“I think people had pegged me as this one person [who didn’t have] the agility to do these different things.” – Christine McHugh
After 27 years at Starbucks, Christine McHugh hit a wall. Her solution? Take a career pause to find her way to what was next, no matter how unexpected.
More About Christine:
Christine McHugh is a former Vice President for Fortune 200 company offering small to medium sized organizations executive coaching and world-class practices to scale their companies. She recently released her first book, From Barista to Boardroom, a memoir about her 27-year career at Starbucks.
She’s the President of the Board of the Green Apron Alliance (a nonprofit alumni network for former Starbucks employees) and is on the board of Sound Health, a comprehensive provider of behavioral health services supporting Washington state’s most vulnerable population. She’s also a former advisory board member for GritLink (a woman owned tech start up for the endurance athlete community) and is currently on the advisory board for Sanctuary Studios (an early stage immersive tech enabled wellness studio concept).
Other things that keep her busy are distance running and distance cycling (four full marathons, 20+ half marathons and one century ride in the books) and volunteering weekly at Northwest Harvest’s Community Market food bank.
Highlights
- Why Christine decided to quit college to become a full-time barista at Starbucks
- What happened when Starbucks did not support Christine’s idea for a new role
- How Christine navigated judgment from others – and the self doubt it created – when she made an unexpected and risky career choice
- Why Christine is working on letting go of routine more often
- How running factored into Christine’s career transition – and how her son inspired her to get started as a runner in her 40s
- How Christine tunes into what brings her joy and uses it as a compass in her work
- How three career pauses over 27 years allowed Christine to leap forward in her career
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Light Watkins, the meditation teacher Christine quoted at the end
Christine’s book, From Barista to Boardroom (Bookshop.org affiliate link)
Connect with Christine: LinkedIn | Website | Instagram
Thank You for Listening!
This episode was produced by Lara Dalch, Nicki Stein, and Jennifer McCord.
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