Howard Behar grew up in North Seattle, attended Roosevelt High School, and struggled to find his way early on in his life. He took some courses at Everett community college but didn’t finish school because he was directing his energy towards his work. At the time he was helping run his brother’s furniture store in Edmonds, WA. He would spend the next couple of decades in the furniture business – eventually becoming president of one of the companies he’d worked for. Then, when he was in his forties, decided to purchase a business. As he was searching and networking with people, he met Howard Schultz, who had recently purchased Starbucks. After getting to know each other, Howard Behar made a proposal to work at Starbucks for free for one week before committing to join. When Howard Behar first joined Starbucks, it was a regional brand with a few locations – as we chat about in the conversation, he played a critical role in not only expansion across the country, but international expansion all over the world. Today, Starbucks has a market cap of over $138 billion, employing more than 349,000 people worldwide, with more than 62,000 stores in over 83 countries.
Tune into this episode to get a full look into Howard’s career journey leading up to Starbucks, what challenges and setbacks he faced at Starbucks, and what his advice is for those of us who strive to excel in our careers and live an exceptional life.