Claudia, director of Starbucks South Cone – Argentina, Chile, Uruguay 

In 2007, by chance, the book “Put Your Heart Into It“ came into my hands, and after reading it, I was deeply impressed to learn Howard Schultz’s vision of making a company led from the heart, developing it with the soul and always placing people in the center. I immediately wondered if a company that puts its partners and clients at the center of its operation was the right place for me. The answer was simple: yes it was.

My journey with Starbucks began in 2008, as District Manager, when I cut the ribbon on store number 29 in Chile. Today, after 15 years working in the company, we are about to open our 300th store in the Southern Cone, and will celebrate our 20th, 15th and 5th anniversaries in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, respectively. 

I am passionate about having the possibility to impact different communities and make our stores unique places to work. There are more than 4,000 partners in Starbucks Southern Cone to whom we offer training and real and attractive career development.  

Starbucks also allowed me to walk the path towards the exciting world of coffee, being able to see first-hand the entire value chain that exists behind each bean: from planting, maintaining the coffee trees, harvesting and subsequent sale. I had the unique opportunity to be in Costa Rica, and see the support that Starbucks provides to the coffee communities. That experience made me realize the responsibility of honoring each coffee bean that we serve daily, as a show of respect for all families and especially to all the women who are behind its production.