About 3 years ago my family and I made a vacation of our city of Chicago during Spring Break. It was a lot of fun. The highlight for the kids was the day we spent at Navy Pier, most of which was done in the Build A Bear store. We had never been there before, mostly because it seemed a little pricey for our monthly budget, but this was special. So, we went, and all three of my kids made a special friend. It was a great time. A lasting memory for us all, but especially for my youngest. That day a friendship was born that would stand the test of time, doctors and hospitals.
This story is not unfamiliar to Maxine Clark, CEO and founder of Build A Bear Workshop. I had the pleasure of hearing Maxine speak recently at The Disney Social Media Moms Conference. She shared her very personal, and inspirational story behind the creation of her corporate phenomenon. But Build a Bear Workshop is not your typical International company, because what Build A Bear runs on is kindness, compassion and dreams fulfilled. That’s exactly what Maxine had in mind the day she hatched her plan in the presence of her young friend Kate and a potential craft project. When Ms. Clark talks about her company she talks about children, her team, and most importantly about customer service which is dedicate to, well, the customer. In fact, customer service and the whole Build A Bear Workshop experience are so important that her company only hires about 3% of the people who apply for jobs at their over 400 stores across the World. Only the best, most communicative, attentive, and kind people are good enough to be on the Build a Bear Workshop team. And you can feel that in every smile, every giggle and of course every bear hug you see the children give their new friends.
I went back to Build A Bear Workshop at Navy Pier this past week, 
in between my own concert performances in the Atrium. I was so pleased to see that the base prices for loving friends had dropped since the last time I had been there. A welcome sight in this economy. I was talking with CSR Rosie, (who approached me right away by the way), about a birthday party for my youngest, when a little fan recognized me. She had just been to my concert and was now getting her 24th Build A Bear friend! She was very excited to show it to me. When I asked her why she kept coming back to the store she told me, “because the bears make me feel so very happy.” What better reason could there be.
SMILE On!
ML
Miss Lori can be found Musing from her Minivan at MissLori.TV , Wearetherealdeal.com , YoungChicagonista , and ChicagoMomsBlog. She is also the new Chicago Family Entertainment Blogger for Examiner.com and a Discussion Leader for MomsLikeMeChicago. You can also see her Activating to Be Great at Miss Lori’s CAMPUS on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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