The Story of a Poor Boy Who Gave the World a New Taste of Coffee

Imagine this…
A young boy growing up so poor that in the freezing winters, he didn’t even have a warm coat to wear.
A boy whose father was bedridden and unable to work due to illness.
A boy whose family sometimes didn’t even have enough money to put food on the table.

Now imagine…
That same boy one day becomes the owner of a billion-dollar coffee company,
Opens stores in more than 100 countries,
And becomes a part of millions of people’s daily lives — giving them a “coffee moment” to start their day.

This is not a movie plot — it’s a true story.
And that boy’s name is Howard Schultz.


🌱 From the Streets of Brooklyn

Howard was born on July 19, 1953, in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
It was the kind of neighborhood where people worked hard just to survive — and still struggled to make ends meet.

His father, Fred Schultz, was a truck driver.
His mother, Elaine Schultz, was a homemaker.
The family lived in a small apartment — so small that privacy was a luxury they never had.

In the cold winters, the heater often broke down.
In the hot summers, a fan was a rare luxury.
Sometimes, warm clothes came from neighbors’ charity — but the deeper cold came from something else: the constant sense of “not having enough.”


💔 First Taste of Poverty’s Pain

Howard has one memory that still stings.
He was just 7 years old when his father injured his leg while working at a small job.
There was no health insurance, no medical support… only silence and worry in the house.

Howard watched his mother wipe away her tears.
He saw his father’s frustration, helplessness, and broken spirit.

He says:

“That was the day I decided I would never live like this.
I would give my family the life my father never could.”


🛠 Childhood Jobs

Money was so tight that Howard started working at a very young age — delivering newspapers, collecting and selling empty bottles, walking neighbors’ dogs.

After school, he was always doing something to earn a little extra.
But here’s the thing — poverty didn’t make his dreams smaller; it made them bigger.


⚽ Football: A Ray of Hope

Howard was an average student, but he was excellent at soccer.
That skill became his ladder to climb over the wall of poverty.

He earned a scholarship to Northern Michigan University — his first chance to leave his neighborhood and, for the first time, board an airplane.

In college, he realized just how big the world was — and how big his own dreams could be.


📚 College Life: Exciting but Tough

Getting into college on a scholarship felt like winning the lottery for Howard.
But it wasn’t easy.

Yes, tuition was covered,
But the cost of living? Food? Books? That was on him.

So he worked — bartending, waiting tables, and even doing construction work in the summers.

As he puts it:

“In college, I spent more time figuring out how to pay the bills than studying.”


💼 First Steps in His Career

After graduation, Howard returned to New York.
His first job was in sales at Xerox.
There, he learned a valuable lesson: in business, relationships matter just as much as the product.

A few years later, he joined Hammerplast, a company that supplied equipment to restaurants and cafes.
That’s where his life took an unexpected turn.


☕ The First Meeting with Starbucks

In 1981, Howard was assigned a small client — a Seattle-based company called Starbucks.
Back then, Starbucks had only a few stores and sold coffee beans and equipment, not brewed coffee.

On his first visit, Howard tasted their coffee and instantly thought:

“It was love at first sip.”

It wasn’t just a shop — it had a soul, an atmosphere, a sense of something special. Howard felt there was potential to change lives here.


💡 A Trip to Italy Sparks an Idea

In 1983, Howard traveled to Italy for work.
There, he noticed that coffee shops weren’t just places to drink coffee — they were like community hubs where people met, talked, laughed, and began their day together.

He thought:

“Why not create this kind of experience in America?
A place where people come not just for coffee, but for a feeling.”

But when he pitched the idea to Starbucks’ owners, they rejected it.
They insisted:

“We only sell coffee beans. That’s our identity.”


🚀 Starting His Own Business

When Starbucks said no, Howard had two options:
Stay in the job and suppress his dream…
Or risk everything to make it real.

He chose the second.
In 1985, he quit and launched his own coffee company — Il Giornale.

Raising money wasn’t easy.
He pitched his idea to 242 people; 217 said no.
Only 25 invested — purely out of trust in him.

The first store opened to long lines of customers.
Howard knew — this dream was just getting started.


🏆 Buying Starbucks

In 1987, Starbucks’ owners decided to sell the company.
Howard saw his chance — but the price was $3.8 million.

For him, that was like climbing a mountain.
He scrambled to raise the money, found investors, and finally sealed the deal.

That day, he didn’t just buy a company — he took the keys to his dream.


❤️ Love and Partnership

Through all this, his greatest support was his wife, Sheri Kersch Schultz.
They married in 1982, when Howard had neither money nor fame.

Sheri stood by him through long workdays, late-night planning sessions, and moments when they couldn’t even afford to eat out.

Howard says:

“If Sheri hadn’t been by my side, Starbucks would have remained just a dream.”

They had two children, Addison and Jordan, and Howard always taught them that real wealth isn’t money — it’s relationships and hard work.


🏬 From One Store to Thousands

When Howard took over, Starbucks had just 6 stores in Seattle.
His vision: every store would offer not just coffee, but an experience — rich aroma, good music, friendly staff, and a comfortable space.

Expansion journey:

  • 1990: 84 stores

  • 1995: 676 stores

  • 2000: Over 3,500 stores

In 1996, Starbucks went international, opening in Tokyo, then London, Shanghai, Paris, Sydney…
Today, there are 35,000+ stores in over 100 countries.


🛠 Leadership with Heart

Howard called employees “partners” and treated customers like family.
He personally cared about store design, music, smell, and atmosphere.

In his words:

“A brand is not built from a logo or a name. It’s built in every little detail.”


🕊 Lessons from Failure

The journey wasn’t without setbacks — stock drops, failed markets.
But Howard always returned — sometimes resuming the CEO role, sometimes introducing new strategies.

His motto:

“Failure is not the enemy.
Quitting is.”


💰 From Poverty to Billions

The boy who sold newspapers and collected bottles now has a net worth in the billions.
But for Howard, money isn’t the ultimate prize.
His greatest achievement is inspiring millions, proving that with vision and grit, you can rewrite your story.


🏁 Conclusion

Howard Schultz proved that big dreams can start small.
Poverty, rejection, and hardship couldn’t stop a man who decided to give the world a new experience.
Hold on to courage, take the leap… maybe the next great story will be yours. ☕✨