How Did I Get Here?

Rosalind Brewer

President and chief executive officer, Sam’s Club
from
  • Education
  • Cass Technical High School, Detroit, class of 1980
  • Spelman College, Atlanta, class of 1984
  • Work Experience
  • 1984–88
    Research technician, Kimberly-Clark
  • 1988–98
    Market manager, director for skin care, vice president for nonwovens, Kimberly-Clark
  • 1998–2006
    President for manufacturing and operations, global president, Kimberly-Clark
  • 2006–12
    VP, senior VP, executive VP for Southeast operations, EVP for East business unit, Walmart Stores
  • 2012–Present
    President and CEO, Sam’s Club
  • Life Lessons
  • “Listen at all levels. Some of the best ideas come from those on the front lines.”
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  • “Seek people who are willing to act and inspire others to do the same.”
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  • “Be agile and ready to change every day.”
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  • At Spelman, early ’80s
  • “It’s a private, all-women’s college based in Christianity, and you had to get to know yourself to survive in that competitive environment.”
  • “Nonwovens are polymers heated and pressurized to make fabric. The technology is similar for diapers, feminine care, adult incontinence, and the sterilized clothes surgeons wear.”
  • “I thought I’d be with Walmart no more than three years or so. Lo and behold, I sort of fell in love.”
  • At a Walmart shareholders meeting, 2012
  • “I got a lab coat! But there was no one to talk to in the lab. I’d bring my radio.”
  • With her husband, John, at the Blue Scholarship Gala to benefit Spelman, 2010
  • “Retail only has one cycle: Go. I was out of breath the first six to nine months.”
  • Speaking at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2012
  • “Our e-commerce is growing, but a combination of being able to order online and pick up in-club is doing even better. In total, we’re at $58 billion in revenue, with 655 clubs and over 100,000 associates.”