dispatches from the new world of work

Cool Friend: Maxine Clark

If you've ever looked into Tom's slides, you've heard of our new Cool Friend, Maxine Clark. She calls herself "Chief Executive Bear" of her company, Build-A-Bear Workshop®, Where Best Friends Are Made®. If you know any children under the age of twelve, you've probably seen one of the bears. Maxine has written a book to tell her story: The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart, which we talk about with her. Here's a sample of what she has to say:

I do believe in the power of possibility. If you want to do something badly enough, you can find a way in today's world. You can change your life by finding the right company to work for, the right company to do business with. I feel very fortunate to have grown up in a time when there was so much going on in the world. How could I not be an optimist? There's been so much wonderful change and so many possibilities unfolding right before my eyes.

Read the rest of the Cool Friends interview, or go to her website, www.buildabear.com, and make yourself a bear.

Cathy Mosca posted this on 11/17/06.

Comments

Cathy - I've got two nieces (9 and 10) in the Build-a-Bear "demographic", so I'm quite familiar with the bears (monkeys, rabbits, etc.). What I like best about the bears is that, in a world where pre-teen girls are bombarded by messages about sexuality and pressured to dress like Britney Spears so that boys will think they're "hot", the Build-a-Bear products are sweet,fun, and encourage little girls to be, well, little girls. (That you can dress them up in a Red Sox uniform is, of course, another plus for my junior members of Red Sox Nation.)

On the business side, Maxine Clark is an exemplar of staying in touch with her customers. Reading the spam folder. Wow! I'm impressed.

Posted by Maureen Rogers at November 18, 2006 10:35 AM

Maxine,

I felt in love with your Calgary, Canada Build-a-Bear store when it first opened in Chinook centre. (I even asked and researched to find out the details for getting a franchise which I then found the stores are all corporately owned.) In the first few months or during holiday seasons, it was truly an amazing sight to see a long line up of kids waiting to bring life to their special one-of-a-kind friend (a bear or any other stuff animals).

Everything just seemed very well thought out (the process of building the animals, giving them "life", the email registration, the guaranteed return of lost bears, and of course, all the accessories as add-ons). A great concept with a lot of business opportunities. When I visited the Store again yesterday, the group of kids having their wonderful Build-a-Bear birthday party seemed so happy and was just heart-warming for me. Love it, love it, love it.

Borrowing Kevin Roberts' concept of Lovemark, Build-a-Bear is definitely a Lovemark for me. Just love it.

All the best,
Kempton
Calgary, Canada

Posted by kempton at November 19, 2006 11:57 AM