CRITICAL THINKING


‘SEMPER GUMBY’


A former Marine recruiter’s job with Starbucks is all about connection


C


hat with Starbucks’ Tom Tice awhile about his job, and you get the impres- sion that the retired Marine is like a kid in a candy store when he goes to work each day. It’s not the caffeine talking; he is just that enthusiastic about what he does. Now he’s working to recruit some 10,000 former mili-


tary personnel and active-duty military spouses to become Starbucks partners—the employees who provide what the company calls the Starbucks Experience.


Tice started his career as a Marine in the late 1980s as a heavy machine gunner, then served duty in U.S. embassies before becoming a recruiter. In that capacity, he said, he never quite knew what a day was going to be like. It could have been helping people with no family military history understand what it means to be a Marine. Or dealing with people of very different cultures while working in U.S. embassies in Africa and South America. In the midst of that ambiguity, he sought to create connection.


Tice loved being a Marine. “It was very fulfilling, and every day was a new challenge. [I] absolutely loved the Marine Corps. It was a privilege to earn the title of U.S. Marine, and it was a privilege to have served with America’s finest.”


When he retired from the Marines in June 2009 as a master sergeant after more than 20 years of service, he spent 2 ½ years as a stay-at-home dad and, while he loved that experience, he said, it was a very tough job. When he and his wife, Brandy, were expect- ing their second child, he decided to look for a new career. He started at Starbucks as a contract employee in early 2012 and found that his military skills and training fit well with the company. Tat October, he was hired full time as a manufacturing recruiter.


78


Tom Tice Starbucks Corp.


Manager for Military Recruitment


Army AL&T Magazine


October–December 2014


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