I want to talk about the trip to Seattle.\u00a0 It’s almost overdue.\u00a0 I don’t want to forget everything that led to that epic 3 minutes in time.\u00a0 You can watch the three minutes yourself.\u00a0 It really happened.\u00a0 I was there in front of Howard Schultz, my all-time hero.\u00a0 That’s right, kids- no Batman or Magic Johnson here.\u00a0 Howard Schultz, the ceo of Starbucks Coffee Company.\u00a0 And no, that isn’t a typo.\u00a0 Titles aren’t capitalized at Starbucks.\u00a0 Everyone is a peer, or rather a “partner”.<\/p>\n
So anyway, back in November I was sitting in my living room and\u00a0 I was feeling alone. I had some big business decisions to make for WeatherVane.\u00a0 I was wracking my brain with “Who has been through this before that I can ask?”\u00a0 I was coming up blank.\u00a0 I glance up and see my copy of “Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul” by Howard on my bookshelf.\u00a0 It was then that I started asking myself “What Would Howard Do?”\u00a0 And not far after that, I got it in my head to get in touch with him.<\/p>\n
I was already planning on going to the Starbucks annual shareholder meeting.\u00a0 I had gone the previous three years when I lived in Portland.\u00a0 And now, it felt like a spiritual journey.\u00a0 I knew I had to get there and I even knew that it didn’t necessarily justify itself financially in other people’s eyes.\u00a0 I didn’t need it to.<\/p>\n
I am trying to remember what exactly I wanted to say to him.\u00a0 Oh yeah that’s right- I wrote him a letter.\u00a0 Let’s see what it said:<\/p>\n
Dear Howard,<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0 About a year ago I was sitting at the Starbucks Shareholder meeting having just gotten fired from my job finding myself homeless, single, and carless.\u00a0 It was the third shareholders meeting I had been to and the first year that I got up the courage to get up and ask you a question at the microphone.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t even matter what the question was, just that I got up despite my fear to have your audience.<\/em><\/p>\n Today my life is completely different.\u00a0 Shortly after that meeting, I packed up my dog and possessions into a rental van and made the journey back home to River Falls, Wisconsin from Portland, Oregon.\u00a0 I now have a car, a home, a plethora of love and support, and a business plan.<\/em><\/p>\n A business plan.\u00a0 A dream. A commitment to my community.\u00a0 A difference to be made.<\/em><\/p>\n As you will see when you take a look at my fund raising campaign and media mentions, I am currently in a very fantastical journey.\u00a0 And when I find myself feeling misunderstood, I remember all of the times that you had the courage and strength to keep moving forward.\u00a0 All the times that you had to adjust your course yet maintaining strength in your convictions.<\/em><\/p>\n A few months ago my investor fell through and I saw your campaign. I know your commitment to our country and for creating jobs that make a difference in our communities.\u00a0 I would like to invite you out for coffee to discuss our mutual vision.\u00a0 Perhaps you might even consider being an investor in my Wisconsin themed specialty retail store and caf\u00e9.\u00a0 It was recently called \u201cthe next Starbucks\u201d after all.\u00a0 I will be making the trek to the shareholder meeting and plan\u00a0 on staying in the area for a few days.<\/em><\/p>\n I know that you already know who I am since I was a well decorated store manager in Chicagoland.\u00a0 You yourself said it best in your last book.\u00a0 \u201cStarbuck\u2019s best store managers are coaches, bosses, marketers, entrepreneurs, community ambassadors, and merchants all at once.\u00a0 They are optimistic problem solvers who run their stores creatively yet analytically, calling upon passion and intelligence to drive customer traffic, partner loyalty, and profit. The best managers take their jobs personally, treating the store as if it were their very own.\u201d\u00a0 Thank you for shaping who I am.\u00a0 I look forward to hearing from you.<\/em><\/p>\n I forgot that all I wanted to do was invite him out to coffee.\u00a0 My big plan was to try to email him directly (which I really believe will get filtered and not even get to him at all), send it in the mail, and to send it to a former district manager that still works for the company and has moved up closer up the food chain closer to Howard.\u00a0 But close enough?\u00a0 I resisted and put it off.\u00a0 I put “get letter to Howard” on my daily top three things that I committed to on my emails to my accountability coach.\u00a0 And for about three weeks I put it off and felt terrible for every day that I failed to do it.<\/p>\n Then one day it hit me.\u00a0 I was to go to the Starbucks annual shareholder meeting and deliver it to him personally.\u00a0 And then it hit me again about a minute after that.\u00a0 I had to also include my nondisclosure agreement for access to the business plan (I felt really clever about this) and ask him to be my mentor.\u00a0 This was the *one* way that I knew it would get in front of him and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t thought of it before.<\/p>\n I had a mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I want to talk about the trip to Seattle.\u00a0 It’s almost overdue.\u00a0 I don’t want to forget everything that led to that epic 3 minutes in time.\u00a0 You can watch the three minutes yourself.\u00a0 It really happened.\u00a0 I was there … Continue reading