I grew up in a working class family where there was no health insurance. I saw first hand the fracturing of the American dream and the bitterness that comes when there is no hope and a lot of despair. So I wanted to build the company, in a sense, that my father never got a chance to work for.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the desire to create opportunities for others based on personal experiences of struggle and loss.
Howard Schultz shares his personal background of growing up in a working-class family without health insurance, highlighting the challenges and despair that come from a lack of hope. His motivation to build a successful company stems from his wish to create the opportunities that his father, who faced similar struggles, was unable to attain. This story suggests that individual experiences of hardship can inspire significant efforts to improve the lives of others.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about entrepreneurship and the importance of giving back to the community.
The rules of engagement around building a brand have changed significantly over the past 10 to 15 years. Where companies at one time could spread their message through traditional marketing, consumers now seek an enduring emotional connection with the companies they patronize. The foundation of that connection is the most important characteristic of building a world-class brand: trust. Trust with your people and trust with your customers.
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.
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.
While their service is ending, our responsibility is just beginning!
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.
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.
Every successful businessman will have experienced set-backs and failures - they're lying if they say they haven't. Virgin has had some tremendously successful businesses and some that have not quite worked out. Virgin Cola springs to mind - the product wasn't distinct enough from Coca-Cola.
You can have the top stars to bring the attention, you can have the best stadium, you can have the best facilities, you can have the most beautiful project in terms of marketing and all this kind of thing. But if you don't win... All the work these people are doing is forgotten.
The winner asks, "May I help?" The loser asks, "Do you expect me to do that?"
If you try to make such projects, unseen by others, as perfect as any human could, you'll develop skills that other professionals don't have.
Everybody in the world knew who I was before I knew who I was.
If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you'll achieve the same results.
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