MANSFIELD — Tonya Davis grew up wanting to become a high school teacher, but said she found opportunities at Walmart that fulfilled her goal of training young talent.
Davis began her tenure at Walmart in Norwalk after graduating from high school in 1990. Three decades and multiple promotions later, she manages the 2485 Possum Run Road Walmart location in Mansfield.
“I didn’t come to Walmart for a career, I came to take care of my family,” Davis said. “However, through recognition, opportunities to attend women in leadership meetings, new challenges and faith, this will be where I will retire.”
Davis has four grown sons ages 33, 31, 29 and 27. She said as they began high school, she took travel opportunities to train assistant managers for different stores.
Davis also plans to earn a business logistics degree through Purdue University Global as part of the education benefits offered through Walmart.
“I am privileged to still be with Walmart pursuing my dream of being a teacher — mentoring and enabling our associates to become the next generation of store leaders,” she said.
As a Mansfield store manager, Davis is part of a unique group of female store managers in the local area.
Mark Rickel, vice president of Lesic & Camper Communications — which manages media relations for some Midwestern Walmart locations, said Ohio has 143 Walmart stores.
In the local market of Richland, Ashland, Crawford, Wyandot, Huron, Seneca, Erie, Sandusky and Ottawa counties, there are 11 Walmart stores.
Eight of the local 11 Walmart locations are managed by women, which Rickel said is the largest percentage of female management in Ohio markets.
According to U.S. Global Investors, Walmart is the largest national employer in the Fortune 500 as of last year.
Walmart has approximately 1.67 million employees across the nation and 500,000 employees in the rest of the world.
According to the 2021 Walmart corporate culture, diversity, equity and inclusion report, 53% of Walmart’s U.S. workforce is made up of women. 44% of total managers at Walmart are women.
Chelsea Price, manager for the 359 N. Lexington-Springmill Road store in Ontario, began working at Walmart as a college student. She said she applied for an overnight support manager position before she graduated from the University of Toledo.
“As the first person in my family to go to college, it was a huge accomplishment to have a salaried management position before graduation,” Price said. “I’ve really been able to grow as a person in my roles with Walmart. I’ve gotten more confident, bought a house and supported my family.
“I have access to so many different benefits and resources that I know are not always easily accessible for everyone, and most of all I can give my kids an amazing life.”
Price lives in Columbus with her 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, and commutes to Ontario for work.
Market manager Denise Seifert oversees all 11 store managers in the local area and is based in Tiffin.
Seifert spent 10 years working in the criminal justice field before returning to Walmart, where she worked part-time in college.
“I was one of the first asset protection coordinators for the company,” Seifert said. “After five years, I was promoted to co-manager in Findlay and became a store manager in Holland, Ohio.”
In 2016, Seifert became a market manager and later moved into her current operations role. Seifert said she is grateful Walmart offers health, savings and education benefits to its employees, which she makes sure to communicate during the hiring process.
“Walmart afforded me the opportunity to build a career and provide for my family as a single parent,” Seifert said. “I continue to work for this company due to the benefits and opportunity that exists.”
Seifert said eight female store managers in the same market happened by coincidence, but she is happy to be supported by women in leadership.
“Women often have a lack of confidence in themselves — other people have more confidence in us a lot of the time,” she said. “So we just have to give each other that push.”
