In 1953, in Brooklyn New York, a boy was born in a working-class family who believed in blue-collar jobs and the idea that laborious careers were the path to freedom.

Sadly, it didn’t really work out for them that way because for most of this boys childhood, they lived in public housing projects and struggled everyday just to make ends meet.

Years later, he would go on to play sports and eventually earn a football scholarship to Northern Michigan University where he would be the first in his family to attend college, graduating with a degree in Communications in 1975.

After college, he worked for sales in Xerox where he sold printers and scanners door-to-door. Despite having a degree, he felt he was in a dead-end job and decided to switch careers. And so, he made the simple switch to sell kitchen equipment instead.

Obviously, there wasn’t much of a change. But one day on his way to work, he noticed a small Seattle-based coffee shop and was amazed at their passion for high-quality coffee. But when he asked the owner if they had plans to expand, he said no.

But the young man was so inspired to spread the word, he joined the company as their Director of Retail Operations and Marketing in 1982 and started generating more business then they could ever imagine.

Years later, he would go back to the owners and see if they would be willing to expand now, but they rejected his idea, forcing him to leave and start his own coffeehouse company.

But the rejection didn’t stop there, he struggled to raise funds for his new business and pitched his idea to over 200 investors to whom each one said “No.” Some of his rejections included:

“This is the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”
“No one is going to pay that much for coffee.”
“You’re never going to make this work.”

Despite the knockdowns, he continued spending months to find an investor because he “believed in his idea so much that [he] just kept going.”

Eventually, one of the original rejectors of his idea came back around and decided to invest in his shop which ultimately was his savior in getting his business off the ground.

And in 1987, the original coffee shop owners that the young man had worked at decided to sell their company and so he saw this as an opportunity to merge his vision with his own brand and create what we now know as Starbucks.

Love them or hate them, Howard Shultz is a visionary and showcases a remarkable story of ingenuity and resistance to failure. It’s a story that doesn’t only teach you that sometimes success can come after hundreds of rejections, but even if someone rejects you originally, doesn’t mean they’ll come back around and see you for what you’re worth.

All it comes down to is one “Yes,” one acceptance, one handshake, and you can quite possibly change your life.

Until next time,
Isaiah Taylor

Dive Deeper

What I’m Currently Reading - I’m now reading a biography of George Washington titled Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow. An entire life breakdown of our first President’s life that won of Pulitzer Prize for its literary mark.

Quote Of The Week - “Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect.” — Unknown