BABW Connect ~ Day 1 (part one)

Today started off with a bang. Seriously. I took a look at the itinerary for the day and realized we were not going to get a seconds rest! But I was so excited to see that, because that is SO me. I am the mother to TWO toddlers, I'm not real familiar with what some people call "down-time". And seeing that I was going to get a chance to hear so many stories and listen to so many influential people speak, I was pumped and ready for the day.

Maxine Clark, the Founder and Chief Executive Bear of Build-a-Bear started off the morning with a few influential words of wisdom and specifics and stats on the company. Did you know that 30% of the guests at Build-a-Bear are boys?! And the average age and gender of a Build-a-Bear guest is a 10 year old girl. I was so happy to hear this knowing that I have many, many years of creating memories and stories with my OWN kids, and they will still be in to it for many years to come.  Maxine also said "Shopping is about Dreaming" She made me think about how true it is that we remember exactly what we were wearing, or smelling, or feeling when certain, influential events have happened in our lives. It made me think back to the day I met my husband and how I specifically recall what pants he was wearing, and what shirt, and how he had a silver chain wallet hanging out of his right pocket. And it made me think the furniture in the delivery room when Jonah was born, and what was on the TV in the delivery room when Lily was born.  And I know these aren't specific "shopping" experiences, but these are emotional experiences. And isn't EVERYTHING emotional?

Next to speak after Maxine, was a great friend of hers, Adrienne Weiss. I have to be honest, I had no idea who Adrienne was, and I wasn't sure what she was talking about was going to have much relevancy to myself and my blog. But once she started talking she made points like:
     
          ~Brand is about story-telling
          ~Become a club people want to be a part of (i.e. Starbucks)
          ~Think about your brand as a country, with it's own language, rituals, and customs

But when she really engaged me. I mean, really pulled me in and made me want to be her best friend and pick her brain and make her hire me as one of her employees is when she said;

          "Get up 30,000 feet and have a moment with yourself and figure out your
           story.  Where's the heart? Unless you have an emotional piece of it, your
           missing where the story lies."

And truly, isn't that what this is all about? Figuring ourselves out? Just because we are mother's, it doesn't mean we have it all together. All the pieces don't always fit together perfectly and things aren't handed to us by any means. But taking that second (whether it has to do with blogging, or your career, or your life overall), doesn't this statement hold true everywhere and anywhere? I think deep down, we all want to leave some sort of a legacy behind us. Not necessarily for us, but for those beyond us, particularly our kids. Being an empty shell, going through the motions is meaningless and empty. Don't you want to fill your heart up and then give pieces of it out to everyone? Branding is not solely external and easy to understand and clear-cut. We are setting the stage for others within our blogging brand, why not set a phenomenal example?

And that's what the Build-a-Bear Huggable Hero's are about. And that is what the Build-aBear company is about. They give back in ways you cannot even imagine.

More tomorrow...