Starbucks Counseling During Covid 19
“Starbuck’s Counseling” During Covid-19
It might sound funny to you but, business is booming in the Starbucks parking lot! As many of you know, I have a consulting business and I help individuals and corporations to communicate more effectively and reach the next rung of whatever ladder they are trying to climb. Guess where I have been consulting since last March? You guessed it, The Starbucks parking lot (specifically the two between Brentwood and Franklin, TN). Why Starbucks? Well, they were the only place that stayed open during the pandemic where a person could escape the doldrums of the house and have a safe outing. Last March, when everything started closing down, the only place available for normalcy and sanity was Starbucks…specifically, the drive thru window. It was music to my ears to hear those saintly baristas say, “Welcome to Starbucks, what can I get started for you?”. These people came to work every day to serve us, despite their own fears of Covid-19. Ironically enough, I was never a Starbucks customer before Covid-19 and I don’t drink coffee. However, now I think I will always be a loyal customer that collects my stars and gets excited when I’ve accumulated enough for a free hot beverage. My drink of choice, in case you were dying of curiosity, is a grande chai tea latte, extra hot, with no foam. I call it therapy in a cup! Try it… it works! My shoulders drop about four inches after the first sip.
It was a crazy time last spring. I would look all around me and it was like a ghost town. At first, I felt like an extra in a bad movie. I felt like I was Will Smith in I Am Legend. Stores everywhere read either “Closed” or “Going out of business”. People were afraid to meet in person and no one had any idea what was safe or unsafe. Tensions were at an all-time high. Last April, jobs had been lost, people had record-breaking cases of anxiety and depression, and there was no relief in sight. Meanwhile, people needed help and my phone was ringing off the hook!
I began asking clients if they would feel comfortable meeting in the Starbucks parking lot. My way of assuring safety and staying six feet apart was that our cars would pull up, side by side, we would lower the windows and have a coaching session. The answer was always an immediate text back, “YEEEEES, I would love to meet at Starbucks!” A date and time were set and off I went. My Starbucks dates, as they are now called, have started including me travelling with a white board, markers, and Post-It notes! I have found these intimate Starbucks meetings are powerful. There is great change taking place, a metanoia of sorts, that will continue long after a coronavirus vaccine is in place. Starbucks has helped me help others. I have helped people through their fear of public speaking, their first Teams meetings, their first Zoom calls, their job interviews, their divorces, their starts to graduate school, their promotions, their weddings… you name it and I’ve done it. Well, me and a cup of therapy from Starbucks!
Coronavirus scared people into isolation. Yet, they desperately wanted to connect with someone and that someone seemed to be me. Thankfully, we have a lot of precautions in place now and there is a vaccine on the horizon. The businesses that have limped through these past eleven months have figured out new methods of customer service. I predict that many of these behaviors will last long after the Covid is over because we have gotten spoiled by having business owners rush to our car with everything from gardening supplies to groceries and our dog food. Starbucks sessions have become my modus operandi. I think the low-key coaching sessions, coupled with your Starbucks elixir of choice, are just the right combination to create successful outcomes. Thank you, Starbucks!