John Aden has served in senior leadership roles for some of the greatest companies in the world. John spent a decade working in consumer products for Frito-Lay. He served for seven years as the President of Mac Tools. And, since 2007, John has served in a number of executive leadership roles at Wal-Mart, Inc. until his retirement in January 2015.

Most recently, John served Walmart U.S. as the Executive Vice President, Sales Innovation where his team focused-on driving growth with disruptive product offerings and innovative solutions. During his tenure at Walmart, John served the company in leadership assignments both domestically and internationally. In Walmart U.S., John served as executive vice president of merchandise services – including replenishment, merchandise execution, small formats and supplier development. Prior to that, he was executive vice president of general merchandise, where he led a strong team of merchants focused on electronics, entertainment, toys, seasonal and hardlines categories. In 2010, John was senior vice president of hardlines merchandising where his team drove significant growth by re-establishing the authority of key categories, focusing on assortment, in-store merchandising and supplier collaboration.

Since joining Walmart in 2007, John also served as senior vice president of international operations and senior vice president of global leverage for Walmart International. In his operations role, John led operations, logistics, merchandising, marketing and integration for Walmart’s international markets. He played a key role in Walmart’s international expansion by serving on the Board of Directors for the company’s Joint Venture in India and he led Walmart’s initial efforts to expand into Africa. In all of his leadership assignments at Walmart, John served as an innovative and inspiring leader who strengthened internal teams, worked closely with suppliers to accelerate growth and created energy around big events.

John has been married to the beautiful and amazing Kristal for almost 20-years. They have two children – Julia and Joey. John is chairman of the board of the CEO Forum. He is an aspiring cattle rancher, a novice photographer and a follower of Jesus. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Washington.