Maxine Clark (née Kasselman, born March 6, 1949, in Coral Gables, Florida)^[1] is the founder and former CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop, an American retailer that sells customizable teddy bears and other stuffed animals.

Clark graduated from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, in 1971^[2] with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.^[3] She holds an honorary doctor of laws degree from Saint Louis University School of Law.

In 2006, she published her first book “The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart”.

After college, she worked at Hecht's, a division of the May Company department store chain, and in 1976 was promoted to the corporate offices in St. Louis, Missouri.^[4] In 1992, Clark became the president of Payless Shoe Source, and left the company in 1996.^[5]

In 1997, Clark founded Build-A-Bear Workshop after being inspired during a shopping trip by a friend's 10-year-old daughter when they couldn't find a Beanie Baby they were looking for. The girl commented that they could make the toy at home and that sparked Clark's idea to create a store to make stuffed animals. Nine months later, Build-A-Bear opened its flagship store at the St. Louis Galleria mall in October 1997 and issued an initial public offering in 2004 with 140 stores.^{[6] [7]}

In 2013, Clark, retired from Build-A-Bear, turning over the CEO's role to Sharon Price John.^[7] Clark collected $1.37 million in total compensation in 2013, including a salary of $659,200, bonus and incentive pay totaling $377,138, and $144,365 in stock. She also received $160,415 for a six-month consulting contract plus $25,000 to cover her legal expenses.^[7]