The Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce held its second annual Women in Business: At the Heart of It All conference Friday, Sept. 20, at Drury Plaza Hotel Conference Center. Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop, and Meredith Knopp, president and chief executive officer of the St. Louis Area Foodbank, served as the event’s featured presenters.

Clark spoke onstage alongside her longtime business partner Tina Klocke. Klocke, now a member of the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Governors, was among the first three employees at Build-A-Bear Workshop when it first opened in 1997 in St. Louis County.

As Clark explained, the creation of the Build-A-Bear brand only occurred after she already gained years of experience in the retail industry. After graduating from the University of Georgia, she intended to complete law school in Washington, D.C., but a professor thought she would be good in retail management. Clark helped department stores target the female audience and moved to St. Louis in the 1970s to continue her career.

She was able to get ahead through networking, eventually becoming the president of Payless ShoeSource in the mid-1990s. She left in 1996 when the company went public and spent more time with her friends’ children.

On one occasion, she took the children to a store that promised to sell Beanie Babies only to discover eager parents had already depleted the store’s entire stock. Her friend’s daughter then suggested they make their own.

“That idea for Build-A-Bear just came from a child, like many ideas that normally come up in this world that are really good,” Clark said. “… That curiosity that is built in a child is incredibly important.”

Children were some of the most crucial early advisers for Clark and her team. Just as she provided male department store owners about what women would want to shop for, they provided insights into what children looked for in stuffed animals.

“I’ve never had a customer ask me for something so ridiculous that we haven’t been able to do it,” Clark said.

She was aided by significant investors who believed in the project, some of whom provided large checks for a stake in the business. Clark said her confidence in the idea helped sell and grow the company.

“If you don’t have a big dream, you’ll find that you’ll never get there, because that’s what you’re selling to people. You’re not selling them 'stage one', you’re selling them the whole thing,” Clark said. “… I believe the most important person you have to convince that your idea is worth doing is yourself.”

Clark trusted in customers’ advice and Build-A-Bear Workshop continued growing. Nowadays, the company employs more than 5,500 workers across some 525 retail locations globally.

“It is amazing how that yin and yang works for us to have people that work at Build-A-Bear today that have worked there almost since the beginning of the company that we have attracted and employed and nurtured,” Clark said.

A new perspective

Following lunch, Knopp spoke to the audience of crossroads, moments in life when their decisions can have a major impact on the future.

“I’m standing before you today as living proof that having a positive perspective on life in every situation gives you the ability to turn a problem into a possibility if you’re willing to pivot,” Knopp said. “… Sometimes even the smallest decisions might be the ones to change your trajectory.”

She provided examples of instances in her own life where a single decision, either made by her own hand or one that happened to her unexpectedly, provided major changes in her life down the road. These included joining the U.S. Army, meeting her biological mother, deciding to have a child and dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis.

Another example was when, after joining the Army, she had been assigned to work in Washington, D.C., based on others’ assessment of her skillset. Knopp pushed back, requesting a different role, and ended up going to South Korea. If she hadn’t stood up for herself and gotten reassigned there, she never would have met her future husband. She would also have been in the Pentagon during 9/11.

“What starts off as a challenge might just be a blessing in disguise,” Knopp said. “… As a leader, one of the biggest pieces of advice I’ll share with you is to trust your gut. We all have that feeling. Whenever I haven’t trusted my gut, it’s bitten me in the keister.”

Knopp also stressed the importance of finding the positives in life. She said networking matters and that it is important to surround oneself with people who can uplift you.

“Being a woman is not a competitive sport. It’s absolutely not. Find other women you can surround yourself with. Lift each other up and cheer each other on,” she said.

She added that the attendees should always be looking for opportunities to grow and improve themselves and to always be their authentic selves wherever they go.

“Don’t be afraid to share your story with others,” she said. “It might just be the story someone needs to hear.”