The man who faced 217 rejections created the world's coffee giant.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, it still gets me every time I see one.
That green siren logo on aStarbucks cup.
It's just everywhere.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
It really is.
Over 28,000 stores, what 77countries now?
It's staggering.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
A true global behemoth.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
And it all started well, not exactly there, but the
vision, the drive behind it,howard Schultz, his story begins
so far from that world.
Canarsie Public HousingProjects in Brooklyn.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah, and that contrast is exactly what makes
his story so compelling, I think.
How does someone go from thatkind of background, facing real
financial hardship, to buildingthis massive global company?
That's changed how so manypeople think about coffee.
What's the secret sauce there?

Speaker 1 (00:44):
And that's precisely what we're going to dig into
today.
We're not just looking at stockprices or expansion strategy,
though that's part of it.
Later, we're really diving deepinto the personal journey of
Howard Schultz, from hischildhood, those early struggles
, to the moments that reallysparked his vision for what
Starbucks could become.
And for you, the learnerlistening in, this, isn't just a
biography.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
No, not at all.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
It's packed with insights, real actionable stuff
about overcoming obstacles,about the kind of mindset shifts
needed to build something trulyextraordinary.
We want to unpack those lessonsyou can actually use.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Exactly.
Our mission here is to pull outthose key moments, those
underlying beliefs, how asuccess, especially big success,
often comes from pushingthrough really tough times.
We're looking at details fromhis Wikipedia page for the facts
, the timeline and also thisincredibly revealing in-depth
interview he did with GrahamBensinger.

(01:39):
That gives us a lot of theemotional context, the personal
side of the story.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Okay, so let's start right there.
Early life Schultz talks a lotabout poverty in the Canarsie
projects, but then you see, inthe Wikipedia entry, some people
who grew up there around thesame time remember it
differently.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, that's interesting, isn't it?

Speaker 1 (01:56):
They describe it more like middle class, even calling
it the country club of projects.
How do we square that?

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Well, I think it really highlights how subjective
experience can be.
You know, the objective factsof the neighborhood might have
been one thing for some families, but his family's specific
financial situation, hisinternal experience of that,
clearly felt like poverty to himand that feeling, whether it
was relative or absolute poverty, became this powerful motivator

(02:23):
.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
So the external description doesn't necessarily
negate his personal reality.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Exactly His perception of hardship fueled
him.
It kind of makes you reflect,doesn't it, how our own early
experiences, how we interpretthem, shape who we become and
what drives us.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Definitely and regardless of the exact label.
Those years clearly left a mark.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
We know he was very involved with the Boys Club of
New York.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
Still involved, actually, still involved with
the alumni network.
Yeah, that tells you something,doesn't it, that it must have
been a really positive, maybeeven essential influence for him
back then.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Oh for sure, Places like the Boys Club can be
lifelines.
They offer structure,mentorship, a sense of belonging
, especially when maybe thingsare tough elsewhere.
His continued connection reallyspeaks volumes about the impact
it had.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Then there were sports.
Football was his thing.
He was good enough to get anathletic scholarship to Northern
Michigan University.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Right, that was his ticket initially.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
But then a really bad injury, a broken jaw, and
apparently it led to long-termspine issues, multiple surgeries
down the line neck fusion Justawful.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, devastating for a young athlete.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
And that injury, combined with, as he says in the
Bensinger interview, thisgut-wrenching moment of
realizing he just wasn't goodenough to go pro, that sounds
like a real crossroads moment.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Oh, absolutely defining.
I mean imagine tying youridentity, your future, to being
an athlete and then physicallyyou can't continue and you have
that moment of clarity aboutyour ultimate potential in that
field.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Humbling, as you put it.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah, steeped in humility at 19.
That's a powerful phrase.
It forces a completereevaluation.
It's a tough lesson, butsometimes, you know, having a
door slam shut forces you tofind other doors you never would
have looked for.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
That's a great point.
How often do we just fixate onone path?

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Right Until something forces us off it.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
He did finish his degree though, Got a BA in
communications from northernMichigan.
That education must have laidsome groundwork.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Definitely.
Communication skills are neverwasted, especially in business.
And then he jumps into theworking world, starts in sales
at Xerox.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
Classic starting point for a lot of successful
entrepreneurs, isn't it Sales?

Speaker 2 (04:29):
It really is.
You learn how to pitch, how topersuade, how to handle
rejection, which is hugeResilience.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
Absolutely.
Then he moves to Hammerplast, aSwedish kitchenware company,
becomes general manager, andthis is where the coffee
connection starts to percolate,so to speak.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
Right, because Hammerplast made coffee makers.
Among other things, he wasrunning their US operations for
those, and that role led himstraight to a small coffee bean
company in Seattle.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Called Starbucks.
This was 1981.
He was their supplier forplastic cone filters.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
Just a supplier Seems so mundane.
Looking back, Totally OK.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
so this is the pivot point.
What was it about thisparticular client, this little
Seattle coffee company, thatgrabbed him so intensely?

Speaker 2 (05:13):
From everything I've read, it was the sheer passion
of the founders, Jerry Baldwinand Gordon Bacher, their
incredible knowledge and justobsession with the quality of
the coffee beans themselves.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
So it wasn't just a business to them.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
No, it was a craft.
Schultz, coming from moregeneral management, was
apparently just blown away bytheir focus and their dedication
to this one thing Great coffee.
It lit a spark, made him thinkdifferently.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Makes you wonder, doesn't it, when you encounter
someone else's deep passion, howit can sometimes ignite
something in you.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Totally.
And it clearly did for him,because just a year later, 1982,
he makes a big move.
He's only 29.
He joins Starbucks, becomestheir director of retail
operations and marketing.
That's a big leap of faith.
Joining this small nichecompany, huge leap.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
Shows he really saw something there, but the real
lightning bolt moment, thevision that came later, right On
a trip.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yes, 1983, he goes on a buying trip to Milan, Italy,
and that trip that changeseverything.
Can you imagine what that musthave been like?

Speaker 1 (06:15):
I mean, you read about it and it sounds like an
epiphany.
He walks into these Italianespresso bars and it's not just
about grabbing a coffee andrunning, it's the whole culture,
the buzz, the conversation, thebarista knowing your name.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
They were like community living rooms, the
social hubs.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Exactly, he saw people connecting, lingering,
this sense of community allbuilt around the ritual of
espresso, and the light bulbgoes off.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
He thinks why don't we have this in America?

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Precisely, he sees this huge untapped potential to
bring that experience, thatsense of place and connection
back home, anchored by highquality espresso.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yes, but the focus shifts from just the beans,
which was a Starbucks thing backthen, right.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
Selling beans, tea spices for home use.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
Right.
His vision was totallydifferent.
It was about creating thesespaces.
It's a fantastic example ofseeing a possibility others miss
translating somethingsuccessful from one culture to
another.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
So he comes back to Seattle buzzing with this idea
let's bring in espresso machines, let's create these gathering
places.
But the original owners,baldwin and Boker they weren't
immediately sold, were they?

Speaker 2 (07:22):
No, that's a really crucial part of the story.
They were intrigued, sure,they'd even experimented with a
small cafe concept themselvesearlier.
But Schultz's grand vision,they had serious reservations.
Well, cost was a big one.
Those fancy Italian espressomachines were expensive to
import, expensive to maintain,plus who in America knew how to

(07:42):
fix them?
Back then, Good point.
And they worried Americans justweren't ready for espresso.
It wasn't really a thing here.
Yet their focus was still lasersharp on the quality of the
whole bean coffee.
They saw his idea as maybediluting the brand and
definitely risky financially.

Speaker 1 (07:57):
That tension the visionary employee pushing for
change and the establishedowners being more cautious it
happens all the time.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
It does.
And faced with that resistance,schultz makes another
incredibly bold move in 1985.
He decides OK, if I can't do ithere.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
I'll do it myself.
He leaves Starbucks, starts hisown coffee house, il Janel.
Wow, that takes guts.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Serious guts and conviction.
He believed in this idea somuch he was willing to walk away
from a good job and bet onhimself.
But starting a business isn'tfree.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
No kidding, he needed money.
How much was it?

Speaker 2 (08:31):
He needed to raise four hundred thousand dollars,
which back then was asignificant amount for a startup
like this.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
And getting that money.
That wasn't easy either, was it.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
Far from it.
It's actually a pretty brutalfundraising story.
Interestingly, starbucksthemselves his former bosses
actually put in $150,000.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
Really so they saw some potential.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
And a doctor, Ron Margolis, put in another
$100,000.
So he had some early believers.
But then then rejection afterrejection how many Get this.
He pitched 242 potentialinvestors OK.
217 of them said no.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Whoa 217 rejections, that's I mean.
How do you keep going afterthat?

Speaker 2 (09:10):
That's the resilience piece, isn't it that absolute,
unwavering belief in your visionwhen almost everyone else is
telling you it won't work?
It's a huge lesson for anyonestarting something new Prepare
for the no's and find thestrength to push past them.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Incredible.
So the first Il Giornale opensand it sounds quite different
from today's Starbucks.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
Very Italian.
Apparently it even served icecream, had limited seating.
Opera music, playing Operamusic.
And the name Il Giornale meansthe daily in Italian named after
a Milanese newspaper.
It was his direct attempt torecreate that Milan experience.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
Trying to bring Italy to Seattle.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Pretty much.
But then comes another twist,1987.
The original Starbucks ownersdecide they want to focus their
energy elsewhere on Pete'sCoffee and Tea, which they also
owned Right and they makeSchultz an offer Want to buy the
Starbucks retail unit, theactual Starbucks stores and
brand name.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
The chance to take over the company where his dream
started.
But wait, the price tag.
Wasn't it huge?

Speaker 2 (10:09):
It was $3.8 million.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
And Schultz definitely didn't have $3.8
million just lying around.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
Not even close.
So now he's scrambling again.
He has to raise this massiveamount of money and fast, like
60 to 90 days fast.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
And the original owners are talking to other
buyers too.
The pressure must have beenunbelievable Off the charts.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
A real ticking clock.
And then, just to make thingseven more dramatic, what
happened?
He finds out one of his owninvestors, someone already
backing Ilgernal, is secretlytrying to go around him and buy
Starbucks out from under him.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
No way A potential betrayal like that that could
have killed the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
Absolutely.
It highlights how tough andsometimes frankly ruthless, the
business world can be,especially when big deals are on
the table.

Speaker 1 (10:51):
So how did he pull it off?

Speaker 2 (10:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (10:52):
This is where the story gets kind of legendary
right.
Bill Gates Sr gets involved.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, it's an amazing anecdote.
Apparently, a friend ofSchultz's, a young lawyer who
worked at Bill Gates Sr's firm,basically insisted Schultz go
talk to the senior Gates, tellhim what was happening.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
And he did.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
He did.
He laid out the whole situation, the deadline, the competitor
trying to steal the deal, andBill Gates Sr this pillar of the
Seattle community, apparentlylistened asked him just two
direct questions.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Do we know what the questions were?

Speaker 2 (11:22):
The sources don't specify the exact questions,
unfortunately, but whatever theywere, gates Sr clearly saw
something he liked, or maybejust saw the injustice of the
situation.
He stepped in.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
Did he invest himself ?

Speaker 2 (11:33):
Again, the details aren't explicit, but the strong
implication is that hisintervention was crucial.
Maybe he made some calls, maybehe offered strategic advice,
maybe his backing simply gaveSchultz the credibility he
needed to secure the rest of thefunding from others.
Whatever it was, it worked.
It really does.
It defined the whole approach.
It wasn't just about theproduct.
It was about the experience,the connection, the feeling

(11:56):
people had when they were in aStarbucks.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
And that philosophy drove major decisions like
refusing to franchise Right.
He wanted company owned stores.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
Exactly.
He felt franchising woulddilute the culture and make it
harder to control thatconsistent customer experience
he was aiming for.
He wanted every store to feellike Starbucks.
It says a lot aboutprioritizing core values,
doesn't it, even if franchisingmight have meant faster growth
initially.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
Definitely and that focus on creating the third
place.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:27):
You know, that comfortable spot between home
and work, that really tappedinto something people were
looking for.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
It absolutely did.
It became a huge part of thesecond wave of coffee culture in
the US.
People needed a reliable,comfortable place to meet, to
work, to just be Starbucks,provided that it wasn't just a
coffee shop.
It was filling a social need.

Speaker 1 (12:45):
That differentiation was key.
Then came the IPO in 1992.
Going public that must havebeen a massive moment.

Speaker 2 (12:52):
Huge.
It raised $271 million, whichthey immediately plowed back
into expansion, basicallydoubling their store count,
right in the middle of theso-called coffee wars, as
competitors were popping up.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
For someone maybe not deep into finance.
What does an IPO really do fora company at that point?

Speaker 2 (13:10):
Well, the obvious thing is the cash infusion right
$271 million lets you build alot of stores, hire a lot of
people, but it also raises thecompany's profile massively.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
OK.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
Suddenly, you're on the stock exchange, analysts are
covering you.
There's more prestige, morecredibility.
It signals you've arrived,which is important when you're
fighting for market share.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
Makes sense, then in 2000, he steps down as CEO.
Why then?

Speaker 2 (13:35):
He wanted to focus on the bigger picture,
specifically global strategy,and one market in particular was
on his radar even then China.

Speaker 1 (13:43):
They'd opened their first store there just the year
before, in 1999.

Speaker 2 (13:46):
Right and he saw the massive long-term potential.
His decision to build acompany-owned network in China,
not just licensing the brand out, was incredibly
forward-thinking and, ultimately, wildly successful.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
The growth there has been insane, hasn't it?
At one point they were openinglike what?
A store, or two a day?

Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, In the late 2000s, early 2010s, the pace was
just phenomenal.
A real testament to that earlystrategic focus.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
But things weren't always smooth sailing.
He had to come back as CEO in2008, right During the financial
crisis.

Speaker 2 (14:17):
He did.
The company was struggling.
The stock price had tanked.
There were criticisms aboutmaybe losing focus.
Employee morale wasn't great.
Jim Donald was CEO then andSchultz stepped back in.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
And he made some tough calls when he returned.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
Very tough.
He wasn't afraid to shakethings up.
There were mass firings ofexecutives, closing
underperforming stores.

Speaker 1 (14:39):
Didn't he close all the US stores for an afternoon?

Speaker 2 (14:41):
He did Temporarily shut down thousands of US stores
simultaneously for retrainingon how to make espresso properly
.

Speaker 1 (14:48):
Wow, that sends a message.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
A huge message.
We need to get back to basics.
The quality of the coffee, thecore experience matters most.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
He also doubled down on fair trade coffee purchases
around then, didn't he?
And brought in tech leadership.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yes, a real focus on ethical sourcing, doubling fair
trade purchases and appointingthe first chief technology
officer showed they were lookingahead, adapting to how
technology was changing retailand customer engagement.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
And then in 2014, the Starbucks College Achievement
Plan with Arizona StateUniversity.
That felt like a game changerfor employee benefits.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
Absolutely groundbreaking, offering full
tuition coverage for eligibleemployees to get a bachelor's
degree online.
It showed a real investment intheir people, beyond just the
day-to-day job.
You have to think his ownexperience being the first in
his family to go to collegemaybe influenced that commitment
to education.

Speaker 1 (15:44):
Good point.
It connects back.
He stepped down as CEO again in2016, became executive chairman
and even did another stint asinterim CEO more recently.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
Yeah, 2022, 2023.
It just shows his connection toStarbucks, his passion for it.
It runs incredibly deep.
Even when he's not in the topjob day to day, he's clearly
remained a central figure, aguardian of the culture he built
.

Speaker 1 (16:05):
Looking back at that whole arc, the mindset piece is
fascinating.
That sheer determination,especially early on, overcoming
the financial hardship, beingthe first to go to college
paying his own way, that kind ofdrive is immense.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
It really is that kind of internal engine often
forged in those early struggleswanting something more,
something different.
It's incredibly powerful.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
And the passion for coffee wasn't just a business
tactic, was it?
Yeah, it seems genuine, thatinitial spark from Baldwin and
Boker, then the Milan trip, itfueled everything.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
You feel that authenticity.
When a leader genuinelybelieves in the core product or
experience, it resonates throughthe whole organization and
customers feel it too.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
Then there's the visionary aspect seeing the
potential for the Italiancoffeehouse in the US when the
original owners, who were coffeeexperts, didn't fully grasp it.
That's remarkable.

Speaker 2 (16:56):
It's that ability to see around the corner, isn't it,
to spot an unmet need or desireand have the courage to chase
it, even if it seemsunconventional at the time?

Speaker 1 (17:04):
And the resilience my gosh, the 217 rejections for Il
Journal funding, the near lossof the Starbucks acquisition
those are moments that wouldmake most people just give up.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
Absolutely.
Those are crucible moments.
They test your resolve to theabsolute limit.
His ability to navigate those,to keep pushing, says so much
about his character and hisunwavering belief.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
And while our main sources here don't go deep into
it, we know Starbucks, under hisleadership, was one of the
first big US companies to offerhealth care to part-time workers
the baristas.
That hints at an empathy,doesn't it?

Speaker 2 (17:40):
It does.
It suggests a recognition thattaking care of your employees,
especially frontline staff, isnot just the right thing to do
but it's also good business.
It ties back to that peoplebusiness serving coffee idea.
Happy, secure employees createbetter customer experiences.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
He's also incredibly candid in that Ben Singer
interview about how feelingsfrom his childhood shame,
insecurity about poverty wereactually major motivators.
He talks about feeling like healways had something to prove.
That's quite vulnerable.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
It is, and it's powerful, acknowledging how
those deep-seated feelings, evennegative ones, can be channeled
into intense drive and ambition.
It makes a success story feelmore human, more relatable,
perhaps.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
He also contrasts his own work ethic with his
father's, mentioning a complexrelationship there, and says his
drive came from survival,wanting more, but he gives
immense credit to his mother.

Speaker 2 (18:31):
Yeah, her belief in him, her hope that he'd be the
first to go to college.
He describes that as a hugesource of confidence and
self-esteem when he reallyneeded it.

Speaker 1 (18:40):
Those family dynamics .
They shape us so profoundly.
His mother giving him thatbelief, maybe offsetting some of
the difficulties with hisfather.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
It seems like it.
And then there's thepartnership with his wife,
cherie.
He emphasizes how crucial hersupport was, especially in those
early, incredibly uncertain,ill journal days.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
He mentions her father questioning his career
choice.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
Right, like what is this coffee thing you're doing?
But Cherie's belief wasunwavering Having that kind of
support system at home someonewho believes in your crazy dream
when maybe others don't it'soften make or break for
entrepreneurs.

Speaker 1 (19:14):
Absolutely vital, and their continued work together
on the Schultz Family Foundationshows that partnership endures.

Speaker 2 (19:20):
It does.
Shared values extending beyondthe business.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
He also admits he's super competitive, calls himself
a pressure player, someone whothrives when their back's
against the wall and thatconstant feeling of what's next.

Speaker 2 (19:34):
Enough is never enough, that restlessness, that
constant striving it's ahallmark of so many successful
entrepreneurs.
They reach one summit andthey're already looking for the
next mountain to climb.
Complacency isn't really intheir vocabulary.

Speaker 1 (19:45):
But it wasn't all just straight up success.
He had some bumps, the SeattleSupersonics ownership.
That didn't end well.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
No, that was a tough chapter for him and for Seattle.
He bought the team in 2001,faced criticism for maybe
running it too much like abusiness, not a community trust,
clashed with star players likeGary Payton.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
And then the sale in 2006, which led to the team
moving to Oklahoma City.
That caused a lot of bitternessin Seattle.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
Huge amount and, to his credit, Schultz has been
very open in recent years abouthis regret over how that went
down.
He admits he was maybe tooyoung, too inexperienced as an
owner and that it conflictedwith his Starbucks duties.
He's taken responsibility forthe team leaving.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
That Tom Izzo anecdote is funny, but telling
Izzo asking why he sold the teambefore Izzo could coach them,
it shows Schultz maybe wasn'tfully equipped for that world.

Speaker 2 (20:40):
Yeah, it seems like a case of maybe biting off more
than he could chew at that timeand learning a hard lesson.
Very publicly Interestingly,the women's team, the Seattle
Storm, which he also owned for abit, was sold to a local group
and stayed.
Maybe lessons learned there?

Speaker 1 (20:54):
And then, more recently, exploring a run for
president in 2020 as anindependent.
That didn't get very far either.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
No, he tested the waters and faced immediate,
intense backlash really from allsides.
He talks about the emotionaltoll of that, the vitriol.
It sounds like it was a reallyhumbling, maybe disillusioning,
experience for him.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
Realizing the political arena is a whole
different beast than business.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
Very different.
His idealism about running asan independent maybe didn't
quite mesh with the politicalrealities, but stepping back,
recognizing it wasn't the rightpath, takes its own kind of
strength.

Speaker 1 (21:27):
Definitely.
But let's swing back to theglobal stage.
That success in China really isremarkable, especially doing it
mostly with company-ownedstores.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
It's huge, and he's quick to credit the local
leadership, particularly BelindaWong, the CEO of Starbucks
China.
He talks about needing to belocally relevant, understanding
the culture while still carryingthat American brand identity.
It's a tricky balance they seemto have navigated incredibly
well.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
That emphasis on local leadership seems key,
empowering the people on theground.

Speaker 2 (21:57):
Absolutely.
You can't run a global empireeffectively from Seattle alone.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
And even after all this building this global icon,
he still sounds like he has thatitch, that entrepreneurial fire
.
He talks about wanting to paintanother canvas.

Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah, hints about maybe a food-focused brick and
mortar concept.
It's like that enough is neverenough thing again.
The drive to create, to buildsomething new, it just seems
embedded in him.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
And finally the Schultz Family Foundation.
It's not just a side project,is it?
He seems deeply invested intackling big issues, helping
marginalized groups, veterans.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
It really seems like a core focus now, leveraging the
resources and platform he'sbuilt to try and make a
significant difference in areashe cares about.
Working with people like DarrenWalker at the Ford Foundation
suggests a very seriousstrategic approach to his
philanthropy.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
Using his success to fuel something beyond profit.

Speaker 2 (22:47):
Exactly A sense of broader responsibility.

Speaker 1 (22:50):
So, wrapping this all up, howard Schultz's story,
it's just packed, isn't it?
It's this incredible testamentto having a vision, first of all
, Definitely Seeing somethingothers didn't.
And then the sheer resilienceto make it happen, pushing
through hardship, rejection,near failure.

Speaker 2 (23:06):
And learning constantly from the wins and the
losses.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
Right From Brooklyn Projects through that
life-changing trip to Italy, thehigh-stakes deals he built this
global thing, always comingback to that idea of human
connection fueled by this lovefor coffee.

Speaker 2 (23:20):
It's genuinely inspiring and it really drives
home that point when you startdoesn't have to limit where you
end up.
His journey fueled by ambition,sure, but also by trying to
overcome those earlyinsecurities.
It's a powerful example of whatdetermination and a clear
vision can achieve.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
So here's something for you, the learner, to maybe
chew on after listening to allthis Think about those times in
your own life, maybe right now,where you've hit a wall, faced
something that feels reallydaunting.
How can you maybe channel someof that Schultz-like resilience,
how can you tap into thatvisionary thinking, looking
beyond the immediate obstacle tosee the bigger possibility?

(24:00):
What's that next canvas for you, that idea that excites you,
that you want to bring into theworld?

Speaker 2 (24:05):
That's a great question to leave people with.
This has been a fascinatingdeep dive into Howard Schultz's
journey.
Hopefully it's given you somethings to think about, maybe
some inspiration and perhaps alittle more appreciation for
what went into your nextStarbucks order.