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CEO: Wal-Mart Taught Me How To Be A Leader, Manager

2 min read

The co-founder and CEO of SmartStar, a mobile application that teaches children life skills, says everything she knows about herself as a leader and manager was learned during a summer internship at Wal-Mart. 

Josilyn Tan spent last summer working as a field management intern at one of the Bentonville retailer’s stores in Sahuarita, Arizona. Tan recently shared what she learned from that summer in a post on LinkedIn that has now been picked up by Quartz.

The internship did not start as well as expected. Tan said it was the most difficult work experience she had encountered. 

Tan also mentioned the guidance she received from the Arizona Wal-Mart’s store manager, which she called “the most seasoned store manager in the market” with 7-8 years of experience.

“Given all the bad press Wal-Mart gets about its workers, let me tell you why they are still the world’s largest retailer: it is because they are still doing something right,” Tan said in her post.

In the end, Tan says she found out retail was not for me, but she greatly enjoyed her time at Wal-Mart.

“Wal-Mart didn’t breed another store manager, but it is still an instrumental part to my story. When I become a millionaire, I will always remember that summer with Wal-Mart, and where I was then. I will laugh, but I will also be grateful, and I will always tell the story of how Wal-Mart has shaped me into the strong person that I am today.”

To read her entire blog, click here.

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