This book is dedicated to those who do not give up, those who fight to become successful people who create positive changes in other people's lives. And for the brave people who are not afraid to take risks or fail, because failure is necessary for us to grow up. I hope that Chris's story inspires us to  never give up and to keep fighting for our dreams. - with love, Genesis Ramírez 

The life of Howard Schultz.

BY: DHALIA STEPHANY ZAPATA SÁNCHEZ.

Uneasy Childhood

Howard Schultz was born on July 19th, 1953. When he was a child, he used to live in the Bayview houses, a public housing project in Brooklyn, New York. His family used to be very poor, his father worked long hours to afford food. When Howard was seven years old, turmoil hit his family again because his dad, who used to work as a truck driver, was involved in an accident that broke his ankle while working.

Because of this accident, the family became poorer. This also caused Howard to find ways to get the chance to go to school.

When he was in high school, he used to turn to sports such as basketball, baseball and football.  He did it so well that he was awarded an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University.

"There was no way out. My father was uneducated, my mother wasn't working. It was just a tough time... My childhood gave me the motivation to succeed in life" Schultz said.

Difficulties that Schultz had to face and overcome.

When he left New York to go to college, Shultz's father was a broken man. He had never gotten ahead in any of his low-paying jobs and was rarely shown any respect by his employers. 

Because of his family's financial troubles, Schultz made the most of his college days, both athletically and academically. He received a bachelor's degree in business and marketing in 1975, proud to be the first member of his family to attend college.

When he started working at Starbucks, the company had about a dozen locations and sold coffee beans and related products. After a trip to Italy, in 1983, Schultz became convinced that espresso or coffee "bars” were the wave of the future. "I believed the relationship I saw between people and coffee in Italy was transferable to America in a big way" Schultz explained.

Unfortunately, the owners of Starbucks disagreed; however, he decided to venture out on his own. Rounding up money from investors (including the Starbucks partners who were willing to invest), he opened the first coffee bar in 1984, called “Il Giornale” the small, friendly café was a hit with Seattle's sophisticated coffee drinkers. 

He heard that one of the Starbucks partners intended to leave the business. Schultz offered to buy out all the partners. Then, he merged Il Giornale and Starbucks to form the Starbucks Corporation. From the start, Schultz wanted to make Starbucks a nationally recognized brand, to take the premium coffee from the West Coast to the East Coast and he did it successfully. 

His current life status

He is the CEO of the Starbucks Coffee Company. He expanded it from 12 stores to more than 30,000 worldwide, Including in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom and Canada. 

Schultz was named the 209th-richest person in the U.S. in October 2020. Currently he has a net worth of $4.3 billion. He lives in the Seattle area with his wife and two children, he is also very protective of the family's privacy.

He treats all Starbucks employees as important members of the team.

The life story of Chris Gardner

BY: GENESIS MELISSA RAMIREZ RAMIREZ

Maybe the name “Chris Gardner” doesn’t sound very familiar to you, but you’ve surely seen or heard about the movie The Pursuit of Happiness, starring Will Smith. The film is inspired by the true story of Christopher Gardner, a man who has faced many obstacles in life to achieve happiness, even being forced to sleep on the streets with his son. He used to sleep in public bathrooms nowadays he is a billionaire who helps to motivate people with his life story.

His Childhood

Christopher Paul Gardner was born on February 9, 1954, He used to live Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His childhood was far from being a fairy tale; he had an absent father, and his mother, Bettye Jean, married a man named Freddie Triplett, someone who would deeply mark Chris’s life.

Triplett used to abusive  his wife and children. He even reported Chris’s mother to the authorities and had her sent to prison for working while receiving help from Social Services. During that time, Chris and his 3 sisters had to temporarily live in foster homes.