I've traveled around the world, and what's so revealing is that, despite the differences in culture, politics, language, how people dress, there is a universal feeling that we all want the same thing. We deeply want to be respected and appreciated for our differences.

We think of Starbucks not as a coffee company but a media company.

My son is trying to be a sports writer, and my daughter is a college student. She wants to be a comedy writer, and she's at film school. I discouraged both of them early on from getting involved in Starbucks. I didn't think it would be fair; plus, they didn't have any interest anyway.

In anything we do, any endeavor, it's not what you do; it's why you do it

There's this myth that has been exacerbated by others that Starbucks means a $4 cup of coffee, which is not true.

Don't buy preground coffee.

You must find something that you deeply love and are passionate about and are willing to sacrifice a lot to achieve.