Outside the Box

Natalie Thibault learned to dream big in a small Kansas town.

That lesson was reinforced in her experiences and travels while at Washburn.

Now, the native of Halstead, home of 2,100 people, is 16 years into a career at Amazon, home of 1.5 million employees. She worked in Kansas, Arizona and Luxembourg before landing her current role as a global senior talent development business partner based in Tennessee. Altogether, she’s held five different managerial positions and traveled to 61 different countries.

“Our parents wanted us to grow up in a small town, but they didn’t want us to be small-minded,” said Thibault, the oldest of seven children. “They liked the values of a small town but wanted us to be able to go anywhere in the world, talk with anyone and do whatever it is we wanted to do.”

Thibault, bba ’08, was hired in 2008 as an area operations manager in one of Amazon’s original customer fulfillment centers in Coffeyville, Kansas. The company, which then had about 200,000 employees, has grown sevenfold to become the second-largest employer in the world, and Thibault’s career trajectory followed.

“There were two goals I had right out of college: Within five years, I wanted to be a people manager – I really enjoy people – and I wanted to do something international,” she said. “So, the way the job at Amazon worked out, I started from day one as a people manager, and since year six, my roles have included a global scope.”

She may have had conviction in her goals, but as she neared completion of her finance degree, she wasn’t sure how she would achieve them. One of her mentors, the late Gary Forbach, professor emeritus and founding director of the Washburn Leadership Institute, suggested she study abroad.

Thibault had been to the United Arab Emirates the year before, presenting at a Women as Global Leaders Conference. She and Forbach tapped into the connections formed during that trip to construct a study abroad experience that was truly transformational.

Thibault became the first Washburn student to study in the UAE on a semester-long program. When she returned, she delivered one of the most memorable presentations Tina Williams, ba ’95, has seen in her 20 years as Washburn’s study abroad program coordinator.

“She took thousands of photos while she was there, but there was one in particular,” Williams said. “They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, and her standing there next to a camel and an Arab gentleman in a pink shirt with her green eyes is quite the juxtaposition (above photo). That picture spoke a lot of words.”

The photo was used on Washburn’s study abroad website for years, prompting Williams to call Thibault the “poster child” for the impact international studies can have on students’ worldviews. Then a lifelong Kansan, Thibault came away from the trip with much more than just pictures.

“For me, it’s critical to learn by doing and to meet people, because that’s what allowed me to lead a global team, which was one of my dreams,” she said. “I’ve got team members and customers who work in the UAE now, as well as every continent across the globe (except Antarctica). It builds that connection almost instantly, when you’re able to say, ‘I know something about where you’re from.’”

When she returned from the UAE, a friend suggested she apply for a job at Amazon. It’s hard to recall a pre-Amazon world now, but in 2008 the company had not yet established itself as the shipping, shopping, do-everything online retailer it is today.

“Amazon just wasn’t as big of a thing at the time,” she said. “I thought all the employees were software engineers, and my passion wasn’t software engineering.”

“I think they do more than just software engineering,” the friend replied.

Thibault, and the world, soon found that to be true.

After spending the first five years of her career in Coffeyville, Thibault moved to Arizona for six years as Amazon’s senior manager of global learning and talent development.

Her next stop was a move overseas to Luxembourg, where she spent four years as senior manager of training and development until returning stateside in August 2023 to her current role in Nashville.

“I learned that opening your purview and considering paths that may be non-traditional to you can actually end up being the exact job that is right for you,” Thibault said. “That’s been the case time and time again throughout my career.”

Thibault continues to seek ways to reinvent herself, while stressing the importance of dreaming big to the thousands of leaders she impacts worldwide.

“I think life is a creative endeavor. You must take the time to get crystal clear on your purpose,” she said. “Ask yourself what you are intentionally doing to live your purpose and create the life you want. Then, regularly revisit those things you’re doing and adjust as needed. Otherwise, to me, it’s just existing. Be intentional about creating versus existing.”