Helena Gadison is not afraid to take charge. Even when that's not what she intends to do, her confidence, capability and exuberant energy often draw her to the forefront.
In 2019, Gadison was the first African American selected for the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Now she's serving as chairperson for the United Way of Northwest Arkansas, where she is both the first woman and first person of color to take on that responsibility since the nonprofit's inception in 1931. Most recently, Gadison was awarded the Ernestine White-Gibson Individual Achievement Award for her service, leadership and commitment to the community.
Unlike other organizations that she'd been a part of that each had a singular focus, United Way has a large spectrum when it comes to outreach. The multifaceted nature of it spoke to her core, since she does a little of everything herself.
"We are an entity with far-reaching hands to bring families and children to prosperity," Gadison says. "That touches in utilities, reading, education and jobs. It's far-reaching and that's what I'm attracted to most about it."
Gadison, who is a senior national account sales manager for ConAir LLC, took on the role of chairman for United Way NWA in January 2022 and says she is blessed to work at the helm of the organization made of 1,200 entities. This year, United Way announced they would donate $1.9 million in grants to more than 30 different nonprofit organizations across various categories within Northwest Arkansas.
"That's what feels comfortable; I've been in leadership roles the most," Gadison says.
What differed about her time with United Way was that she purposefully joined as a ground-level volunteer after years of workplace giving so that she could learn more about United Way's functions, the nonprofits it supports and how it could improve.
"Sometimes being a great leader is knowing when to follow and when it's time to lead," Gadison says. "You have to be in tune with the community to know what to work on."
While working as an ordinary volunteer, Gadison began to get noticed and gain more notoriety in the organization when she suggested -- then helped organize and pull off -- an annual fall kickoff campaign so that all companies involved in workplace giving could celebrate together. Many individual companies do kickoff events within their corporation, but this was the first to combine their efforts.
The first iteration United Way of Northwest Arkansas' Campaign "Tip Off" had a bit of a sports theme since, Gadison says, people love not just sports but the idea of winning together. They assembled top athletes to attend the event and participate in activities like a slam dunk contest with the help of (Razorback men's basketball coach Eric Musselman's wife) Danyelle Musselman chosen as a celebrity judge.
"It created this peak of excitement," Gadison says. After two years of the tipoff event, United Way awarded her the Volunteer of the Year in 2017. It began to pave the way for more responsibility, including election to the board of directors, where she gained a mentor in Joe Lloyd, Tyson Foods executive who served as chairman during that time. She served as his vice chairperson before rising to chairman herself.
What she brings to the table in this role is experience from many years of leading and that signature, upbeat Helena attitude.
When longtime friend Janet Jack met Gadison for the first time, "she was so excited, she was a breath of fresh air," Jack says. "She won everybody over, her presentation and positive attitude was just infectious. That's what she brings to work."
PAVING THE WAY
Helena Wilson grew up in Muskogee, Okla., the younger of two children. Her mother was an educator in the Oklahoma school system and the one who instilled in her the unwavering confidence that she has even now.
"She was instrumental in shaping who I am today," Gadison says. "She always said to me that I can do anything with God; nothing's impossible with God. At such an early age, I thought about myself that there wasn't anything I couldn't do if I stayed on the path and had Christ in my life."
Being surrounded by a family of musicians and her mom, a former concert pianist who taught students piano in her home, meant that Helena naturally gravitated toward music herself. Before her mom thought to teach her, Helena began playing by ear the lessons her mother had been teaching her students.
She fell in love with music and became deeply involved in learning to play and perform. Soon enough she was accompanying the youth choir at church. By the time she was in high school, Helena was the pianist for the adult choir.
"The things I'm good at -- speaking, music, secretary/organization of information, being polished -- where did I get my first chance at (becoming good at it)? My church," Gadison says.
Over the course of her childhood, Helena learned piano, then clarinet, cello and electric bass. Once she really discovered choir in junior high, vocals became another instrument to master.
When Helena started her role as cellist, she was the first person of color in her school's orchestra. Whether it wasn't a trendy thing to do or others hadn't thought it was open to them is hard to say. But it was what she wanted to do, so she did it.
One day Helena would look back and see more people who looked like her joining her hometown orchestra.
Taking the leap to simply follow your own desire and interest, regardless of whether you see representation in that circle, "it opens a new perspective to follow," she says. Through her many instances of being the first Black person in so many circles, Gadison admits she has thought many times about why or how she managed to be the first.
"It comes with responsibility, eyes on you, expectation...(but) it's been a part of my life that I got comfortable with. I grew accustomed to being the first, the weight and scrutiny and observation, of the eyes peering and the comments. But it defined my character as a leader, my resilience as a leader. I don't have a soft heart in regards to feedback or criticism, whether it's warranted or not."
Helena Wilson did it all, even then. Cheer leading in middle school. Theater in junior high and high school, along with the orchestra and choir and church commitments, and a role as a dancer in high school band.
"Helena has always been smart, beautiful and outgoing," says Phelecia Anderson McCall, Gadison's cousin. "She's always been a leader and go-getter in everything she does. She's very articulate, poised, intelligent and wise."
Over the years, McCall has witnessed Helena's great organizational skills and ability to get people to work together, not to mention her incredible follow-through.
"If she says she is going to do something, she will find a way to get it done," McCall says. "She's trustworthy and honest."
Carolyn Hall, a friend of Helena's mother and also her typing teacher, says Gadison's self-confidence and flair, both in the way that she carried herself and the way she dressed, were what stood out most when she was a teen. She's not at all surprised by the level of success she's enjoyed since then.
"She would finish her assignments and then come up to my desk to talk," Hall says. "Helena always knew she was different. She always walked to the beat of a different drummer. She knew what she wanted and went for it."
When it came time for college, Gadison followed a music scholarship for cello and vocals to the University of Arkansas. She arrived in Northwest Arkansas in 1985, but she knew that ultimately music wouldn't become her career. She had seen her mother make a living off of being a teacher and knew, despite having a master's degree, she wasn't earning very much money. Helena admired her, but she wanted something else for herself.
The music scholarship didn't cover all her expenses, so she worked in retail jobs to support herself, and it was there that she discovered a new interest. A manager at an upscale boutique told Helena she had a talent for visual merchandising. She soon took that skill to Ups and Downs, a popular specialty store of the '80s.
"That's where I felt this could be a career," she says, because she could see the direct impact. When sales were up and they asked who was in the store that day, it was often Helena. Customers were spending more than average when she was on shift. She took the time to listen to what they needed the outfit for, then helped them find the exact right thing.
Ups and Downs began to entrust Helena to close the store, something they ordinarily wouldn't allow a student worker to do. Then, when the district manager came to visit, she pulled her into the break room, suggested Helena take a look at the company's managerial program and offered to mentor her.
Helena liked the thought of having opportunities to work in fashion. She drew on her arts background while making displays, she liked driving sales and engaging with customers. So she left school in 1987 and trained to become a manager at Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa, then went on to work at Kansas City's interstate Bannister Mall. Finally Rolling Hills Mall gave her a manager position.
"I had a job, decent pay and was on my way," she says.
CHANCE MEETINGS
When Helena's college sweetheart proposed, he was headed into duty with the Marine Corps at a station in Lejeune, N.C. She hoped to join him there, but the closest Ups and Downs she could transfer to was in Charlotte, a two-hour drive from where he would be based.
Then her mother had surgery and needed a hand, so Helena moved home briefly to help her as she recovered. She took an extended leave from Ups and Downs and when the stay lasted longer than she expected, she took a job as a temporary associate in apparel at the local Walmart store to supplement her income.
It was a fun gig, since they let Helena play with the clothing displays and try out her creative ideas for them. When Walmart founder Sam Walton and Chief Merchandising Officer Bill Fields came to the Muskogee store for a tour, Gadison was huddled by the fitting room, but she could still hear them remark about the unique way she had set up the floor.
"One of them asked 'Who did this ... why did you do the four-way this way ... we haven't seen this circle rack colorized this way,' finally the store manager couldn't keep talking and said, 'Let's introduce you to the person who did this,'" Gadison says. The manager motioned for Helena to come over, then Walton and Fields questioned where she had picked up her skills. "They said, 'You might want to think about having a career with us.'"
Looking back, Gadison says she might have been smug at the time, thinking that discount was not her arena, but not having Ups and Downs as an option in the area that she was moving to made her consider Walmart opportunities.
She started with Walmart in 1988 and after a couple years in stores, they began to tap into her other skill sets, Gadison says. She became a district trainer, coaching associates at 13 to 15 stores at a time to learn the skills she had. Helena learned the business and got progressively more opportunities to travel and meet Walmart legacy names under David Hillsman's leadership.
When Walmart was still new in California, they sent Gadison to Stockton to prototype Walmart locations like specialty stores to better compete with Target and other behemoths. Again, her work stood out.
One day, while dropping into the California store to pick up her check, Gadison was asked to stop and meet William DuBose, a vice president for Walmart at the time. She was taken off guard, dressed casually in shorts for a drive up to San Francisco on her day off, but agreed.
"I had never seen a Walmart apparel department look so well merchandised and presented," DuBose says. "It would compete with any department or specialty store in local malls."
He complimented her work and gave her his card that day, but would soon talk her into going to work at Walmart corporate in his division in merchandising. Gadison set to work in the boys department as a fashion analyst distributor, a role that works with apparel buyers.
"Helena always excelled at whatever she did," DuBose says. "She quickly advanced and always exceeded expectations. Her tireless enthusiasm was contagious, and she raised the level of the entire division in more ways than one."
It wasn't long until Gadison was promoted to a position as a buyer. She put on fashion shows and worked in many categories, going through 18 month cycles of learning before moving to new opportunities, and eventually was promoted to handle plus-sized clothing.
There Gadison launched a variety of brands including Richard Simmons and Kathy Lee in 1992 and became the first to tryout Karibo, an apparel line for African American consumers.
"It was a first attempt by Walmart to recognize the buying power in providing different silhouettes and textures that that consumer" preferred, Gadison says.
As her name rose in the industry, Helena began to get more offers and was recruited for The Limited by her mentor Mary Kwan, Chief Merchandising Officer for Lane Bryant. While learning about fast fashion and what people aspired for it to be, Gadison was named a senior merchant for Lane Bryant in 1997.
Janet Jack was a part of the hiring team who brought her on board, recognizing that Gadison was a stickler for the vision of a brand and had a knack for bringing that to life.
"Lane Bryant full figure was on the cusp of becoming visible, and she saw how important that was," Jack says. "She related to what they needed. She met with ladies ... and learned that they wanted exactly what you would get in regular sizes. She knew that and made it her mission to reflect customer needs."
What continued to impress Jack well after Gadison's two year run with the company was her willingness to collaborate and share ideas as she moved into consulting and Helena moved back to Walmart. Early on in their friendship, Jack had tried to be a bit of a mentor to Gadison, but in the end it turned out to be the other way around.
When Jack planned to leave Columbus and pick up apparel work in Texas, it was Helena who was instrumental in securing an interview with the president of JCPenney corporate, which helped Jack land a gig as a buyer. She was the first they hired from outside the JCPenney corporation.
These days, years after her return to Walmart and period as a vice president for International Apparel Merchandising there, Gadison feels well situated in her role at ConAir, where she works as a sales manager for both Walmart and Sam's Club. She knows the business well, and can often be found mentoring college students and athletes through etiquette lessons that she conducts regularly.
Her natural connection and way of interacting with people is what Dr. Ryan Ladner, marketing professor at John Brown University, loves to see when she visits students.
"I can count on Helena to bring lots of energy to a room," Ladner says. "She always thanks us for the opportunity even though we are thankful to have someone with her experience share ... with them.
"I've gotten to witness Helena do what she does best, making people feel seen and appreciated. She encouraged (students) with attributes that reflected who they are. They left the workshop full of energy and motivated to invest in themselves and their future careers."
“Helena always excelled at whatever she did. She quickly advanced and always exceeded expectations. Her tireless enthusiasm was contagious, and she raised the level of the entire division in more ways than one.” — William DuBose, Walmart (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo)Helena Louise Gadison
Self portrait
Date and place of birth: May 12, 1967, Muskogee, Okla.
Family: Children Selena, Anna (deceased, Dec. 13, 2017) and Jonathan
The quote that resonates the most with me is: “Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” — St. Francis of Assisi
The best advice I’ve ever received: Get comfortable saying “yes” to opportunities that may be outside of your comfort zone.
People might be surprised to find out I: had my first job at 9 years old as a summer youth helper at the YWCA in my hometown.
I know I’ve done a good job when: I’m requested to return for a repeat performance (as a speaker) or when I receive a bonus (at my job).
Fantasy dinner guests: Jesus, Beethoven, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Oprah, Denzel Washington and Janet Jackson.
Three words to describe me: Multifaceted, optimistic, resilient.
The greatest obstacle I’m facing right now is: Deciding what’s next to keep me engaged and challenged.
My favorite place in Northwest Arkansas: Midtown Mall Consignment Furniture/Home Goods and a close second is J.B Hunt Park to walk the paths and exercise. Both are located in Springdale.
The thing that makes me laugh the most: laughing at myself when I overthink an insignificant matter.
The book, movie or art that had the biggest impact on me was: Commissioned art pieces hanging in my home that represent a few favorite photos of my children.
The question people ask me the most: What haven’t you done?
When I have an hour of free time, I spend it: Relaxing my mind.
The story was updated to clarify her work with the United Way and work education and work history.