Alumni Spotlight

Name: James Millsap

Current Title: Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Organization: Leggett and Platt

Majors: B.S. Agribusiness 2011

 

K-State College of Ag is proud to recognize alumni from all departments who continue to pursue their passion in their respective fields. It is through experience that we continue to grow as individuals and stewards of the industry. Through those experiences, we hope to be a continued resource for the next generation of K-State students to lean on for advice and continue to build our network!

Why did you choose K-State?

I needed to spread my wings and go out on my own. I felt like K-State gave me an opportunity to do that. It gave me an opportunity to grow up. I chose the College of Agriculture because it really did feel like home. I found a home in the Diversity Programs Office of the College of Agriculture.

I always knew that I wanted to get a business degree and challenge myself to make it international. Dr. Zelia Wiley invited me to a National MANRRS Conference, and when I went, I made the determination to stay in agriculture. I was from Kansas City, so understanding what career paths were out there in agriculture alluded me until I saw it in front of my face, and I saw all the opportunities.

What groups were you involved in while at K-State, and how did they help prepare you for your career?

One of the best things I did while at K-State was join student organizations. One of the first student organizations I joined was MANRRS or Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences.

I found connections with MANRRS that really opened my eyes to the world of ag and what possibilities were out there. It taught me how to network. It taught me how to lead people. Not only did I matriculate through the College of Agriculture, but also from treasurer to vice president to president of MANRRS. I did a lot of work in that space.

I also joined a black fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated, at K-State. I became the chapter's vice president, so I was working with MANRRS and Phi Beta Sigma. Then, of course, our greek bodies are governed by the National Panhellenic Council (NPHC) and I also became the vice president of the NPHC.

I was a first-generation college student, and you better believe I took advantage of every opportunity that came my way.

What has your career path looked like after graduating from K-State with a degree in Agribusiness?

It was an unexpected but intentional path. I applied for a few corporate positions, and I don't think I was competitive enough to recruiters. I had a job at Best Buy and with focus and determination, got promoted to the general manager by the time I was about 25 which meant running a store.

Best Buy wanted to build up its diversity, equity and inclusion program. I was leading some DEI efforts for my district and an human resources Manager said, “Hey, we, we were told that you had a background in DEI.” They plucked me right out of my store, and I became a DEI training manager for Best Buy. A few years later, I was recruited out of Best Buy by Dicks Sporting Goods as the senior manager leading DEI efforts.

I did step away from the workforce for a little bit. I wanted to try to build my own consulting practice. After a while, you get a little taste of corporate life and you think, “I could do this for myself”. But, you have to have a pathway forward and you have to know what you're doing. I was green and I decided to come back into the workforce and that's where I met the company called CommScope.

CommScope is a very large telecommunications provider. That was where I was actually able to tick the global box for diversity, equity and inclusion leader on my resume. That led me to Leggett and Platt. While I was doing the work at Best Buy leading field human resources strategy, someone took notice.

When she later became vice president of talent management at Leggett and Platt, she needed to place a global head of DEI. She reached out directly to me and requested that I come work for her.

What I’ve realized about DEI is that it can be a very complicated subject matter, and not a lot of people can have the really difficult conversations that it takes to get a DEI initiative off the ground. I didn't realize it, but I was gaining skills along the way. That's one of the reasons why I decided to go back to school and get my master's degree. I wanted to position myself as an expert in organizational leadership and challenge what business can do now and in the future to remain profitable and sustainable.

What advice would you give current students preparing to graduate or apply for jobs or internships to stand out?

If you're looking to stand out to employers, companies, or any organization, I think you should be able to show that you've engaged in some of the work whether you want to go into non-profits or seek funding because you want to be an entrepreneur. For example, If you want to be in marketing, what type of marketing things did you do while you were in school? Even if you didn't like some of them, what did you learn from the experience?

It's okay if you don't have internships. I didn't have one internship, and I still made it.

So my challenge would be to think about where you think you want to be and what you could do today to take a step in that direction. You're not going to do it all at once, and you shouldn't try to, but what small step can you take in that direction that someone might like to see on a resume?

Be able to talk about your experiences, practice in front of a mirror if you need to or in front of your family and friends. When I became Best Buy's learning and development leader, someone told me I would be in front of people a lot. So, I worked to get better at my craft, and I worked to get better at engaging audiences. I found a spark in that. I found that I got energy from the people that I was teaching. Try to do something today that could put you on the pathway to where you want to go and be able to talk about it.