In this insightful episode, we dive deep into the life of Howard Behar, the former president of Starbucks Coffee. As one of the founding leaders, he participated in expanding Starbucks from just 28 stores after joining in 1989 to over 15,000 stores in 5 continents after his 21 years of service ended. Since retiring, he has written 2 books It's Not About The Coffee: Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks and The Magic Cup: A Business Parable About a Leader, a Team, and the Power of Putting People and Values First. Howard is an experienced business leader, author and speaker who actively shares his wisdom with developing future leaders through his many speaking opportunities but also as a board member with many profit and non-profit companies. In this podcast, we explore Howard’s journey to leadership, challenges faced and personal philosophies that have shaped his career and life. Howard shares some powerful stories from early in his career, including a life-altering conversation with a leader of a company which led him to a path of self-discovery and the defining of his core values. As part of Howard’s journey, he also openly shares the challenges of battling depression and anxiety which were very present as he transitioned into retirement and searched for more purpose. This episode offers a profound look at how personal values and authenticity can drive a successful leader and Howard’s unique approach to leadership, his deep-rooted belief in prioritizing people over profits, and his commitment to authenticity. Don’t miss this inspiring conversation which is filled with unique insights and life lessons for us all. You can learn more about Howard, his books and his speaking engagement on his website, http://www.howardbehar.com/. You can listen this podcast here or watch it on YouTube.
In this insightful episode, we dive deep into the life of Howard Behar, the former president of Starbucks Coffee. As one of the founding leaders, he participated in expanding Starbucks from just 28 stores after joining in 1989 to over 15,000 stores in 5 continents after his 21 years of service ended. Since retiring, he has written 2 books It's Not About The Coffee: Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks and The Magic Cup: A Business Parable About a Leader, a Team, and the Power of Putting People and Values First. Howard is an experienced business leader, author and speaker who actively shares his wisdom with developing future leaders through his many speaking opportunities but also as a board member with many profit and non-profit companies. In this podcast, we explore Howard’s journey to leadership, challenges faced and personal philosophies that have shaped his career and life. Howard shares some powerful stories from early in his career, including a life-altering conversation with a leader of a company which led him to a path of self-discovery and the defining of his core values. As part of Howard’s journey, he also openly shares the challenges of battling depression and anxiety which were very present as he transitioned into retirement and searched for more purpose. This episode offers a profound look at how personal values and authenticity can drive a successful leader and Howard’s unique approach to leadership, his deep-rooted belief in prioritizing people over profits, and his commitment to authenticity. Don’t miss this inspiring conversation which is filled with unique insights and life lessons for us all. You can learn more about Howard, his books and his speaking engagement on his website, http://www.howardbehar.com/. You can listen this podcast here or watch it on YouTube.
Well, hello with gratitude Matt listeners, my name is Matt Moran and I'm the host for the With Gratitude Matt Show. Our goal with the show is to inspire our listening audience to practice gratitude regardless of how powerful their storm is. We've learned that the practice of gratitude works much like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes. I'm so delighted to have today's guest on the show. Today's guest is Howard Behar Howard is the proud husband to his wife when they have two children and five grandchildren. You may recognize Howard's name as being the former president of Starbucks Coffee Company International. He joined Starbucks in 1989 as VP of Sales and Operations. As he grew the store from 28 stores to 400 by the time he was named president in 1995. He authored the book It's Not About Coffee. Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks. The Brains Behind Starbucks moving into the UK and Asia were directly from Howard. Since 2007, he has been inspired to spend most of his time in the philanthropic fields dealing with certain nonprofits that he is close to, one of which is Anna's linens. Howard, it's such an honor to have you on today's show. Thank you very much, Matt. Appreciate being here. Absolutely. And I thought, you know, an appropriate place to start. Howard, if we could. It was, you know, we got to show around gratitude. And I'd love to hear from your perspective when you hear that term. What did it mean to you, perhaps during your time as a leader at the Starbucks Corporation, as well as what does it mean to you today? Well, at the time that I was there, the crowd of gratitude meant to me how lucky I was to have been part of a team like Starbucks and to participate in the growth of an organization like Starbucks. But most of all, about how we are able to live up to our values in the organization and serving others. And that's been our primary primary values. Figure out ways we could serve others better. So gratitude you you know, it took me a long time to understand gratitude. And I thought, well, you know, gratitude is just something people talk about, you know, but really don't practice. But, you know, the way I've learned to practice it primarily is by serving others, is by helping others achieve the things they want out of their lives. And being a person that gives back before it gets and serves before it's or that's beautiful. I mentioned you joined Starbucks in 1989, right? Could could you have ever imagined Starbucks would be what it is today back in 1989? Not a chance. No. I thought I was escaping corporate life and I had no idea I would ever become what it's become as it's become a lot more. Not only big, you know, big is I think the idea for Starbucks was to get big, but stay small. You know? And that meant that we had to stay in touch with our values. But not not in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would become what it's become. I mean, you know, the team that's been there in the last since I have been retired, which is a long time now. I mean, they have taken it into 84 countries around the world now. When I was there, I think it was a we had about 50 countries or something like that. But amazing. There's an amazing story in what does it mean to you to have been a leader during that remarkable growth that Starbucks has seen? Well, you know, I think back of the days every day I had anxiety, you know, that what we would do, we do the right thing. What we make sure that we lived up to our promises. And and so, you know, I mean, it was just you couldn't have predicted it. And I, I was appreciative every day. It wasn't easy. It was a fast track. And, you know, I was traveling 70% of the time, so I was chronically tired. But but I loved it. And I love what we're about. And most of all, I love the people. When you say you traveled 70% of the time, how much of that was to the actual locations, the stores themselves? Oh, pretty much all of it. You know, either countries that we were getting ready to open in or looking to open in or traveling to other locations. I was in the stores all the time. You have to be you know, you need to touched on just the people, some of the leadership that's, you know, leading today and the culture that Starbucks has kind of ingrained itself in. I had the fortune opportunity of hearing about a story, and I'd love maybe if you could share a little bit more detail around the color around it, around this store manager Jim Wright, who was just recently diagnosed with AIDS and how your team handled that situation. I think it'd be very interesting to hear, you know, because this is a time this happened in a period where AIDS was like early, early on, I believe. Yeah, not a lot of people knew a lot about it. So if you could share a little detail about Jim and that story, I think it would be very interesting. Well, Jim was a store manager in Seattle in one of the neighborhoods in Seattle, and I was just early into Starbucks, maybe three months. And I got a call from Jim and he wanted to come see me. And Howard Schultz, who is the CEO and chairman. And so I was trying to be the great executive and say, oh, Jim, isn't there something can I take care of it for you? Not trying to bother Howard, but he he said, no, I need to see both. And so I arranged a meeting and he showed up at the appropriate time and we went back to our Shultz's office and we sat we're sitting in a little love seat together and Howard was on the floor and he said, Just a minute. And he was talking and he got off the bar and he and Jim had known each other because Jim had been both our Jim had been there the year before I was. And so they knew each other, you know, a lot better than I did that I knew Jim. So Howard, finally said, Well, Jim, what's going on in your life? And Jim, just look at Howard. And he said, Well, I need to tell you something. I have AIDS and I'm going to die. I don't know how it went, but probably in a shorter term rather than the longer term. Well, the tear came down our face and he says, What do you mean? And he said, Well, you know, there's no right now with what we know, there is no recovery from this. So Howard said, now, remember Howard Young CEO, companies losing money and Howard just looked down. And what can we do for you to support you? And Jim said, Well, I'd like to work as long as I could work. You know, because I need the money. And Howard said, Absolutely. Now, remember, we didn't know what what age was was something that, you know, it was catchy or, you know, not and Howard just looked and said, you can work as long as you want to work. And when you can't work anymore, we will support you. We will give you your full salary. So then our Howard looked to and he said, How are you going to deal with your health care when you can't work? And and Jim said, Well, there's some hospice organizations going on that I think nonprofits could probably help out. And Howard said, Absolutely not. We will keep you on our health insurance until the day that you pass away, even if you can't work Now. I mean, you know that lesson where I'm three months, there are not you know, I thought I knew Howard, but but I mean, here was a guy that just step right up and said, we will do what it takes to help you. What kind of message do you think that sent to me so that I could do anything I needed to do to help other people? And that's all because of Howard Schultz. It was kind of personal. He was in is, you know, is he? I call him a mensch. You know, he's just one of those people that were just if you're in trouble, you need something. He'll be there to help you. And that's the way he was. Well, he surrounded Howard Schultz, surrounded himself with certainly some great leaders. And. And you were just one of them. And, you know, I think it's it's interesting to hear you talk about the lesson that you learned personally from that story from Jim and just a true testament to the culture that Howard as has kind of let it at Starbucks. The book, what motivated you to write the book? It's not about the coffee leadership principles from a life at Starbucks. Well, I there are two women that I had worked with. One was a consultant that had work with us. Another one was the head of international marketing. And they kept telling me that I should write a book. I had quotes on my office wall. I had prior 200 quotes on my office wall, and I was always using this quote, You know, you're talking to a guy that barely got out of high school. You know, the way I learn, I learned from reading books and from and from other people and mentors along the way. And all these quotes came along. And so they said, you ought to write a book using all these quotes. And and I said, you know, I barely got out of high school. My English teacher would never thought my name would have been on a book unless I'd written it there myself, you know, and that's a cover. But they pestered me so much. I said, If you're so interested in a book, why don't you write it yourself? So they said, okay, we'll help you. And so we started on this journey of writing a book, and then one got pregnant and couldn't take it on anymore, and the other one had a big consulting room and couldn't help it. But by that time I was kind of on site and Hey, Howard, we are. But, you know, suddenly my grandchildren knew that my mother would be proud, you know, And I so I found somebody to help me write the book. And I kept this smile that I'd had for like 30 years, then fire with fire. But I almost put that in there that were just notes and bits of paper and quotes and articles and all sorts of things that interested me. And so we took that file and we spread it out a lot more by different subjects, and those became our chapters. And so it was two other people that encouraged me to do it and help me out. And then another person named Janet Goldstein, who actually really Drew, drove the book and she became my agent. And it was one of those things you never think you're going to do, and you know, it's basically my story and leadership. And the subtitle is, you know, from a life that Starbucks, say, from a job or career or because it was a life at Starbucks. And I still think of it that way. You know, I mentioned earlier, you know, you're married to Lynn and you traveled quite a bit. Must have been difficult on her at times, given the travel that you did. And I know she supported you along the way. And I'd love to hear what that support meant to you. Well, we had you know, Lynn and I, we lived a life of it with intention, where used to once a year we get together and we individually present our own personal goals to each other, and then you can ask clarifying questions. And so she knew where I wanted to go. And I knew where she wanted to go. Fortunately enough, after the time I was really traveling, most, she was getting her Ph.D. in social work at the University of Washington, so she was kind of happy that I was gone and my children were at the time were both in it. One was in high school, one was in college. And so, you know, it was easier for me. It's not easy for young families, but it was easier for me. But when has always been supportive. But, you know, I mean, she she you know, they were tight. I'd come home when I was exhausted. You know, the first thing I want to do is a strange job. And I said, give me the mail. Honest to God, before I want to even have a conversation. So give me the mail. I don't know what it was about opening the mail that settled me down, but it did. It was great. It was crazy, you know? And but anyway, she has been terrific through the whole journey and not only supportive but involved, you know? And it's one thing to be supportive. It's another thing to be involved. You mentioned she was studying, you know, getting a dreary in social work. What did she ultimately do with that degree? Well, she was an oncology social worker, so she worked with people that had cancer in the families that were those people and people of dying of cancer. And so she she was she got her pay, she got her master's and then got her Ph.D. and she wrote and with two other oncology social workers, the leading textbook or handbook on oncology social work. And so she is one of the tops in her field. And she you know, she did a job that I could never do. She would come home at night and tell me about her day. And, you know, usually is right before we were going to sleep, you know, I'd be wide awake as she was. She would tell me about her day and all the people that were suffering and she'd be sound asleep. You know, she could he had the ability to deal with it, to be attached but and involved, but not to personalize it, so to speak. Once in a while she would really personalize it. But, you know, she was helping people that were dying. I have a lot of respect for anybody that has done anything in the oncology field, because I think I mentioned to our I am on my own, you know, cancer journey right now and doing really well. We just came out of a a week's worth of radiation this last week and things went really well. And, you know, there's a lot of remarkable people behind that, sometimes behind the scenes, not the the doctors themselves that are there to support individuals like myself. So please let Len know. I really appreciate all of the work that she's done in that field. Yeah, absolutely. So you know how hard I know. You know, I saw recently a little video of you. You know, depression is something that is real. It's affected so many. And I know it's impacted you. Could you just speak a little bit about how you dealt with that and you know how you deal with it today, day in and day out. And I'd love to hear your perspective on that. So I've kind of suffered from little bouts of depression pretty much my whole life. Many times it was in a form of high level anxiety, you know, And I, I but when I retired from Starbucks, you know, I, I kind of lost my soul. And yet I was a guy that had all the tools at my disposal. I knew the things to do, but I forgot. And here I was living Starbucks and my life had completely changed and trying to figure out who I was. And I went in a serious depression. Over a period of about two years, I was in pretty heavy counseling over those two years and and also some medication which I'm still on. And it stayed with me to the point that I thought my life wasn't worth living. I was laying one day just thinking my life and I just didn't know who I was anymore. I used to tell people that you're not Starbucks and Starbucks is not you, but I fell into the trap and that I was Starbucks and my life was all about Starbucks. Well, it wasn't. It was important to me. But I wasn't Starbucks and Starbucks wasn't me. So I was laying on a sofa one day and all of a sudden those words came out of my head. Howard, your life's work is still your life's work. And I repeated, The word work is still your life's work. And amazingly enough, I kept repeating that myself. I was a believer in affirmations. And I said, Yeah, that's true. Yeah. And I just had to start figuring out how I was going to make my life fit and the things that matter to me that were going to be at Starbucks. And I probably wasn't going to be in a job anymore, so how was I going to live my life? And so I began to work on that and figuring out how I was going to do it and how I and I realized what I really loved about life was serving others. That was and that's what I'd been kind of all throughout my life. And so I just began focusing on that outside of the job. And lo and behold, I kind of found my life back again. The Depression didn't just all of a sudden just magically disappear. It did. It kind of that and ups and downs. You know, I'm always amazed that I have no need to basically outside of spiritual emotionally, that I need those things I don't have. I put on a table and wrap over my head, clothes on my back, wonderful family, great friends. But I still get a gray day. I could wake up, it could be bright sun outside and I wake up in a damp day is gray and I don't know why. And I and I have to work through it now. Over time, I've learned to work through it better and faster. And I've just been I kind of had a down there a couple about a year and a half, two years ago. And I you know, I have a counselor that I work with for a long time, and I always go back to her when I need it, you know, And so I went back to her and I work through it, and I've had a real long string of really feeling good about myself. Were the were that that demon doesn't come into my head anymore. I love the affirmation component of what you said. It is beautiful. Your life's work is still your life's work. And it's remarkable that you've been so open in public about a topic that so many deal with. I have a friend of mine right now that, well, he just let's just say that he recently shared with me that he's been dealing with it since high school. And I know this individual. I thought I knew him pretty well, but clearly I didn't, because this is a new this is new to not only him. Well, it's not new to him because I think he's nobody's dealt with it. It's new to me because he's come public with it. You know, I'm now I've made a commitment now to talk to him on a weekly basis. Prior to this, we would talk maybe once every six months or so, maybe. But I've made a commitment to start talking to him every week. And I don't I don't know from your perspective if that's something that's helpful or absolutely. And unfortunately, I had I had a counselor right in my own home. And also I share everything with Lynn. And, you know, she gives me encouragement and listens mostly, you know, and and but yeah, friends make a huge difference. Absolutely. Just to know that your love when your friends can't fix you depression, you know that they can't but they can love you and and put their arms around you and hug you Yeah absolutely absolutely. You know, one thing I did not realize when I was just doing a little bit of preparation for the show today, Howard, is you ultimately retired from Starbucks in 1999. But yeah, two years later you came back and I'd love to hear a little bit about one. What motivated you or what inspired you to retire in 99, but more importantly, what caused you to come back in year 2001, just two short years later? Well, when I was at home having a cup of coffee with Lynn in the kitchen and I got a call from Warren Smith, who was the CEO at the time, and he said, Howard, can you come back and help? For a few months they had lost their president of North America. He had resigned abruptly and I just said, sure, you know, I still know somewhat. I was on the board. So I knew quite a bit about Starbucks, Don, still still involved around the periphery. But I said, sure. And my wife, when I hung out with him, I said, what did you used to agree to? And I said, Well, I've just gone back for a couple months. Yeah. She said, Sure, yeah, it'll be a couple months. But so then and I've been about over over two years. And I went back and then I retired again, but I just came back to help out and it was, it was a journey. I, I got back in there and I realized how fast the business had grown past me. And and the company was struggling a little bit with some things, and I had to figure out what to do. And I got frustrated because I, I thought that I just didn't have the skills. And I remember Howard Schultz came in my office and I was kind of in tears and I threw my glasses across the room. I said, you know, I don't know if I can do this. And he just listened to me. And then I went home that night and I was telling my date to Lana and she said, Howard, just do what you know how to do. Stop worrying about it and just do it. You know how to do. So. The next day I went to the office and I got my team together and I said, I'm not. I feel like something's wrong here and I don't know what to do to fix it. And so I started having more conversations. And what I finally came to the conclusion is, is that the organization had turned from a reorganization into a me organization under the prior leader. And and I had to figure out how to turn it back to a reorganization, because that's what makes organizations work. If it's always about the individual, then not It's never about the team. And I figured out that the team had to come together and work together. So I set some goals I just threw out and drew out of thin air a big goal. But what Jim Collins calls a big, hairy, audacious goal, and I pull it out of thin air. And people were mad at me because I thought that I was pitting up against each other. Bronson was working in the company and he said, You're pitting us against each other. I said, No, I'm not. I'm just trying to get you to act as a team in each of you as to contribute something to that team effort. And so I asked everybody to come back at for a meeting about three weeks later to tell me what portion of this goal you're going to contribute and that certain groups were obviously going to contribute more like the operations, the merchandizing group. But H.R. had to contribute legal and supply chain. It had to contribute something. And they all figured it, figured it out. And yeah, and believe it or not, the I retired again by the time they went. Raymond passed that goal. Yeah. You know, it was amazing to watch what people can accomplish when they do it together. You know, as a leader, oftentimes you have to make difficult decisions and deal with difficult situations. What was the most difficult situation that you had to deal with at Starbucks? It was always about people. It was always want somebody wasn't getting the job done. And no matter how much we worked with them, they just couldn't get there and having to let somebody go. It was always I mean, I didn't sleep the night before. I don't care who it was, you know, it it it just was always troublesome for me. Yeah, I always believe it. You got to love the people going out the door as much as you loved them coming in the door. So nobody was ever surprised when, you know, when I came to him and said, This isn't working out because we always had many conversations beforehand and I always put out my hand to help. I said, How can I help you get get the job done? Some people just couldn't. And you had to make those decisions because if you did, it hurt the rest of the team. And so you knew Oswald most like Barr Yeah, I work in the financial services industry today and I've worked for some companies that I feel like have, you know, longer leashes than others. What would you say Starbucks methodology was in terms of tolerating underperformance? Do they have long leash or is it a shorter leash now? A long leash law, very long wish it was difficult to get fired over. Missing your numbers, easy to get fired if you mess with the people. Yeah, because that's what drove that sense. So. Yeah. Yeah. No, a very long way in would when you say the people we deal with, the people you're you're not only talking internally you're also talking to clients as well. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. The customer. Yeah. I mean first you focus on your own people first and those people focus on those human beings. We call customers, but you can't say, Hey, take care of the customer if you're not taking care of your people. That's exactly right. Doesn't work. It doesn't work like that. It's. It's you take care of people. They then they they take care of your customers. They want that because they feel like they count and their operation and that they're treated with respect and dignity. I have to share just one little. So I think I mentioned I live in Buffalo, New York, and I'm a long time Starbucks advocate. However, in Buffalo, you may or may not know this for whatever reason, Starbucks, the per capita number stores here locally is really low relative to other places. In part, I think it's just because you've got Tim Hortons and you've got another one called Spot Coffee. Local companies. So I'm not able to enjoy my Starbucks as much as I did when I was say, in Chicago or, you know, Cincinnati and other places. So just sharing with you just a little personal pet peeve of mine that, well, I get help and I get more stores. Yeah, absolutely. As we wrap things up, Howard, I ask all of my guest a very similar question, and I'm going to ask you the same question. It's, you know, everybody's been dealt with certain adversity in life and you touched on just one of yours and that's just dealing with depression. But is there some situation that took place in your life, hurdle, obstacle, struggle, whatever you might think of? But as you look back on that particular situation, can you look back on that situation and say, wow, look at how much I grew as it relates to that particular hurdle? And today almost look at that hurdle and say, Wow, I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to go through that. And if something comes to mind that fits that mold, I'd love to hear more about it. Yeah, When I was about 27 years old, I was working for a company called Grand Tree Furniture Rental, and I was like mid-level manager and I got promoted to vice president. I never thought in my wildest dreams that a guy without a college degree would ever become vice president of a public company, which we were. And so one day I'm standing by the elevator and the chairman of the board again, and Walker Trace comes up to me, puts out a song and says, Our I know I'm not the first congratulate you, but I just want to congratulate you on your promotion and they said that very little word, but there's something I'd like to talk. And they said and I said, Yes. Walker, what is it now? Says, you know, it was like God was talking to, you know, in the seventies, you know, if your CEO challenge came up and he said, well, one of the things I've noticed about you, Howard, is that you always wear your heart on your sleep. And if you want to be a great executive, you're going to have to learn to hold your emotions and stuff a little closer to your best so people don't always know what you're feeling. So the other thing I noticed about you is that you're always willing to express your opinion. You know that, you know, sometimes it's better for a great executive just to say something like, Well, let me think about it for a couple of days and I'll get back there and they see us talking. I'm thinking to myself, Why did they promote me? They knew who I was. They knew I was. And I'm kind of an out there person. I'm still that way and it still gets me in trouble sometimes. But but and so I went home that night and I said, I'm with my wife. I said, Honey, what am I going to do? And then, you know, I don't know what to do. And I'd remembered something my mother had said. How hard before you go to say anything or do anything, sit on your hands, you know, In other words, she knew I was I was emotional kid, you know? So sit on your hands and think about what you're doing. And so I started going to meetings and I'd put my hands underneath my butt so that I would be involved in the meeting, not involved. Remember to not be emotional that I started the paperclip. I had two meetings and banning the paperclip until it broke and then getting another one. Little nervous now, but to try to manage myself and I thought, Well, that's expensive. So I had a legal pad and I started to rip off the corners of the legal pad, make little balls, throw them on the floor. And after a while people think you're nuts. So went from a guy within about six months that loved his job to a guy that he ended his job. I did not I did not want to go to meetings. I didn't want to do anything because I was sure I was not going to live up to Walker's, you know, advice. So I went home another night and I said, Honey, I'm going to resign now. We had a baby on the way. No money in the bank. We just bought a new car with payments in the car. And lo and behold, she said, do what you need to do. We'll figure it out. So I wrote a letter of resignation that night. And the next morning was the first time I'd been early in a long time and a guy named I walked through the front door and a guy named Jerry Alto, who was one of my vice president, said, Hey, how are you? I'm pregnant. I said, Yeah, Gerry, I do do know I was going to resign, but I was going to resign. I had time for everything. And so so I had that cup of coffee and Jerry said, What the hell is wrong with you? And I laid out the story of the conversation with Walker. Jerry just started to laugh at me and he said, Hey, Walker didn't mean that very. You weren't there. I was imminent. So. So we're going to go talk to Walker. And I said, No, you go talk to Walker. And so Buddy grabbed me by the proverbial air and we went to talk to Walker. And then Walker and I made peace. But the truth of the matter is, Walker came out a different era of leadership. And that's what we those are the things we believe. The problem wasn't I it wasn't like Walker was acting me a change of color in my slack use asking to change who I was. And the problem was I didn't have I didn't really know who it was. I never thought about who I was. I was just Howard in Howard. And finally, you know, somebody gave me a book after this incident about learning about yourself, creating a life with intention. And in the first chapter book, it said, we need to you need to write out your values, right? What are your top ten, 8 to 10 core values? And here's a list of 300 words that represent core values. So I went through that exercise, Jack me a long time. I got my eight in four about that. I said, write out a mission statement, a personal mission statement, because I never heard the word mission statement as the company didn't have mission statement, said budget, you know, yeah, that earliest the companies I knew of. And so I developed a mission statement and that it said write a paragraph or some sounds or some words of how you want to live your life. I did that. So I created a picture of Howard and 50 words or less. And that journey, although it was painful and for my life, because that's how I live my life from then on. And it absolutely changed my life. From then on, I start to set I set goals. I led my life according to my values by what I call my stick vision and according to my mission statement. And that that saved me and that that helped me through. It has helped me throughout the rest of my life. So from that, I and, you know, some great, great. That's awesome. That's awesome. It's kind of helped you become who you are today. Yeah. You're not not changing who you are. Sounds like this individual one wanted to change who you were. You were. You were strong enough to say, I'm not going to change. So I give you a lot of credit for that. Well, the problem was I didn't know who I was and I had to I had to be conscious about it in order to not change. You know, Howard, it's such an honor to have you on today's show. I'm so grateful that to get to know you better, I know our listening audience is going to love learning a little bit more about your story, some of the leadership principles that you led by. You know, we all face hurdles in life, challenges in life. And I think the greatest leaders are ones that can find a resolution to those hurdles and challenges that that we're faced with. And, you know, as I face the hurdles and challenges that I'm dealt with each and every day, I think about three things each and every day, the first of which is find the courage to be grateful regardless of how powerful your storm is. Secondly, I really think it's important to truly be present to those you're with, because if you're not present to those you're with, you'd be surprised at what you're missing, the opportunities that you have right in front of you to feel loved, to be loved right in front of you. And lastly, pay attention to how you're feeding your mind, your body and your soul. Today's guest is former president of Starbucks Coffee. Howard Behar. Howard, such an honor to have you on today's show. If today's show inspired you in some way, shape or form, comment on the show, subscribe to it and share it with others. Until next time with gratitude. Matt Listeners, find the courage to be grateful. Godspeed, my friends.