Turning Dreams Into Reality. Yeah, That's Just What I Do
Part 1 of my new journey as a Starbucks store manager
I feel like it’s ok to talk about this now. My background check has been cleared, all onboarding paperwork is completed, and they have set up my travel itinerary for training. So here is my big announcement:
I have accepted a position as the new Starbucks Store Manager for the new store that is opening in July.
Wait, what? Haven’t I been doing real estate? Why yes, I have been doing real estate since January with minimal success. I wrote a few contracts but never closed on a house. I was feeling stressed that I hadn’t made any money so I decided to get a part time job. I took a job at Dunkin Donuts working in the morning. I hated it. Not only do I feel like their product is subpar, I mean their cold foam and whipped cream come from a can, but their culture is toxic. They were constantly talking shit about other stores and coworkers. They also told me to stop being so friendly with my customers. Despite their admonishment, I received 3 customer compliments while there. So, because of these reasons I was constantly looking for another job.
While I was scrolling through Indeed, I found a listing for Starbucks Store Manager and all those feelings of my long lost dream of having that job came back. While at Dunkin I realized how much I missed that day to day interaction with my regular customers and real estate just wasn’t cutting it. So, I applied for the job, not thinking I would even be considered. I was a shift supervisor previously at Starbucks and was one of the first participants in their In Place Leadership Development program. But moving from Shift Supervisor to Store Manager is quite a leap.
While we were in Florida, I got the email I was dreaming of, I got an interview the day after we returned from Florida. I sailed through the interview, remembering all my Starbucks buzzwords and phrases. At the end of the interview, she told me that she had a few more days of interviews, but she’d get back to me by Monday.
At this time, I had left Dunkin and took a position at a grocery store running their Starbucks. For clarification, Starbucks that are inside grocery stores and Targets are NOT corporate stores. They are run by the store that the kiosk is in and employees are paid by that company. That store was a shit show. I was given no training and left alone to run the entire kiosk by myself for 3 hours on my second day. I had to figure out how to run the register and then take orders, make drinks, and do prep all by myself. I did it, but it was incredibly frustrating and and omen of what was to come if I stay at this company.
Monday rolls around and by this time, I’m working 5:30am to 4pm most days, trying to bring the kiosk up to Starbucks standards. I have had absolutely no training on anything managerial. They still had the old store manager doing everything but insisting that they were going to train me soon. Mid day Monday rolls around I get the much anticipated email. I got a second interview. She wants to do it Friday but I work at the only time she can meet. I tell her that I will be there no matter what and then plan a way for me to leave work for part of the day so I can do the in person interview.
Friday finally gets here and I leave work, change my clothes and then meet up for my interview. She proceeds to tell me that she actually knows my old District Manager and has been talking to him about me. She said that he has been saying nothing but great things about me and she has the position narrowed down between me and one other person. At this point, I’m shocked. I can not believe I’ve made it this far. She told me that she’s meeting up with the other person next and she’ll give me her final decision by Monday.
Waiting over the weekend was torture but it was worth every torturous moment because Monday morning I received the notice that I was offered the job. I would be paid exactly what a Starbucks corporate manager makes a year (the store I was currently working at paid me $14 an hour with no other benefits), 2 weeks paid vacation starting immediately, free drinks and coffee. I was at work when I read the email and immediately ran to the bathroom to cry. I fucking did it!
I have been working towards being a Starbucks Store Manager since 2018. When I left the company in 2020 I thought that was the end of the road for my career with them. I had no idea I’d be going back. I had given up on that dream entirely. But here I am, back at the job I loved more than any other job I have ever had.
I’m not going to lie, I’m terrified. I have to hire all my people, clean the store up, train my people, organize everything…I’m literally starting from scratch. Why are these people trusting me with all of this? Tuesday I leave for Louisiana for training am I’m going to chronical my journey.
To be continued…
If there is a way to reduce the sound from the blender, it would be great. Nothing like having a conversation interrupted by a noisy blender. Of course this is small potatoes.
Wow! Congrats! It will be a challenge, for sure. But I have a feeling you got what it takes.