When you're surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.
Howard Schultz
Success is best when it's shared.
Starbucks represents something beyond a cup of coffee.
Starbucks has a role and a meaningful relationship with people that is not only about the coffee.
I was taken by the power that savoring a simple cup of coffee can have to connect people and create community.
I think the currency of leadership is transparency. You've got to be truthful. I don't think you should be vulnerable every day, but there are moments where you've got to share your soul and conscience with people and show them who you are, and not be afraid of it.
I believe life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It's seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It's seeing what other people don't see And pursuing that vision.
Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy. The other side of it is that you can't cut enough costs to save your way to prosperity.
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.
Companies should not have a singular view of profitability. There needs to be a balance between commerce and social responsibility... The companies that are authentic about it will wind up as the companies that make more money.
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.'
I can't imagine a day without coffee. I can't imagine!
Pouring espresso is an art, one that requires the barista to care about the quality of the beverage.
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.
We are witnessing a seismic change in consumer behavior. That change is being brought about by technology and the access people have to information.
Expect more than others think possible.
We think of Starbucks not as a coffee company but a media company.
Even though people are under economic pressure, they still want to support those brands with values that are compatible with their own.
Great companies that build an enduring brand have an emotional relationship with customers that has no barrier. And that emotional relationship is on the most important characteristic, which is trust.
I think if you're an entrepreneur, you've got to dream big and then dream bigger.
You walk into a retail store, whatever it is, and if there's a sense of entertainment and excitement and electricity, you wanna be there.
Any business today that embraces the status quo as an operating principle is going to be on a death march.
What I would say to young entrepreneurs is there's so many moments in your life where you have these dreams, and people are trying to protect you, and they say, perhaps, friends, family, parents sometimes, they don't agree with it, they think, 'This is just too high of a hurdle.' And I don't agree with that.
I probably have about four or five cups of coffee a day. I make myself an espresso macchiato when I wake, which is a shot of espresso and just a dollop of steamed milk. Then, if I'm going to do some work at home, I would make myself a French press. It's the best way to make conventional coffee.
We need to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers. That is my new battle cry. Live and breathe Starbucks the way our customers do.
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.
On balance, I am a supporter of the minimum wage going up. We've got to be very careful what we wish for because some employers - and there could be a lot of them - will be scared away from hiring new people or creating incremental hours for part-time people as a result of that wage going up.
I think my whole life, because of where I came from, I had a fear of failure.
There's this myth that has been exacerbated by others that Starbucks means a $4 cup of coffee, which is not true.
When it comes to Starbucks, I take every threat very personally.
Risk more than others think safe.
If you don't love what you're doing with unbridled passion and enthusiasm, you're not going to succeed when you hit obstacles.
I was born on the other side of the tracks, in public housing in Brooklyn, New York. My dad never made more than $20,000 a year, and I grew up in a family that lost health insurance. So I was scarred at a young age with understanding what it was like to watch my parents lose access to the American dream.
China traditionally has been a tea-drinking country but we turned them into coffee drinkers.
If Vancouver did not succeed as Starbucks from '87 on, our entire international business, which is now thousands of stores and a significant amount of growth and profit, may not have existed.
Certainly the caffeine in coffee, whether it's Starbucks or generic coffee, is somewhat of a stimulant. But if you drink it in moderation, which I think four or five cups a day is, you're fine.
Managing and navigating through a financial crisis is no fun at all.
I despise research. I think it's a crutch.
I never wanted to be on any billionaires list. I never define myself by net worth. I always try to define myself by my values.
Everyone must have a shot at the American Dream.
At an early age, my mother gave me this feeling that anything is possible, and I believe that.
Starbucks has changed the rules of engagement for the music industry.
We live in an age where everything is based on the short term.
With a population of more than 600 million people, an emerging middle class that is driving strong consumption, and a robust and resilient economy, Southeast Asia presents a compelling growth opportunity for Starbucks.
You must find something that you deeply love and are passionate about and are willing to sacrifice a lot to achieve.
I think we are living in a time where the consumer has lots of choices, whether it's coffee, newspapers or whatever it is. And there is parity in the market place, and as a result of that, the consumer is beginning to make decisions, not just on what things cost and the convenience of it.
The premium single-cup segment is the fastest-growing business within the global coffee industry.
People ask me what's the most important function when you're starting an organization or setting up the kind of culture and values that are going to endure. The discipline I believe so strongly in is H.R., and its the last discipline that gets funded.
America's leaders need to put their feet in the shoes of working Americans.
My son is trying to be a sports writer, and my daughter is a college student. She wants to be a comedy writer, and she's at film school. I discouraged both of them early on from getting involved in Starbucks. I didn't think it would be fair; plus, they didn't have any interest anyway.
