Type-A Mom Conference – Finding and Building Success

It’s the final day of the Type-A Mom Conference in Asheville, North Carolina. This morning, following the Mom Market where I picked up an adorable chalkboard from Robin Plemmons, we’re in the grand ballroom for the morning keynote from Maxine Clark, CEO and Founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop – Finding and Building Success. I was lucky enough to hear Maxine speak at the Disney Social Media Moms conference back in February, so I’m looking forward to hearing what she has to say today.

Kelby is introducing Maxine. What’s important to her is people who “get it done and get it started,” and when she was trying to find a keynote speaker for the conference, she felt Maxine embodied that.

Maxine says she was awake really late last night, so energized from meeting people yesterday. For those of you who didn’t follow the tweets last night, Cecily Kellogg’s daughter had a rip in her Build-A-Bear last night. Maxine took some string out of her purse and sewed it up for her! It was very important to her to fix up the bear, because she didn’t want the bear to lose its heart and soul. (How amazing is that?)

Moms talking to each other – it’s a great opportunity for us to change the world. Think of all the women around the world who think that they don’t have a friend, that they have to be subservient in their cultures…but they can log onto the Internet and discover that there’s this whole other world where they can get an education, spread their wings.

Nearly every hand in the room was raised when Maxine asked who has been to a Build-A-Bear store. She thanks us all for our business.

Live in a world of possibilities. Her parents always wanted to make her feel special, and she felt if she could be a princess when she was a little girl, she could be anything. Entrepreneurship goes way beyond business and willingness to take a risk. It’s a lot of different people and a lot of different things. Entrepreneurs want to make a difference. Moms are natural at this.

It’s also about building financial success, but it’s about nurturing and people, too. This generation that we’re in may seem archaic in 25-30 years, but right now is an important step in the process of networking and communications. Twitter, Facebook, etc… this is life changing.

Her grandparents were first generation Americans, and their parents didn’t speak English. They came to America to find their dream, which they found in their children and grandchildren. Maxine says her parents were an inspiration, but moreso her teachers. They encouraged her to seek all the potential she could have. A teacher named Mrs. Adams especially left an impression on her.

You can be anything that you want to be. it’s about passion – loving what you do and doing what you love. That’s what sets entrepreneurs apart. Especially in these crazy economic times, it can help to look back at our roots. See who inspired and challenged us.

Listen to your teachers. They can empower you and inspire you to communicate. (I should send Mrs. Ratzer a note of thanks. She was our high school librarian and the newspaper advisor.) Maxine remembers her first grade teacher. Most of us, by show of hands, remember our first grade teachers. Back when she was in school, first graders didn’t know how to read yet. Every Friday, her teacher were take a red pencil, sharpen it, and give it away to the child who made the most mistakes. The more you’re wrong, the less likely you are to raise your hand again. With the pencil as an incentive, she motivated the kids to keep raising their hands, even if they might be wrong.

“Maxine asks too many questions” was written on the back of her report card in the third grade. Her mother was angry about that. But her first grade teacher had inspired her curiosity. There’s not a lot of intellectual curiosity in the world anymore. Maxine says it helps her learn about her world.

The one thing she tells everyone, especially teachers she talks to: Always try, even if you don’t know if you’ll succeed or not. You don’t know what you don’t know. No one has all the answers. It’s okay, and it’s fine to admit that and ask other people for ideas.

You need to have good judgment, knowing when to ebb and when to flow.

Your teachers aren’t necessarily in school. They can be your neighbors, colleagues, and friends. Another mentor Maxine had was a gentleman she met during her first week on the job, Stanley Goodman. He said, “Retailing is entertainment, and the  store is a stage. When the customer has fun, they spend more money.” She took this to heart with Build-A-Bear. People should walk away with a smile, because then they’ll come back.

Shopping has changed a lot since she was a little girl. It was so much fun for her to look in the store windows in Florida at “cruise wear.” Store windows  have been replaced by malls now, and the windows inside the mall are now dominated by “40% off” signs, and not creative displays.

You can never have too many shoes or too many teddy bears, and now teddy bears can have shoes. (Much laughter.)

She’s talked to moms about shoe shopping at Payless Shoes. When they bring their kids, inevitably the kids have to go to the bathroom. The store associates say there’s no bathroom, so the moms leave the store. Once they leave, they’re not going to come back. So Maxine thought about this, and she said, “Why can’t we do something that our customers want us to do?” Even when faced with opposition that it was too expensive, she decided that that was what she needed to do. She left her position at the retail store where she was, and she wanted to start something for kids.

It was the Beanie Babies craze that gave her the idea for Build-A-Bear Workshop. “These are so easy,” her daughter said to her, “we could make these.” So she did her research, and that’s how she got started. It was her daughter’s idea not to name the bears, so that kids could name their own bears.

Maxine allowed herself to dream without putting any restrictions on herself because no one else had ever done it. Adults would say, “Why would you want to make your own stuffed animal when you can just buy one at Wal-Mart?” But kids, when presented with the idea, would say, “That’s so cool!”

She has always been a dreamer. Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s with all sorts of great things being invented, it seemed like everything was possible. There was nothing to stop her from thinking big. The same is true today. How do we solve today’s problems? She’s looking forward to the upcoming movie Waiting for Superman, which is a documentary about education. She spends a lot of time working for public education. It helps fill her “psychic bank account.”

About 90 million stuffed animals have been made in Build-A-Bear stores since  1997. Every stuffed animal is unique, and so are her customers. That’s how they treat their customers. Her employees are motivated by our children.

You don’t have to be artistic to make a Build-A-Bear. You just need to have an imagination.

Let a child inspire you. Build-A-Bear is the 10th largest toy retailer in the United States, and that’s competing with Wal-Mart, Target, etc. (Applause.) They’re not just about toys; they’re about the experience.

Whatever you have an idea about, there can be a business around that.

Powerpoint slides: Hugs around the world. Imagination, friendship, creativity, empowerment, self-expression.

Nobody says it better that her guests. Maxine is reading some letters she’s received from kids. Kayla from Regina, Saskatchewan wrote her several letters. As Kayla has grown up, she’s kept in touch with Maxine via Facebook and Twitter. When Maxine asked her if she’d ever get too old for Build-A-Bear, she replied, “I don’t think I’ll ever get too old for Build-A-Bear. You can take Kayla out of Build-A-Bear, but you can’t take Build-A-Bear out of Kayla.”

Cute sells.

Listen for great ideas. Build-A-Bear now has a smallfrys line of smaller baby-size animals. (They are VERY cute.)

1+1=10. Maxine believes in partnerships; she mentions licensed products like Hello Kitty, Star Wars, Disney, etc.

Inspire fun! Make everything better than it could have been. Build-A-Bear has really low employee turnover.

Empower kids to make a difference. Some of their stuffed animals have dedicated a portion of their proceeds to various charitable causes. The Champ bears we got in our Type-A Mom swag bags benefit children’s health. Build-A-Bear does good things. It makes a big difference. People want a lot more out fo a product than they used to.

Build a world class brand.

We live in a world of possibility. Kids can now bring their bears to life at buildabear.com. First Bank of Bearville sounds like a great way to teach kids about finance.

Put your heart into it. Give it everything you’ve got. Even when you think you don’t have any more to give, you keep doing it.

Christina Gleason (976 Posts)

That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.