FROM RAGS TO RICHES: AN INCREDIBLE STORY OF BILLIONAIRE HOWARD SCHULTZ.

“You have to be authentic, you have to be true, and you have to believe in your heart that this is going to work.”   — Howard Schultz

SCHULTZ EARLY LIFE.

Brooklyn-born, a New Yorker (mind it, the New Yorkers love their coffee) decided that he was going thrive by making coffee. Either be a Latte, Mocha, Espresso, or Cappuccino. It must be noted that this coffee business didn’t just become successful in a short time. It took struggle, hard work, sacrifice, motivation, and faith.

Schultz came from a working-class family. He was born in the summer of 1953. The date was 19 of July; the day when the owner of Starbucks was born but who knew this at that time. A poor, skinny boy living in the world of poverty. He found escape in sports in the likes of Basketball, Football, and Baseball.

An unfortunate incident took place when Schultz was only 7 years of age. His father broke his ankle in an accident. Because in this state of destitution his father had no health insurance, the family was left in hardship as there was no one else to earn.

Schultz’s interest in sports and games paid off. He got an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University but he decided not to take it. On the contrary, he decided to major in communications. Very surprising but he had his reasons.

The time during college was very grueling for Schultz. He used his student loans. He worked as a bartender to cover his study and living expenses. And a heartbreaking fact, Schultz even sold his blood a few times! It is terrible that life is so hard that people go to desperate measures for the sake of survival.

POST-GRADUATION; CAREER.

After graduating from college in 1975, Schultz was confused about what to do next. He was not quite sure. The future was scary and he was kind of lost. First, he spent a year working in a ski lodge in Michigan. It was dull and boring for him. Later, he got a job in the sales training program at Xerox. He worked there for three years and again changed jobs. This time he was working at Hammarplast, a housewares business owned by a Swedish company.

This duration was better for Schultz. He became vice president and general manager of the company. And therein New York he stumbled upon a coffee shop. Starbucks.

At that time, Starbucks only had a few stores in Seattle and was selling pounds of coffee for home use, according to Schultz. He was very much curious about these winsome coffee shops and traveled to Seattle in order to meet the owners of the company, Gerald Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. Presently, Howard Schultz was very much impressed by the enthusiasm of the coffee shop owner.

BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA.

Eventually, 29-year-old Schultz convinced Baldwin and Bowker to hire him as the director of retail operations and marketing. And then after some time, the company sent him to Milan. This trip would be a game-changer for him. There in Italy, Schultz discovered something magical, something eccentric. The love of coffee. The feeling of coffee. The relationship between a person and his coffee. The moment he was hit with realization and sparks, he decided that he was going to learn more about baristas and customer relationships.

Schultz came home with his heart left somewhere in an Italian coffee shop. He had a new concept for Starbucks but the owner rejected it. They didn’t want to go in the direction Schultz wanted to take them and thus, Schultz left the job of Starbucks in 1985. He created his own company which was named II Giornale. It was an Italian word for, that daily. This new coffee concept faced rejection many times.

Schultz writes, “In the course of the year I spent trying to raise money, I spoke to 242 people, and 217 of them said no. Try to imagine how disheartening it can be to hear that many times why your idea is not worth investing in.  …. It was a very humbling time.”

Yes, it was a very humbling time for him indeed. But he did not give up. He didn’t stop fighting. He was determined to make his coffee chain known. He worked hard to improve it. To make it more aesthetic. To make it lovely, energizing, and refreshing.

Eventually, II Giornale bought Starbucks for $3.8 million in August 1987. What an achievement!  Howard Schultz was now the CEO of Starbucks.

In 1992, the company went public on the NASDAQ; its 165 stores pulled in $93 million in revenue that year. By 2012, Starbucks had grown to encompass more than 17,600 stores in 39 countries around the world and its market capitalization was valued at $35.6 billion. By 2014, Starbucks had more than 21,000 stores worldwide and a market cap of $60 billion. The world applauded. The world accepted and adopted his aesthetic coffee ways. They found love, warmth, and delicious coffee at his stores.

OWNERSHIP OF SEATTLE SUPERSONICS.

Schultz was rich. But his heart also adored sports. So, as an adventure or maybe passion he bought the Seattle Supersonics (Basketball team) for $200 million. But it was a tough job and it tired him. In the year of 2006, he sold the team to a group of investors. Later, in an interview, Schultz described owning a team as ‘a a nightmare’.

HIS GAME-CHANGING INITIATIVE.

Being the CEO of Starbucks wasn’t some bed of roses. It came with some downsides. Some setbacks. In the year of 2008, Starbucks was temporarily closed by Schultz so that baristas would learn how to make perfect espresso (the Americans are very sensitive about their coffee).

Because Howard Schultz has lived a childhood of deprivation and faced so many hardships during college, he announced that his company would pay college fees for his employees. A reason behind Schultz’s success is his friendly behavior. He shows respect for his workers and calls them his ‘partners’. In the past, his family had to live in poverty because of no health insurance, he now offers a complete healthcare package to his employees.

BOOKS.

Last but not least amazing thing done by Howard Schultz. He wrote two bestselling books about the success story of Starbucks. They are named, “Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time” (1999) and “Onward: How Starbucks Fought For Its Life without Losing Its Soul” (2012).

AWARDS.

In 1999, Schultz received the ‘National Leadership Award’ for being philanthropic and doing educational efforts to battle AIDS. In 2007, he received the FIRST Responsible Capitalism Award. Schultz became Fortune magazine’s ‘2011 Businessperson of the Year’ for his initiatives in the economy and the job market. On March 13, 2017, he was presented with the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

WHY SCHULTZ IS AN INSPIRING BUSINESS LEADER.

In my opinion, Howard Schultz is a legendary person. Here are some significant leadership lessons that I learned from him:

1. His ideas are innovative and customers friendly which makes him a successful businessman.
2. Reading his interviews has taught me one thing – inspiring leaders never grow tired of sharing stories that shaped their character.
3. They aren’t ashamed of their past.
4. A good businessman leader treats his workers benevolently, is kind and understanding towards them.
5. A good businessman is never afraid to give new propositions. He takes risks and adopts unorthodox and modern ways.
6. He changes along with the world but never compromises his ideology.

Howard Schultz has not just built a thriving company that makes exquisite coffee but also a community. A family.  A concept. He made something out of himself. Starbucks CEO promised himself that he wouldn’t live in poverty and so he fulfilled it. Schultz succeeded in achieving his goal. He not only did it for himself but also for his parents.

He served as the CEO of Starbucks from January 2008 until April 2017. And has a net worth of $2.8 Billion.

“Entrepreneurs must love what they do to such a degree that doing it is worth sacrifice and, at times, pain. But doing anything else, we think, would be unimaginable.” — Howard Schultz.

The Starbucks chairman, Howard Schultz is an inspiration for me. The triumphant businessman said, if you want to achieve widespread impact and lasting value, be bold.