5 Things I Learned While Working at Starbucks
The coffee drinking community is a really unique market to serve.
All throughout the beginning of high school, Starbucks had been a staple spot for studying, meeting up with friends and early morning coffee runs. What can I say, I loved that place and everything it had to offer! After turning 16, as summer was quickly approaching I decided I would go ahead and apply to the king of all corporate coffee chains and see what happened.
A couple phone calls, and an interview later — I found myself with a black hat and green apron, ready to write on cups and make some coffee!
Throughout my 4 years at Starbucks, I was fortunate to have met lots of amazing people — coworkers and customers. I had worked at several different stores and even competed and placed in competitions we called the “Barista Championships” ( sounds a little corny I know)! It definitely wasn’t always easy working at that job, but I sure learned a lot through those 4 years.
1. Learning to work with an entitled customer-base
I know it’s not easy getting up early every morning to go to work, school or run errands, especially if you’re still half asleep. Starbucks knows this too and is set up to be open as early as 5AM at some locations, to accommodate to all kinds of consumers and caffeinate them at their earliest convenience.
Starbucks is well known for their array of options when it comes to food, beverages and even cup sizes. When it comes to customizing your order, the opportunities are endless. This is part of what makes Starbucks great, but it also allows for consumers to be particular about what they want — making it not so great for baristas.
I had noticed a similar phrase being used by customers during morning shifts — “sorry, it’s because I haven’t had my coffee yet”. This was often an apology I would hear from customers who I believe may have acted irrationally angry and disputed with baristas because they had either waited a little too long in line, or their order was in some way made incorrectly. The moral to the story — it’s okay to be entitled, all we want is a little patience!
2. Black Coffee — less $$ and more practical
As a coffee drinker myself, I found that the many of the beverages I was making had little to no coffee in them most times. Yes, I know we have “the best hot chocolate” according to friends of mine and yes, we are known for the “frappucino” of all things, but our actual brewed coffee is underrated.
Starbucks prides itself on serving fair-trade, ethically sourced coffee which comes in a variety of beans from countries around the world.
A grande, or medium sized black coffee will only set you back $2.10, while a grande latte is $3.65, not to mention an extra charge for flavors, special milks and more. While lattes are a nice treat on occasion, they only contain close to 150 mg of caffeine, as opposed to 260 mg in a black coffee if you really want to wake up. Don’t worry, I know everyone has a different preference, that’s just my opinion!
3. Starbucks baristas are the most quirky people I have ever met — in the best way
As a customer I have always seen Starbucks baristas as happy, upbeat and almost ‘too excited’ at work sometimes. That being said, I can honestly say I have learned how to work and communicate with many, many different kinds of people while working at this company.
Starbucks is really big on diversity and bringing all kinds of partners on the team. I always thought this was great, and sometimes you just never knew who was gonna walk through that door for an interview. I’ve worked with artists, veterans, parents and even grandparents. Some of my coworkers hated coffee, some loved it, others hated customers, while a handful had grown real friendships with customers… it was a really unique environment. As someone who enjoys working with others and is also on the quiet side, I can say that working side by side many of my coworkers helped me come out of shell and grow!
4. We are that ‘second home’ for some people
Part of the Starbucks mission is to make the environment as comfortable and welcoming as a home — thus a second home.
I always wondered why anybody would want to spend so much time in a crowded cafe, instead of spending time at a library or at home. But what I learned after meeting so many people is that this environment Starbucks is trying to create, is really serving a purpose.
I met a gentleman during my final year with the company, who had been an everyday regular. After getting his coffee, he would sit alone in the corner of the store, read his newspaper and leave — same routine every morning. One day I decided I would try and get to know him better, so I initiated a conversation. As it turned out, this older gentlemen came in every morning, ordered the same small coffee, and purchased a copy of the New York Times because that is exactly how he and his late wife would spend their mornings.
This gentleman shared with me that he still came every morning even after his wife passed away, because it was something they enjoyed doing together and although he continued this activity alone, he often thinks about her and even sits at their spot — just as they both would have done. Through this encounter and many others like this, I began to learn how Starbucks’ idea of the ‘second home’ was really important.
5. Stressing out will happen, but it won’t ever help
With nearly 30 customers every half hour, you can imagine just how many people you see during a shift at Starbucks.
Throughout this 8 hour shift you are constantly on your feet, running around, making sure to keep a smile on your face; a face that may have not slept well the night before, or may be going through a lot. As stressful as the job may sometimes be, nothing makes it easier than pleasant and understanding customers.
While I’ve always focused on keeping it cool even under stress, it was still a challenge to keep the momentum going when we were short staffed, when families come by the dozen for happy hour, or when we were running out of every possible menu item. I worked one day where this was the exact case, and my stress levels were at an all time high. My store was a drive thru, and I was working solo in the drive thru area. I had a woman pull up in a mini-van, she spoke very softly so I asked her to repeat herself and suddenly she broke down in tears. I whispered to myself, “what in the world is going on”. After giving her a second to calm down, I finally heard her say five scary words “my house burned down today”. She came to Starbucks that afternoon to grab a coffee and pastry for her and her baby daughter, while other family members were at the hospital. In shock, I proceeded to void her almost $10 order and held her hand. I told her I was sorry, I told her to be strong and I told her it will get better.
Like I said earlier, I was fortunate to meet many people through this job, but I never imagined I would learn so much from everyone. The takeaway I got from that moment with that woman was that you never know what is going on in someone’s life. For a moment, I felt stressed and overworked — wondering why this woman is breaking down crying and slowing down my drive thru line. But through that moment, I had a sudden wake-up call. No matter how busy or stressful that hour of work was, I had a sad woman in front of me who was in need of a moment. I was reminded that coffee is only coffee, and customers are humans going through so much more than what we see on the outside.
