Sharon Price John

Sharon Price John
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Born	(1964-01-29) January 29, 1964
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Lincoln County High School University of Tennessee Knoxville Columbia University
Occupation	Businessperson Public Speaker Author Podcast Host Executive Producer

Sharon John (née Price, born January 29, 1964) is an American businessperson, public speaker, author, podcast host and executive producer as well as the President and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW).

Education

John graduated from Lincoln County High School in Fayetteville, Tennessee in 1986. She graduated with honors from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science (BS) Degree. She has received the Heilman Award as a distinguished alumnus of the College of Communications and the Torchbearer Award as a distinguished alumni of the University. In 2016, she was recognized by the University as one of the top 100 graduates of the last 100 years to commemorate the centennial celebration of the University's Torchbearer Magazine.

She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia University (1994) with an emphasis in international business. While there, she attended Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium) as a part of the international exchange program. In 2014, she received the distinguished alumna award from Columbia Women in Business.

Career

Advertising

Before earning her MBA, John’s career began in the advertising industry with various agencies. Starting in 1989 in New York City, she worked at DDB Worldwide on The Hershey Company account. She then worked at Bates USA until 1991 as the Account Supervisor on the Snickers, M&M's and Mars, Incorporated business.

Toy Industry

After receiving her MBA, John held a range of senior management positions in the toy industry. She spent seven years at Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) in roles including the General Manager and Senior Vice President of Global Preschool (inclusive of Playskool and Play-Doh) and as the General Manager and Senior Vice President for the U.S. Toy Division. During her tenure, she oversaw a wide array of iconic brands, including Transformers, Nerf, Littlest Pet Shop., and My Little Pony, while managing licensing relationships such as Star Wars and Marvel.

John served as the President of the Stride Rite Children’s Group LLC (SRCG) at Wolverine World Wide (NYSE: WWW) from 2010 to 2013, where she returned the struggling division to profitability and sales growth. She oversaw all functions of the historic children’s footwear brand including product development, wholesale sales to major department stores, marketing, planning and distribution, as well as the operations oversite of the over 350 specialty retail locations and franchisees. During this time, SRCG was also responsible for the development and distribution of the children’s versions of the other footwear brands housed at the company including Sperry Top-Sider, Saucony, Keds and Merrell (company).

Build-A-Bear

Build-A-Bear Workshop was started in 1997 in St. Louis, MO as an experience-based mall retailer where children could make their own “furry friends.” The company has since evolved into a multi-generational and global brand with over 500 locations (including hospitality, cruise ships and amusement parks) alongside a robust online business offering multiple product categories (including collectibles and gifting), appealing to a wide array of consumer ages.

As the President and CEO since 2013, John successfully led the company through a financial turnaround while navigating disruptive economic events including the Retail apocalypse, the rise of the digital economy, Brexit, and a global pandemic. Simultaneously, the company executed a strategic pivot beyond a primarily children’s-based “traditional mall retail” to become a multi-channel, multi-dimensional organization. This included the evolution of the retail footprint, an aggressive digital transformation of systems, processes, and marketing that included the relaunch and repositioning of buildabear.com and a meaningful expansion of the addressable market. As a part of this strategy, the company also developed a comprehensive content plan under the Build-A-Bear Entertainment banner, which includes short-form video, multiple films (see TV and Film section) with well-known partners, Build-A-Bear Radio with iHeartMedia and Build-A-Bear Tycoon on Roblox. By leveraging the brand’s awareness and equity to enhance consumer engagement and increase lifetime value.

In 2018, Build-A-Bear garnered over one billion media impressions in a single day spurred by the “Pay Your Age Day” promotion, with crowds estimated at over 500,000 to malls and shopping centers across the U.S. and the U.K. The following day, John was requested to discuss the event on the NBC’s Today (American TV program).

In 2021, one year after the COVID-induced forced closure of 100% of the company’s physical retail locations in 2020, Build-A-Bear Workshop delivered the most profitable year in its history, and has continued to post record-setting results into 2023.

Other business ventures

Simultaneous with her Build-A-Bear Workshop tenure, John has served as a member of the Board of Directors for Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) since 2014. Other toy industry experience includes serving as the Vice President of Product Development and Marketing at the U.S. Division of Vtech Toys as well as working in business units for both the Barbie brand and the Disney licensing division at Mattel (NYSE: MAT) for over 5 years. In her role in Disney business, John served as the Director of European Marketing as an expat in Paris, France which led to her becoming the Vice President of International Marketing for the Disney licensing division upon her return in 1998.

Public appearances

John often participates in national media interviews. Select engagements include: United Nations with IDEAGEN, Salesforce Dreamforce keynote and panel, Shoptalk keynote, Best Places to Work Conference keynote, Women in Retail Leadership Summit keynote, Columbia Business School address, and University of Tennessee College of Communications Commencement.

Select philanthropy and organizational memberships

John supports, is a member, and/or has served on a number of national and regional philanthropic boards and organizations, including KABOOM!, the Board of Directors of The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the Board of Visitors for the University of Tennessee College of Communications, and IDEAGEN. She also is an avid supporter of the Build-A-Bear Foundation.

She is a member of the Toy Association (TIA) and has served on the Executive Committee since 2020.

John is also part of the Fortune “Most Powerful Women” (MPW) organization, a member of The Committee of 200 (C200),and engaged in the Women Corporate Directors (WCD) group, the world’s largest membership organization and community of women corporate board directors. The MPW Insiders Network is an online community where the biggest names in business answer timely career and leadership questions. John has also been a contributing writer to Fortune.

Books

In 2019, John was approached by Forbes Books to consider writing her first book, Stories and Heart: Unlock the Power of Personal Stories to Create a Life You Love.

The book guides readers through a framework for using their own personal stories to enact meaningful change in their lives by sharing anecdotes from John’s own journey, combined with personal reflections and tools to identify the power of their personal stories, impact their own journeys, and create a life they love.

The book launched on January 17, 2023, and achieved Amazon Best Seller status on the first day in the Business Mentoring and Coaching category.

Podcast

John is the host of a podcast inspired by her book, also entitled Stories & Heart: Unlock the Power of Personal Stories to Create a Life You Love. The podcast is created and produced in conjunction with Forbes Books.

TV and Film

Film

Year	Title	Credit	Notes
2020	Deliver by Christmas	Executive Producer & Concept	"Concept" credit in conjunction with Hallmark Media and Foundation Media Partners..
2021	Honey Girls	Executive Producer & "Story by"	In conjunction with Sony Pictures Worldwide Entertainment and Foundation Media Partners.
2021	Christmas CEO	Executive Producer & Concept	"Concept" credit in conjunction with Hallmark Media and Foundation Media Partners
2023	Glisten & the Merry Mission	Executive Producer & Writer	In conjunction with Foundation Media Partners.
2023	Unstuffed: A Build-A-Bear Story	Executive Producer	In conjunction with Foundation Media Partners.
TBD	"Goldie Reimagined" (working title)	Executive Producer	In conjunction with Hello Sunshine and Foundation Media Partners.

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016	Undercover Boss	Appearance, Season 8, Episode 1	John was featured on the premiere episode of Season 8 of the hit CBS series "Undercover Boss" in December 2016. In this episode, she donned a disguise while working with store and warehouse associates at Build-A-Bear Workshop to gain unfiltered feedback on changes the company was executing to reposition the organization for future growth

Select accomplishments and recognition

• CEO Magazine, Transformative CEO of the Year 2020 & 2022
• Retail Today, Top 50 Outstanding Women in Retail 2022
• Forbes Best Mid-Sized Companies (BBW, multiple years)
• Fortune 100 Best Places to Work (BBW, multiple years)
• Fortune, Most Powerful Women; “MPW Insider” contributing writer 2014/15
• Earnshaw’s Company of the Year (SRCG, 2012)
• “Toy of the Year” (TOTY) (seven awards from 2005-2009)
• “Wonder Woman of Toys” from Women in Toys (WIT) 2009

Personal Life

John lives in St. Louis with her husband and has three children and two cats.

External links

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