From the Ground Up

The 2020 primaries are going to be atrocious, we can all acknowledge that, but I’m sitting here with my fingers crossed that Howard Schultz launches an independent campaign. That desire only grew as I read his new book, From The Ground Up, which is about his background, his time at Starbucks, and the way he handles problems. I feel like Howard Schultz is what everyone wanted when they elected a businessman but maybe didn’t really get with Trump. Schultz is someone who has seen a problem and fixed it, even if it wasn’t always for economic reasons and even if he had to really defend his decisions.

The book covers a pretty large swath of time, from Schultz’ childhood as a poor kid in New York living in the projects and dealing with not the best parental situation. Then, he gets his first real job, as a salesman for Xerox, and learns he wants a little more creativity in his life. From there, he begins the climb that leads to working for Starbucks, buying his own coffee company, buying Starbucks, and making it the empire that it is today. It wasn’t easy, obviously, and he talks a lot about his early struggles getting investors and his marriage and all that jazz, but it’s a good story. He then talks about some of the things he’s done through Starbucks that give him preparation for being president: healthcare, college reimbursements, talking about race, working with veterans and refugees, etc. I mean, I’m sold. He talks honestly about his own ignorance on issues, mistakes he’s made and how he’s fixed them, and why he believes listening to people is so important.

I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a great candid about his own life but also insight into the decisions he’s made about Starbucks and the ones he would make if he was president. Fingers crossed.