Startup Exit Awards - Lifetime Achievement
Maxine Clark began developing the skills she’s honed as an entrepreneur at a young age.
“If I think all the way back, I sold the most Girl Scout cookies in my troop — so that was a good start,” Clark said.
In the decades since Clark was selling Girl Scout cookies, she has become one of St. Louis’ most recognizable — and successful — entrepreneurs. Clark is founder and former CEO of St. Louis-based Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. (NYSE: BBW), the toy retailer and entertainment company known for its stuffed bears. She launched Build-A-Bear in 1997, opening its first location at the Saint Louis Galleria mall. She took the company public in 2004 through an initial public offering. Today, Build-A-Bear has nearly 500 locations, with revenue of $467.94 million in fiscal 2022.
Since stepping down as Build-A-Bear’s CEO in 2013, Clark has remained active in St. Louis’ entrepreneurial community. In May, she received an honorary degree from Washington University, where she is a member of its Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship National Council. She’s also served as a mentor and investor to local entrepreneurs.
Clark recently spearheaded Delmar Divine, the new $89 million mixed-use redevelopment of the former St. Luke’s Hospital, which aims to be a hub for social innovators.
How did you begin your entrepreneurial career? Truly, I began my career as an entrepreneur as a merchant at the May Department Stores. I know most people don’t think that when you work for someone else you are an entrepreneur but that is wrong. I was allowed to experiment with my ideas, grow the successful ones and learn from the failures on someone else’s nickel. It was a great way to learn to trust your instincts and become familiar with your ultimate boss — the consumer.
What do you consider to be the biggest achievements of your career? Build-A-Bear is by far my biggest achievement. Creating that company from scratch here in St. Louis and taking it public on the New York Stock Exchange was the American dream and then making sure that I had an awesome successor in (current CEO) Sharon Price John to take the company into its promising future.
Who have been the biggest mentors in your career? My biggest mentors were my two favorite and very challenging bosses, David Farrell, former CEO of May Department Stores, and Julie Seeherman, CEO of Venture Stores. They were very different kinds of leaders but all taught me the magic and the joy of retailing.
How has St. Louis’ entrepreneurial economy changed since you launched Build-A-Bear? There weren’t many businesses founded by women back in 1997 and none that took their company public, but now there are many — Clementine’s, Summersalt, JBloom Designs, Collections by Joya.
What’s been the biggest challenge during your career as an entrepreneur and how did you overcome it? Looking backward it also seems easy now — just lots of learning. I would say that mistakes are where you learn and the customer is resilient.
You spearheaded the Delmar Divine project. How do you envision that project growing the entrepreneurial and innovation communities in St. Louis? The Delmar DivINe is a multi-faceted real estate project that predominantly houses nonprofits — many of which are still led by their founders, but has also brought economic development to the West End including a new pharmacy started by a local entrepreneur who is not a pharmacist and new residents to our neighborhood via our 150 apartments. Our co-working space, The NoDe, also is open to entrepreneurs of all kinds, the first in this ZIP code. We are hoping to nurture all kinds of possibilities for St. Louis.
Outside of your time at Build-A-Bear and the Delmar Divine project, how else have you helped grow St. Louis’ entrepreneurial ecosystem? I am a mentor and sometimes investor to women and minority entrepreneurs. It is the most fun of all and I am proud to be a part of their journey.
What’s your advice to young entrepreneurs who are starting companies today in St. Louis? Dream the dream supreme — the Rolls Royce plan where money is not an object — and share it to get feedback. Next step: figure out how to do it on a “Ford” budget. Don’t limit the dream.
How can the St. Louis region improve as a place for startups and entrepreneurs? We need to sell an overall better story of our region's assets — all the things to do here that are in reach, plus the low cost of living, and show the ecosystem that exists for entrepreneurs and convince the bankers to be supportive. We have a great story, we just don’t know how to tell it. Also, it's very hard to get a business account — and should not be!
For links to profiles of winners and finalists in the 2023 Fire Awards and Startup Exit Awards, go here:
