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- [00:01]
Madupe Aquinola
This episode is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business. When you own your own business, you own every decision. Now own the card that rewards you for it. Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business is a pay in full card that elevates your travel experience and offers premium benefits that will take your business to the next level. Sapphire Reserve for business offers 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel, 3x points on social media and search engine advertising, airport lounge access, and more. With over $2,500 in annual value, it's the card that gives back all you put in. Learn more@chase.com ReserveBusiness Chase for Business make more of what's yours Accounts subject to credit approval restrictions and limitations apply. Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank NA member FDIC
- [01:00]
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- [01:33]
Madupe Aquinola
This episode is brought to you by Ground News. In a world where the same story gets spun a hundred different ways, how do you know what's actually happening? That's the challenge. Ground News solves. Ground News isn't a news publisher. It's an app and website that shows you how every story is being covered across the political spectrum and around the world. Take the recent Supreme Court hearing on social media Age verification. Many sources covered it, but the headlines tell vastly different stories on Ground News. You can swipe through each headline and see content about the source, such as its political bias, how reliable the reporting is, and who owns them. Ground News empowers you to figure out what's really going on. That's the kind of critical thinking TED champions, exploring multiple perspectives before drawing your own conclusions. Right now, ted listeners get 40% off the vantage subscription. For unlimited access, just go to groundnews.com Ted that's groundnews.com Ted Codeted for 40% off. You can only get this limited time offer by using our link. See the full picture. Visit groundnews.comted today everyone has that stuffed animal they toted around everywhere with them when they were a kid. The one you'd freak out about if left at school. The one probably missing an ear. The one you'd secretly sneak into your suitcase way past when it was age appropriate. Mine was a panda named Panda. And I loved her. I loved her matching white shirt and tunic that I sewed myself, thank you very much. She kept me company when I was bored, scared, or just in need of a companion. She mattered to me and in that way she provided me with a sense of responsibility. I was there to take care of her and I took that job seriously. I'm Madupak and Ola. This is TED Business, a podcast from ted. We talk a lot about smart business strategies on this show, but one of the most important keys to success is understanding the heart of your work, the emotions and feelings and relationships that you're building with people. It's like my panda and how she was so much more than just a toy to me. Our speaker today, Sharon Price. John knows a thing or two about heart and and about stuffed animals too. She's the CEO of Build a Bear and when she took charge, the company was in serious trouble. But the thing that saved her company wasn't just business savvy, it was a guiding question that got to the heart of the company's purpose. Then after the talk, I'll share a tradition we have at our business school that helps get people in touch with what really matters. But first, a quick break. This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn for small businesses, every hire matters. But here's the challenge you need to find the right person without turning hiring into a full time job itself. A bad hire can be costly, not just financially, but in team morale and momentum. And the process can be exhausting. Sorting through applications, trying to identify who actually has the skills you need a all while running your business. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It's designed to streamline the entire hiring process. You can draft job posts, shortlist candidates, and even conduct AI powered screening interviews. Its updated conversational interface lets you describe what you need in plain language. No recruiter jargon needed. Less searching, more connecting with real talent. Hire right the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off toward your job post@LinkedIn.com TedBiz that's LinkedIn.com TedBiz terms and conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business. When you own your own business, you own everything. Every decision. Now own the card that rewards you for it. Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business is a pay in full card that elevates your travel experience and offers premium benefits that will take your business to the next level. Sapphire Reserve for business offers 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel, 3x points on social media and search engine advertising, airport lounge access, and more. With over $2,500 in annual value, it's the card that gives back all you put in. Learn more@chase.com ReserveBusiness Chase for Business Make More of what's Yours Accounts subject to credit approval restrictions and limitations apply. Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA Member FD. And now Sharon Price John takes the
- [07:00]
Carvana Advertiser
TED Stage do you know your organization's true purpose? Many people say it's shareholder value, the products you make or the services you provide. But it's much, much more than that. It's like what really makes your company's heartbeat. Well, in today's complex world, shouldn't we all be thinking about that? I know I had to. When I became the CEO of Build a Bear Workshop back in 2013, I was asked to take the helm of this mall based make your own stuffed animal retail company for kids from the beloved founder. 2012 had been the worst year in the company's history, having lost $50 million and 20% of the stores were not turning a profit. The team had struggled for eight years in the wake of the recession, mall traffic declines, the rise of the digital economy. Well, bankruptcy was a real threat. So shortly after I got there, I brought the whole organization together to share my textbook turnaround plans that of course included cost cutting, store closures, and maybe some layoffs. But I was met with skeptical stares and silence. Wow. Don't they get it? I mean, the world had changed a lot since 1997 when build a Bear was started. But it was almost like they were afraid to change. But why? Frustrated, I turned to the crowd and I said, does it matter if Bill the Bear exists
- [08:38]
Capital One Advertiser
now?
- [08:39]
Carvana Advertiser
Before you answer that question, you might need to know just a little bit more. Build A Bear was a pioneer in experiential retail. So when you go to a store, you go through a process. Now, that process includes first picking out an unstuffed furry friend, but then with the help of a bear builder, you're able to go through a personalized stuffing experience. So that stuffing experience also includes a very special heart ceremony. Now, with this heart, you bring your teddy bear to life and you go through an informal but very fun experience of placing some attributes on your bear, like maybe making him stronger, making him smarter, maybe always have your back or in your heart. But then there's a very emotional process that's very memorable and you put a wish on the heart that ends with a kiss. It goes inside your heart, often along with a personalized recorded message. Then you get to dress it, name it, and get your birth certificate. Now, these experiences are woven into millions of childhood memories, and they're a part of multigenerational family lore for everything from birthday celebrations to graduations to wedding proposals and birth announcements. So Build a Bear is a lot more than a place. In fact, Build a Bear is often used for the Red Cross to provide teddy bears to people who need comfort in natural disasters, for parents who are grieving the loss of a child, and even for children who are suffering from illness. So not only are we so much more than a place, we're a feeling. Build a Bear is a feeling based on memorable moments, and it's for people of all ages. So when I asked the team, does it matter if Build a Bear exists? Of course they said yes. But it wasn't because of my textbook turnaround plans. It was because they already understood deeply what I just shared with you. And what I was telling them made them fearful that I was going to rip the heart out of the company they had created. So that let me know that before they were going to go on this journey with me, they needed to know where my heart was. And I needed to share plans that were based on our true purpose. And we needed to find something that we could all believe in as much as people believed in the wishes on these hearts. Well, that led to a new and inspirational mission statement of we add a little more heart to life. And yes, missions should be big. And it created a strategy for us that was based in something that we had already organically become. Build a Bear was already more than its original vision. We just needed a business plan to profitably unlock that value. So with that, the team was enabled to go through the tedious process of turnaround and return to some operational excellence because it was just a step in becoming something more, but with heart. So you're probably wondering, did it work? Well, we returned to profitability that very year. But more importantly, the more strategy which it became helped us recognize that we were not trapped in the mall based retail that had created us. So we opened in more places. We understood where people were now going for fun and entertainment like tourist locations, hospitality, everything from cruise ships to amusement parks to resorts. And now we're in over 30 countries around the world with virtually all of our stores profitable. We embraced the digital economy by opening a brand new website that was focused on more categories like gifting and collectibles. And that took our web business from less than 5% of total sales to somewhere between 15 to 20% of total sales. And that led us to recognize that we could target more people. That multi generational aspect that I was sharing that helped us to understand that teens and adults were a real target market for us. And we happened to figure that out right at the beginning of a trend called kidulting. Yeah, that's a real thing. And so we doubled the teen and adult business that is now 40% of our sales. I have to give the team a lot of credit because they gave this a lot of heart. And it was 10 years of near bankruptcy, the retail apocalypse, activist investors, Brexit, and a global pandemic where we had to shut down all of our stores around the globe in 48 hours. And our stock price dropped to an all time low. Now, I'm happy to tell you, 250 million furry friends later, and a whole lot of heart ceremonies. We have had four years of record results and recently a stock price appreciation of over 2000%. So yeah, a teddy bear company outpacing tech giants like Nvidia, Microsoft. You gotta ask, how is that possible? Is there a strategy smart enough to make that happen? Well, actually, I have to believe that it all came down to getting in touch with our real purpose, who we really were. And that had to start with heart. Uh oh. Am I seeing skeptical stares and maybe some silence? I know what you're thinking. You're thinking all that heart stuff that works for companies like Build a Bear. But there's no way starting with heart can be more important than just being smart when it comes to turnarounds in business. Okay, I'll give you that. But I'm going to submit a quote to you widely attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. Really? No matter how brilliant you are, what your big idea is, your financial acumen. If nobody's going to put their heart into your concepts, it doesn't really matter, does it? I'll tell you something else. Your heart is the most consistent and the strongest organ in your body. It's also the first to develop, not your brain. So guess what? It really does all start with heart. I'll end with this. Not only can starting with heart change your organization, it can change your life. These days, even after I gather all the data and ask everybody and we figure it out about what's the next big smart thing we can do, I always look in my heart before we make the final decision. I found personally that a heart centric approach to life can unlock remarkable power, immense joy, and in fact provide clarity and resilience to focus on what is possible while others are petrified by what's probable. It provides journeys unfolding in amazing ways with extraordinary outcomes, including me being right here today on a TED stage sharing this story with you. Do you believe your organization can be more? Do you believe you can be more? Well, you're gonna have to get to where your power lies and that's gonna require some courage. Courage to look inside, maybe past the stuffing, past a few pre recorded voices to find your true purpose. But that will only come when you're willing to find your own heart. Thank you.
- [18:10]
Madupe Aquinola
This episode is brought to you by Paca. You know that hoodie? You can't stop reaching for the one that feels just right, whether you're on a plane, heading out for a walk or just winding down at home. I think I may have found mine. It's from Pakka, a brand making outdoor and lifestyle appare from Alpaca Fiber, one of the world's most sustainable natural fibers. Their best selling hoodie is softer than cashmere, warmer than wool and still breathable. It's also odor resistant and made to last, so it works just as well for travel as it does for everyday wear. I actually have one in the eucalyptus color, plus a pair of their soft, warm cuddly socks in Andean moss. They're incredibly comfortable and honestly, I can't wait to add a couple more pieces to my rotation. Each piece is made start to finish in Peru and includes an Inca ID hand woven by artisans, connecting you to generations of craftsmanship. To grab your Packa hoodie, go to www.packaapparel.com. that's www.pakaapparel.com.
- [19:28]
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- [20:04]
Capital One Advertiser
This episode is brought to you by Capital One. Capital One's tech team isn't just talking about multi agentic AI. They already deployed one. It's called Chat Concierge and it's simplifying car shopping using self reflection and layered reasoning with live API checks. It doesn't just help buyers find a car they love. It helps schedule a test drive, get pre approved for financing and estimate trade in value. Advanced, intuitive and deployed. That's how they stack. That's technology. At Capital One,
- [20:40]
Madupe Aquinola
That was Sharon Price John speaking at tedcg. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the strategy or the data and numbers that we forget about something else just as as important. The emotion and the key to emotion is often storytelling. I see this firsthand as a professor now. I've talked about this tradition before on the podcast, but I think it's an example that dovetails so beautifully with what Sharon is trying to express. Here at Columbia Business School we have a presentation series called CBS Matters. It was started by one of our students and it's been going on for over a decade. It's a space where students volunteer to share a little bit about what matters most to them. These stories are often intimate, emotional and vulnerable. Not your typical boardroom stuff, but they help both the students and the listener connect to their core values. In turn, it helps them understand the pivotal moments that define them and shape where they'll head next. Over the years, CBS Matters has expanded to include faculty and administrators, and it's completely changed our community as a business school. It's something everyone highlights as being a memorable part of their experience there. Sharon made a point to ask her co workers why their company mattered. Sometimes you need to create a platform where people feel free to share what matters to them too. So my question for you Is there a way you could implement a storytelling tradition in your workplace or organization? A new way where you can show the people you work with where your heart is? You might be surprised how far it will take you. That's it for today. TED Business is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced by Hannah Kingsley Ma, edited by Alejandra Salazar and fact checked by Julia Dickerson. Special thanks to Maria Ladias, Vera de Grunge, Daniela Valarezo, Tansika Sangmanibong and Roxanne Hilash. I'm Madupe Aquinola. Thanks for listening.
- [22:53]
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- [23:24]
Capital One Advertiser
is brought to you by Capital One. Capital One's tech team isn't just talking about multi agentic AI. They already deployed one. It's called Chat Concierge and it's simplifying car shopping using self reflection and layered reasoning with live API checks. It doesn't just help buyers find a car they love, it helps schedule a test drive, get pre approved for financing and estimate trade in value. Advanced, intuitive and deployed. That's how they stack. That's technology.
- [23:51]
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