For Meridian, 17, a trans nonbinary person from Virginia seeking their first job, their interest in Starbucks went beyond salary or benefits. “I live in a very rural town,” they explained to me. “I thought, what is an environment that I want to be in, in this very small-town job? And Starbucks appealed to me because they seemed like a very progressive company and I thought I would be in good company there.”
Workers, when asked, say they enjoy the work. The environment Starbucks tries to cultivate and the values it espouses bring in a certain type of employee. “Starbucks attracts a lot of progressive-minded people,” said Cory Johnson, 28, who works at the Boulevard and Myers Starbucks in Richmond, Virginia. “People who are either doing some kind of activism or organizing outside of work.” Co-workers throughout interviews for this piece referred to each other as “family.”