Do you really want to build a big ass company? May be or may be not….

Meet Joan Barnes, founder and former CEO of Gymboree (a billion dollar public company headquartered in San Francisco) began her journey with a simple idea that grew into an empire.

Hear the vibrant entrepreneur’s story, and the story behind the story, of raising capital, building an international company and going public, and not the least of which the toll it took to arrive there.

A passion for yoga led her to a repeat performance by growing an innovative concept in a regional yoga studio company into one she recently sold to Yogaworks. An engaging, transparent, and inspiring story of what it takes to convert a pioneering thought and build a company, create a new a industry and hope to find the tender balance between home, family and profession.

Mostly, entrepreneurs will be spellbound by the underbelly of the truth of things we never considered that must be sacrificed on route to building a national brand.