Barbara Le Marrec, chief retail officer of Starbucks Coffee Japan and a member of the Starbucks Coffee International Leadership Team leads Retail Operations, Operations Services, Store Development, Store Planning, and Food Service for Starbucks Coffee Japan. Her responsibilities include oversight of the day to day operations and support of 920 retail store locations, continued new store growth including site location and build out, and maintaining and enhancing the operating condition of the existing store portfolio.
Barbara joined Starbucks in 1994 in California. She held successive positions of increased responsibility and scope ranging from district manager to regional vice president. Before being promoted to the position of U.S. South-South West regional vice president, Barbara was district manager, Retail Operations (1997-1998), regional director of Operations (1998-2001), Human Resources director (2001), and regional vice president of Operations (2001-2003).
In 2003, Barbara joined Starbucks Coffee France to manage Starbucks entry into the French market. In that capacity she led Store Operations and supported the collaborative relationships with all the functional areas of the business in France. After a successful launch, Barbara returned from France to become vice president, Operations, Starbucks Coffee International, in 2005, based in Seattle, WA. In 2007 Barbara was promoted to senior vice president, Operations, SCI and continued in that capacity until 2009 until she moved into her current assignment supporting Operations and Store Development in Japan.
Barbara has been working in the Hospitality industry since 1976. Prior to joining Starbucks, in 1983 Barbara owned, operated and successfully built Chez Dominique, Inc., a European style café and bakery, from concept into an award winning regional favorite. In 1989, after selling Chez Dominique, Barbara worked for Knott's Berry Farm as a Restaurant and Bakery Multi-Unit Manager.
A graduate of the University of California (Davis) with a Bachelor of Science, and a graduate of the program of Executive Management at the Anderson School of Business at University California Los Angeles. Barbara also completed French Language and Culture courses at the University of Grenoble.
Outside of work Barbara is a proud mother of two young adults. She is a supporter of CARE Nepal, Strengthening Action for Empowerment of Women through Economic Opportunities (SAEENO) project which aims to improve the livelihoods of poor, vulnerable and socially excluded women, and a supporter of Asian University for Women (AUW), an organization that provides world-class education to promising young women from diverse cultural, religious, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds from across South East Asia and the Middle East. Barbara loves International travel and is an avid skier, hiker, and cyclist.
Expat Women's Interview with Barbara
Expat Women: Barbara, your experience with Starbucks Coffee is impressive. How did you first become involved with the company?
Barbara: My first experience with Starbucks was as a customer in Seattle, Washington (US) in 1982 and then as a Food Service customer of Starbucks in 1983. When we opened our bakery in Seattle in 1983, we served Starbucks coffee in our café and sold pastries wholesale to Starbucks stores. While I loved the coffee from "first sip", I was attracted to the company as a place to work after a sales call with Howard Shultz (CEO of Starbucks). I was promoting our French pastries for sale in his new start-up café Il Giornale. Howard shared with me some of his philosophy on how he would compensate and motivate his employees. It became very clear that he had a different vision of how a company should run and how the owners and the employees could succeed together. When I sold the bakery and relocated to California I applied for a district manager position at Starbucks as they started their expansion into Southern California.
Expat Women:Have you experienced any obstacles in your role as a senior executive in a culture where men still typically hold these positions?
Barbara: I think it would be naïve to say that I have not experienced any challenges. When I first joined Starbucks in Japan, I had to overcome some challenges as a woman, a foreigner, and as someone coming from the "headquarters". It took time to build trust and credibility, especially with the senior team. I think through my commitment, experience, and relationship-building I was able to gain trust in this new environment. I am happy to say that I have had the opportunity to promote several women into senior roles during my tenure and we have others ready and waiting on the bench for key leadership roles.
Expat Women:What major differences did you experience in marketing the Starbucks brand in France versus Japan? Barbara: The experiences have been very different, not because the difference in the culture between Japan and France, but rather the stage of development in the market. In France the market was new for Starbucks, with many consumers that had never heard of the company. It was also a challenging time politically with the relationship between the United States and France.
Our initial focus was on introducing people to our products, our store environment, and our culture - and doing it in a way that demonstrated appropriate respect for France's well-established café culture. We needed to earn our coffee credentials and build our relationships with the community, one cup at a time, very discerning consumers.
Similar to France, the Japanese are very discerning consumers, as Japan has a rich history of coffee house culture with over 80 thousand local Japanese-style coffee shops. Different from France, the Starbucks business in Japan is mature and well-established with 920 cafés. We continue to speak about our products and our culture, but with a loyal customer base, we can engage the consumer on things that matter to them, such as our commitment to the environment, ethical sourcing, and their communities. Our primary marketing strength is our 920 stores and team of experienced and passionate store partners (employees). They are responsible for creating moments of connection each and every day that build customer loyalty.
Times have changed as well and social media is an important component of how we engage our customers. Starbucks Japan (SBJ) has about 300,000 "Siren's Mail" members who we reach either via email or mobile phone (namely phone mail or texts, which are popular in Japan). They respond quickly and enthusiastically to our online programs. We use this network to provide new product sampling kits, invitations to our events, sometimes a quick consumer survey, and so on.
We have started using social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and other related services. This became an important connection point after the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters. We were able to facilitate communication with our customers and partners. Bloggers have also become an important part of new product launches and promotions and are very active in talking about Starbucks. We often invite "alpha bloggers", those who have highly accessed blogs, to events when we launch new products.
Expat Women:You previously founded a successful business, Chez Dominique. How did that experience contribute to your success in the corporate world and working abroad?
Barbara: My experience starting my own business gave me the opportunity to experience every aspect of the business from the ground up. I joined Starbucks at the start of their exponential growth and my entrepreneurial spirit and drive matched closely with the requirements of a young and growing company.
In terms of working abroad, I was 19 years old when I caught the travel bug, after my first experience living and traveling abroad to Switzerland. Early in my career with Starbucks I shared my desire to move abroad for an international assignment. My experience and success in building the business in the early days of Starbucks and my French language skills made me a logical candidate for the opening of the French market.
Expat Women:What do you enjoy most about working for Starbucks?
Barbara: I love the work, I love the coffee, and I have thrived on the high growth and high-energy environment, but it is the people that give me the greatest satisfaction. I have had the privilege to work with, and for, many talented leaders and have had the opportunity to mentor many emerging leaders. Seeing others achieve their career aspirations is a highlight. A close second is seeing the difference that Starbucks makes in a community. It makes my day when I walk into a store and see a diverse customer base enjoying our stores and each other's company.
Expat Women:What are your top five tips for women considering working abroad?
Barbara:
1.
Make sure your family is considered in the decision-making process when moving abroad and that their needs are taken care of. You will not be able to be focus on your work until you know they are happy.
2.
Maintain your network with the "home" office. At some point you will return, and you want people to remember you when making organizational changes.
3.
Take time to build relationships and trust before you make big changes. It is easy to misread people or their intentions in a foreign country
4.
Push yourself out of your comfort zone. I find that my greatest periods of personal and professional growth have come when I pushed myself out of my comfort zone.
5.
Have fun! Take time to get to know your new home and to travel and experience the interesting things about your new location.
Expat Women: Finally, what's next for Barbara Le Marrec?
Barbara: My assignment is coming to an end in July. I have chosen to take advantage of our company sabbatical program (career coffee break) and take six months off. I will be using the six months to catch up with family, travel in Europe, brush up on my French, volunteer and discover new interests. My next step professionally has not been determined, but I am open to another international assignment.
Expat Women: Barbara, thank you very much for sharing your experiences with us - the success you have achieved is truly inspiring. We wish you all the best while on sabbatical and in all your future endeavors!
