The Green Siren

For most of my career, my life consisted of arriving to an office early in the morning, leaving between 10 and 12 hours later and occasionally exiting the campus for lunch.  A practice that I am sure is not too uncommon from most others in corporate America.

I have been a gold level Starbucks member since March 2012.  It took me almost 6 months to earn those 30 stars, which meant that on average, I visited a Starbucks about once a week.  Truth be told, I probably earned most of those stars on vacation, because normally, it can be weeks between visits.

In my experience, Starbucks is someplace you stop on your way into work to get your morning fix when your canister at home is empty.  It's a place to meet friends and catch-up on the weekend between errands.  It's a place to stop in the mall to get a treat.  I became a huge Starbuck's fan traveling internationally, not for their coffee, but for the free internet.  It does not matter where in the world I have been, Starbucks always has free wi-fi, and for that, I will be a loyal patron.

A few of the mugs I've collected

Since I've been in transition, I've had the opportunity to gain an entirely new appreciation for Starbucks.  If I wanted to, I could stay at home and conduct the job search from my kitchen table, isolating myself with my macbook - but you all know, that is not me.  Being an extrovert, I have attended almost every networking opportunity I can, and still drive 20 miles to go to the gym 4 - 5 days/week.  I meet friends and former colleagues for lunch.  This means there are times when I have a couple of hours between appointments.  If the lag time is 3 hours or less, I will hang out at a Starbucks and conduct my job search from there.

I was astonished the first time I did this, in the 3 hours I sat in the store it was never not busy.  From 8:30am - 11:30am, there was a constant stream of people and every table was filled.  I wasn't the only one that spent more than just a few moments there.  So you are thinking "that it's just a morning thing."  Not so.  I have been to Starbucks at all times and in all places and observed the same thing.  Even stores that are isolated with bad parking are constantly filled.

Who is hanging out there?  A lot of people in transition.  As I've sat in the comfy outdoor chairs at one of my favorite locations at Main and MacArthur, I've heard a lot of people networking.  I've been rude and eavesdropped and taken mental notes on companies that were discussed.  I've also met contacts and done networking of my own.  There are those that look like students, faces buried in their laptop screens, making sure they are unapproachable, earbuds in place, streaming whatever.  My least favorite was the couple that was breaking up.  The girls was so annoying, I wanted to tell the guy "run and don't look back", but kept my head down and mouth shut.  (Why is it that I can concentrate so much I don't hear the sound of the police officer following me for 2 miles trying to pull me over, but I can't block out the irritating conversation of strangers?)  At other similar establishments, I've observed life groups (aka small groups, bible study groups, accountability groups) having their weekly meeting.  

This completely changes my perception of Starbucks.  It's not a constant churn, but a community.  If I were so inclined, I would consider buying a franchise and running my own store.  It's hard to imagine how it could not be successful.  

For coffee snobs, those of us that miss Diedrich's, those that don't like coffee, and those that don't agree with Starbucks politics, it might be hard to get behind the brand.  While I fit at least one of those categories, I am grateful they exist and are so customer centric, especially at this juncture. I'm obtaining stars a lot more often now, but hoping for the time when visiting a Starbucks is an occasional treat as opposed to a frequent habit.