Howard Schultz

And we're not perfect. And so we do make mistakes. And when the brand is being shined so brightly, we live in an environment where if you do make a mistake, and we are human and we're going to make mistakes, unfortunately, that becomes the thing. And it's tough to fight that.

And we're not perfect. And so we do make mistakes. And when the brand is being shined so brightly, we live in an environment where if you do make a mistake, and we are human and we're going to make mistakes, unfortunately, that becomes the thing. And it's tough to fight that.

Are you open? I'd love to kind of flash forward. You were CEO through 2017. Kevin Johnson took over 2017 to 2022. You came back for one year as interim CEO, and now Laxman is the CEO and has been in the seat for about a year. You came in after a tumultuous COVID era and tried to basically figure out who the successor was going to be and patch the ship in the meantime. A lot of stuff happened.

Are you open? I'd love to kind of flash forward. You were CEO through 2017. Kevin Johnson took over 2017 to 2022. You came back for one year as interim CEO, and now Laxman is the CEO and has been in the seat for about a year. You came in after a tumultuous COVID era and tried to basically figure out who the successor was going to be and patch the ship in the meantime. A lot of stuff happened.

has happened in that last five years, notably with labor unions. I don't want to make this a podcast about labor unions, but I do want to ask you, what have you learned from the experience of having to do a deep dive into how we got here?

has happened in that last five years, notably with labor unions. I don't want to make this a podcast about labor unions, but I do want to ask you, what have you learned from the experience of having to do a deep dive into how we got here?

That's a very tough, complex question. I think my... personal relationship with the company and how personal it is to me and the things that we not i but we have tried to do to build a different kind of company

That's a very tough, complex question. I think my... personal relationship with the company and how personal it is to me and the things that we not i but we have tried to do to build a different kind of company

when the country started moving in a post-COVID era to a direction that I didn't recognize, very, very hard to understand why Starbucks would be under assault or just being challenged this way.

when the country started moving in a post-COVID era to a direction that I didn't recognize, very, very hard to understand why Starbucks would be under assault or just being challenged this way.

Particularly when you had built a reputation on a fact pattern and a history of being unbelievably, you know. Kind to your people. Yes. Yeah.

Particularly when you had built a reputation on a fact pattern and a history of being unbelievably, you know. Kind to your people. Yes. Yeah.

I entered Starbucks as the interim CEO when this was already going on. And I think the company made some early mistakes. some of which were COVID-related. Again, no textbook had a deal with COVID issues, health issues, safety issues. And then I think underestimated the groundswell of public sentiment for this movement in America. And...

I entered Starbucks as the interim CEO when this was already going on. And I think the company made some early mistakes. some of which were COVID-related. Again, no textbook had a deal with COVID issues, health issues, safety issues. And then I think underestimated the groundswell of public sentiment for this movement in America. And...

then became vilified for trying to defend the company in a way that I thought was appropriate. I think what's lost in all this is the percentage of stores that have been petitioned and the number of people is very small in relationship to the whole. And then all of the people in Starbucks who were depending on me to defend the company,

then became vilified for trying to defend the company in a way that I thought was appropriate. I think what's lost in all this is the percentage of stores that have been petitioned and the number of people is very small in relationship to the whole. And then all of the people in Starbucks who were depending on me to defend the company,

And trying to do that in a world of disinformation is very difficult. At the time when I was trying to restore the company back to health. Clearly, mistakes were made. This story is still unfolding. And my heart's with the company. But the thing that I think was lost in the story is the shareholder is not the primary person.

And trying to do that in a world of disinformation is very difficult. At the time when I was trying to restore the company back to health. Clearly, mistakes were made. This story is still unfolding. And my heart's with the company. But the thing that I think was lost in the story is the shareholder is not the primary person.

It's the Starbucks partner in the green apron, which is the cloth of the company. And if we exceed the expectations of the cloth of the company and our people, shareholders and customers are gonna win. That's been my whole life story.

It's the Starbucks partner in the green apron, which is the cloth of the company. And if we exceed the expectations of the cloth of the company and our people, shareholders and customers are gonna win. That's been my whole life story.