_____________________________________________________________________________ Anitra
Walden-Jacobs | Kroger always includes options.“ You need plan B and plan C. You need to see further down the road,” she advises.
Workforce focus
Immigration law now forms a significant part of Anitra’ s remit. Managing work authorization and compliance with associates across dozens of states adds real legal exposure, requiring close coordination across legal, HR, and operations.
Her role centers on helping the business work through that complexity while keeping associates supported. What stands out to her is how teams respond in practice.“ What has been really uplifting for me is how hard I’ m watching our management, from store level all the way up, really fight for their people,” she says.
That response informs how she views the broader purpose of her work.“ At the end of the day, I work in an office in Cincinnati, but it is the cashier bagging groceries in Tennessee that pays my bills. It is important to take care of them,” she says.
As requirements evolve, clarity and coordination become critical. Anitra helps teams understand what actions mean in practice, ensuring decisions translate consistently across divisions without slowing the business’ s pace.
Decision ownership
Anitra leads with a clear expectation of ownership. She encourages business partners to make decisions within defined boundaries, rather than defaulting to legal for every call.“ Everything is not a legal decision,” she says. To support that, she builds confidence through structure.“ Sometimes it was creating a process map so they could see, like, here is the map. I will sign off on it up to this point. That is all you. You have got this,” she says.
She pushes teams to move beyond identifying problems.“ It’ s great to point out the problems, but please come up with some suggestions on what we’ re going to do,” she says. Her approach carries through in how she mentors junior lawyers.“ You treat the doorman the same way as you do the CEO,” she says. She highlights clarity in communication.“ Tell good news fast, but bad news faster.” She addresses mistakes directly, framing them as part of the work rather than something to hide.“ The cover-up is always going to be worse than the crime,” she says.
Her view of success has evolved, too.“ When I left law school, I think I just defined success as working at a big firm, making all this money,” she says. That has shifted.“ Now I just define it as being happy. If I come home and my kids are healthy and happy and my husband and I actually like each other, that’ s success.”
She returns often to a philosophy that keeps her grounded:“ There are glass balls like family and love, and then there are rubber balls like money and what you do for work. The rubber balls will bounce. The glass balls will shatter. Sometimes, you are going to drop a ball. Just make sure it’ s one that bounces back.” ■
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