Sunday Success Story: Howard Schultz
Sunday Success Story
Howard Schultz is the CEO of Starbucks and the man who created the Starbucks empire. Schultz grew up in a poor housing projects in Brooklyn, His father lost his job and at age 7 worked odd jobs to help support his family. Schultz excelled in sports and was the first person in his family to attend college, receiving a communications degree for Northern Michigan University. Schultz worked with Xerox as a sales representative until his life changed with a trip to Italy. Schultz saw that the coffeehouses in Italy where different from American versions. Schultz came back to the United States and decided to buy a small coffeehouse in Seattle, implementing the concepts he saw in Italy. Schultz saw the potential of his idea and wanted to expend his coffeehouses nationwide. He was turned down by banks 242 times (not a typo) until he finally got the loan to expand his dream. Now Starbucks is the most recognizable coffeehouse, built one cup at a time. Now Schultz is worth $2.2 billion dollars. He is a self-made billionaire. Thorough hard work, vision and persistence a cup of coffee in a small coffeehouse in Seattle changed the way we associate. Remember that even if your idea is as small as a cup of coffee, with your imagination and vision, it can become a billion dollar idea.
