Go behind the scenes with one of the 2023 Walmart Associate Talent Search winners!
The annual Walmart Associate Talent Search allows associates to spotlight their their skills for the chance to bring them to the big stage. In 2023, over 300 associates from around the globe entered this fierce — but friendly — competition.
Out of that vast, Walmart-blue sea of talent, 11 associates were selected, and they’ve got serious star-quality! Watch their stellar performance at Associates Week Celebration. (Can’t get enough? Check out all the winners’ video submissions here.)
We wanted to find out what it’s like to win the talent search and perform on stage for an audience of 4,000-plus, so we reached out to one of the performers, Briana Holmes.
Rolling out the cheer
Briana glided into victory with her spinning, grooving roller-skating and rollerblading choreography. This frontend coach from store 462 in Alvin, Texas, heard about the competition the year before and didn’t have time to enter, so she was determined to make 2023 her year.
“I entered because I really wanted to show something that makes me happy, that I think makes other people happy to see,” Briana shares. Her goal? Inspiring people to try it themselves!
“Happiness is a big thing for me,” Briana says. And when you hear about her experience performing with the other talent search winners at Associates Week, we’re sure you’ll agree her sunny attitude is positively infectious.
Friendships for the win
In the eight years Briana has been with Walmart, she’s always wanted to go to Associates Week. When her store announced that she was a talent search winner, she found out that not only did she get to attend, but she would also be performing there. And that led to yet another win: a new group of friends.
Her fellow winners bonded through the experience and have kept in touch in a group chat. “That group of people and the things we got to do and learn and experience together — it will never be lost in any way, shape or form,” Briana says. “It was so much fun. And being given the opportunity to do that? I’m beyond grateful.”
And to think that this amazing experience and new friendships stemmed from taking a chance! “It built on all this excitement about things that I’ve always wanted to do and try — and all from, just doing it, just trying,” Briana shares with a smile.
She offers this life advice: “Whenever you’re trying something new, remember that life is like potatoes: It’s lumpy and unpredictable, but good in so many ways.”
Congratulations to Briana and all her fellow Walmart Associate Talent Search winners!
- Billy Dickens, Overnight Stocking Coach (Store 1408, Tallahassee, Florida)
- Joel Falknor, Associate Merchant OTC (Home Office, D40, Bentonville, Arkansas)
- Shaifali Garg, Senior Data Analyst (David Glass Technology Center, Bentonville, Arkansas)
- Shreya Gargya, Operations Analyst II (David Glass Technology Center, Bentonville, Arkansas)
- Briana Holmes, Front End Lead (Store 462, Alvin, Texas)
- Kirthana Kolekar, Data Engineer III (David Glass Technology Center, Bentonville, Arkansas)
- Jason Mills, Produce Team Lead (Store 6464, Soothfield, Michigan)
- Jahnna Perez, Auto Care Center TA (Store 87, Minden, Louisiana)
- Seth Rouse, Meat/Produce Team Lead (Neighborhood Market 6583, Lake Charles, Louisiana)
- Brandy Smith, Hardlines Team Lead (Store 75, Pineville, Louisiana)
- Jasmine Smith, Personal Shopper (Store 3324, Sheboygan, Wisconsin)
