How Starbucks Saved My Life?

We chose to review the bestselling book called “How Starbucks Saved My Life” by Michael Gill because we thought that it would be a good read, as the title itself was intriguing. The book was quite difficult to find but somehow we managed to chance upon some copies of it. The book was not a disappointment as it was truly inspirational. It had taught us to start looking on the brighter side of life and to always move forward, not backward.

We have also learned that we should not dwell on the past.

At the start of the book, Michael Gill had been living in his past and had many regrets in his past life. Soon enough, the author came to the realization that lingering in his past was not going to make the present any better for himself. Hence, he made the decision to obtain a more positive mindset about the future. He proceeded to observe things in a different light and always did things with an open mind.

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Another one of the reasons why we chose this book was because it has also taught us to be hard working and take pride in whatever we have accomplished.

In addition to that, the author taught us to never take things for granted and to appreciate the things we have in life before it can be abruptly taken away from us. The book is based on a true story about the author’s life. He used to work with J. Walter Thompson (JWT) - the largest advertising agency in the United States of America - as a successful advertising executive.

He devoted most of his life working hard for the agency and sacrificed most of his time with his family to contribute in making the agency successful. He had spent long hours working with his clients instead of being with his family.

The author thought of himself as a pillar of his family. He thought that sacrificing his job was worth all the times he had not been there for his family as he desired to provide a good life for his family. In fact, he was so loyal to his job that he was willing to surrender spending Christmas with his family to work with his client. The author had said “I was full of pride that I had never refused any effort JWT ever asked of me. ” (2008, page 8). He had done everything he could to dedicate himself to the company; he was soon enough fired by one of his colleagues, Linda.

The author had really liked Linda and he had helped her to move up on the Board of Directors. Hence, he felt extremely hurt that he was fired by Linda as he thought of her as a friend. The author was also furious with himself because he did not notice the signs earlier on while he was working that his new boss, a Brit named Martin Sorrell, who was younger than him. One of the signs that the author should have paid attention to was when his boss had once said straightforwardly “I like young people around me. ” (2008, page 9).

A few years later, he decided to open up his own consulting company and at the start, many of his old clients made business with him. However, his business gradually slowed down to a halt as lesser and lesser of his clients went back to him. His life became more miserable when he found out that he had a tiny tumour called an ‘acoustic neuroma’ on the base of his brain that was affecting his hearing. The author also started going to the gym momentarily after he was fired to keep himself occupied.

“I needed a reason to get out of the house everyday, and exercise became my new reason for getting up and out. (2008, page 23) was what the author said. The gym was where he met his mistress, Susan. He had an affair with Susan for more than a year while still being married to his wife, Betsy. Late one morning, Susan broke the news to the author that she was pregnant with his child. He had hoped that she would go for an abortion but she refused because she thought that God told her that she should keep the baby. The author had then confessed to his wife of many years that he had impregnated another woman which led to his divorce.

The author was sitting in a Starbucks store, reminiscing about his past when a black lady named Crystal accosted him intrepidly and confidently, offering him a job at Starbucks. During the interview, Crystal provided the author with a booklet that showed the health benefits of working as a barista at Starbucks. This caused the author to immediately make the decision to work at Starbucks as he could finally secure his fifth and last child’s health insurance. He then embarked on a new journey working at Starbucks and working for Crystal was a new experience for him since he was used to working in a high rank position.

The author also wrote about how the Guests of Starbucks treated him differently than the clients he used to work with in his previous job. His Partners treated him with respect and was always patient when it came to teaching him new things. Slowly, he moved up his position as a barista and became the Coffee Master of the store. He adored his job so much that he wanted to exceed his service for his Partners and Guests. Therefore, he did this in a form of writing poems for them.

One of the poems he wrote for his Guests was: “Your wonderful smile/When you walk in the door/Helps to make/Our spirit soar. You make sure to us/Just how we are/When we see you at the register/Or at the bar. /Little wonder you are our star/And a favourite Guest. /You bring out/Our very best! ” (2008, page 224). At last, he decided to quit working at Crystal’s store and work at the Starbucks store which is near to his apartment. When he told Crystal that he wanted to work at another Starbucks store, he was praised by Crystal as being one of the best at delivering legendary service. It meant that he made the extra efforts to make positive bonds with the Guests.

Due to his excellent service, he helped the store to attain a five star award which was the first ever time that Starbucks rewarded its stores. The book was useful to us as there were some original economic acumen. It taught us that no matter how rich and successful you are at that point in your life, you will still have to make a financial backup plan and be vigilant towards your own financial wealth. We found this book inspiring because the author did not give up even after many downfalls in his life.

It taught us to persevere through hardship and be determined to overcome it. Family was also another important factor that he had stressed on in the book. He wrote about how he regretted not spending enough time with his family. He wrote that he was upset with himself because he had not been able to see his children grow up as fine adults that they are presently. This has taught us not to neglect our family even though it clashes with our personal work. We must always spend quality time together because it will strengthen the bond in the family as it is our first priority.

The fact that he was the reason why his family was broken apart also caused him to feel guilty. The author had lived luxuriously all his life until he was fired by his company. He had once said in an interview, "I was born with just about every advantage you could imagine, or even wish for. " He had everything he wanted but he took it for granted. We can relate this to our lives as it acts as a reminder to us to always treasure what we have in life. This book is mostly about his experience working at Starbucks. However, the book was not entirely perfect.

What did not appeal to us the most was that he had too many flashbacks. Due to the numerous flashbacks which he had, it made the book less interesting to us. It was tough for us to continue halfway through the story as he droned on about his previous life too much but eventually, we still managed to finish the book. The book also had too many corporate speaking and repetition. Another reason why it was not that useful was that the author talked about the Partners, Guests and having respect almost endlessly but only mentioned about his affair, divorce and his out-of-wedlock child merely.

He had not exactly elaborated on the negative impacts in his life. Other than that, the author had also said in his book that he regretted prioritizing his work rather than his family in his younger years but it still seems as if he is achieving more from his work instead of from his new child. We have learned the importance of respect and serving people well from him but we feel that he had not learned how to connect with his children – especially his last child – well enough.