I recently celebrated my 4-year anniversary with Starbucks a couple of weeks ago. I just found this blog I wrote in honor of my 1st anniversary and thought I'd share.
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One year ago yesterday, I met Greg Melnyk, my first-ever Starbucks manager, along with Clay Mason and some other folks who no longer work for the company, for our first official training session. I was a little intimidated and uncertain of what my future with Starbucks would hold. A year later, I'm still with the company, only I'm in a new store in a different state. As I look back over the last year, a few things stick out. One, how quickly everyone in our store acclamated to one another when we opened the Nicholasville/New Circle store last July. When I left Lexington in December, only 6 months after my first day, I felt like I was leaving behind family. Two, I still love my job and although I have no clue how long I'll continue with the company, I'm excited to be a part of it. Three, when I visit other Starbucks when I'm traveling, I always check out the bathrooms...not for cleanliness per se but because I've seen some of the coolest bathrooms in Starbucks. Yes, I know this sounds weird:) Unfortunately, neither my old store in Lexington nor my new store in Ruston have cool bathrooms. Four, Greg told us during training that one day we would have this "Aha" moment when everything would just click. We would come to the point where we could make drinks and carry on a conversation without much thought and provide the legendary service Starbucks is known for. It's true...although I have no clue when my "Aha" moment occurred. And lastly, I've been at my new Starbucks for a couple of months now and although I still miss my Lexington family very much, the Ruston crew have welcomed me in and made me feel very much a part. I am grateful. I know I wouldn't love my job as much as I do if it weren't for the Starbucks partners.