For the love of coffee.

Twenty two years ago, on April 8, 1986, at 6:30 AM, in Seattle, Washington, a woman quietly waited outside the front door of a brand new coffee shop. I see her walking in, requesting a cup of coffee, and walking back outside the door, hardly noticing the nervous entrepreneur watching her and his employees with care. It was the opening day of Il Giornale, a coffee bar with a true espresso machine, inspired by real experiences had by that entrepreneur in Italy. Some 2,200 miles away, my mother was massively pregnant, my due date in just ten days (I was to hold out an extra seven days).

The entrepreneur's name is Howard Schultz, now famous not for Il Giornale, but for Starbucks - the colossal coffee company which has now expanded to many different corners of the world. Little more than a year after Il Giornale quietly stepped into the business of serving coffee, Schultz was able to purchase Starbucks Coffee Company - his former employer and the original inspiration for his love affair with coffee - and combined the missions of each company to create the experience millions of customers now enjoy daily both at home and in stores. Starbucks, originally a company focused completely on whole bean sales, brought a passion for coffee and an unwavering desire for the highest quality available; Il Giornale brought an appreciation for the social connection formed over coffee and the atmosphere and products of an espresso bar. Both companies heralded the strong, ethical values for which Starbucks is widely known today.

Fast forward to December 4, 2006. Starbucks is a wildly successful international corporation with millions of customers and thousands of happily employed partners (I am the newest of those). I am standing by the coffee grinder in my first store, Highland Park Village, tasting Sumatra (an earthy, spicy Indonesian offering which has become one of Starbucks' most popular coffees). An ardent drinker of caramel macchiatos, I had never tasted regular brewed coffee before, let alone an extra bold, dark roast coffee like Sumatra. I was instantly hooked. The biggest thing I remember from that tasting is instantly knowing the spices hidden within the coffee as well as I know the backs of my hands. I could see why people loved this beverage; I could see even more clearly that it, like beer, was an acquired taste. The "mud" qualities of the coffee were not lost on me.

Back to today. I woke up at half past 5, stumbled out of bed, pulled on pants of some sort, and made my way to the Brookline Village Starbucks. I walked in, made my own French press with my favorite coffee (Guatemala Antigua), and sat quietly in my favorite chair as I drank the entire press (black, cream and sugar dilute the beautiful natural flavors) by myself. I reflected on the things I have learned about myself, business, and life (and, of course, coffee) since that day three weeks before Christmas 2006. Starbucks has changed me, for the better, I think, and as I sip this coffee, I visualize the farms in Guatemala where it was grown. I want to see, experience, take everything in. Coffee feels natural for me. This coffee in particular. Starbucks feels natural. Even waking up between 5 and 5:30 every day has begun to feel natural for me (and I always was such a night owl). I have my own insurance - health, dental, vision, and life - and stock given to me by the company. I am a trained master of coffee, and people I know in my daily life outside Starbucks routinely use me as a reference for any and all questions they have both about coffee and about my beloved employer. I feel comfortable answering these questions. I feel even more comfortable with my place in the world, and then, ever more comfortable with my place in this company. That, however, does not prevent me from aspiring to more.

This is what I was meant to do. I have rarely felt such passion about anything. I almost feel like that nervous entrepreneur, except that this is not the success and path of a business venture I am trying to gauge. It is the future of my own life. I can only hope that my foray into the world will be just as enjoyable and successful (not just in terms of money... Starbucks is successful in many ways) as that of this company, which I hope will help me along as I learn and grow.

37 years ago, in 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company opened the doors of its Pike Place store (the new roast's namesake) and began educating normal consumers about the joys of the best coffee in the world. 22 years ago, Howard Schultz stood at the helm of Il Giornale, hoping desperately that he could recreate an experience he had found thousands of miles away for the Seattlites he had come to love while prospering as a marketing expert at Starbucks. On August 18, 1987, those dreams merged, and American business will never be the same.

I will never be the same.