Deborah

Good morning... What can I get for you?

Well, we're at day 4 of Starbucks Positivity Week... It's gone so quickly... I think today is a good day to talk about another memorable partner...

Deborah worked for me at 2 of my stores... She applied at my store just before the holidays. A mother of 3 and raising them by herself, she immediately appealed to me because of my own experience of having been raised by a single mom. Deborah had a welcoming smile and was always laughing. One of the things I remember most was her laugh... it was one of those.

Now Deborah was one of those people that just fit really well into the "host" roll. She was my "party-planner" partner. Every store needs the "party planner" because they are great at implementing inventive ideas and putting a creative spin on them. New promotions... she nailed them... new products... she could rally everyone to sell them, and buy them. "We're having a musician this Friday Deborah..."... she'd come up with the program, some appetizers and sample beverages.

I'm not sure about some of my manager readers out there, but I always spent time with my partners outside of work... That's what you do with family. Deborah hosted the store for dinners at her house. She made a few of our partners wedding dresses. She made our customers feel like they were coming home every time they bought a coffee.

It would be easy for a manager to take advantage of such a partner. I was always conscious of this and tried to give back when I could. Her older son needed help replacing the brakes on his VW bug... I happily offered to teach him. If he had questions about installing tile in the kitchen... I was happy to help and lend tools.

So, let me share Deborah's first day with you. We were in the midst of a major remodel at the store. Major... My assistant at the time was learning how to schedule and blessed me with opening the store with only Deborah as my co-opener. Now, this was a busy morning store for even 2 people to handle by themselves... and at 2500+ sq/ft, there was quite a bit to do... She scheduled me with Deborah... by myself... during a remodel. We had no overhead lights...

But we opened... Deborah had never even touched a register... so while making drinks on for the customers (on a LaMarzocco) I would answer her questions about... "Where's the Blueberry Muffin button?"... "How do I ring up Sally's drink?"... "What's a Cinnamon Twist?'

Once the line built to a steady 10 people, Deborah looked over to me and smiled... I smiled back and we both magically got through the next 30 minutes with incredible ease. The customers even seemed happy...

She only worked 4 hours that day and when it was time for her to go home... I just said, "You did great, thank you so much for helping out this morning." It would be easy to think about how crappy and stressful that situation was... but it really wasn't... cuz we were smiling.

We'll see you tomorrow for your usual...

Pat Nerr...