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Why I Love Starbucks – the Company (and the Coffee!)

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Making Monday Marvelous

I love Starbucks - the COMPANY. Here's why.

I love Starbucks – the COMPANY. Here’s why.

I am a regular Starbucks customer. I go almost every day, in spite of the financial monster in my head who screams, “$3.70 for coffee??? You could retire earlier if you SAVED that money!” Which is true. Except that I can’t count on reaching retirement. So I have my “fancy” cuppa joe each morning before work because it makes me happy, in that moment, every day.

THIS morning when I arrived, the barista handed me a grande version of my usual drink – café mocha, non-fat, no whip, 2 pumps. With a hand-written note on it that said, “Just because we love you, Alison!” And then they told me it was on the house. On a Monday morning, that made my day, week and month.

Now I know that a company is not a person. (Really – Justice Roberts, it’s not.) But Starbucks is a company that I choose to emulate in my own little, one-person shop. Not around coffee (I’m no expert) but in the WAY they do business and the WAY they treat their customers.

What do I mean? Let me count the ways.

The baristas know me and I know them. I am thankful for their name tags because I am terrible with names initially, but once I remember I ALWAYS remember. And it’s cheerful to walk in and say, “Hi Ericka/Mitch/Brooklyn” to whoever happens to be across the counter.

They are unfailingly friendly and polite. I know that’s part of their job, but at my Starbucks, they do it really well. In this time where simple courtesy and respect seem to be in short supply, I appreciate the fact that they DON’T let it all hang out. I know they’re being nice to me, and I am nice to them back.  I like nice.

But there are also deeper reasons I start my day with Starbucks. Their environmental stands on everything from ethically sourcing their coffee beans to building LEED certified coffee shops just resonate with me, as owner of a certified green business myself.

Their support of education with programs like the full tuition reimbursement for Bachelor degrees through Arizona State shows their recognition, not only of the importance of education, but also of the fact that it’s something their employees want. So many companies trim back benefits every year. To see such an important one added is refreshing!

“Nice” can make for smart business

The main thing that I admire about Starbucks is that they’ve made me want to start my day with them.  And that feeling of anticipation and happiness is something I want to create for my own clients. I want my interactions – whether in person, on the phone, over email or Skype – to be the best part of their day. Even if we’re talking about something relatively unimportant in the overall scheme of things, I want to make you feel like I’m happy to see you, that I’m glad I can help, and that you are in good hands.

Because that’s how I feel – every morning at Starbucks!

MIT’s Climate CoLab Wants You!

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You’re invited to be part of the solution to climate change

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This week I’m passing along an invite to you from MIT’s Climate CoLab. The CoLab is a crowdsourcing platform where citizens work with experts and each other to create, analyze, and select detailed proposals for what to do about climate change.

On March 6, The CoLab launched some 22 new contests on everything from our energy supply to transportation options to a U.S. carbon price.

These contests are open to everyone. You can contribute to an existing proposal or create your own. Proposals can win a “popular” vote and they can be judged as winners by a panel of experts. The winner takes home a Grand Prize of $10,000 and gets the opportunity to present their proposal to experts who can help implement the idea.

Last year’s winner

In 2014, Danielle Dahan took home the Grand Prize award for a proposal to Improve Building Energy Performance: Green Job Skills Training. It addresses the shortage of qualified personnel to maintain the increasingly sophisticated heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems installed in green buildings today.

“As high performance green buildings increase in complexity,” Dahan wrote in her proposal, “we need to give building technicians the skills to maintain buildings and achieve high performance energy goals.”  The curriculum, when in full motion, is projected to save 33 trillion metric tons of carbon each year in the United States alone.

What’s neat about the Climate CoLab

  • It’s a great use of crowdsourcing.  MIT knows that, as one institution, it can’t possibly house all the potentially life-changing, climate-saving ideas within its walls. So it has thrown open the doors to the world and said, “Come help figure this out.” With more diverse ideas – and more efficient ways to vet them –  we can find and scale the solutions that work sooner.
  • It’s a hub of activity.  As of January 2015, over 270,000 people have visited the Climate CoLab, representing every country in the world, and over 30,000 have registered as members.  The CoLab community also includes over 7,000 Facebook likes and 17,000 Twitter followers. To learn more about the Climate CoLab community, click here.
  • It’s a fun way to tackle a critical issue. Because climate change is such a multi-faceted challenge, there are endless aspects to focus on. Choose the one that interests you most, and dive in!

Enter now

The new contests are open now. Peruse your choices (there are about 7 of these I’d sign up for in a heartbeat). Or add your own new idea. You must enter before Saturday, May 16, 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time.

The CoLab sponsors tell you when voting on the various proposals will occur. If history is any guide, the awards will be announced around November 2015.

So join in. You might just make the world a better place – for all of us!

Students Bring Sustainable Business Expertise to Theater Buildings

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Every so often I see a sustainable business article that I want to share “as is.” Today there’s happy, local news from the Sustany Foundation – one of my long-time clients.

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Through Sustany, students from the Patel College of Global Sustainability will serve as sustainability consultants to one of Tampa’s premiere landmarks, the Straz Center.

The Patel College is one of the best sustainability schools you’ve never heard of. And the Straz Center, which has graced Tampa’s waterfront since 1987, will definitely benefit from their expertise in energy efficiency, water conservation, and waste minimization.

So today, I’m pointing you to the source – Janet Harrison Hall – and saying, “What she said…” Enjoy!

Students Serve as Sustainability Consultants for the Straz Center