Experiences at Starbucks Coffee Company

Must be focused on service to your community.

Liking what you do and having a willingness to learn about coffee

Dealing with an employee who was continually trying to manipulate any activity to their control, as well as continually challenging the attendance policies. This was a person who was disrespectful towards any and all rules, lacked maturity, and conveyed a superior attitude towards others, often trying to change the course of discussions and planning to get things their way. There was no team mentality or consideration for others and it was very stressful for the rest of the team. With many frank discussions and warnings the behavior subsided....

Communicating with people who have little understanding of design and the importance of keeping up quality of the variety of materials, equipment and furniture. I often played the role of educator and tried to instill a sense of pride and responsibility to the store employees in maintaining the elements they are given.

Also challenging was the up front work to develop, design, and get sites approved by landlords....

Known as "The Keeper of the Brand" I was the go to person and leader for maintaining the corporate standards and "look and feel" of the stores - both new and existing. Having a total of 8 years of experience with the company gave me a vast history, knowledge and creativity to make things work, while maintaining the spirit of the Starbucks brand. On a daily basis I was communicating with a variety of departments, vendors, contractors, landlords, developers, architects, engineers, etc. to make sure that the quality and consistency of the design was being held up to the brand expectation. Often overwhelmed by mass numbers of projects my team and I were able to consistently meet our goals - and often exceed them....

Conveying professionalism and an understanding of the corporate culture. Starbucks is a quality brand that expects the best from people as well as embracing diversity. They want to see the individuals connection to their community, their passions, and what they do to better the world.

I was a closer for a couple of years and that meant making sure the store was ready for the openers to start a new business day. I learned to handle extremely busy periods without feeling stressfull.

Persistence an showing enthusiasm for coffee and customer service

It may seem overwhelming at first, however the company offers a great training program to help you get acquainted with our product. It takes a good month or two to understand how the business operates, and once you do you'll notice how wonderful this job really is! There are a number of resources and manuals in store to help you learn and develop as a Starbucks employee, and you'll discover that the most important resource is your fellow co-workers....

* Coordinated over 250 marketing events in the Minnesota and North Carolina markets.
* Starbucks spokesperson in radio and television commercials, public service announcements, and for
interviews in Minnesota and North Carolina markets.
* Hired, trained, and managed over 100 managers and employees to merchandise stores, manage
operations, and to provide The Starbucks Experience to customers.
* Increased profit from 10% to 25% for five stores in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Oregon.
* Opened 17 stores from construction to grand opening, including managing construction timelines and
walkthroughs, managing costs, and planning grand opening events and promotions. Opened a
Greensboro store with the lowest opening cost in the company in 1996.
* Awards include the East Coast Leadership Award, covering employees from Maine to Florida; and the
Starbucks Spirit Award, given annually to six employees out of over 50,000 North America employees....