Build-A-Bear: Maxine Clark. A Former Shoe Executive Launches a Stuffed Animal Empire

to imagine there were some people maybe they didn't say it to you? Who thought this was so weird? Maxine Clark, the lady who ran payless? Like. Is starting a stuffed animal. Like.

What is she thinking? Is she nuts? Like I just have to imagine? People were saying that. Maybe behind your back. No, they said it to me. They weren't shy.

Welcome to How I Built This, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements. They built. I'm Guy Roz and on the show today, how a fruitless search for a beanie baby inspired Maxine Clark to start Build A Bear, a make your own stuffed animal store that grew into a global phenomenon. In nineteen ninety two, an article in Forbes magazine pointed out that of all the top positions in Fortune five hundred companies, Only five percent were held by women.

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