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 crisisHow she knew when to step down as CEO– and how to collaborate with her successor  TIMESTAMPS:  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 → @howibuiltthisX → @HowIBuiltThisFacebook → How I Built ThisFollow Guy Raz:Instagram → @guy.razYoutube → guy_razX → @guyrazSubstack → guyraz.substack.comWebsite → guyraz.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices