Tag: Values

It’s hard to keep the sighing, heavy-eyed students of a night class engaged. But on this Tuesday evening, I sat in a buzzing room—with classmates swapping stories of stuffing and stitches from their first Build-A-Bear experience. Taking the podium to kick off our Women in Leadership class that night was Maxine Clark, philanthropist, serial entrepreneur, and the founder and former “Chief Executive Bear” of the Build-A-Bear Workshop retail company.

Over the next two hours, Maxine took our class through her career journey, explaining some of the personal and professional decisions that she made along the way. From leaving Payless to launch her own company, to leading projects supporting education and nonprofits in St. Louis, Maxine embraces change while staying true to her core values. I left class that night with a few favorite nuggets of wisdom to carry with me:

Be open to the teachers around you.

Maxine has a very apparent appreciation for the teachers in her life, and she recognizes that they come in all forms—whether a schoolteacher, supervisor, or child (Build-a-Bear’s core customer). In being open to learning from others, Maxine has found the strength to improve from mistakes, the drive to rise to challenges and surpass expectations, and even the inspiration to build new businesses.

Passions change. Keep up.

At the heart of Maxine’s story is an unshakeable faith and courage in following her passions. With several career pivots—becoming an entrepreneur and then entering the nonprofit space—she has maintained the self-awareness to recognize that her passions are malleable, yet always worth chasing. By embracing her passions at different stages of her career, Maxine continues to feel fulfilled in her work.

Live and lead with authenticity.

You can’t help but love Maxine’s unapologetic attitude. Her words are charged with a certain fearlessness and wrapped in sincerity. Maxine’s ventures speak to her values, and she makes no excuses for conducting business in a way that is authentic to who she is and the things which are personally important to her. As her talk came to a close, she signed off: “That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.”

Guest Blogger: Neelam Vyas, MBA ’18 & GSBA President

“The thing about valuing values,” Stuart Bunderson told EQ, “is that ultimately they will help you navigate uncharted waters as a founder or entrepreneur.” The interview with the media platform that covers the St. Louis startup ecosystem previewed this week’s seminar, “The Value of Values for Founders and Entrepreneurs,” scheduled for Sept. 20, 4-6pm, in Emerson Auditorium, Knight Hall. The event is part of Olin’s Bauer Leadership Center Values and Leadership Series, presented in partnership with Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), and Washington University’s Executive MBA program.

Bunderson is co-director of the Bauer Leadership Center and will present a lecture at the seminar followed by a panel discussion. See the schedule below. Bunderson told EQ:

“Strong values will help define how your company responds to pressure, say it if can’t make payroll, or how it treats its customers, or cares for employees. For many early-stage founders, these ideas may seem too far ahead to think about, but the truth is that if values are not clearly articulated and firmly defended from a venture’s earliest days, founders have little chance of creating companies that embody their most deeply-held values.”

Related blog post.

Register today for “The Value of Values for Founders and Entrepreneurs.” There is no cost to attend, but registration is required.

Forum Format
4:00 p.m.The Value of Values for Founders and Entrepreneurs – Lecture by Stuart Bunderson, George & Carol Bauer Professor of Organizational Ethics & Governance and Co-Director of the Bauer Leadership Center

4:30 – 5:15 p.m. Panel Discussion

Panelists:
Joe Edwards, Owner-Developer, Blueberry Hill
Jennifer Labit, Founder and CEO, Cotton Babies, Executive MBA Alumna
Brian Matthews, Co-Founder and General Partner, Cultivation Capital
Aaron Perlut, Partner, Elasticity
Andrea Simon, Ph.D., Corporate Anthropologist, President, Simon Associates Management Consultants

Moderated by:
Cliff Holekamp, Olin Business School, Academic Director of Entrepreneurship