This week on the podcast, Brent connects with two remarkable Walton College seniors, Kennedy Blair and Jackson Walton. Both students are distinguished by their academic excellence and leadership, having earned prestigious awards; Kennedy with the Sam M. Walton College of Business Student Leadership Award, and Jackson with the Doyle Z. Williams Student Leadership Award. During the episode, Kennedy shares her journey from being an undecided business major to discovering her passion for accounting and securing a job after graduation at Credera in Chicago. Jackson discusses his path from Truman, Arkansas to becoming a finance and political science major and plans to join Walmart's Accounting and Finance Development Program after graduation. Both students highlight their extensive involvement in campus activities and mentorship roles, emphasizing how these experiences have shaped their leadership skills and prepared them for their future careers. They also provide advice for future incoming students who would be interested in leveraging their time in the best way at the Walton College.
Podcast Episode
Episode Transcript
Kennedy Blair 0:00
A quote that I have lived by forever by Maya Angelou was success is liking yourself
liking what you do and liking how you do it.
Brent Williams 0:08
Welcome to the be epic podcast, brought to you by the Sam M. Walton College of Business
at the University of Arkansas. I'm your host, Brett Williams. Together, we'll explore
the dynamic landscape of business, and uncover the strategies, insights and stories
that drive business today. Well, today is a special occasion I have with me two graduating
seniors from the Walton College that I'm excited for you all to get to know. First
is Kennedy Blair. And we'll talk a little bit more about Kennedy's background in the
near future. And then we have Jackson Walton and but Jackson and Kennedy are both
award winners for the for our senior class. Kennedy is the winner of the Sam M. Walton
College of Business Student Leadership Award. And I want to talk a little bit about
that in a moment as well. And Jackson is the Doyle Z. Williams Student Leadership
Award. So both of you have clearly not only been outstanding in your academics, but
you've also shown leadership in various ways throughout your time here. So thank you
both for coming. Well, let me start. Kennedy, I'm gonna start with you. And then and
then go to Jackson. And we're just going to bounce back and forth here just a little
bit. But before we get too deep into what you've done while you're at Walton, tell
us a little bit about you where you're from, what's your background, what you've been
studying.
Kennedy Blair 1:41
Yeah, I'm from Fayetteville. So if you're familiar with the area graduated at the
big high school right across the street, lived here my whole life and liked it enough
to stay another four years just with the college and knowing I wanted to study business.
This was the perfect place for me and got here was an undecided business major, took
a couple classes and fell in love with accounting and been happy studying numbers
ever since.
Brent Williams 2:07
All right. Jackson, how about you?
Jackson Walton 2:09
Yeah, I'm from Truman, Arkansas. So over East close to Jonesboro, decided that Arkansas
was home and I wanted to stay here. So came up here to the hidden gem, well, not so
much hidden anymore. But Northwest Arkansas, where opportunity is abundant and where
there's a fantastic business school and just super glad to be here. I'm studying finance
and political science. And with a minor in economics, so.
Brent Williams 2:33
Okay. And both of you have great jobs lined up, which is like the primary objective,
right, that's first and foremost. So Jackson, tell us a little bit about what you're
going to do next.
Jackson Walton 2:44
Yeah, I will be joining the Walmart accounting and finance development program, specifically
within the the finance sector of that, starting in August, after I interned with them
last summer.
Brent Williams 2:55
Tremendous. And that's a rotational program that you'll get to see various aspects
of the finance organization at Walmart, right?
Jackson Walton 3:02
Right. Two whole years of four different rotations six months each, six months each
throughout different sectors of the business and different organizations and things
like that.
Brent Williams 3:12
Okay. And you interned with that group last summer?
Jackson Walton 3:15
I did, yes sir.
Brent Williams 3:16
Okay. Well, Kennedy, I know you're not staying in Northwest Arkansas. Tell us about
what you're doing next.
Kennedy Blair 3:24
Yeah, I'm moving up to Chicago a little bit colder than it is here in Arkansas, to
be a management consultant for Credera. I interned with them last summer, fell in
love with, you know, the business side of management consulting and all that. So I'm
really excited to go back there and move up to the windy city and buy a coat.
Brent Williams 3:45
Well, let's talk a little bit about your time at Walton, because I think about the
two of you and your your two people that have, in my opinion have sort of made the
most of the experience here. You're involved in many things. So Kennedy, I'll I'll
probably I'll start with you. Because both of you are Leadership Award winners. And
for us what that means is, it's just, you've not only you've probably started off
being involved in various organizations and opportunities at Walton, and throughout
your four years here, you've evolved into leadership roles, but tell us some about
the types of things that you engaged in outside the classroom while you're here.
Kennedy Blair 4:28
Yeah, I've been taught by my parents and my dad, specifically, of when you're looking
to get involved in things, find things that match your passion. So that's really what
I've tried to do is look at myself and see, what do I love? And what are the aspects
of things that I love and how do I serve then that organization that kind of fits
that mold? And so, I've gotten involved in Walton ambassadors, and I was an FBC peer
mentor. So those really deal with connecting with people FBC was connecting with current
freshmen. How do I get them involved on campus and kind of up to date with being a
college kid and how to succeed at that. And then ambassadors have allowed me to connect
with people that are touring the college. So prospective juniors or seniors in high
school and their families that come up to Arkansas, some of them have never even been
in the state before. And so it's really cool to get to make that connection with them.
So that's kind of the connecting side of me that loves to be involved in both of those
things. And then I've got to spend the last two years on leadership for Leadership
Walton, I served as the member outreach position, my junior year, and then President
my senior year. So that's been really cool to give back to an organization that meant
so much to me, and my kind of finding my place that every college kid does when they
get here, I found my place in there. And again, like my dad always says, you know,
be passionate about the organization that then you go and be in leadership for serve
that organization. So I feel like that's been a great opportunity for me as well.
Brent Williams 5:55
Well, I do think that you have taken that passion and applied it, and I know your
dad, he's a passionate guy as well.
Kennedy Blair 6:03
He is, yes.
Brent Williams 6:04
Jackson what's your story been while you've been here?
Jackson Walton 6:07
Yeah, I sort of made the goal when coming over freshman year to hit the ground running.
And I've been involved in various parts of the campus, student government, within
the Freshman Leadership Forum, the Office of Financial Affairs, and then the Razorback
Action Group. The Inner Fraternity Council, as the vice president for finance this
past year, just recently finished up that term. And then within Walton specifically,
I was a honors peer mentor, and then lead peer mentor, serving on the Walton honors
executive board, and then also held a deputy director manager role with the Arvest
fixed income class, my junior year, so.
Brent Williams 6:47
quite the resume from both of you. Oh, one thing you have in common is peer mentoring.
Right. And, you know, that is, that's actually a really important piece of, of the
experience, I think, for freshmen. Because it's you, I'm sure you started there as
a sophomore, if I'm right, talk a little bit about your motivation for doing that.
And kind of like what that whole process look like.
Kennedy Blair 7:13
Yeah. My freshman business connection class, my freshman year was my only truly kind
of in person class. And so I loved that class, it was at 8am on a Tuesday, and like,
what other class would get a college kid excited to go to one of those, but I loved
it. Autumn Parker was my teacher. And she was incredible. And I just really bought
into the skills that I was learning. And I was like, I feel very strongly about the
things that are being taught. And I could use these to my advantage. And so I had
such a great experience with the class that I reached out and Autumn connected me
and said, Hey, you should be a peer mentor, actually ended up getting to be her peer
mentor in her class again, which was kind of a fun, full circle moment that I was
her student and then her peer mentor in her class.
Brent Williams 7:56
So similar for you, Jackson in some way?
Jackson Walton 7:59
Yeah, I found a quick love for mentorship. I didn't know that I had that until joining
the Walton Honors Peer Mentor Program, I had a great mentor and Meghan Mikulski, and
she really showed me what being a supporter was and how to take someone in that might
be you know, obviously below you or younger than you and to grow and cultivate and
develop them and into a future leader and truly did just just fall in love with that
and decided to join the Peer Mentor Program. And consistently throughout campus, I've
I've just really, really enjoyed getting to sit down and have coffee with younger
students who are, you know, worried about a certain class are worried about getting
involved or things like that. And so I've worked to to be diligent in that because
of so many others that have been poured into me, I feel like I sort of owe that debt
to the younger generation behind me.
Brent Williams 8:49
What's what's interesting is I'm listening to both of you, both of you are receiving
a Leadership Award at the end of your college career. What I've heard from both of
you is service that I and peer mentoring is an act of service. So how do you always
you've kind of started to develop yourselves in that way, as a leader? How do you
see that connection between service and leadership?
Kennedy Blair 9:18
I think just going back to finding like your passion and finding things that you're
genuinely excited about, and then to use that excitement to pour back into it, I did
a project in a upper level marketing management class with Molly Rapert where we did
a values project and one of my core values is meaningful work. And so something that's
important to me is, if it is important to me, and I feel passionate about it, I go
all in and so finding things in this service kind of way I could serve I guess, that
are passionate to me make me a better leader, I think because I feel so strongly about
whatever I'm leading or being involved in.
Jackson Walton 10:00
I really do feel that service and leadership are go hand in hand, they, I think you
to be a good leader, you have to, you have to serve others. And I think that they,
they sort of cultivate one another and thrive off of one another. And so when you
are, you know, maybe serving a younger class below you and teaching them about how
to get involved in campus or something like that, I think you are also leading them
while serving them. And I those both have been crucial elements of my enriching experience
of the Walton College and have proven beneficial to me, and I've had so much opportunity
to both serve and lead, and just really, really appreciative of that.
Brent Williams 10:39
How, you know, the Walton College is one of the biggest business schools in the country.
But I think you all particularly have, while while it is big, you've almost kind of
made it small in certain ways. And what I mean by that is you've formed connections.
So, you know, you mentioned some of the things that you've done and been involved
in, but just any other thoughts about how you went about that? Were you really intentional,
as you started in that way, or did that evolve for you in some way,
Kennedy Blair 11:11
I think I made a really big effort with my professors. Starting off with online classes,
it was kind of a thing where they'd say, okay, class is over, and then all of a sudden
attendance, or the numbers would drop all the way down to zero. And I that made me
want to connect with them more, because they were pouring effort into virtual classes.
And so I wanted to take the extra step and connect with them, when I know that they
were also lacking that kind of connection with their students. And so I just kind
of started staying after go into their virtual office hours and learning about them.
And then that kind of put me in a position to get involved with the advisors and like,
talk to them. And I think it's important to remember that the people around you are
people and not you know, just faculty numbers, or Blackboard instructors, whatever.
And so to be able to connect with them, I feel like has allowed me to go and like,
just foster all these different connections. And so I think the buy in of who's around
you, and connecting with everyone, as meaningful and as authentic as possible is,
has been a huge thing for me.
Jackson Walton 12:12
I heavily agree with Kennedy's response there. I tell people that our prospective
students that speak with me about possibly coming up here, especially from small towns,
and they're often anxious about the big community, right, it's a big leap to go from
a high school of 300, to, you know, a business college of 1000s. And, and the university
of 10s of 1000s. And I tell them all the time, it is a big community that feels like
a small community, you can make your small community within it. And I really do mean
that. And similar to what Kennedy said, you know, sitting in class and sparking that
conversation with with the person sitting next to you and keeping that relationship
all semester, doing the little things like that, you know, reaching out and fist bumping
someone that you the halfway know, I think that's huge for college and the Walton
College and the University have, have just offered me so many opportunities to do
that to meet people to, I guess you could say network, and those relationships have
been key to making a guy from a small town able to be comfortable at the university.
And like I said, while ago, some of the, you know, my favorite memories on the wall
in college are just walking from class to class and being able to, you know, stop
and talk to someone on the sidewalk. And yeah, maybe not late to class, I wouldn't
ever do that. Just great relationships, and I've been so, so thankful for that.
Kennedy Blair 13:32
Always make everybody feel like if somebody is like a big mantra,
Brent Williams 13:35
Absolutely. You know, we we didn't state this upfront, but you were a part of a class
that join you came to the University fall of 2020. Right. You know, and you alluded
to this Kennedy, right, in the way that we were having to do classes, what was what
was that like? And has that shaped? I think it probably shaped your experience some
in some way. Because you had to seek out connection it sounded like,
Kennedy Blair 14:04
Yeah, I think it's made me realize that I'm, as an adult, very excited to go back
to in person work. The adults a little bit older than me probably feel the opposite.
But yeah, definitely taking the extra step to make those connections. And, you know,
like Jackson was saying, between classes, maybe instead of physically smiling at somebody,
you do the little smile with a mask on where you raised your eyes up. But taking those
extra little steps to make you know, the people that were sitting six feet away from
you or the professor's online. That was I feel like what really kind of drove that
connection aspect especially to because I mean, I feel like I I love making connections
and so being virtual was hard, but also like that was just another way to communicate
with people for me.
Jackson Walton 14:52
I think bluntly, it was very difficult to, as I said while ago come from a small town
and jump into such a big college and only interaction you have is with your roommates
and people on a Zoom video screen. But I think it also helped me in the in the way
that I sort of had to learn to meet people. And to get involved in things in different
ways, I sort of had to work a little bit harder during that difficult time. And because
of that, I learned valuable skills of making those connections and speaking with people
and going a little bit of an extra mile that you really don't have to sometimes sometimes
or things like that, you know, during COVID, it would have been the easy thing to
sort of sit back and you know, stay in the dorm and be friends with your roommates
and things like that. But making that conscious effort to reach out to people. While
it was difficult. I think it's proven beneficial to me in the long run. And like Kennedy
said, I'm a connection person. And I love that in person face to face talk. And I
think it prepared me for that greatly.
Brent Williams 15:51
Tell me about some favorite professors. While your time and I know that I know you
too, right. You've probably connected to a lots of them. I won't, I won't force you
to say one but.
Kennedy Blair 16:03
yeah, I would say Martin Fiscus is the reason I'm an accounting major. He's incredible.
Well, Molly connected us in Italy, and we took her consumer behavior over there global
consumer. So lots of different ways to, I guess, use professors as well to meet other
students or their like minded students. But Martin and Molly are two of my favorites.
Jackson Walton 16:24
I'll first say I think that every single professor I've had within the Walton College
has been diligent about pouring into me, they're they're adamant about teaching. They're
they're proud to do it. They're helpful and all that some specific professors to speak
that jumped out at me are Dr. Molly, right. But of course, Kennedy just mentioned
her, she is my current honors thesis advisor, friend and ally, supporter. I often
visit her office and speak with her and Dr. Kim Patrone freshman year was my first
in person class with b-law. She proved to be a quick friend and a valuable person
to me and my time here and also attended the CIMBA program. There have just been so
many Dr. Ali, Dr. Rennie, I could name I can name 20, I promise you I could and if
I'm leaving you out, I'm very sorry. Just very, very thankful for all of them. And
like I said, we'll go there, they have just diligently supported me and and been behind
me. And that's not something you hear about college often. And just how special that
is here at the Walton College.
Brent Williams 17:27
I love to hear that. I love it. In the you've been involved in many things, many leadership
positions, you've had internships. One thing we at the Walton College, I believe,
is that, you know, learning is this. It's almost iterative, I think, right? You're
learning in the classroom. And then I hope through these experiences, either leadership
experiences or work experiences you're applying. And then as you're going through
this four year process, it's like you're getting more experience, right, you're getting
more context, and you know how to put concepts into context, and it improves the learning.
That's my view, at least my hope, what's your experience look like in that respect
of trying to try to do all these things at once?
Jackson Walton 18:15
I think that, for me, you know, the, the accounting, one thing is the debits and the
credits matter in the 4000 level corporate finance class, right, you have to have
that understanding of that. And so those first, especially first two years, are incredibly
important for molding yourself into being a good business student in those those higher
level 3000 or 4000 level classes. And I think when you when you couple that sort of
stair step into, you know, leading to the bigger classes and putting those concepts
together and senior year, you're working on homework, and you sort of get that aha
moment of, wow, this works together.
Brent Williams 18:50
Yeah,
Jackson Walton 18:50
it's awesome. And it sort of feels rewarding, it's paying off. That makes sense. And
you couple, you know, an unmatched education with with so much opportunity to lead
and to be involved on campus. I think that that there's no better way to prepare yourself
for a business career or for graduate school or anything like that. And they just
work hand in hand together.
Kennedy Blair 19:13
Yeah, I think the upper level courses have been so helpful. I took a seminar class
in business analytics, where we got to work alongside a real estate company and give
a presentation to their chief executive team of the trends we found the last two years
and I would have been able, would not have been able to six be as successful as we
were in that project without the lower level, like foundations and concepts that Jackson
was saying and then putting it into practice as we get older. And I think something
that I as a younger student really didn't appreciate as much as I should was taking
those intro classes to every major that you take as a freshman or a sophomore. That's
built into the program to kind of see what do you like and what do you not like but
as you get older, you get to like Justin was saying have that aha moment of, I'm working
on an upper level class. that it's an a business project and I get to combine a marketing
concept I learned freshman year with an accounting concept I learned junior year in
econ thing I learned sophomore year and combine all these different things into one
that then can go and make the business world better from all of my classes that I've
taken here.
Brent Williams 20:19
So I know what you're doing next. But just as you look more broadly, like, what are
you, you both are full of optimism about the future I can tell. So what's your hopes
for the future? Well, how do you? What are you hoping to see as your career in life
develops? And how do you think Walton has helped set you up for that?
A quote that I have lived by forever by Maya Angelou is success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. And I think I've found that with myself through every step of my college experience, and so that will continue to kind of drive me forward as I leave, you know, to go be an adult for the next 50 plus years of my life. And so I think wherever I end up in years later, I think just looking at myself and seeing, how do I kind of measure that success of liking myself liking what I do, and how I do it, versus kind of like a numbers or money. Really looking at how I feel and how I kind of act as a person in that job not find find that success through that is a big thing for me kind of moving forward in my life,
love that.
Jackson Walton 21:29
My biggest goal for the future is to make impact. I want to see someone that I can
help I want to be of benefit to society, right, do more good than harm. And I really
do enjoy being able to see that impact, right? Like when you when you can help someone
and see them have have a better life or get out of a struggling situation. I think
that is the most rewarding thing ever. And obviously a good thing to do, right, you're
helping someone. And so I think my future ideally is making an impact on on individuals
and, and being a good force in this world. And being positive and, and working to
solve problems that that, you know, help individuals and help people that that need
it. And I think that my time at Walton College has really solidified the idea that
I can be of impact I can I can help others, right. Through the Peer Mentor Program,
or through Student Government, I've seen myself do things that I otherwise might not
have even thought possible, right? I've seen younger students come to, to join groups
or to excel in classes because of not just me, but because partly because I was able
to help them or mentor them. And I think the goal was to make impact. And I think
the Walton College has set me up in a good spot. And with an understanding that I
can do that.
Brent Williams 22:46
Well, and the way we make impact is through you, through the two of you and through
all of those that you're going to graduate with, you know, in in the way that not
exclusively, but a way you're going to do that is through business. You know, and
I believe that, that business, the companies that you're going to work for do a lot
of good, you know, in the way that they deliver services, in Kennedy's case, to help
other businesses and, and Walmart's case, delivering goods and services, to yeah,
to people all over the world. And so it's a it's a meaningful thing to be to be spending
your life doing and be excited about. All right now ask you to look back. So as as
you're graduating, you know, we're already preparing for the next freshmen class that's
coming in. And they're coming in in a bit of a different circumstance, it's not fall
of 2020 fortunately, but as you look back at your four years, and if you were to sit
down with one of our incoming freshmen and say, to get the most out of the Walton
College and set yourself up for success, what would be your piece of advice you would
give to them?
Jackson Walton 23:59
I'm going to say say yes, do not burn yourself out, right? It's it's difficult to
when you have so much stuff on your plate, but when you are sitting in class next
to someone that you don't know at all, you they look different than you they, they
they might come from a different background than you and chances are, they probably
do. Say hi to them, meet them, get to know them. And some of my best friends, some
of my my closest people that I have in my life now come from vastly different backgrounds,
they come from that, you know, asking someone for a pencil in class or something like
that, and, you know, keeping up with them and so, really work to get those relationships
to do that sort of thing. And also, you'll you'll do a lot of that relationship building
through involvement on campus right? So join that club if you if you're halfway interested
in something there's a there's a club for it, I promise you and if there's not make
one, build that resume but but really just just jump in, get involved and don't be
afraid to say hi to someone if you're nervous about it, know that they're probably
nervous about it too, but would probably like to talk to you And so I think that is
key to an enriching college experience. Awesome.
Kennedy Blair 25:04
I think going off of that, too, like making everybody feel like it's somebody, whether
that's the person sitting next to you that has a pencil when you need it, or your
professor or the advisors, in your advising appointment, just anybody that you see
that is here, take the time to get to know them and make them feel special. That's
a huge part of me, I love making others feel special. And so being able to encourage
someone else to do that, I mean, just by living, living and attending and saying hi,
and going to class, like, that's how I've gotten to be where I am now. And so just
encouraging everyone that it can be so small as if you maybe didn't do well on a test,
go to that office hour with your teacher, because you may make a personal connection
with them. And they may really want to see you succeed and really help you outside
of class to get you there, or a friend that you want to work with them in a group
project, or you have to respond to four peers, you know, video and public speaking,
whatever the situation is, you could meet that person become best friends, and maybe
go work together one day, at your own startup company with the two of you. So I think
it's just the domino effect that you can have just by being kind and making everyone
feel known and seen and valued. Just is tremendous. So that would be mine.
Brent Williams 26:23
I hope every incoming Walton College freshman gets to hear those those two messages.
I couldn't be more proud of both of you. And I'm not only proud of you, but I'm thankful
and grateful for you. You have not only get the most out of this experience to make
you better, you've made us better. That's really, really clear. And so I'm excited
about the impact that both of you are going to make. I know you're going to be the
type of alumni that give back to the Walton College in some way in the future, and
I can't wait to see you both at graduation and just a couple of weeks. Congratulations
on a college career. Really well done.
Jackson Walton 27:05
Thank you.
Kennedy Blair 27:05
Thank you.
Brent Williams 27:07
On behalf of the Walton College Thank you for listening this captivating conversation.
We will be taking a break from the epic podcast this summer and have exciting updates
for the fall. To stay connected. Listen to previous episodes, and to never miss future
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