Life is a constant adventure of ups and downs. Each of us surely had our own share of its successes and failures. It is only a matter of timing. Yet, here's what most people consider as a head-start -- "you can only taste the sweetest of life's sweet once you have tasted the bitterest of life's bitter."
Well, this has been particularly true for Matthew Tejeda, a former barista in Starbucks, who was homeless at age 19. His homelessness then didn't mean he had nothing to lay his head on but in streets. It meant that he was only a bed-spacer with seven other men in a small room of one shelter in New York.
Tejeda noted having been in that kind of lifestyle was a devastating moment of his life until Starbucks.
Forbes, in details, relates that Tejeda was fortunately interviewed by Starbucks Manager Debbie Dooknah who also runs the Grand Central Station store. Tejeda was hired as a barista and was privileged to be managed and mentored by a compassionate Dooknah.
For 12 months of working as a barista, Tejeda still braved sleeping with other people in that small room as his minimum wage in Starbucks is preventing him from going out of homelessness. Apart from having his uniforms stolen by unknown thieves in his small place, he also related how difficult it was to be in that kind of shelter.
"One of the real challenges of this, while trying to hold down a job and better yourself, is that the shelter life-sleeping in a room with seven other guys and no enforced sleep schedule- means getting very little sleep. Some nights that were really loud at the shelter, rather than lying sleepless in my bed, I'd lock myself in the bathroom for a couple of hours with my head against the wall to try and get a nap in before opening," Tejeda tearfully shares.
One significant change helped him to somehow slow down in feeling the bitterness of life -- promotion. Matthew was promoted as a shift supervisor and assistant store manager which both happened in just one year. New incentives in his new position include Starbucks CUP (Caring Unites Partners) Fund which provided him up to $1,000 a month. With a higher position comes higher goals to sustain himself and that definitely includes getting a decent place to live in.
"With my new salary I was able to afford the monthly rent for an apartment, and with my savings plus the CUP fund, I was able to cover the move in cost. I do not know if it's possible to convey how emotional a moment this was for me. I got promoted and moved into my apartment in the same week. The first night in my apartment I cried my eyes out. For the first time in my entire life I knew exactly where I would sleep that night and the next night after that, and that sense of security did not depend on anything in the world except myself. I found a home at Starbucks, and eventually Starbucks helped me find my home. A tangible place I could call my own."
All his hard work in Starbucks paid off as the company was moved to cost itself a fortune and give Tejeda the incentives he deserved. He was promoted again to a higher position as a store manager in a new branch located just across the street from his original work store and then later on he was transferred to Penn Station.
According to Micah Solomon, contributing writer of Forbes, Tejeda admits that he learned a lot of things in Starbucks including discovering his entrepreneurial potential which he never knew existed. With Starbucks, he learned how important discipline is to achieve good results. He learned how to commit, especially discovering that there's real power in dreaming.
"Ultimately, these discoveries led me to decide to pursue real estate because, no matter how much I love Starbucks, a career there will always face the constraints of a corporate ladder."
"In real estate, I see the ability to exercise great control of the scale of my career. I have a really strong entrepreneurial spirit and it really is like owning your own business, with the opportunity, as in any business, to have what I put into it be what I will get out," Tejeda relates.
His entrepreneurial drive led him to invade the corporate walls of real estate, allowed him to pass the licensure exam for real estate brokers last November 2015 and immediately landed a position with the New York's famous Corcoran group. This newly found career where he needs to spend his 40-50 hours a week just added his demanding job as a manager in Starbucks where he spends his 20 hours a week.
Tejeda's inspiring success story is for everyone from all walks of life to realize that transforming from rugs to riches is possible if dreaming is coupled with hard work and endurance.
