When Maxine Clark left a top job in retail to start a make-your-own stuffed animal store, people thought she’d lost her mind.  Investors doubted it. Friends questioned it. Retail experts couldn't understand how it would scale. But drawing on more than 20 years as a retail executive, Maxine built a massively  successful shopping “experience,”  where kids could stuff, dress and personalize their own stuffed animals.  Today, Build-A-Bear has generated billions in sales, survived the decline of malls, weathered the financial crisis, and become a global brand. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN  How a failed errand—and an offhand comment by a kid–inspired a business plan  How Maxine leveraged two decades of retail experience to launch Build-a-Bear  How Willy Wonka and Walt Disney were early inspirations  How she built a wedge against competitors  How she got through the financial crisis How she knew when to step down as CEO– and how to collaborate with her successor   TIMESTAMPS:   03:27 - A mom Who Worked for Eleanor Roosevelt 06:53 - The Impromptu Interview That Changed Maxine’s Career 14:00 - Becoming One of the Few Female Fortune 500 Executives 16:18 - Why She Walked Away From Payless 19:02 - The Beanie Baby Disappointment That Sparked Build-A-Bear 23:49 - Designing the First Store: “Make it Like Willy Wonka.” 33:13 - Opening Day — and a Line Out the Door 35:13 - Defending the Brand Against Copycats and Lawsuits 41:13 - Scaling to Hundreds of Stores and Going Public 52:15 - Letting Go: Stepping Down as CEO and Building a Legacy This episode was researched by Rommel Wood and produced by Kerry Thompson, with music by Ramtin Arablouei, and edited by Neva Grant.  Follow How I Built This: Instagram → @howibuiltthis X → @HowIBuiltThis Facebook → How I Built This Follow Guy Raz: Instagram → @guy.raz Youtube → guy_raz X → @guyraz Substack → guyraz.substack.com Website → guyraz.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices