Gabriela Velasco Arana
Gabriela Velasco Arana, MBA, is an experienced retail and commercial operations leader currently serving as Operations Lead for Walmart and Sam’s Club USA. Based in Rogers, Arkansas, she plays a key role in aligning sales execution with strategic priorities across the Coca-Cola bottling system and its largest retail customer. In her role, she leads cross-functional coordination, ensuring strong in-store execution, business planning alignment, and delivery of financial and operational results.
With more than 25 years of experience in retail and over 16 years in the beverage industry, Gabriela has built a diverse career spanning analytics, Revenue Growth Management (RGM), customer development, sales, and operational leadership. Her professional background includes work with major global organizations such as The Coca-Cola Company and Unilever, where she developed deep expertise in pricing strategy, forecasting, data analysis, joint business planning, and category management. She is recognized for her strong analytical capabilities, strategic thinking, and ability to translate insights into actionable retail execution.
Gabriela holds an MBA from the University of Arkansas and has completed additional leadership development at the University of Georgia. A passionate advocate for team development and diversity, she is known for her servant leadership style, mentoring mindset, and collaborative approach to problem-solving. As a Hispanic woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry, she has built her career through resilience, adaptability, and continuous growth. She is also deeply committed to community involvement and values creating meaningful connections both professionally and personally.
• Coca-Cola Digital Navigator
• Telling Stories with Data
• The Six Morning Habits of High Performers
• Building Self-Confidence
• University of Arkansas - MBA
• Top Women in Grocery Awards
• NWA Hispanic Leadership Council
• Network of Executive Women
• LEAD Network Europe
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to working hard and having a problem-solving mindset. I've learned to work with others and be a real team player. One of my biggest strengths is being adaptable - I adapt myself to other people's skill sets, ideas, culture, and mindset. I think that's probably one of my strengths - I adapt myself to everything.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received is that nobody is perfect—we all make mistakes. The key is to learn from them, continue growing, and keep moving forward. This mindset has stayed with me throughout my career and continues to guide how I approach challenges and opportunities.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering this industry is to work hard and never put unnecessary barriers on yourself. Early in my career, I sometimes hesitated to pursue the next level because I doubted whether I had the right skill set, and staying in my comfort zone held me back. The truth is, you learn and grow by taking on new challenges. Believe in yourself, aim high, and commit to putting in the effort. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable—stepping outside your comfort zone has been one of the most powerful ways I’ve developed new skills and grown in my career.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges in my field right now are all the macro trends that are totally out of our control, like weather, recession, tariffs on water that we have to pay for. There are so many health trends, a lot of innovation, and a lot of startups bringing new, fresh ideas. We need to adapt really quickly to what's going on in the world through AI and technology, health trends, and more. Speed is probably the biggest challenge - we need to move faster and reach the consumers where they are, with the products that they want. But speed is also the biggest opportunity. We need to jump really quickly to stay ahead.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that matter most to me in both my work and personal life are honesty and transparency. I strive to uphold these in all my interactions, and I deeply appreciate them in others as well.