NJ woman holds Walmart’s best-paid hourly job

I love a story of a local New Jersey girl who goes viral. And Melissa Fernandez has been getting national attention for having an incredible yet unusual talent, and showing it off at of all places, Walmart. Yes, Walmart.

The North Bergen location has been featuring the amazing and jaw-dropping cake designs that Melissa executes, and TikTok and Instagram have made her a national treasure.

Think hand-piped cartoon characters, insanely detailed buttercream flowers — you name it.

Walmart has always been known as one of the better companies to work for, which is extremely supportive of its employees, and they have helped Melissa so much throughout her career.

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Melissa Fernandez's career journey

That’s what is really helping Melissa to gain so much fame, because what’s really turning heads is that Melissa isn’t just incredibly talented, she also happens to hold one of the highest-paid hourly jobs you can get at Walmart without being a manager.

She earns $19.25 an hour, gets full benefits, paid parental leave, and even tuition help through Walmart’s Live Better U program.

She’s been with the company 11 years — four of them as a decorator —and now, her story is getting picked up by the Associated Press and spreading fast. It’s not every day that a cake decorator from Union City gets a national spotlight, but Melissa’s a perfect example of how creativity and skill (plus a company willing to invest in its workers) can actually open doors.

When the Associated Press visited Melissa, they got a lesson in how to decorate graduation cakes.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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