Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Attributes Coffee Empire to His Upbringing in Brooklyn Projects

As chairman, he said he would have more time to focus on Starbucks’ upscale Reserve brand and the chain’s social initiatives. The decision also sparked rumors that Schultz might run for office himself. It’s thanks to Howard Schultz that Americans today know what a latte is – and that they’re willing to drop $4 on a cup of coffee. It is thanks to Howard Schultz that Americans today know what a latte is — and that they’re willing to drop $4 on a cup of coffee.

But the How Howard Schultz Went From Living In Brooklyn of the coffee bar demonstrated to the original founders that they didn’t want to go in the direction Schultz wanted to take them. Disappointed, Schultz left Starbucks in 1985 to open a coffee bar chain of his own, Il Giornale, which quickly garnered success. Earlier in 2018, Schultz announced he is stepping down as Starbucks’ chairman, sparking rumors of a potential presidential run in 2020. Despite having been involved in the business for more than thirty years, Howard Schultz has never lost sight of the significance a company’s values has upon every business.

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To prevent him from leaving, Perstorp transferred Howard to New York and promoted him to vice president and general manager of Hammarplast. He was given a salary of $75,000, as well as a company car, an expense account, and unlimited travel, which included trips to Sweden four times a year. That moment began the journey of a lifetime, taking us from whole-bean retailer to community coffeehouse. It was his upbringing in the housing projects of Brooklyn, New York, that informed our culture of compassion and opportunity. It was his dedication to quality coffee that pushed us to the forefront of a movement to protect it. A gifted athlete, Schultz played with neighborhood children from dawn to dusk every day until, at the age of 12, he began working.

Although the coffee drink business was a success, the Starbucks founders were not willing to go in that direction. Frustrated, he quit the business and instead started his own coffee company . He was a natural athlete and loved playing basketball and football during his school days. He was awarded an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University. After graduating from the university with a Bachelor of Science degree in communication in 1975, he started working as a salesman for Xerox Corporation.

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Upon graduation, Schultz accepted a “sales position at Xerox Corporation where he first discovered his most profitable talent—sales” (“Howard Schultz Biography”). It was clear that Schultz was a professional at navigating competitive environments and continued to flourish as he transferred jobs. In 1981, Schultz had his first encounter with “Star-bucks” while on business trip to Seattle as a general manager for the housewares company, Hammarplast.

Walked in, I remember putting money in the window and the next thing I knew, the window opened and I received an apple pie. And I remember asking my Aunt and she said there’s a magician on the other side. And I believed that and I have never stopped threading everything we’ve done at Starbucks with that initial experience. Many popular cities were vying for the opportunity to host such a massive convention, for the insane mass of people would bring a much-needed boost to any city. Of all the cities that offered to host the event, Schultz ultimately chose the recently hurricane ravaged city of New Orleans. All together, those who attended the conference contributed more than 50,000 volunteer hours .

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When Schultz stepped down as Starbucks chairman in 2018, it again stoked rumors of a presidential campaign. In September 2016, Schultz endorsed Hillary Clinton for president – his first time publicly endorsing a candidate. The difference between success and failure is a very fine line between those who continue moving forward and those who stop. When we get stuck, it’s important to take that first step to pull us back into a groove.

In 2011, Schultz encouraged people not to donate to political campaigns until the government addressed national debt. In 2015, he spearheaded the “Race Together” campaign to address police brutality and racism. In a 2015 New York Times op-ed celebrating bipartisan leadership, Schultz said he wasn’t running for office, “despite the encouragement of others.” Schultz’s mother, however, encouraged him to pursue an education to open more doors for himself. He earned an athletic scholarship to attend Northern Michigan University, but, upon arriving in college, he decided he wasn’t going to play sports at all.

He went ahead to invoke change in the business environment through his actions. By entering into a new unchartered business territory, Howard Schultz displayed the risk taker attribute. Risk takers wade into foreign territories with only but an idea and a hope that it will turn out successfully. Burns argued that the issue of linking the character traits of an individual to the success of a business picking winners needs to be approached with caution.

Besides his scholarship, Schultz took out loans and worked part time during the school year and full time in the summer to pay for his education. He majored in communications and became the first person in his family to graduate from college. When he returned to New York, he joined the sales division of Xerox Corp. During his three years there, he learned sales, marketing, and presentation skills. Howard encountered Starbucks Coffee in 1982 while making a sales call at Pike Place Market in Seattle for a houseware company.