The question that saved my company from bankruptcy | Sharon Price John

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: TED Talks Daily
Episode: The question that saved my company from bankruptcy | Sharon Price John
Date: December 11, 2025
Speaker: Sharon Price John, CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop
Recorded at: TEDCG in Dubai, 2025
Summary by: [Your Name or Podcast Summarizer]

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Episode Overview

This episode features Sharon Price John, CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop, sharing her gripping story of leading a beloved but ailing company back from the brink of bankruptcy. Her talk addresses how rediscovering and embracing the organization's true purpose—beyond products or profits—became the catalyst for an incredible turnaround. She advocates for "starting with heart" not just in business, but in life, and challenges listeners to find and lead with their own core purpose.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Understanding True Purpose (03:17–06:25)

• Sharon Price John opens with the question: "Do you know your organization's true purpose?" (03:17)
• She reflects on her 2013 appointment as CEO during Build-A-Bear's darkest time:
  • The company had suffered an annual loss of $50 million and was closing unprofitable stores.
  • Eight years of struggle post-recession and in the face of declining mall traffic and a rising digital economy.
• Textbook turnaround plans (cost cutting, closures, layoffs) were met with anxiety and resistance.
  • "It was almost like they were afraid to change. But why?" (04:26)
• The pivotal question she asked her team: "Does it matter if Build-A-Bear exists?" (04:54)
  • This question catalyzed deeper reflection and set the stage for renewed purpose.

2. Rediscovering the Emotional Core (05:20–07:50)

• Sharon details the Build-A-Bear experience—a personalized ritual involving the iconic heart ceremony that brings a teddy bear to life.
• She highlights the emotional resonance and multigenerational memories tied to these experiences, extending well beyond retail transactions.
  • Build-A-Bear teddies are used to comfort children in crises, including natural disasters and illness.
• The team’s response: Their fear was not about change itself, but about losing the intangible “heart” of the brand.
  • "They needed to know where my heart was." (06:49)
• Conclusion: To successfully lead, she needed to align her strategy with the company’s deeper purpose.

3. Reframing the Mission and Strategy (07:50–08:45)

• A new mission was born: “We add a little more heart to life.” (07:50)
  • "Missions should be big."
• This became the foundation for all strategy—moving from narrow, transactional thinking to value-based planning.
• This common purpose allowed the team to embrace operational changes as a path toward a more meaningful goal.

4. Transformative Results & Business Model Innovation (08:45–10:27)

• Immediate return to profitability in the first year post turn-around.
• Strategic shift from a solely mall-based operation to:
  • Launching stores in tourist locations, cruise ships, amusement parks, resorts, etc.
  • Global expansion to over 30 countries with nearly all stores profitable.
  • Embracing e-commerce: Website went from <5% to 15–20% of total sales.
  • Targeting new demographics: teens and adults, capitalizing on the “kidulting” trend.
    • "We doubled the teen and adult business. That is now 40% of our sales." (09:54)
• The company withstood ten years of challenges, including economic downturns, activist investors, Brexit, and the pandemic.
• Recent success:
  • Four years of record financial results.
  • Stock price increased over 2000%, outperforming tech giants (10:27).

5. Why ‘Starting with Heart’ Worked (11:05–12:38)

• Sharon attributes the turnaround to reconnecting with the organization’s authentic purpose—not just smart strategy:
  • "I have to believe it all came down to getting in touch with our real purpose—who we really were. And that had to start with heart." (11:05)
• She addresses skeptics who may think an emotional, purpose-driven approach is only appropriate for companies like Build-A-Bear.
• Cites Theodore Roosevelt: "Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care." (11:57)

6. Personal Reflection and Broader Application (12:38–14:21)

• Sharon now applies a heart-centric approach to all decision-making:
  • "These days... I always look in my heart before we make the final decision." (12:38)
• Advocates a heart-focused life and leadership for clarity, resilience, and joy.
  • "A heart-centric approach to life can unlock remarkable power, immense joy, and provide clarity and resilience to focus on what is possible, while others are petrified by what’s probable." (13:24)
• Encourages listeners to find their true purpose and “courage to look inside—maybe past the stuffing... to find your true purpose.” (13:49–14:21)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Does it matter if Build-A-Bear exists?”
  — Sharon Price John (04:54)
  The question that cut to the company’s core and reframed the turnaround.

• “Build-A-Bear is a feeling based on memorable moments.”
  — Sharon Price John (06:30)

• “We add a little more heart to life.”
  — Sharon Price John (07:50)
  The new mission statement that inspired transformation.

• “We doubled the teen and adult business. That is now 40% of our sales.”
  — Sharon Price John (09:54)

• “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”
  — Theodore Roosevelt, quoted by Sharon Price John (11:57)

• “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.”
  — Sharon Price John (12:19)

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Major Timestamps of Key Segments

• 03:17 — Sharon asks: “Do you know your organization's true purpose?”
• 04:54 — The existential question: “Does it matter if Build-A-Bear exists?”
• 06:25 — The team’s emotional investment and what was truly at stake
• 07:50 — New mission: “We add a little more heart to life.”
• 08:45–09:54 — Turnaround actions, expansion, and digital transformation
• 09:54–10:27 — Embracing new markets: Kidulting, global growth, record sales
• 11:05–11:57 — The importance of heart over mere smart strategy
• 12:38–13:29 — Heart-centric leadership and life's decisions
• 14:11–14:21 — Final call to courage and purpose

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Conclusion

Sharon Price John’s TED Talk delivers an engaging, heartfelt narrative about the power of rediscovering and rallying around a company’s authentic purpose. It reminds business leaders and individuals alike that "starting with heart" isn’t just a slogan—it’s the strategic and emotional engine of remarkable transformation and enduring success.

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Listen to the episode for the full talk and more inspiring ideas!

Transcript

[A]

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You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. When Sharon Price John, the CEO of Build a Bear Workshop, first took over the organization, it was nearing bankruptcy. In her talk, she shares how rediscovering the company's true purpose, not for products or profits, but adding a little more heart to life became the unlikely engine for a major global turnaround. She asks, in our own organizations and lives, are we willing to look past the stuffing and find the purpose that makes everything come alive?

[B]

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 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 Build A Bear exists.

Now? 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 or 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 and 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 then able 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 hard.

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.

[A]

That was Sharon Price John at TEDCG in Dubai in 2025.

If you're curious about Ted's curation, find out [e-mail] curationguidelines and that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This talk was fact checked by the TED research team and produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefan, Oliver Friedman, Brian Greene, Lucy Little and Tansika Sangmarnivong. This episode was mixed by Christopher Faizy Bogan. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Balarazo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.

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[C]

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