I grew up in a working class family where there was no health insurance. I saw first hand the fracturing of the American dream and the bitterness that comes when there is no hope and a lot of despair. So I wanted to build the company, in a sense, that my father never got a chance to work for.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the desire to create opportunities for others based on personal experiences of struggle and loss.
Howard Schultz shares his personal background of growing up in a working-class family without health insurance, highlighting the challenges and despair that come from a lack of hope. His motivation to build a successful company stems from his wish to create the opportunities that his father, who faced similar struggles, was unable to attain. This story suggests that individual experiences of hardship can inspire significant efforts to improve the lives of others.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about entrepreneurship and the importance of giving back to the community.
The rules of engagement around building a brand have changed significantly over the past 10 to 15 years. Where companies at one time could spread their message through traditional marketing, consumers now seek an enduring emotional connection with the companies they patronize. The foundation of that connection is the most important characteristic of building a world-class brand: trust. Trust with your people and trust with your customers.
The future of America is not an entitlement. We have been given a treasure chest of gifts and opportunities, but some people are being left behind, and success is not sustainable unless it is shared.
Starbucks is not an advertiser; people think we are a great marketing company, but in fact we spend very little money on marketing and more money on training our people than advertising.
While their service is ending, our responsibility is just beginning!
In life, you can blame a lot of people and you can wallow in self-pity or you can pick yourself up and say listen, I have to be responsible for myself.
When I first discovered in the early 1980s the Italian espresso bars in my trip to Italy, the vision was to re-create that for America - a third place that had not existed before. Starbucks re-created that in America in our own image; a place to go other than home or work. We also created an industry that did not exist: specialty coffee.
No illusion is more crucial than the illusion that great success and huge money buy you immunity from the common ills of mankind, such as cars that won't start.
If the company depends entirely on you - your creativity, ingenuity, inspiration, salesmanship or charisma - nobody will want to buy it. The risk and the dependency are too great.
The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does.
All work undertaken should be useful - not just for a day, or a year, but useful in the sense that it affords permanent improvement in living conditions or that it creates future new wealth for the Nation.
Figure out what you love to do, then figure out how to get paid to do it.
If you're trying to create a company, it's like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.