Carrie’s 25-year celebration included a surprise guest.
When Carrie Hallet Paris celebrated her 25th milestone at the January 2025 Morning Meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas, she didn’t realize she was walking into a family reunion! She expected to see her husband Michael Paris, but there was another familiar face that took her by surprise: her dad!
He lives in upstate New York, so his surprise appearance at the celebration took some serious coordination — her in-laws secretly put him up the night before.
It’s not unusual for fellow associates to say that they’re just like family, but for Carrie, a senior manager in driver recruiting, it’s quite literal. If it weren’t for her father, Carrie may not even be at Walmart. And she may not be married to her husband if it hadn’t been for his father’s job at Walmart.
Confused? Let’s dig into Carrie’s story. (Get your pen ready — it’s time to draw a family tree!)
A people person with educator roots
After going to college to become a teacher, Carrie taught in Ohio for two years before moving back to upstate New York, where she grew up. She could only find a part-time teaching position, so she took on a second job at an employment agency. She eventually became full time at the agency, learning about hiring, training and other parts of the “people space.”
When the agency closed, Carrie’s dad, Michael Hallett, encouraged her to apply at Walmart. He’d been driving with Walmart since the mid 90s after years owning his own trucking company. He spent 20 years and 1.8 million miles on the road with Walmart before retiring in 2015.
Luckily, Carrie took her dad’s advice. After interviewing with Walmart, Carrie was hired to work in HR at the transportation office in Midway, Tennessee.
“Being a teacher and being in the people business here at Walmart is the same thing,” Carrie shares. “There's really no difference other than the age of the student. You're here, guiding, listening and helping.”
That means finding out the right way to engage or teach an associate, recognizing — and celebrating — that people have different learning styles. “It's going to look different for everybody, and it shouldn't be ‘one way is the only way,’” Carrie explains.
“I love that about Walmart. It's the person first, the student first. It's putting their needs above your own and trying to find the right way to make them successful or help them be their best self here at Walmart.”
Planting new seeds in Arkansas
Eventually, Carrie transferred to the transportation team in Bentonville. And it was there that she attended a fateful farewell party for a fellow associate: Frank Paris.
Frank joined Walmart after a career in the military. He spent 19 years in the Bentonville office, before transferring from that office as a general transportation manager.
Carrie met Frank’s son, fellow Walmart associate Michael Paris, at the party and the rest, as they say, is history. Carrie and Michael married two years later.
“I love that the work that I get to do is really helping and supporting our transportation associates and drivers, so their jobs are easier."
— Carrie Hallet Paris, Program Manager, Transportation
Supporting drivers and their families
Having grown up with a father in transportation, Carrie is familiar with the challenges drivers — and their families — face when they’re on the road. She appreciates that her job involves providing the support drivers need.
“I love that the work that I get to do is really helping and supporting our transportation associates and drivers, so their jobs are easier,” she says. “We're there to provide tools and resources that make their lives better, so that they don't have to worry about it going down the road.”
What better way to spend your career than supporting the folks around you that feel like — or actually are — family!
