She Was a Rising Star at Starbucks. So Why Did She Resign?

“If for any reason you are not satisfied with your dish or drink, please let our baristas know and we will be happy to re-make it for you.”

Since its inception in 1971, the beloved Starbucks coffee franchise has prided itself on its customer service skills. But as the chain has rapidly gained popularity and globalized to over 35,000 stores worldwide, the coffee monopoly has allegedly not always taken care of its approximately 349,000 employees.

While many employees, or “Partners,” have banded together to form a Trade Union, sometimes partners like Sophie fall by the wayside.

Posted Saturday, influencer Sophie (@Sophiesappp) has racked up more than 313,500 views and 21,135 likes on her three-part TikTok series explaining her recent resignation from the Starbucks she once managed. Sitting on her living room floor, the young woman leans over a coffee table and tells it all.

Before delving into it, Sophie assured viewers that her story was simply personal. She explained that her story should not be used to represent anyone else’s experience with the corporation.

Why Sophie Left Starbucks

“To start with, I started at Starbucks in 2020, I was a barista for about eight months, I got promoted to shift manager for nine, 10 months. Then I was an assistant manager for about nine months, and then I was a store manager for the rest of my time at Starbucks,” Sophie said.

Sophie was one of the 60% of Starbucks store managers who started their careers as baristas. As a 21-year-old manager, Sophie shared her experiences on TikTok, gaining a large following of former Starbucks partners.

“The beginning of my career at Starbucks was great. I loved it. Barista, shift manager, assistant store manager, all up until January of this year,” Sophie expressed.

“I really enjoyed my job,” Sophie explained, stating she sees herself working there in the near future.

“The culture at Starbucks started changing in January, and I wasn’t happy about it,” Sophie continued.

“At the beginning of the year I spent five or six weeks managing two stores at the same time, and then another four weeks managing two other stores at the same time,” Sophie said.

Then, upon returning to her own store, she faced her own staffing crisis. Her store was reportedly understaffed for about two months.

“So you could say I was burnt out in May. Burnt out beyond all means,” Sophie concluded the first part of the series.

Before she could post a second clip, commenters claimed they were in alliance with Sophie. That as partners, they themselves were exhausted.

“I’m currently a 5-year SSV (Shift Supervisor). I’m exhausted. Mentally and emotionally. Burned out. Can’t wait for the day I can leave,” one commenter wrote, gaining 1,408 likes.

“Starbucks killed me, I felt depressed, I felt like I had so many responsibilities that 8 hours was not enough, and they did not want to pay overtime, they had no time for anyone or anything,” another person said.

Sophie then released the second part of the series.

It wasn’t just about the workload

“A lot of things were changing on a corporate level and I didn’t feel like I was being prioritized or supported very much. I felt lonely, I felt lonely behind the scenes at Starbucks,” Sophie said.

At this point, Sophie began to explain her newfound passion for social media, as her posts had recently begun to gain a larger following. She realized that this could be her next career path.

“It wasn’t so much that I wanted to be an influencer, it was more that I wanted to do it for a corporation,” Sophie explained. “And that led me to take courses in digital marketing and social media management, and that’s how I started to explore another career.”

As summer approached, Sophie began looking for work in the digital media industry, spending her free time trying to get her foot in the door.

“I wasn’t planning on quitting until I had something. Until my social media became a problem for corporations, like it did for so many other people,” Sophie said.

“Someone at corporate warned me because I was wearing an apron in the videos,” Sophie said.

Since Sophie’s apron had the Starbucks logo on it, it’s safe to assume that was the problem. Sophie explained that she wasn’t going to give up until she was asked to take down the videos.

Its content dispute is gaining momentum in the corporate context

Starting the final part of the series, Sophie admitted that she did not remove the content, despite requests from the corporation.

“I decided I was proud of this content. It’s something I worked hard on and it brings me joy.”

Standing by her position, Sophie gave her three-week notice shortly after the interaction. However, Starbucks had a different approach.

“After giving my three weeks notice, I was told my resignation was effective immediately and that I couldn’t keep the rest of the notice,” Sophie told viewers.

A distraught Sophie explained that she hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye to any of her coworkers, or even clients. She reportedly hadn’t even had a chance to clean her desk.

Although her job at Starbucks has ended, Sophie was happy to say she had found a new job that better suited her new passions.

“I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve accepted a role as a social media specialist at a marketing firm and I can’t wait to start this journey,” Sophie explained.

Praising Starbucks, Sophie thanked the corporation for everything it gave her during her time with the company.

@sophiesappp I’m finally answering your questions 🥳 #journals #quit #work #starbucks #unemployed #barista #storemanager #contentcreator #trends #fyp #viral ♬ original sound – soph 🌼

“It’s been a tough road and I know it’s not easy for many people, but I’m excited about the next stage of my life and being able to continue doing what I love, both professionally and personally,” Sophie said.

“I know this is the right path for me,” she concluded.

The Daily Dot reached out to Sophie (@Sophiesappp) via TikTok DM, and Starbucks via its press email.

Internet culture is chaotic — but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter Here. Get the best (and worst) stuff on the internet delivered straight to your inbox.