It all started in August 6, 2001. I lived in Cainta all my life and had no idea how to get to Makati except for a shuttle in Karangalan that would take me there and God knows what. I had to ask for help from Maricel (ate's bff) for directions on how to get to Starbucks in Greenbelt 1. I got the directions I needed but I still got lost. Believe it or not, I followed the aroma of coffee and bingo!...I found my very first store!
It was a few minutes before 9am. I wasn't late...thank God! I was greeted by Allan Guinto, then ASM. He was very welcoming and friendly that I realized it would be easy to work with him. He led me to the backroom where I saw a girl sitting down while on break. She was Nikka. My so-called twin sister because they said we looked so much alike. But I really didn't see it.
I remember spending my birthday there and I was given the chance to choose which area to close. I chose pastry. After that, it became my most hated area to close...even 9 years later. I remember working with Jofe, my store manager then, and she was on till while I was the bar person. It was a busy Sunday afternoon. I didn't know I could move that fast even if I was just a 2-3 month old barista. Beat that!
Allan got promoted and he took over Greenbelt 1 and Jofe opened The Fort...I think. Working with Allan was a great experience! He taught me how to be patient and how to take care of each other.
A lot of people have come and gone. It started with Jurson who was replaced by Monde. There was Blair and Ian, the soul sisters. There was Jay...who just had this huuuge smile pasted on his face everytime a pretty girl enters the store. There was my batchmate Abby who got pregnant. There was Jessica, the chinese girl who was just so intimidating. And who can forget Mean? The real charmer of Greenbelt 1. There was one time when she lost her watch when she got held up, I think. She told the story to a Japanese guy who went back a little while later with a brand new Swatch watch for her. Then came Joanne, Marianne, Leah, Lorie, Joyce, Isa, and Carla. And the whole store just went crazy. Every shift was something to look forward to. There was a healthy competition between everyone. Standards were in place and everybody was doing their job and having fun at the same time.
And, of course, how can I forget the people who trained me during my first few months? There was Joy, Dante, Emma, Tenie, Sol, and Grace.
After 2 years, I realized I can start moving on. I might get bored so I challenged myself to do better. I looked for other jobs. Call centers were a big thing during that time. Etelecare, Sykes, and People Support were the most popular ones in 2003. I went to interviews and almost got accepted at Sykes. They asked me when I could be available and I told them I need a one month notice before I could go. That exact same time, I got the offer to be promoted. I didn't weigh my options. I didn't choose. I just told myself to accept whichever would come first. I got promoted to Shift Supervisor in November 2003. Sykes called one week later to ask if I was still available.
I guessed that that was God's way of telling me to stay. He was telling me that there is something for me here. So I stayed and never looked for any other jobs.
I stayed in Greenbelt 1 for over 3 years. I felt that I was starting to be store blind so I asked for a transfer. I asked to be transferred to a totally different store. I got transferred to Greenbelt 3 in November of 2004. It was very timely because I needed a diversion as I just got out of a bad break-up then. Blech!
I didn't stay long in Greenbelt 3 under Macy. After a month, I opened Glorietta 2 with Tina. It was an experience to open a new store! I also got new friends when I was there. There was JP, Khelai, Leo, and Marc.
After a few months, hard times were being experienced in the country. Taxi fares went from Php 20 flag down rate to Php 30. My cab fare going home went from Php 80 to Php 125. I had to do something. It would be really impractical to be living in Cainta and working in Makati. It was also very timely that I heard of a new store that will open in Marikina. I grabbed that chance right away and made the request. After a few days, I was informed that I would be transferred to Medical City instead. So I prepared myself for Medical City. After a few weeks, Greenbelt's ASM Joy informed me that they were still in need for a shift supervisor in Marquinton. I was like WOW! It all happened soooooo fast! I got a call from Chan and told me I will be starting in Marquinton the following week. I was ecstatic!
But then again, it would mean leaving a new set of friends in Glorietta 2. It was really hard for me to leave because we were all starting to become so close despite of the occasional haunting of the friendly ghosts there.
Then there's Marquinton. I loved Marquinton almost as much as I loved Greenbelt 1. A lot of good memories happened there. A new set of friends were developed. I also got promoted there to Assistant Store Manager. The challenges were all there but when you're working with the right people, everything falls into place. If there were people whom I can say molded me to what I am today as a Store Manager, I would say it would be Allan and Agot. Allan for being so nurturing and for giving value to the people, and Agot for maintaining the standards no matter what.
I, then, opened ADB with a new set of partners. It's a different feeling to open a store when you're already a Store Manager. You feel like that store is your first-born and it's hard for you to let go. And that even if the store is no longer yours, you still feel a weird sense of ownership towards that store. "That store was mine...even if it was just for 3 months".
After Marquinton got submerged by Ondoy's flood waters, I am now happily staying in Podium. It's a store with great challenges but easy to overcome as long as you have the right people in place. I do believe I've mellowed down a bit from level 16 of OC-ness to just level 7 of OC-ness. I love the store, I love the people, I love my job.
You might find it weird that I am writing this at 9 years. Why not 10 years? Well, my answer to that is, what if I wouldn't have the chance to write about my 10 years in Starbucks? Why not now?
Thank you Starbucks for placing me where I am right now. Thank you to the people who made a great influence to my journey at Starbucks. Thanks to all the key learnings and challenges that made me grow, not just as a Starbucks partner, but as a person as well.
Thank you.
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