. You've got to know what items are being ordered and not being found so you can fix them. It's one more piece that's just added to the puzzle, but it also brings in a lot of dollars.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
But you have to hit sales targets.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
I think the hardest part is when you take a new store and you have got to get all 300 people to push in the same direction, right? Because they've got to understand your expectations. They've got to understand their rules. They've got to understand processes. It's not me that does all of these things. This is my team, my 300 people that I manage that makes this big building work.
The Journal.
The 20,000 Steps to a Walmart Manager's Six-Figure Salary
I'm going to go back out on my I'm going to go follow up on the notes that I gave this morning and be sure that everything is ready for evening business. Go and walk the grocery side and be sure I have rotisserie chickens and bread and fruits and meat out for the evening. Just be sure that we're ready.