Hello, I was a long-time partner (almost 10 years) for the Siren. I finished school last year and managed to snag a technical role in my field. Naturally, I had to move on from Starbucks.

Like most people on here I have dealt with everything from entitled customers - to difficult co-workers - to being forced to work at other stores (most of them I liked though) - to working after-hours for cleanplay - to people bleeding (amongst other bodily fluids) on the walls of our bathrooms - to receiving death threats from vagrants and having to call local police on an almost daily basis. It was very eye-opening when I realized that that last bit - not everybody experiences. Like working at a high-volume drive-thru store and managing my neurodivergence was not enough of an issue. Despite all of these challenges, I do not think I would trade my time at Starbucks for anything. I know we get plenty of shitty days (sometimes in my case it was literal shit I had to deal with), but my advice is to build that feeling of trust and friendship with your partners. It does not have to be with all of them, but it does help to have friends to go through those shitty days with.

This took me a long time, but at some point I learned how to leave work at work everytime I clocked out. Unless something funny or something absolutely ridiculous happened with a co-worker or a customer, then I go tell my friends about it, so we can all have a laugh.

One last piece of advice, know the standards and your rights as an employee. You have the PartnerHub (if it’s still called that) and the Partner Contact Centre. Even managers will say things that are untrue, occassionally. That may or may not be their fault. Managers are not omniscient or always competent. Lol. Also, use your benefits - tuition reimbursement, stocks, especially the ones you pay for (ie dental and health)!

Bottomline, I feel lucky for my time at Starbucks. Honestly, everytime I look back sure I remember it being extremely draining, but most of the things that stick out are good memories. I have made life-long friends there and learned some skills that still come in handy. Since moving on from Starbucks, I have met a lot of people that VERY clearly have never worked a customer-based job a day in their life, no empathy, no people skills, no teamwork whatsoever. I truly feel sorry for them.

I know my experience is not universal. Maybe I just got lucky with the two different stores I was in. I am also aware other people have it a lot rougher than me, but I just want you guys to not lose hope. If I can go through it, you can too! I wish you guys all the best!

Sincerely,
184****