Howard Schultz invested a piece of his heart in Starbucks

Do you know the story of how young entrepreneur Howard Schultz turned "dirty water" into "the drink of the gods"? The best investment in your business is a piece of your heart. Not in a medical sense, of course.

Organ donation is a different story. The success story of the Starbucks Corporation coffee chain is about a business based on love and devotion. Do you think it doesn’t happen? Have you ever tried to capture the essence of your occupation? Not to catch, namely to catch. You can go to Italy for answers, as Howard did. Or learn how it’s done firsthand – right now.

Howard Schultz POV

Howard Schultz has been telling us a story about his business for a long time, and we were silent. And even Italian speech was not marked in brackets by current translations. We found a "tube" video about "The Man Behind Starbucks Shows How He Changed the World." It goes only 5 minutes and 11 seconds.

I, as chairman of the board of directors of Starbucks Corporation, found the key to success in the most unexpected hiding place for me. The land of light and coffee captivated me and revealed the secret of small business. It is passed down from generation to generation by its inhabitants. I thank Italy for the fact that my business now has both a soul and a heart. And they have a unique and recognizable aroma of coffee.

Howard Schultz talks about Italy

“If all meetings could start with a cup of coffee, then Howard Schultz would come with coffee aroma poured into the air. But this is aromamarketing. And the chairman of the board of directors often acts as a toastmaster-moderator at meetings. No matter how it sounds, but in reality it is a big responsibility. I’m the board meeting timekeeper at Starbucks Corporation. Because I strictly follow the rules. Before the meetings, I prepare the “right questions". And in the course of the conversation, I try to smoothly smooth out the corners of the discussions. After discussing the main issues, we vote and I sum up the results.”

Howard Schultz does more than just keep his company alive. He successfully promotes the idea that the main ingredient of a successful business is the soul and heart of the company itself. It’s not the same as when you’re talking to your car on a long drive. Or when no one sees. But, let’s let Howard tell his own story.

– Eespresso! Cappuccino! Macchiato?
– Macchiato, please.
– Perfect! cup..Good morning …

“If you have ever met the morning in Italy, you will understand me. Is a song. Although … the melody of the Italian morning is more like a symphony. You will hear the coffee aroma in it, and the light of the sun will seep through the sound waves. The city always sounds. If you are an artist, then you know firsthand that it is worth going to Italy if only to learn to see the light. And finally, breathe. But not only the lungs, the chest and abdomen are involved. And not only the nose is able to “receive a signal” from the strings of the soul of this city. Breathe in Italy with your eyes. Ears. All feelings, nerves and soul live together.

The life of a place is felt when everything that makes up you is breathing. The artists’ brushes breathe and the colors of the paints become deeper. Light penetrates everywhere.”

Howard Schultz meets a real Italian

– Macchiato, yes sir?

“The bartender in the cafe is a real Italian. It is felt even at a distance. When he is still standing at a table at the other end of the hall and taking orders from visitors. I hear magic in his voice. No. These are not tricks. Do you think he walked across the hall to me when he got free? No. He emerged. Soft and smooth. I did not see him – the light flooded the summer terrace of the cafe.

But I heard it. First, the density of dense fog through the rays of light. And then another sound that in America is mistaken for a smell. The sound of coffee.
— Bello macchiato! Bello macchiato!

“Magic permeates everything in this man. This is a real Italian. Magical and graceful. He juggles beams of light and the sounds of coffee beans like a magician. The enigmatic bartender made several confident movements, and I suddenly realized that the soul of this morning had just materialized on the table in front of me. In a tall glass jar. I watch how the light plays, lets solar micro-bunnies on the glass .. vases? Or is it an elegant cup? A beautiful vessel, and inside – the hot life of coffee.

I love the color of dark roasted coffee. Pulsates inside the cup – it’s like a heart! And the soul, it envelops the heart with mist. Milky beige, it is permeated with morning rays. Sunlight gives colors and aroma spreads with music. Fills with life…

..boy, what did you bring? I ordered coffee, and this is a piece of live music, a play of light, color and taste. Yes, this is life! This is not a drink made from coffee beans! Look yourself! I point my finger at the coffee heart pulsing in the mist, look! Mille grace!
The first sip spreads across the mouth – a moment. But bright and stretched in time by a milky mist. Memory does not erase such moments.

The noise of a coffee machine, the thick rumble of milk pouring from a saucepan into a milk jug. The buzz of the street and the voices of the cafe patrons are soft intonations, midday tones are Italy.

Howard Schultz brings something valuable to Seattle…

"Seattle. My city. I live here. In the state of Washington. Morning at home is already a song. But my solo is not always in tune with the city. In the mornings I am viscous – like the blues .. but the American morning is speed, a frantic rhythm. The first moments of the day in Seattle are full of energy. The city requires you to open your eyes and act. Straightaway. It’s like sleep doesn’t exist. My blues solo adjusts to the melody of the city, swings and, lo and behold, the Washington state morning format sounds in unison with me. We are one. And there is only this morning. Only this song.

Italy. Cafe. The rhythm of light and the sound of coffee beans. Dream? As if it is. But it was quite recently … how quickly I accelerated the pace! Italy allowed me to feel the rhythm of my life. There was no hurry. Light. Music. The speech of the bartender and the guests of the coffee shop in a rhythmic rumble – I heard everything in that divine coffee. And I memorized this divine coffee melody.
Aqua Sporka, that bartender told me when he found out that I was going back to America soon. – Dirty water. – so he called the brown liquid that is usually given out in Seattle under the guise of coffee.
Aqua Sporka. Resentment. Personal resentment was concentrated in a stable Italian expression. I cook in this business – I sell my favorite drink in a small chain of coffee shops. But is there life in this drink? To catch. Understand… the essence slips away and I close my eyes…

Howard Schultz: get the point

The morning sun flared up. Again! A living heart… as small as a coffee bean and the same color in the hands of a magical bartender. Open hand. The lines on the hand pierce the grain-heart, disappear in its core. And the lines on the palm of my hand suddenly lead me to the essence in secret paths. It smells like coffee…

“Aqua Sporka” The voice of the bartender from the memory, although soft, sharply takes it out of the context of Italy. I’m back in Seattle and I’m very late!.. What time is it? That’s what I was dreaming of… Go! Go! Go!

But I did. Secret paths in the open palm led me to the essence of the coffee drink. "Dirty water" in the past. I have found a way to filter the grains of the musical aromas of the morning.
Never be embarrassed if your dream finds a heart. A living dream can change the world. At least even the world of the coffee business. My dreams are now reality.

The gist of that morning, the little piece that I brought back from Italy in the folds of my memory, I replicated in 15,000 pieces. Everyone is a soul with the aroma of a coffee melody. At the heart of every one of Starbucks’ 15,000 coffee shops, mist stratifies over freshly brewed coffee.

I am often asked about the secret of success in this business. Of course, I never mention "dirty water". Why remember the brown burda, if the recipe for real coffee is always at hand? I always share it. Who needs business advice when there is a simple recipe for real coffee?
Moreover, they say .. you know .. business does not have ready-made solutions.

While someone is trying to understand in words whether or not something is ready, you can always make coffee.
It’s simple: To make a drink, you will need your cup and your heart. To make the drink sound like a fragrant melody, pour your heart into the cup. It’s simple. And it’s all.
Bella maggie..