Happy Fourth of July

This song just about sums it up for me.

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Why Starbucks? Howard Understands Why!

So I received a number of interesting emails and Twitter messages yesterday basically asking me why I was so fixated on Starbucks. Well without going into too much detail about my "great idea" let me explain.

You see Starbucks became a trusted friend as I started my second company. Call it caffeine induced delirium or my just plain craziness, Starbucks became a favorite early morning haunt of mine in the late 1990's. As I began my second company I did not sleep much - if at all. I was constantly worrying about closing the deals we needed to close in order to keep the lights on and people employed. With worry comes stress and with stress comes panic. I realized, much to my amazement, that panic when it sets in so much easier to control and extinguish when it happens in public. It is so much better to handle panic and stress by drinking a no foam latte and eating a sweetroll than it is hiding behind a dark desk in the wee hours of the early morning.

Starbucks became somewhat of a respite from my stress. I could stop by there on my way to the office, grab a cup of coffee and actually force myself to think about my business with each long sip of dark roast. The environment was laid back and instantly made me feel comfortable so I began stopping by more and more - okay I admit it...daily. Sometimes I would even stop by during the middle of the day just to catch my breath and to relax. Somehow stress seemed to never want to follow me inside a Starbucks I assumed because the smell of the sweet coffee aroma is somehow its kryptonite equivalent.

Starbucks you see became my little sanctuary, my little space. A place I could come and hang out and let my creativity flow. It was where I first started pounding on my keyboard - first penning a new strategy for my company then more compelling proposal formats. Soon my writing turned to more personal issues like journaling and even creating some pretty interesting fictional stories and poems. No matter what it was, a little caffeine, the environment, a little soft ambient jazz playing in the background, my creativity just flowed.

And I like so many millions of Americans began to drink the Starbucks Kool-Aide.....oops I mean coffee!

Something else happened at Starbucks. I met people. I started having amazingly interesting conversations with complete strangers and loving it. Me and introvert....can you believe it? It was incredible the random faces you would see day after day but oddly enough after a period of time didn't seem so random anymore (see how I becamse a Starbucks Stalker Series). I realized very quickly that Starbucks had a real sense of community in the people that frequented their favorite locations. It was a community I took pride in being a part of.

Any of the articles you read about Howard Schultz's vision revolves around having passionate customers and creating community. His desire was to create a space where people could interact and connect. I think they hit that concept very well early on but today there seems to be less emphasis on it - at least here in Austin and several of the other cities I have traveled to recently. Today's Starbucks there is something missing and when I read they need to close 600 stores and layoff 12,000 workers I wonder, could this be part of the reason why?

Sure there are still people around and the rich aroma of coffee roasting in the back still permeates throughout, the sense of community and connection seem to be gone. People that hang out don't talk to one another - they are too busy plugged into their iPods or using their laptops almost as a shield to fight of approaching conversation (sad really). Employees seem less enthusiastic and far too quick to make you feel inadequate for failing to say a complicated drink correctly. Stores are becoming smaller and there is no real draw to stay and so you see many more people grabbing their drinks to go.

Where did the community vision go?

I am not really sure. But I know we can get it back. We can make our local Starbuck's stores our own little communities again. We can make it both hip and cool to want to connect with others and why not do it over a little cappuccino?

Imagine the Ripple!

Howard the offer still stands...I'll buy the first cup!

Ripple On!!!

Howard Schultz - I'll Buy The First Cup

A little over two years ago I approached Starbucks with an idea. It was an idea that if executed correctly could enhance the customer experience, build even stronger community and yes even help build their bottom line. It was a little idea I admit but with a real spark of potential. So I did what you are supposed to do when you have a spark...I tried to coax a fire to start.

I tried and tried to get the attention of Howard Schultz but with no luck. I received a not so nice response from their Director of Marketing who somehow failed to realize that I was a Starbucks fan and more importantly a customer first and an entrepreneur second. I was not deterred and just kept trying. Finally in the fall of of 2006 progress - a response from Jim Donald the CEO of Starbucks himself (or his assistant - hard to tell). It was a response requesting that I send some information to him and he promised to review it.

I excitedly kitted up my presentation and sent it on to Mr. Donald and waited. And waited. And waited some more. I followed up. No response. I followed up again. No response. Getting desperate, I cut a creative Podcast to both Howard Schultz and Jim Donald and sent little cds up to their offices. Finally a response - from the woman I had been in contact before. She was even less enthusiastic and more direct this time around. Buzz off (no caffeine implied humor here) little Ripple Man - buzz off!

Discouraged and smarting from the frustrating circus of trying to persuade my hero Howard Schultz to allow me to buy him a cup of coffee and discuss an idea, I did what I tell my clients never to do (shhh don't tell them okay), I gave up. I put the ginormous file I had created away and haven't looked at it since.

Sure my Ripple friends that knew about the idea still peppered me with articles about Starbucks this and Starbucks that. I still got lots and lots of people telling me how badly Starbucks needed my Ripple idea. I myself go to countless Starbucks locations along my journey and grow even more discouraged at the level of disconnectiveness (my word - my spelling) their store employees are from the mission Howard Schultz onces so proudly proclaimed.

Yesterday a number of stories broke about Starbucks actually trimming back their expansion plans and even laying off 12,000 workers and closing up to 600 stores. Jim Donald left the company this past January and Howard Schultz assumed the reins of CEO yet again. The emails started flying yesterday - "Steve they need you." "Steve, maybe now's the time to hit them again." "Steve they need the idea now more than ever!" You gotta love people who support you. I know I sure do!

I admit I thought about pulling out the file last night and taking a stroll down memory lane. All the hours of research and the brainstorming sessions that went into a simple little idea that I believe still could make a huge impact on so many levels. But am I glutten for another round of punishment? That's the real question. This morning as I sip my dark roast I contemplate whether it would be worth another go at the behemouth task of getting Mr. Schultz's attention.

So Mr. Schultz in the off chance you are listening, the offer still stands.....I'll buy the first cup.

Be Your Own Cheerleader

I was honored to learn that one of my wife's closest friends started reading my BLOG recently. Kathy mentioned that her friend asked how I maintain such a positive outlook and if I really followed all that I suggest here. Kathy said she told her that I am human and I do slip up (sometimes more than I would like) but that she's always there to give me a good smack in the right direction to get me back on track. .

The truth is....I am human and I don't always have the most positive outlook on life. It's hard to have a positive attitude all the time especially living in today's society. We are bombarded with negativity in the media. Society has lost its ability to connect. People are miserable at the jobs they work in. The economy is very rocky and unpredictable for most. Hollywood prefers to give us dark stories rather than the inspirational feel good movies they once did. I could go on and on...but I won't.

Life is negative. It would be easy to pack up the tent and join the bandwagon of negativity and call it a day. I won't. Why? Because if I did, I think the overwhelming sense of nothingness would kill me.

Single individuals can change the world. You right now have the power to affect another person - your kids, your parents, your spouse, your co-workers...a complete stranger. That power can be used for good or bad depending on the outlook you carry with you. In order to have the right outlook you have to be willing to pick yourself up when things look glib. It's in those times that you not only find what drives you but it's how you become the example from which all others learn and follow.

I have learned to stay positive most of the time because I have become my own cheerleader. I realized pretty early on in my entrepreneurial career that no one was going to be waiting for me at the end of a long day or at the conclusion of a big deal to pat me on the back and say, "great job kid!" No one was going to be there to encourage me to try harder when the chips were down. Nobody was going to pick up the ball from where I dropped it and drive it across the goal line for me.

The only person in the end I can honestly count on is me. I have to be my own motivator. I have to be my own coach. I have to be willing to let my heart override my mind when I think the impossible can't happen. I have to be there to pick myself up, dust myself off and cover those scrapes and bruises and push myself back into the game despite the score.

Sure I am lucky to have an amazing support structure with my wife and kids, my parents and the literally hundreds of people who have become Ripplers since I started this thing. However it's me that I am most dependent on. It is me that has to listen 24/7 to the negative thoughts that my brain likes to dish out constantly and overcome them. It is me that is alone in that car driving to that important meeting and my heart is pounding because I am scared of being rejected. It is me that has to pick myself up out of bed and take on the challenge of a new day.

If I can't listen to myself being the loudest cheerleader and motivator of my actions then most assuredly I would never listen to anyone else. I have to take point in all aspects of my life - attitude, motivation, drive, desire, friendliness...and of course all things Ripple if I don't want the negativity of life to invade my very soul.

And so do you.....pick up the pom poms and get to work!

Ripple On!!!

P.S. New 8 Minute Ripple Scheduled for July - Sign up at www.ripplecentral.com

Ripple Connection Question Of The Week

Ripple Connection Questions are a unique way to engage people in conversation. Whether with a complete stranger or someone you already know, but want to know better, using Ripple Connection Questions (RCQ) accelerate the dialogue and deepen the connection. The questions are by design, fun to ask and fun to answer, and can take your connection to an entirely new level. Come on, break out of that shell of yours and start Rippling.

So with no further adieu....this week's Ripple Connection Question is:

WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE
WHEN YOU FINALLY GROW UP?

Notice that I use the present tense as the basis for this question as I believe we are constantly evolving and changing. We have an incredible ability to transform ourselves from the here and now to whatever we want to become. It just takes time, purpose and action.

Just because you might find yourself stuck on a particular career path today it doesn't mean you have to be there forever. If what you do today does not inspire you then what does? What is your passion? What is something you could see yourself doing as a job but not really thinking of it as a job while you are doing it. Whatever "it" is, that is likely what you are destined to do and be.

So the question is....when are you going to stop playing around and start taking control? When are you going to start taking steps to do whatever it is you are supposed to be doing?

Maybe it's time you kick start your growing up by figuring out the person you are destined to be. Maybe it starts today by answering this question for yourself and in discovering the answers in others?

Go play with this question this week and I suspect you will learn a whole lot about yourself and the people you most want to be connected with.

Ripple On!!!