Kiley Pulley is already living a version of the Gen Z dream. At 23, she earns more than six figures, has bought her first home, and is planning a wedding she hopes to pay for without taking on debt. But she isn't an AI startup founder or an heir to a family fortune—she has built her career at Walmart, where she now holds the distinction of being the youngest store manager at any U.S. location of the retail giant.

Pulley first joined Walmart at 16 as a part-time cashier, following in the footsteps of her mother and sister, who also worked for the retail giant. At the time, she was simply a high school student looking to earn some extra spending money.

Her climb up the ranks began two years later, when she was promoted to Academy Trainer, a role responsible for training and developing new employees. The Arizona native had just started her first semester at Grand Canyon University and initially wasn't interested in turning her part-time job into a career. Six months later, however, she accepted a promotion to Team Lead—a move that changed how she viewed her future at the company.

"When I got Team Lead, it really stuck with me that Walmart is something I can make a career out of and something I want to continue to grow in," Pulley told the Phoenix Business Journal. "That's when I started applying for salary positions."

By 19, she had become an operations manager, and two years later she was named store manager, making her the youngest person to hold the position at any U.S. Walmart store. Now 23, she still holds that distinction, leading a Neighborhood Market—Walmart's smaller, grocery-focused store format—outside Phoenix.

Making herself available beyond the job description

Pulley told Business Insider that her approach to career growth was relatively simple: show up every day ready to learn something new, and make herself available for opportunities beyond her job description.

She regularly participated in calls with Walmart leaders, including monthly discussions with her market manager, and became involved in succession planning. As she moved into the operations manager role, she also took on projects across her market to prepare herself for the next step. Pulley even volunteered to cover for store managers on their days off to gain the experience needed for promotion. Ultimately, that willingness to seek out additional responsibility helped her build relationships with senior leaders and develop the skills required to advance.

"Kiley has embodied ambition, dedication and perseverance since I first met her six years ago as an hourly associate," Ray Shouse, Walmart's Phoenix market manager, told the Phoenix Business Journal. "Throughout her career, she has consistently sought out mentors and development opportunities to strengthen her leadership."

Her ambitions have not stopped at store manager. Pulley is back in school with the help of Walmart's tuition-assistance program, and she hopes to be promoted to market manager—the role Shouse holds in the Phoenix market—by 27 or 28, and eventually to a regional executive vice president role.

Walmart's CEOs started as hourly workers, too

As Pulley continues climbing Walmart's ranks, she is following a path that has taken others to the top of the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer. Walmart CEO John Furner started out as a part-time hourly associate in the company's garden center in 1993, eventually working his way up to store manager before moving into merchandising roles across Walmart and Sam's Club.

One of the most important qualities any leader can have, Furner has said, is the ability to embrace change.

"As long as I've been in retail—it's officially 33 years—it's always been changing," Furner said in an interview with Fast Company earlier this year. "Getting comfortable with change in a world that continues to change, I think, is a really great trait for any leader."

Furner's predecessor, Doug McMillon, also worked his way up from an entry-level position, starting as a warehouse associate unloading trucks before serving as CEO from February 2014 to January 2026, when Furner took over. Like Pulley, he has said one of his secrets to climbing the ladder was volunteering for work that sat on the horizon of his next promotion.

"One of the reasons that I got the opportunities that I got was that I would raise my hand when my boss was out of town and he or she was visiting stores or something," McMillon recalled in a 2024 interview with Stratechery. "I then put myself in an environment where I became a low-risk promotion because people had already seen me do the job," he added.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.