After working as a Starbucks barista for the past year, I've been looking for other opportunities. The main reason of course is to get away from Starbucks. I don't want to badmouth the company. I was still in high school when hired. I had been wanting to be a barista for at least 2 years before actually getting the job. People think i'm kidding when I tell them how much I love the coffee industry. I first decided I wanted to be a barista when I was 11th grade. I was fascinated by the big shiny machines inside of coffee shops. The smell, the scenery, and best of all the drinks! I was also attracted to the 'hipness' of coffee shop employees. I wanted to be one of them. It might sound silly now, but I was 17. Plus it seemed more appealing than the Mcdonald/Taco Bell jobs that the majority of students my age seemed to have. I was young with no job experience, and I really wanted to work in a coffee shop. I researched everything I possibly could about the barista profession in hopes of getting hired one day. Well it literally took 2 years. I think during my junior and senior year of high school, I must have applied to at least 9 different coffee shops (ranging from indie shops, Starbucks, mall shops, etc.). I interviewed with only 1 of those 9, and still didn't get hired. I was so frustrated and didn't know what I was doing wrong. Finally, mid-senior year I was hired at a new Starbucks that was opening in my town. I was so thrilled! I finally got what I wanted. I was also thrilled about the $7.00 an hour pay! Hey, that was good money for a high school student.

Well to make a long story short, I loved it for the first couple of months. My manager was great, the employees became some of my best friends, learned alot about coffee, met so many different people, and had fun. Well, eventually things started changing. The old manager left, and we got a new manager. Starbucks handed out new rules and standards. Some were great steps, and others made me feel embarrassed to work there. Starbucks is a cookie-cutter coffee shop. As much as they don't want to admit it. Of course it is a corporate green machine, but it wasn't always that obvious. Now it is just not the same. It's about SELL SELL SELL. Not quality espresso. Try asking your co-workers what latte art is, and you'll get a clueless look. Ask your manager about latte art and get "That's silly. That's a waste. People that do that have too much time on their hands." You'll get the same response mentioning microfoam, semi-automatic machines, tamping, USBC, etc. Those are all the things that I wanted to learn, only to find out Starbucks has nothing to do with it. I just feel so cheesy working there. I mean, don't get me wrong. It is a great company. I loved the benefits. I even have stock in this company. If only they payed a little more, then maybe I would bare it out until I finish college. However, I'm not in high school anymore. I have bills to pay and things to take care of now. It's time to step it up. Reason number two, I want to relocate. I want to move out, and just try something different. I think it's time for me to move on.



I had an interview for the Ebar (the coffee shop inside of Nordstrom) this week. So the interview went well. I knew it would, because I was confident. Today I got a call for a second interview. If hired, I'm more than positive that they pay more than Starbucks. Plus a discount at Nordstrom would be nice! It's in the Houston Galleria which is a very nice area. I think I might enjoy it. They are very high-end, so I suspect that their espresso beverages should be as well.