Creating an exceptional customer experience means knowing what customers want – and the best way to achieve that is to listen when they speak. The secret to success is to meet the customers where they are and provide them with what they need.

Jennifer McKeehan is the Senior Vice President, End-to-End Delivery at Walmart – and a returning Supply Chain Now guest. Her past experience includes roles at Peloton and The Home Depot, where she learned that no matter what the problem is, the answers are always in the stores. She and her team are responsible for “anything that moves” at Walmart, from the point of origin to customer homes.

In this interview with Scott Luton and Greg White, Jennifer talks about:

• Why Walmart’s customer experience is being enhanced by investments in final-mile delivery

• How Walmart is rolling out drone delivery – a service that recently surpassed 7,000 deliveries from 36 sites in 7 states

• The role that pandemic-era challenges played in making Walmart’s supplier partnerships stronger and more collaborative

• The immense value the front-line workers bring to the table

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from Those Making Global Business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:30):

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, Scott Luton and Greg White with you here on Supply Chain. Now welcome to today’s show, Gregory. How are we doing?

Greg White (00:38):

I’m doing good. I am, uh, always glad we get to share some time with some of these practitioners who are really making supply chain happen, right? I think it’s fantastic to get to speak to all these leaders. I just have one question for you, Scott. Are we, are we gonna low talk through this one? Should I <laugh>?

Scott Luton (00:58):

Hey, I know you’re gonna be at full volume as always, Greg and I look, I look forward to that. But as you’re referencing big big show today as we have a repeat guest with us back by Popular Demand. And as Greg suggested, we’re gonna be talking about some really cool developments when it comes to supply chain and the retail world. So should be a great show. So Greg, are we ready to introduce our esteemed guests here today?

Greg White (01:24):

I guess we should. Otherwise it would just be you and IIC for the rest

Scott Luton (01:27):

Of your guys. <laugh> and the World has had, had enough of Scott and Greg I bet. But yes, <laugh>. So really excited about our guests here. Our guest, uh, featured guest has experienced across retail and e-commerce channels, of course, including supply chain operations, merchandising strategies. Prior to her current role, she held leadership positions at Peloton and the Home Depot and her reputation. Now Greg is one of a versatile and strategic corporate athlete. I love that. An authentic and collaborative leader and a results driven agent of change. So our guest currently serves as senior vice president, end-to-end delivery with Walmart. And I wanna welcome in Jennifer McKeean to the conversation. Jennifer, how you doing? Hey

Jennifer McKeehan (02:10):

There. Thanks guys. Good to see ya.

Scott Luton (02:13):

You as well, Greg. We’ve been looking forward to this conversation, aren’t

Greg White (02:16):

We? Yeah, welcome aboard. I, I mean, like I said in the kind of lead up, it’s always great to talk to the folks that are doing the doing, um, and with you having so much experience across a broad, uh, spectrum of, of different companies, uh, and being a change agent. Scott, you know, how I feel about change agents, <laugh>. Um, I mean, we, you know, there’s so much change that’s necessary in supply chain. I think it’s always good to be looking forward and learning and, and seeking out new solutions. So I’m stoked.

Scott Luton (02:46):

Well said, well said Jim. So welcome in. Now, uh, some folks may remember the last time you were with us. I want to kind of recap a little bit of that. We had a lot of fun talking about where you grew up and, and, uh, I think some food items, it always finds a way, way to work itself in the conversation. <laugh>, um, <laugh>. So, so Jen, refresh our listeners, our viewers, uh, memories. Where did you grow up? And, and give us an anecdote or two about your upbringing.

Jennifer McKeehan (03:11):

Uh, that’s great. Yeah, it’s good to see you guys today and thanks for having me back. I, um, I actually grew up right northeast of Atlanta in a little town called Lawrenceville, Georgia. Uh, and have been in Atlanta most of my life. My mother still lives in the house we grew up in, I think, um, some fun, some fun antidotes. I think that’s how we got on food. That’s right. And, you know, Atlanta’s the home of Waffle House and Chick-fil-A and it doesn’t get much better than that. So, um, those are, those are probably my two favorites. Uh, and my favorite place, place to go when I’m back home.

Scott Luton (03:44):

Well, okay, so if you’re gonna go there, we’re gonna go there with, with, uh, uh, the full force. So Greg, nothing quite beats a Patty Mill at a Waffle House, right?

Greg White (03:55):

Right. <laugh>,

Scott Luton (03:57):

Okay. Maybe

Greg White (03:58):

I’m a firm believer that Waffle House is like the eighties. If you remember being at Waffle House, you weren’t there. So <laugh>, uh, much like Kid Rock, I mostly go there to get in fights.

Scott Luton (04:08):

<laugh>, okay.

Greg White (04:10):

I’m a huge fan of the waffles. I love. You can almost eat the waffles without syrup.

Scott Luton (04:16):

So yes, I, I completely agree. Completely agree. Especially you put a little butter on there. Goodness gracious. Um, I’m gonna go back though for a second to Lawrenceville, cause uh, uh, Jen, there’s a wonderful square, you know. Yeah. That kinda makes up the center of town and talk about places to eat, places to shop. It’s just a really cool place to park and, and get your steps in, huh?

Jennifer McKeehan (04:36):

It’s great. It has, you know, it has come so far from my early days, uh, and now it’s so hip. There’s apartments and it’s kind of a work, eat, play type of deal. And, um, who knew that Lawrenceville would come that far? So, um, we were back home for the holidays and it was, it was great. It’s a really cute little spot.

Scott Luton (04:53):

Love that. Um, okay, so let’s move along Greg and Jen and Jen, I wanna, um, I don’t think we touched on this last time you were with us here. So, um, you know, worldview is so important, right? It’s an important context to how we view, um, leaders, right? So tell us before your current role, what’s a couple of positions you held, leadership positions you held that really shaped that worldview?

Jennifer McKeehan (05:16):

Sure. Well, you know, I was so lucky, um, was about to graduate college year before, you know, you have to start figuring out, okay, what’s this gonna look like? What am I gonna do? Uh, and I had the opportunity to intern at Home Depot and I thought, you know, I’ll go do this and see how it goes. And then I had planned to go to grad school and do a few other things. And, um, after that internship, I just kind of got sucked in, spent the next 15 years at the Home Depot. Just an incredible culture or place to learn, cut your teeth, grow up. Um, but I started in store operations and so I really spent the book of my early years in stores understanding how they work, the, you know, how what the customers like, how to support associates in the store, and what a gift in retail to sort of start where the cash register is and understand the value of the frontline associates and what they have to go through day in and day out.

Jennifer McKeehan (06:07):

And that has just been a piece of my dna I have carried with me since. Um, got to do a lot of other fun things at the Home Depot, um, ending and running a piece of their supply chain and undergoing a large digital transformation, which, um, you don’t get the opportunity to do all the time. And so just really lucky to be in seat and see such tremendous growth and, um, acceleration for what they were doing. And then had the incredible opportunity to go on to Peloton during Covid, which as I tell people, was not boring. Um, a completely different set of problems, but obviously got to scale and grow and, um, look at what that looked like just in a hyper-growth mode. It’s so super fun. Uh, and then now Walmart. So,

Scott Luton (06:52):

All right. So man, you share, you could write a book of over what you just shared over the last three minutes. So, um, Greg, I wanna pull it back to, uh, her first where she was talking about the Home Depot and the power of the frontline, right? This, the frontline team members. Your thoughts, Greg. Cause that’s, that’s like the part of the secret sauce, right?

Greg White (07:08):

Yeah. I feel like, I feel like I’m in Jerry McGuire. You had me at Frontline. I, I mean, I, I really believe that that <laugh> store ops, it is the frontline. I mean, if you think about it, I, I talk to so many people who have been in the food service industry who say everyone should wait tables. I agree with that. And I would add in also, everyone should work in a retail store because, you know, my belief is that consumers are the beginning and the end of the supply chain. And, um, you know, there’s no demand without them demanding something. So that power, the power and the, um, I don’t know, the engagement and the, the information and the knowledge you can capture just from being in the stores, uh, is, is so incredible and is a key part of understanding supply chain as, as you go throughout all the way back to raw materials, right? Yeah,

Jennifer McKeehan (08:00):

That’s so true, Greg. You know, it’s funny, we say the answers are always in the stores. You just have to go and listen mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Uh, and so kind of regardless of the role I’ve had, the answers are always in the store. Yeah. Yep. Uh, and

Greg White (08:12):

So that’s a really good point.

Scott Luton (08:14):

And so Jim, one other quick, uh, question about your, um, uh, looking back is, man, there’s few teachers that are as effective as that of fast growth, right? To which you, which one of your big themes, uh, secondly, would you agree with that?

Jennifer McKeehan (08:29):

I would agree. I, you know, trial by fire, um, and survival. But, um, just incredible learning opportunity because you’ve got a ton of people figuring just smart folks figuring things out at the speed of lightning, um, because the customer is demanding that. And, um, incredible, incredible experience for sure.

Scott Luton (08:51):

Yep. Okay. Um, so let’s, let’s shift gears. Let’s talk about, uh, Walmart and what you’re doing now. It’s really exciting. Got a lot of things we’re gonna dive into here momentarily, but tell us, you know, all of our listeners, of course, are familiar with Walmart, but what do you do in your role as, uh, S V P, senior Vice President of End-to-End Delivery?

Jennifer McKeehan (09:09):

Sure. Well, um, myself and the Amazing Team and End to End delivery shout out, uh, is, is responsible for what I say, anything that moves at Walmart. And so from origin or supplier all the way to our customer’s front porch or in their home, we’re, we’re connecting the dots across First Mile and Ocean Minute Mile in terms of over the Road Rail, and then all of our final mile apparatus, whether that is customer delivery, our Spark Driver platform, or our Go local, which is a white label delivery service. And so some folks call it Water Wheels and Wings <laugh>. Um, we’ve also got some drones and ev and AV tests in there. And so, um, if it’s moving through our supply chain, the end to end delivery team is taking care of it.

Greg White (09:59):

Jennifer, it’s, um, we talk to a lot of people and it’s really interesting that a lot of people don’t understand that that final Mile to the consumer is part of their supply chain, and that in fact, the consumer is part of their supply chain. So I think that’s, that’s an incredible recognition.

Jennifer McKeehan (10:15):

Um, yeah, and I’ll, I’ll tell you in my first six months at Walmart, like they do an incredible job, really always putting the customer first and thinking about that in everything we do. And I think with that in mind, to your exact point, it’s listening to the customer so that we can meet them where they want, when they want, and connecting all of those pieces so that we can service them with speed and the great experience that they expect. And, you know, in-home delivery is a great example of that, to your point. Like, Hey, we, that’s something that our customers wanted. And so that’s something that we’re now able to provide, which is a really exciting opportunity. Mm-hmm.

Scott Luton (10:50):

So let’s talk about, one of the things you mentioned there on the front end as you were talking about, uh, all the cool things that, uh, you and the team are up to at Walmart, this Go local initiative. So folks hadn’t heard of that yet, and I’m sure Pliny have, what is it?

Jennifer McKeehan (11:03):

Sure. Go Local is a white label delivery as a service, um, that we provide that leverages our Spark Driver platform. So our Spark Driver platform is, um, covers 84% of America today. It’s made up of our incredible large group of independent contractors that help us deliver out of the back of Walmart stores. And what we found is there’s a real need for our other partners to have a delivery as a service that leverages the density and the scale that we can provide. Um, you know, there’s 4,700 Walmarts within 10 miles of 90% of America. So you think about the competitive final mile footprint that that provides, go local leverages that scale, that capability, and lets us to go and deliver for other folks. We have a variety of clients on the roster everywhere from apparel to home improvement to electronics. And so that’s not only letting us deliver faster for our own customers, but it’s enabling us to deliver faster for their customers too.

Scott Luton (12:08):

Man, that is really cool. And if I understood you correctly, that that coverages, 84% of the US population is, is covered with the Go Local, uh, initiative. Um, is that right, Jen?

Jennifer McKeehan (12:19):

That’s right. Our, that’s right. We have an internal driver platform that we’ve created called Spark, and we leverage that platform across the us um, and to, to deliver for all of our go local customers and clients.

Scott Luton (12:34):

Man. Okay. So Greg, well,

Greg White (12:36):

You’re looking at Spark right now, aren’t you? You’re

Scott Luton (12:39):

<laugh>, we might be, the research team is on it, but, uh, Greg, you mentioned innovation earlier and just, uh, one of your comments earlier that go local program’s pretty cool, huh?

Greg White (12:49):

Yeah, well, I, I think about, um, I love the brilliance of, of delivering out of the stores or, or, or, um, or of kind of using the stores as Waypoint even because they’re everywhere, right? Walmart knows their demographic. There’s, you know, most of their stores have a certain number of people within a certain radius of the store itself. Um, and <laugh>, think about it, where can you go where you don’t pass a Walmart store, right? So, uh, it’s a perfect, I mean, it’s a perfect hub for that kind of thing. And if you can create efficiencies both for, um, other companies, but also for Walmart with that, it’s not unlike, you know, uh, uh, logistics services such or, you know, last mile delivery service without a retail store attached to it. Yeah. And it’s, I think, you know, it’s one of the models that I like about what Walmart does.

Greg White (13:42):

They have this whole concept of, of scale economies shared, right? Where the, the more capacity they have, the more they do with it, and the lower, the lower impact it has on the consumer. Because if more companies are helping to fund this Spark driver campaign, then, then that’s less shipment cost that any of those of those providers, including Walmart, have to apply to the consumer. So making good use of that is, is beneficial to, to everyone. And I’m not sure everyone gets that. I mean, there are a few companies, particularly in retail that have this notion of scale economies shared, but what that really does is reduce the price overall for, yeah,

Jennifer McKeehan (14:27):

Great. You’re, you’re spot on for all the supply chain nerds on the call, it’s, you know, we’re after density and, you know, density will set you free and it enables us to be a great service provider, not only for Walmart customers, but for others too. And so I think that’s where, you know, go local, just passed three and a half million deliveries, um, and is continuing to grow. And so we’re proud of what they can do do for Walmart, um, through Spark, but also what they’re doing for our clients all over the US

Scott Luton (14:57):

Intensity shall set you free. I love, I love that j an old movie. You’re my right, right. Um, but also all the growth. And if I’m not mistaken, I, I think, uh, Walmart market share and e-commerce, uh, growth has continued to grow. Uh, the number of orders related to that fulfilled by the stores has grown tremendously. So looking forward to keeping our finger on the pulse as y’all continue to, to compete. Um, more and more advantageously. Um, let’s talk about Jer Drone. Do Jerome deliveries, cause I, as I, we understand it, Greg, you and I chatted about this on an episode of Supply Chain, was a couple times, uh, in recent months. Walmart did a lot of big things when it comes to its drone delivery efforts, I think in 2021, and correct me if I’m wrong, Jen, I think over 6,000 drone deliveries took place in key markets across the US and, and that has continued to grow and expand here, moving into, uh, 2023. So tell us more about, um, what was accomplished last year and some of the key lessons learned, perhaps.

Jennifer McKeehan (15:54):

Yeah, I, I love talking about drones because it’s such a good, um, example of where we’re hearing, we’re meeting the customer, where they wanna shop, how they wanna shop, but it’s also democratizing access and giving us sustainable way to deliver on that. And so, um, to your point that, um, we just actually surpassed 7,000 deliveries. We’re in 36 sites across the US in seven states. And so, um, we have a few partners in there that we partner with to do that. But it really starts back to that store platform. We’ve got such a penetration of stores, how do we leverage them as our competitive advantage? There’s almost 85% of the store that’s eligible for drone delivery. And so, wow, you think about the speed of getting something within 30 minutes, the access where, you know, this could be a really urban area or a very rural area.

Jennifer McKeehan (16:50):

Um, and just the sustainability that that provides to deliver where you want and in an electric electrified way. Um, and so some of my favorite stories are you think, you know, are some of the top items are a rotisserie chicken or a two pound bag of lemons. Um, and so we see all sorts of fun. You know, I had a drone delivery done the other day, and, um, you see just really fun use cases of, of how a customer leverages that. So like, they’re in the middle of cooking and they forgot a spice and something else. And so, you know, you’re like loading the box. You know, Scott, you had said like, there’s certain pounds that a drone can take, um, but, you know, we see a pint of ice cream and like the cinnamon they forgot for dinner. Or, you know, you think, Hey, we might be able to deliver prescriptions for an elderly person that’s on the outskirt of town. Like, um, so it’s, it’s not only just like really cool whizzing technology, but it’s also, you think about, you know, the customer service and the customer experience you can provide with that speed of 30 minutes or less. And, um, we’re just really excited about the, the opportunities that it brings.

Scott Luton (18:00):

All right. So Greg, I’m gonna get you and, and, uh, get you a way in just a second. This is so cool. Let me do two quick, uh, programming points. Cause I, I think I misspoke. In 2022, Walmart had over 6,000 deliveries. And then secondly, as Jen mentioned, over 7,000 now and this, that’s at the time this, that this records and we’re recording this interview. That changes every day. I bet Jen. Um, yeah, right. All the time and, and the, and the markets. You’re, I think y’all open up some new, new drone delivery markets this year. So it’s, it’s expanding to to different customers too, huh?

Jennifer McKeehan (18:33):

Um, that’s right.

Scott Luton (18:35):

So with that, Greg, I know everyone mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, hears the word drone and they may say, oh, it’s, you know, we’ve been talking about this forever. This is cool because this is more deeds, not words that we love to tout here. Right? Greg,

Greg White (18:49):

I’m sorry, hold on just a second. I’m on Walmart plus love now trying to

Jennifer McKeehan (18:53):

<laugh>. That’s right, Greg.

Greg White (18:55):

Cause she said ice cream

Jennifer McKeehan (18:57):

Redelivery with Walmart plus everybody get, go get your membership

Greg White (19:00):

<laugh>. I don’t think I’m in a, I I’m on an island right now, Jennifer, so I don’t think that I’m probably within a drone delivery area, but I’m gonna give it a shot. Uh, but I, I love that. I, I have to ask, I have to ask, and I, and then Scott, I promise I will answer your question, but, uh, let’s say someone ordered, and I’m just saying this speculatively, let’s say someone ordered their rotisserie chicken for dinner and a half gallon of ice cream or whatever size it comes in now, thanks to shrink Fian. Um, what does that get delivered in same time? I mean, does you, do you have like heat and cold? You have like little flying Yetis? Is that what it is?

Jennifer McKeehan (19:42):

<laugh>? Yeah, exactly, exactly. There, um, there, it’s f so there’s a few different things that we’re trying and testing. We’ve got a, um, a few just wonderful supplier partners that are helping us figure it out. But it essentially goes in like a little cooler box. Um, and so you just see it fly across the sky, uh, in, in the box, and it gets there in five minutes. So, you know that ice cream don’t get very cold, don’t get very melted in five minutes. It’s pretty good,

Scott Luton (20:06):

Man.

Greg White (20:07):

It’s smart. I, I, you know, I, I think about, so another stupid thing I did as a kid delivered pizzas, right? And we had the little hot, hot box trays things Yeah. And that sort of thing. I imagine this will all become part of the whole thing over time, right? Is, is all of the temperature controlled and that sort of thing to, to tackle this. Anyway, sorry. Sorry to distract you on that. That’s just a really cool and interesting point. So I love to hear what people want in 30 minutes, aside from pizza.

Jennifer McKeehan (20:35):

Yeah.

Greg White (20:36):

And, and it’s really cool to, to kind of hear that.

Scott Luton (20:39):

Well, so speaking of Greg, yes, Scott, uh, two, two quick points. So Jen mentioned the pound limitation. I think it’s up to 10 pounds, is what’s currently available by drone delivery, if I’ve got that right. And then she mentioned chicken, uh, cookies, energy drinks and paper towels have been awesome. Of the most popular items ordered, Jen, that is so cool. Um,

Greg White (21:00):

I think we learn a lot about the consumer by this, right? I mean, we start to learn about, um, I, I mean if you think about this, it’s the ultimate impulse purchase, right? And you start to think and learn about what people, um, must have immediately, but they maybe don’t plan so well for it. It’s an interesting psycho-analysis over time. I would think

Jennifer McKeehan (21:23):

Guilty it is. Or you know, the other, the other day I was at the drone, um, tower and they were loading like, Pedialyte, Gatorade and Kids’ medicine and you thought, ah, like a mom’s homesick with her kid and like, need something in 20 minutes. Like just all of these like use cases where, you know, it’s like, it’s both convenient but also like you’re helping someone live better. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so super fun.

Scott Luton (21:45):

And, and that’s a great take, uh, pick back up point because, uh, I love the example you used about delivering medicine to those that may be really limited and bound to their homes. So lots of noble purpose there. Um, anything else before we move on? Cause we’re gonna be talking, uh, ocean freight as we, uh, tackle this Water wheels and wings, uh, triumphant here today. Anything else that you, you expect or can predict or maybe share with you about where the program, the drone delivery programs go on in 2023?

Jennifer McKeehan (22:12):

Yeah, I would tell you we’re continuing to, to test and learn like what do our customers want, how fast do they want it? Um, and working with, you know, all sorts of partners in this space to understand how we can continue to expand that program. Cuz we know customers love it. Um, and just wanna make sure we got all the right policies and guidelines in place so that we can continue to, to lean in there. We’re really excited about it.

Scott Luton (22:36):

Yeah, good stuff. A lot of good stuff. We could have a whole couple hours on this, on what you’re learning and doing from a drone perspective, but we gotta move on. So, um, Greg and Jennifer, ocean Freight has been the headlines of course for, uh, a lot these recent years. Perhaps most we’ve seen perhaps in recent memory now, uh, I saw across social, I enjoy following what you put out there on social, especially LinkedIn. Jen, you visited members of your Ocean Freight team, uh, it’s probably two or three months ago. What were a couple of your key takeaways from that visit and the conversations that ensued while you were there?

Jennifer McKeehan (23:10):

Sure. You know, um, field visits have been my favorite part of the new job back to sort of frontline in the stores in the field. That’s where you learn the most. And to your point, I’ve had some really good visits. I think in general post covid, it seems like there’s much more of a partnership atmosphere across Ocean Liners. Our, our port partners, our DRE partners, and how we’re just moving freight in a connected way. And so a lot of good learnings around just how do we all be better together? And there are things that we as a shipper can do to help that. There’s things that the ports and the DRE teams are helping to do that. And there’s things that the Ocean liners and our partners are helping to do that. And so I think it’s honestly driven some more transparent discussions and some more connected interest in terms of, we all want this to work better. We never want what happened to happen again if we can avoid it. And so how do we think about that in a strategic way, um, that helps everybody benefit. And so just really good conversations and I think more of a collective, uh, nature than you probably would’ve seen pre covid.

Scott Luton (24:18):

Yeah. Love that. Uh, Jen, love that. Uh, Greg comment on that. Uh, cause we, gosh, uh, we know that we’ve had lots of conversations around what’s been going on in port the last few years. Your thoughts, Greg?

Greg White (24:29):

Yeah, well I think it’s a leadership lesson as much as anything else. Get down and talk to the people doing the doing, right? I mean, um, you know, we talked to Rick McDon at Clorox fairly frequently. Um, and same deal, right? You, uh, you probably more than others, Jennifer can appreciate that having worked in the store, your philosophy that you expressed a little earlier is Right. Get, get out there, right? Get out there with the people who are seeing issues on the front line and you can learn so much there. So first of all, I, I want to acknowledge that because I think that’s a key thing for people to take away is you have to get out there, right? You can’t sit back here in our little podcast studio and go <laugh> this way. It ought to be done. Um, but, but I think the other is to recognize that this is a constant shift.

Greg White (25:18):

I mean, just think about just in your tenure, just at Walmart, Jennifer, how the, uh, marketplace for all kinds of freight. But if o ocean freight especially has changed, everything’s here and can’t get back there and everything’s there and can’t get it back here and, you know, and it’s, it’s 10 times what it used to cost. It’s back to what it used to cost, you know, and it, and all the transition that’s been going on in between that. And that’s just largely the economics and the macro economics, uh, or, you know, macro conditions of it. But then also you’ve got all these other conditions where largely government or pseudo-government entities have been put under an incredible amount of, of stress and shift. And that’s not a natural thing, right? Governments generally work best when everything is average. Um, and everything has been anything but average, excuse me, while I look out the window and see. Yeah. Uh, just a few

Scott Luton (26:17):

Ships <laugh>,

Greg White (26:17):

Just a few ships waiting outside, uh, the port of Savannah. But you know, we had been tracking that for a long time, Scott. And we got up to 37 40 ships out here offshore, waiting to get into the port of Savannah and hundreds in other ports. So that transition and understanding, how did we get here, Jennifer, as you were talking about, and how do we never get here again or, uh, at least mitigate our risk, which also I think you guys did a great job of doing as well. Um, I think those learnings are, are critical because the natural reaction is to go, whew, glad that’s over. Let’s go back to what we were doing before.

Jennifer McKeehan (26:57):

That’s right. As they say, don’t let a good crisis go to waste. Right? And so, you know, I think we’ve, we’ve had a lot of discussions around, it’s not going back to pre covid. It’s going to our new way of working. And even though the volumes might feel normal, it’s, you know, we’re not back to normal. We’re back to new.

Greg White (27:15):

Right.

Scott Luton (27:17):

You know, um, I wanna, I wanna bring us kind of full circle. Cause on the front end, uh, Jen, we started with folks on the front line, right? And when I think about, you know, all the folks that, that touch what moves at Walmart, right? Via water wheels or wings or folks in the stores helping customers, you know, all the different folks that, um, keep us all moving forward during the pandemic, keeping stuff on shelves and where we have some peace of mind, Greg, we’ve talked a lot about that. We’ve got so much to be great for and the people that make it happen. And Jen, to your point, to be able to take the time out and go meet and learn from the brightest and, and most innovative, the problem solvers, the army of problem solvers that move global supply chain forward, that’s gotta be one of the best parts of your job. So I’ll give you the last word there as we start to wrap. Cause we’re gonna talk about, uh, national Women’s History month next. But your last, uh, last thought there around those, uh, incredible front liners.

Jennifer McKeehan (28:13):

Well, I would say one of my favorite stories coming to Walmart is, um, you know, we have the Walmart fleet. And so there are, there are our frontline drivers. We have 13,000 drivers, 10,000 tractors, 80,000 trailers. But the fleet drivers are just the magic special sauce of Walmart and have gotten to meet and ride along with several of them now. Um, and they’re just incredible in terms of the, the service, the passion, the culture they have, um, for our customer and what they do day in and day out, um, in a market that we know has been really hard to find drivers. And so just shout out to all the drivers on the road out there. That’s a, that’s a really tough gig. And, um, you know, Walmart is not, could not be proud of our fleet. And that has been, you know, one of my favorite frontline experiences thus far. For sure.

Scott Luton (29:08):

Wholeheartedly agree. And Greg, um, we had the great good fortune of interviewing an a, uh, an award-winning driver for Walmart. First name was April. And that was one of our highlights in in recent last, uh, year or two, wasn’t it?

Greg White (29:20):

Yeah. She is an influencer in and of herself, isn’t she? Have you ever ridden with her? Jennifer?

Jennifer McKeehan (29:26):

You know, I haven’t met April yet. I’ve heard all about her. Um, Carol Nixon’s another one of our just amazing female drivers. There are just tons. There’s several out there. So there are tons of fun. So the go for women in trucking,

Scott Luton (29:39):

Man,

Greg White (29:40):

We can, we can can connect you with April Jennifer

Scott Luton (29:43):

<laugh>. She was an inspiration and a force of nature. Well, really

Greg White (29:47):

A family driver, right? I mean, you got it from her dad. So that’s pretty cool. I, I think, um, her story is fantastic and she’s a great person. You’ll really enjoy riding with her, I’m

Jennifer McKeehan (29:57):

Sure. That’s awesome.

Scott Luton (29:59):

So speaking a great segue here, uh, you know, we, uh, like many celebrate, uh, women’s contributions and accomplishments and, and innovations all, all year long, but I do, uh, can get the value of a very targeted month where we really maybe are extra deliberate about, um, you know, lifting up those, uh, powerful stories. So we’re recording this interview during National Women’s History month in March, every March. So, Jen, what’s a couple, what are a couple of your favorite inspiring women from history or from your own journey?

Jennifer McKeehan (30:31):

Oh my gosh, that’s such a big question. I, um, I’ll give one from myself and then one that, you know, if I meet her one day, I will, it will, you know, she’s my celebrity crush. I, um, I would tell you one of the best leaders I ever had, woman, or not woman, just incredible leader, was a woman named Stephanie Smith from Home Depot. And, um, just really embodied what it meant to be your whole self at work, to be a, uh, you know, a mother, a spouse, but also just like an incredible leader and transformational, um, thought partner. And she just taught, you know, I was at a very pivotal time in my career. I was newly married, I was becoming a mom. I was also, you know, trying to still make my way up, up the corporate ladder. And, um, she just really showed what it meant to be your authentic self and be able to be all of those things, you know, not necessarily at the same time, but at different times and at the right times.

Jennifer McKeehan (31:32):

Um, and so just so grateful to her and her mentorship and, and what, what she did for my career. Um, back to, you know, the importance of pulling other women along the way. And then my just professional crush is, um, Roz Brewer who has been all over. She did a stint at, um, Sam’s Club in Walmart, um, was at Starbucks and is now the c e o of Walgreens. And she just, um, she’s just a powerhouse and she’s also super normal. Um, from everything I can gather, I like, listen to any interviewer podcast I can get on. So Raz, if you’re listening, call me <laugh>. Um, I’ve like written her a handwritten, a handwritten note. It’s like, I’d love to spend time with you. Um, and so, but she, you know, Raz I think is special because she’s really demonstrated no. And as a person of color and a female navigating several large organizations, like I can only imagine the challenges she has met and just, you know, how she shows up and the advocacy that she has for others has just been incredible. And I think, you know, as I’m continuing to, to grow in my leadership, I think, wow, I hope I can leave the legacy and be a champion like Ross has been for so many others. Um, and she, yeah, and apparently she likes listening to Drake, which I also think is super cool. So like, she’s the cool lady. Like, one day we’re going to meet, it’s going to happen. <laugh>. Um,

Scott Luton (33:01):

So Roz, these

Jennifer McKeehan (33:03):

Phenomenal women,

Scott Luton (33:05):

<laugh>, RO and Stephanie, uh, sure that’s the, uh, uh, top of very long list of, of women that, uh, Jen finds inspiring. So, ROS and Stephanie, if you’re out there, thank you for all that you do and all that you lead and all that you inspire Greg, uh, how would you respond to, to Jen’s, uh, uh, comments there?

Greg White (33:27):

Oh, um, wow, kind of twofold. Immediately, of course, Sandra McQuillan came to mind as I was thinking, I was thinking we probably ought to introduce Jen to, to Sandra, um, another fantastic female leader from, uh, couple of your suppliers over, over time, not least of, and not least of which, and not least important, Oreos, Mondelez. So, um, so I think that would be a great connection, but also someone I admire tremendously and we love working with. And anyway that, um, but I, I, I think, um, I, you know, I think everyone should probably acknowledge the women who have influenced their lives. Like my mom obviously influenced my life pretty significantly. Single mother put herself through college, you know, while teaching us how to cook for ourselves while she was doing night school, all of that sort of thing. Um, but, but also I think all, I think the other thing that came through clearly, Jen, Jen, Jen, Jen, Jennifer, is that, um, you want to carry on that legacy of continuing to lift others up as well. And I think it’s a great recognition to have that. And it is a great, um, purpose to have and it is ever so empowering for you, yourself. So it’s so self-affirming to be giving. Um, and I think you will, you will be great at it, first of all, and you will really and truly enjoy it. And I bet you’re already doing it. It seems like you have a very conscious desire to do that. You’re probably doing

Jennifer McKeehan (34:59):

Better, you know, I’ve been very lucky in life and been given many opportunities along with some hard work and wanna make sure that I can pay that forward to others.

Scott Luton (35:08):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Love it. Outstanding man. Jennifer, I wish we had a couple more hours with you. I really, we, uh, um, just as, uh, you surpassed the expectation, you set the stand on, on your last visit with us, and this has been a great, great, uh, hour or so. So for folks that want to connect with you and learn more about some things you’ve shared here, maybe they wanna invite you into a keynote or, or other things. Um,

Greg White (35:33):

Ross wants to reach out,

Scott Luton (35:34):

Right? That’s right.

Jennifer McKeehan (35:35):

That’s right, that’s right. She wants to call me for, for dinner. <laugh>, I’m available. Um, so can I reach you? I would say, you know, I’m active on LinkedIn. It’s a great way to connect with our associates and peers in the industry. And so, um, would love to connect. I think if anyone’s interested in Walmart or coming to work on the incredible transformation and innovation we have underway, we’d love to have you@careers.walmart.com and then our, um, delivery service through our Spark driver platform drive for spark.com would love to see you there too. So really appreciate the, the time and, and chat today.

Scott Luton (36:10):

Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much, Jennifer. We’re gonna, we’re gonna get Greg’s key takeaway in just a minute, so, so, uh, standby just one. But we’ve been talking with Jennifer McKen, senior vice President, end-to-end delivery with Walmart and the cool things that she’s, she and the team have been up to. Thank you so much, Jen. All right. So Greg, before we wrap today’s episode, I got it. There’s so much, so much we talked about here today. We learned from Jen, uh, innovation Frontline, um, everything that moves, I mean, some of these big themes here, uh, leadership throughout really. Um, what’s one of the, your favorite things you heard here on today’s conversation, Greg?

Greg White (36:51):

Uh, golly, there’s so much. And it, you know, it hearkens back to two people that we admire really strongly, as I said, Sandra and, and Rick, who are fantastic and very personal leaders. Um, and how, uh, you know, what I think is beautiful about this is, you know, we’re talking about Women’s History Month and all that sort of thing, but how unsurprising it is, right? How, um, sort of standard practice I feel like it is that we can talk to someone like Jennifer and acknowledge her as simply a leader, not a woman leader, and, which of course she is. And I think it’s important to acknowledge that. But regardless of any of that, she’s clearly a leader, a world class leader. And I think that, that we hopefully are starting to get to an age as a world, or at least as a country or maybe just our state since we’re all here or have been in Georgia, right?

Greg White (37:47):

Um, that, that we can just speak to leaders and hear their greatness and learn from that greatness and, and just say, Jennifer is a leader. And I think that’s a really, uh, really important place for us to get to. But, um, still, nonetheless, very inspirational. I love doing this, man. I just love doing this because, um, we get to not only share this with our audience and the greatness of all of these people that we get to talk to like Jennifer, but also we get to experience it over and over and over again. And somehow it hits you personally every single time,

Scott Luton (38:24):

Every time.

Greg White (38:25):

And I think that’s what’s really, really cool about getting to do this.

Scott Luton (38:29):

Agreed. Agreed. It’s such a great point. A couple great points there, Greg. Um, uh, really enjoyed having Jennifer back with us. So folks, to all of our listeners, hopefully you enjoyed this conversation as much as Greg and I have, we knew it’d be a good one, uh, uh, cause cause of the standard that was set last time. But folks, you heard a lot of things here. Uh, we, we challenge you to take action, these not words, put it into practice, help your team, your organization do better and do it faster. Um, find us wherever you get your podcast from, including YouTube. It’s real easy to tune in and listen in there. And on behalf the whole team here at Supply Chain now, Scott Luton and Greg White, challenging you to do good, to give forward and to be the change that’s needed. And we’ll see you next time, right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks buddy.

Intro/Outro (39:15):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain now, community. Check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain now, anywhere you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain. Now.