Howard Schultz is more than a businessman who cares about profits - although he has built a successful company with a net revenue of $22.4 billion. He doesn't care just about coffee, although to see the lines of people at most Starbucks locations, you'd think coffee was the nectar of life. He's built Starbucks by caring most about culture and human connection, saying he wanted Starbucks to be the “third place” in people’s lives – in addition to home and work.

A tall order. Or better yet, a grande order.

Howard Schultz joined Starbucks as director of operations and marketing in 1982 when there were only four stores. Today, you can find Starbucks baristas serving coffee and culture in 26,000 locations in 75 countries. Ironically, there’s been no Starbucks in Milan, the site of Schultz’s original inspiration – and the turning point in the trajectory of Starbucks.

It was on a business trip to Milan in 1983 that Schultz looked at coffee in a new light. He saw cafes on every corner, where people were enjoying the daily ritual of coming together for a cup of coffee. He brought the concept back to the US, and after trying to sell his vision to the Starbucks founders, he left the company and started his own version of Italian-flavored cafes with the name Il Giornale. He was back to buy Starbucks in 1987.

What about being a Baby Boomer may have influenced Howard Schultz? Certainly he was a man of the times. He grew up in the housing developments of Brooklyn and saw his father side-lined by an on-the-job injury. He's been quoted as saying, “That image of my father, slumped on the family couch, his leg in a cast unable to work or earn money, and ground down by the world is still burned into my mind.” He decided if he was ever in a position to take care of people, he would.

Maybe it’s that Age of Aquarius mentality that’s behind wanting people to connect. In 2015, there was the initiative called “Race Together” that was intended to spur conversations on the topic of race relations. That idea didn't catch on, but other Starbucks initiatives have had an impact. Employees are referred to as "partners," and Starbucks pays for their online college tuition. In 2013, Schultz announced the plan to hire 10,000 veterans and their family members within the next five years. The goal was reached early, so the target has been extended to hiring 25,000 veterans by 2025.

In 2015, Starbucks launched the Opportunity Youth campaign and pledged to hire 10,000 young people who aren’t in school and aren’t working. It’s all in step with the philosophy of Howard Schultz, which he has described this way, “The more uninspiring your origins, the more likely you are to use your imagination and invent worlds where everything seems possible.”

In April of 2017, Schultz stepped out of the role of CEO and into the role of executive chairman, announcing he’s going to focus on social impact initiatives and on developing Starbucks Reserve Roasteries. The first Roasterie, offering small batch tastings of exotic coffees along with a "high-end" experience that invites people to stay and enjoy, was opened in Seattle. The second is set for Shanghai  and will be followed by Roasteries in Chicago, New York, Tokyo, and --  bringing the saga of Starbucks full circle – Milan.

Howard Schultz lives the advice he gave in a Huffington Post interview: "Don’t be a bystander. Be involved, be engaged, be curious, make a difference."

If you’d like to read more about Starbucks and the baby boomer behind the phenomenon, Schultz has written three books:

"For Love of Country: What Our Veterans Can Teach Us About Citizenship, Heroism, and Sacrifice" (2014), "Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul" (2011), and "Pour Your Heart Into It" (1997).