The Risk Takers

Links to entrepreneurs interviewed in The Risk Takers:

Maxine Clark, founder and chairman of Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc., a retailer specializing in customer-made teddy bears and other stuffed animals. She reinvented the teddy bear into an entertainment commodity that reached $468 million in total sales in 2008. The company operates more than 400 stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, the U.K., Ireland, and France. There are also franchise stores abroad.

John Paul DeJoria, co-founder and chairman of John Paul Mitchell Systems, maker of Paul Mitchell-branded hair and beauty products. The company has annual salon retail sales of over $900 million. John Paul is also the co-founder of the spirit company that produces Patrón Tequila. He went from broke and sleeping in his car to owning several businesses and residences, including a home in Hawaii.

Sara Blakely, founder and president of Spanx, a body-shaping hosiery manufacturer that offers more than 150 styles and generates $350 million in annual sales. Told she was crazy when she first tried to manufacture her footless pantyhose design, she has transformed the hosiery industry.

Malachi Mixon III, chairman and CEO of Invacare, the world’s leading manufacturer and distributor of wheelchairs and home healthcare products. He was 39 years old when he decided to quit his secure, corporate job and purchase a struggling business in need of an overhaul. Since acquiring Invacare in 1979, he has led the company to grow its annual sales from $19 million to $1.8 billion.

Joe Liemandt, co-founder and CEO of Trilogy Inc., a company that pioneered development of product configuration software systems in the early 1990s. Just as he was entering his senior year at prestigious Stanford University, he blew off his degree so he could pursue a dream and was worth an estimated $500 million before his 30th birthday.

Andy Berliner, co-founder and CEO of Amy's Kitchen, a leading producer of organic frozen foods distributed in health food stores and supermarkets. He identified a growing trend in America's eating habits and pounced on it. Since its launch in 1987, the company has grown an average of 20% each year. Annual sales top $270 million.

Tova Borgnine, founder of Tova Corporation, a multimillion dollar direct-marketing beauty products company whose line includes best-selling fragrances and skin-care products. Speaking no English when she and her mother emigrated from Norway to the U.S., Tova grew up as a housekeeper’s daughter. After working as a makeup artist, she eventually launched her own brand of beauty products that she personally helped develop. In 2002 she sold her brand to cable TV’s QVC network for an eight-figure price tag, but she remains the brand’s spokeswoman.

Florine Mark, founder and CEO of The WW Group, the largest Weight Watchers franchisee in the U.S. As a struggling mother with five children, Florine parlayed her own personal weight-loss success into a thriving business. In 2003, she sold 75% of her franchises back to Weight Watchers International for $181.5 million but remains the system’s biggest franchisee in the nation.