Let me explain two things that might bring some clarity for you about how I thought I could just fly out to Seattle and get in front of my idol and basically ask for the keys to the kingdom.<\/p>\n
First of all, I had been to three previous meetings and at every meeting there was a Question and Answer session at the end.\u00a0 Invariably someone would ask Howard how to get a job in some corporate department or they would complain that a “friend” of theirs had applied for a job and not heard back or my personal favorite: why can’t Starbucks bring Tazoberry or Valencia syrup back?\u00a0 I worked at Starbucks after Tazoberry was discontinued and heard about it A LOT from customers, so *groan*.<\/p>\n
The previous year I was bothered by how the margins were not making sense after Starbucks discontinued their partnership with Kraft for their grocery line items.\u00a0 I remember sitting there in my seat and feeling propelled to ask Howard to explain himself.\u00a0 I was, after all, highly trained by Starbucks themselves on how to read a Profit and Loss statement and this was just not making sense.\u00a0 I recall standing in the Q&A line with knees buckling and a suddenly dry mouth.\u00a0 I think I barely croaked my question out and I can’t even attest to how coherent it was.\u00a0 I do remember saying something like “I am honored to have your audience” with a nervous blush and twitter to Howard and was disappointed that Troy Alstead, Starbuck’s cfo, answered.\u00a0 I wanted HOWARD!\u00a0 I was hardly attempting to listen to Troy’s answer and just nodded and made fake eye contact.\u00a0 I sat down next to my friend Julie and said “Did you even understand his answer?”\u00a0 She attempted to explain it but I was completely disinterested.<\/p>\n
It’s pretty clear to me that the whole ordeal was just to talk to Howard and, in retrospect, prepare for what I was to do the following year.\u00a0 This year.\u00a0 Last month.\u00a0 Wow.<\/p>\n
The other piece that I want to explain is the Create Jobs for USA campaign that Starbucks partnered with the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) on.\u00a0 If you go to their website, you can see how it works.\u00a0 Basically you go to a Starbucks, donate $5, and it is magically turned into $35 that goes towards small business loans through community development financial institutions (CDFIs).\u00a0 Then businesses start (like WeatherVane!), jobs are created, and vitality (financial and otherwise) in our communities shows up.\u00a0 It is a direct response to Howard’s commitment to giving back and making a difference in our country.\u00a0 Pretty cool stuff.\u00a0 I looked for participating CDFIs in the program to help WeatherVane Creamery back in November, and there weren’t any.*<\/p>\n
Basically, I knew the Q&A drill and I had a segue.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.createjobsforusa.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n *I did find two CDFIs that were NOT a part of the program that we could potentially work with:\u00a0 Impact 7 in Almeda, Wisconsin and Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation in Milwaukee.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let me explain two things that might bring some clarity for you about how I thought I could just fly out to Seattle and get in front of my idol and basically ask for the keys to the kingdom. First … Continue reading