Summary
On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Kourtney Barrett, a serial entrepreneur and the current Director of Workplace Mobility at Walmart. Kourtney launched Junk Brands, a successful direct-to-consumer headwear brand, and is a co-founder of Women of OZ NWA, an inclusive nonprofit and the largest women’s mountain biking organization in the USA. Curious by nature and motivated by fun, it’s no surprise Kourtney was hired to lead workplace mobility efforts for Walmart’s new corporate campus. Throughout the episode, James and Kourtney discuss Bentonville’s bike-friendly environment, Walmart’s emphasis on mobility, and how to encourage more people to ride bikes.  Thanks for tuning in!

Show Notes:
(0:53) Introduction to Kourtney
(1:58) Kourtney’s Role at Walmart
(6:07) A Mobility-Centered Walmart Campus
(8:43) Getting People on Bikes
(10:38) Shared Mobility Options
(12:37) Making People Comfortable on Bikes
(14:44) A Company that Cares
(17:32) The Future of Bentonville
(20:43) Ten Quick Favorites
(24:04) Mountain Bike Capital of the World
(26:58) Closing Questions
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‍Links
JAMES BELL‍‍
‍BENTONVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT‍‍
KOURTNEY BARRETT
WALMART (CORPORATE)
WALMART (NEW HOME OFFICE)
WOMEN OF OZ NWA
JUNK BRANDS
GREATER BENTONVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
BAR CLEETA
OZARK MOUNTAIN BAGEL CO.
CONIFER
COLER MOUNTAIN BIKE PRESERVE
CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART | NATURE & TRAILS
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Quotes
“From an entrepreneurial standpoint, the best way I know to build something is to first hear from your customer and my customers are the associates. So we have had a number of information gathering events and bike demos.” – Kourtney Barrett, (6:31)

 “When there’s less automobiles, people seem to breathe a little easier and there’s a little less stress. So working together with the city, with trailblazers, and with different organizations, has provided quick access to researching best practices.” – Kourtney Barrett, (9:22)

‍“We have the city focusing on helping us have safe routes on the street infrastructure…That’s very important when it comes to associates and residents that haven’t been on a bike in a while. It needs to be a fun and good experience and safety is paramount. You have to feel safe to want to do it.” – Kourtney Barrett, (12:47)

‍“This campus is a game changer and it’s an example to the rest of the world on how to have an environment that is a winning working environment for the associates and what happens when you provide outdoor spaces for them to work and connect with others and promote movement throughout the day.” – Kourtney Barrett, (16:00)
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How Walmart’s New Campus Is Tackling Mobility with Kourtney Barrett
‍On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Kourtney Barrett, a serial entrepreneur and the current Director of Workplace Mobility at Walmart. Kourtney launched Junk Brands, a successful direct-to-consumer headwear brand, and is a co-founder of Women of OZ NWA, an inclusive nonprofit and the largest women’s mountain biking organization in the USA. Curious by nature and motivated by fun, it’s no surprise Kourtney was hired to lead workplace mobility efforts for Walmart’s new corporate campus. Throughout the episode, James and Kourtney discuss Bentonville’s bike-friendly environment, Walmart’s emphasis on mobility, and how to encourage more people to ride bikes.   
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‍Encouraging Customer Discovery
‍In an effort to build a foundation of mobility on Walmart’s new corporate campus, Walmart placed bikes in different modalities in front of their associates and offered them the opportunity to ask questions and be curious about them. This helped Walmart answer questions like: how do I ride it, where do I ride it, what do I wear, and is it safe? In addressing these concerns, Walmart was able to present its strategy for mobility to its team members as well as gauge what barriers they needed to break down. “From an entrepreneurial standpoint, the best way I know to build something is to first hear from your customer and my customers are the associates. So we have had a number of information gathering events and bike demos.” – Kourtney Barrett, (6:31) Walmart’s goal is for no less than ten percent of their employees to commute to work via alternate mobility. Alternate mobility is considered anything outside of single occupancy driving. Therefore, carpooling, walking, biking, and even riding a scooter, longboard, or one-wheel are all considered alternate forms of mobility. The mission of mobility is to encourage the community and its residents to move their bodies more and be active outside.

‍Communal Efforts Towards Mobility
‍Although Walmart is working to make its campus more mobility friendly, it’s still a collaborative effort within the Bentonville community. There are multiple bike advocacy groups that are pulling in the same direction as Walmart as far as wanting Bentonville to be a healthy place to live and work. When people connect to nature, most times they are much happier. Therefore, there’s strong merit behind the idea of decongesting the roadways and encouraging people to commute using paved or dirt trails. “When there’s less automobiles, people seem to breathe a little easier and there’s a little less stress. So working together with the city, with trailblazers, and with different organizations, has provided quick access to researching best practices.” – Kourtney Barrett, (9:22) Currently, mobility is moving in an upward trajectory. This trend is being supported by the Bluetooth and GPS technologies being integrated into mediums for mobility in order to elevate our experience and make it more efficient and fulfilling. Because of this, one of the aspects of Walmart’s new camps will be to incorporate technology with mobility in a way that makes the most sense for the associates.
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Get Connected!
‍Thanks for tuning in to this episode of The Bentonville Beacon! Join us weekly for more stories from entrepreneurs and business leaders who are making a positive impact on Bentonville’s culture, community, and lifestyle. Don’t forget, Bentonville is a place where you can have more of what you want and less of what you don’t!