Episode 46: Christine McHugh - From barista to the boardroom
b"Today\\u2019s guest is Christine McHugh. Christine first started working for Starbucks as a barista at 19 years old. Little did she know at that time that it would mark the beginning of her 27-year career at the company. Her first job for Starbucks as a barista was when the company had 37 stores. 25 years later, and she\\u2019s leading some of the most important strategic initiatives for Starbucks across over 13,000 stores in the US and Canada. So, it\\u2019s fitting that her up and coming book is titled \\u201cFrom Barista to the Boardroom\\u201d, which is expected to be published next year. Christine left Starbucks in 2017 but certainly did not rest on her laurels. Looking for a completely new challenge, she took on the role of Chief Strategy Officer at Tangelo Health, a startup sports chiropractic and rehabilitation company. After successfully expanding their market presence and driving unprecedented revenue growth in her two years there, she left to focus full time on her own consulting firm. Her professional focus today is her consulting firm where she specializes in working with small to medium sized growing businesses in the services industry. Outside of work, Christine is an avid distance runner and is planning to race her fifth marathon next year in Chicago. I should also mention that she serves on the advisory board for Gritlink (which, if you remember, is the company founded by another one of podcast guests, Cortney Jacobsen). In this interview, we get into Christine\\u2019s time growing up in Alaska, her long career at Starbucks and stint at Tangelo Health, her current work as a consultant, and her passion for distance running. \\nTimestamps\\n00:02:51 Growing up in Alaska with a family of politicians\\n00:09:58 Moving to Seattle\\n00:14:20 Interest in working for Starbucks\\n00:18:58 Caught up in the growth of Starbucks\\n00:21:33 Times she thought about leaving Starbucks\\n00:23:33 Her progression at Starbucks\\n00:27:12 Standout projects at Starbucks\\n00:31:40 Why she stayed at Starbucks for all those years\\n00:33:50 Leaving Starbucks\\n00:37:43 Importance of having a support system as you grow professionally\\n00:40:20 Attaching her identity to Starbucks\\n00:42:05 Biggest takeaways from working at Starbucks\\n00:43:12 Tangelo Health overview\\n00:47:25 What she enjoyed most about working at Tangelo\\n00:50:03 Small company vs large enterprise\\n00:53:37 Starting her consulting firm\\n00:58:35 How she helps her clients\\n01:03:46 Ultimate vision for her firm\\n01:04:57 Starting her distance running career\\n01:07:05 Why does she run?\\n01:09:39 Parallels between marathon training and business\\n01:12:55 One big goal she'd love to accomplish over the next few years\\n01:14:34 Her daily routine\\n01:15:55 Her driving force\\n01:18:23 Parting career development advice"