Starbucks saved his life

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Michael Gates Gill didn’t learn to savor life until he began serving coffee to others.

He shared his riches-to-rags story in the 2007 book, “How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else.”

The author of the bestseller — soon to be a Tom Hanks movie — spoke Monday at The Economic Club of Grand Rapids to a crowd of about 600 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

The club tapped the New Yorker for its December luncheon, which is traditionally reserved for an inspirational story. The event also included a standing ovation for executive director Lorna Schultz, celebrating her 20th anniversary with the organization.

Gill says he appreciates hard workers such as Schultz after landing an hourly job as a bartista at age 63.

By the time he wandered into the Starbucks that was hiring, his life had hit rock bottom after he was downsized from a six-figure job, divorced and diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Despite a Yale University degree and a 26-year career as an advertising executive, Gill had few practical skills. Everything had been given to him from his education to his career, he said. He even needed help filling out his Starbucks application.

At Starbucks, Gill said he was taken under the wing by his new boss Crystal and later Kester, his training coach.

He credits some of his biggest lessons to Crystal’s tutelage. Crystal grew up in the projects and worked hard for everything she earned.

“She treated me with loving kindness that I had never thought to offer anyone I worked with in my 26 years,” he said.

Crystal could overlook his less-than-stellar skill in making lattes, but she called him in her office when she saw him refusing to let a homeless use the restroom he had just cleaned.

“The last thing that gentleman needed was to be disrespected by you,” she told him. “This is the one place you shouldn’t decide who to respect or not.”

It took a while for his “old habits of arrogance” to die, but Gill says he is happy with transformation. He didn’t realize how much he changed until Kester complimented him on the quality of his work cleaning restrooms and closing the store, and Gill felt pride for the first time.

“I realized for many years I didn’t have a sense that I had value — that I contributed to something,” Gill said.

The book is based on the journal he kept at his daughter’s suggestion.

From Mlive.com - read full story

Related Story - Life Changes, with a latte to go (NY Times)