ASM to Be?

I met with my Store Manager and District Manager today and I think it went pretty well! There wasn't any reason for me to be nervous, but I was for some reason. I've never been necessarily nervous around either of them before, just my general shy nature until I get a little more comfortable. Then, like anyone else.. I'm very relaxed, and talkative.

The DM (District Manager) told me that I need to work on my composure some. The only thing that seems to be a real problem is me being nervous around the higher-ups. It's always been a problem for me (the nerves). I don't know why it is, or how to fix it. I'm going to talk to my manager about it because I really don't have any reason to be nervous about anything. Maybe it's just a confidence issue. I'm very confident, but I am also still growing and realizing what I can do. In any case, I need to work on it, so I most certainly will! I want to this position, and working on solving my "nerves" problem (which isn't severe by the way), will of course help me in the long run.

I have another goal to work on in the meantime, or rather side-by-side with the previously mentioned need-for-improvement. This one is not a personal achievement (though it can be viewed in that way as well), but rather a store and partner ("Partner" is what Starbucks employees are called, in case you were wondering) achievement. She is giving me the entire month of April to figure out how to get there. My mission? Our Coffee Passports.

Coffee Passports are small books that every partner has, and it is filled with the different types of coffees we sell. I say we, because I am a part of the company. The Coffee Passport helps us better understand what we do at work, and gives us the ability to teach our customers about our products, and answer any questions they may have about them. When your Passport is full, you are eligible to begin the Coffee Mastery course, where you essentially become an expert at the coffees. There are several of us in the store that are interested in pursuing this and thus comes my project: I am to get everyone more involved in coffee tastings with fellow partners and customers, and to get everyone's passports filled out. I've already begun the process.

I have some notes in the book we utilize daily in our store for people to put their names on a sheet of paper I have designated. "Need to finish Coffee Passport" and "Finished Coffee Passport". This way, I can see who I need to work with the most (though I will be encouraging all partners to participate regardless). We will all have completed Passports soon. I need to make sure I am good about follow-up. Are they putting their names down like I asked? My goal is to have all of their names assigned appropriately by this Sunday. This way, we can begin asap!

Okay, that's way too much for one entry... especially the second entry in this blog! I told you liked to talk!

I have an idea. Every day I do a new coffee tasting, I will post a blog about it. The type of coffee, the pastry or pastries it was paired with, experiences, opinions and flavors.

'Til next time!

Basic Introduction

Well, as the sidebar says, my name is Kirin. "Keer-in", for those of you struggling with the pronunciation on it. Don't worry, most people do, and no it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Let's see... I have a BFA in Graphic Design from Eastern Kentucky University, and I am currently working at Starbucks (I'm sure you have all heard of this company--if you haven't, chances are you have not left your place of occupancy for a very long time and that may very well be why you are reading this now). You're probably wondering why I'm working at Sbux if I have a degree. First off, I would like to say... there is nothing wrong with me working there, or anyone else who works there. There is a lot of training involved with being a barista (bare-istuh or bur-eesta, which is my chosen pronunciation), and you definitely have to be on your game to keep up with everything that goes on. We are very intelligent people (for instance I work with a couple people studying to be doctors). It's really amazing the diversity of people that both and frequent Sbux. Since I do need more money and love art so much, I also dabble in freelance artwork, of both graphic design and illustration. I'm a pretty busy person in general.

My current goal career wise is to become a Manager at Starbucks. I started there in April of 2007, and am currently a Shift Supervisor with ambitions of becoming much more.

A long term goal of mine would be to work in the corporate office, with a considerable amount of knowledge of Starbucks and its functionality so I can better assist them in continuing to grow. What part of corporate? Design and/or possibly marketing. We will see as I go along.

So, that's the gist of things, or at least what I can think of at the moment since I am tired.

There will be more later. Oh, and "Hello!" and thanks for reading. :)