Price John recruited executives from multi-billion-dollar companies, deliberately building a team of high-performers positioned for their next career leap. She offered them stretch opportunities that would accelerate both individual growth and the Build-A-Bear Workshop‘s organizational transformation.

You could imagine McMillon will follow a usual course of other retired executives by joining prestigious public company boards, giving speeches and perhaps writing a book. But wait, maybe there’s more.

Kim Kardashian is the brand’s guiding force, as well as creative director. “She’s unbelievably involved every single day in making the product experience exactly what she wants it to be, and my role is more to facilitate that,” says CEO Jens Grede.

A turnaround is a bumpy ride, complete with false starts, exhilarating successes and disappointing failures. A new CEO must have the personal fortitude to recognize the successes and failures of their efforts and be willing to course correct as necessary.

Olson understands that retail is first and foremost a people, not a product, business, a principle she lives by to guide Pacsun and her team into the future: “At Pacsun, innovation is a mindset and a strong part of our culture. We empower our teams to experiment, take risks, and bring forward ideas that push us into new territory. We listen closely to our community of Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers and see them as co-creators.”