... while I deny that I need to upload all the new photos from our camera. Not sure why that seems like such a huge task, but here I am, putting it off.
Anyway.
Kraig got a promotion! Woohoo!
I think everyone knows where Kraig works, but if not he works for a small, Seattle-based coffee company called Starbucks. If you know Kraig, you know that he LOVES coffee- not just drinking it, but learning every. single. trivial. fact about it. He loves the history. He loves the culture. He loves it all. He's been a regular at Starbucks since he was 12.
Yup. 12 years old.
Anyway- he picked it up as a temporary job while we were wedding planning. Then he was immediately promoted to Shift Supervisor, so the pay and benefits made it worth it to stay. I was making substantial money waitressing and teaching dance, we didn't have any kids to support, and our hours were super flexible so it was pretty perfect for our first year of marriage.
Then we got pregnant. It didn't make sense for Kraig to try to search for a new job in a recession while his wife was pregnant (and our health insurance was through his job) so he stayed put where he knew he had job security. He did transfer to a new store when we moved from Lakewood to Cleveland, and got a substantial pay raise when that happened. The flexibility and benefits were still ideal for our lifestyle with our new baby. We have never had an issue budgeting based on his income, so while he would search for non-profit jobs (his dream) here and there, there was never really opportunity in Cleveland. He toyed with the idea of promoting again, but a series of bad managers left him sort of jaded so we decided to put that idea off until after we moved.
Here we are in Portland, and upon arrival Kraig was immediately tapped as promotable and the ball has been rolling ever since for his interview and new placement. I'm going to insert here how proud I am of my husband. I understand he "just" works a retail job in a highly corporate coffee shop, but he's really, really, really good at his job. I don't mean just making lattes and pulling coffee. Anyone can do that (heck, I did it in college, though Kraig does that 100x better than I ever did). Kraig is really good at leading people. He is a natural leader and manages others extremely well. It's shocking to me sometimes, since I like to be a follower better. Anyway, he leads well, he is a people person, and he is a natural at the "business" side of things as well. I could go into all the numbers and tell you about how he has increased sales above and beyond what they ever would have dreamed of, but that's his story to tell. It's impressive, that's all I know. In addition to that, he has the best work ethic of anyone I know. Kraig works extremely hard and I am surprised that every single day he goes to work he gives 200%. I've never known anyone who works as hard as he does and who does it so very well. I'm really proud of him.
He interviewed last week and right away two other district managers tried to snatch him up. Since she had anticipated this happening, his current DM had a plan in place so she turned down the other DM's and is sitting down with Kraig today to give him an offer. Needless to say, we're relieved and excited. A pay raise is great, but a pay raise and insane vacation time is even better. We're looking forward to him taking a few days off before he transfers to his new store.
What all that means is that he is now an Assistant Store Manager, but in Starbucks world that means he is training to be a Store Manager and will get his own store sometime this year if everything goes as anticipated with his training and new store openings.
Did I mention that we are excited?
In the grand scheme of things, this is great managerial experience that will help him in the future. His dream is to work for a non-profit in an administrative role, so this experience combined with all of his volunteer experience is a great setup for that in the future. We're thrilled. Great job, great company, great experience, and awesome benefits. Plus he gets to be home with us A LOT. Everybody wins!
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