By Nancy Poznoff is a former VP at Starbucks, now Executive Coach, Close Cohen Career Consulting & CEO, Mother Bear.

I’m a former VP at Starbucks and like many, the news hit hard for me in late September: Starbucks announced the closure of hundreds of stores and 900 corporate layoffs as part of a $1 billion restructuring plan under CEO Brian Niccol. For many watching from the outside, these are just numbers in a business strategy. For those of us who spent years inside that organization, they represent colleagues, mentors, friends. People whose professional identities were forged in the unique culture of a company that called its employees “partners.”

I spent the bulk of my 20 year corporate career at Starbucks, eventually serving as VP of Marketing, before moving to Zillow and then founding Kingston Marketing Group (now Mother Bear Agency). 

Watching my alma mater navigate this difficult transition has crystallized something I’ve carried with me throughout every career pivot: your network isn’t just a safety net during layoffs. It’s the foundation that makes you resilient through every phase of your professional life.

The Starbucks Partner Promise: More Than Marketing

Starbucks pioneered the practice of calling employees “partners,” reinforcing that every person, whether in corporate or store roles, represents more than just a worker. This wasn’t just clever branding. It reflected a philosophy that shaped how we showed up for each other.

The company established 14 Partner Networks with over 100 regional chapters across the U.S., creating moments of connection that promoted diversity, fostered inclusion, and contributed to both partner and company success. These networks weren’t peripheral to the work. They were integral to how business got done.

When I led marketing initiatives like the 2015 Red Cup campaign, which turned a potential PR crisis into a community celebration, it wasn’t individual brilliance that saved us. It was the network of partners across functions who rallied together, brought diverse perspectives, and transformed controversy into connection. We survived that moment not because of any single strategy, but because of the relationships that allowed us to move quickly, trust each other’s expertise, and stay focused on what mattered.

What Gets Lost When Companies Contract

This marks the second round of layoffs under Niccol’s tenure, with approximately 1,100 corporate workers let go earlier in the year, following a sales slump that has lasted six straight quarters. The closures affect stores where leadership determined they couldn’t create the physical environment partners and customers expected, or lacked a path to financial performance.

These decisions are never made lightly. But here’s what restructuring announcements rarely capture: the institutional knowledge that walks out the door, the cross-functional relationships that enabled innovation, the informal mentorship that shaped future leaders.

Starbucks embraces an “Employee First” philosophy built on the understanding that while competitors can copy products, they cannot replicate the unique experience created by partners. That competitive advantage doesn’t exist in strategy documents. It lives in the connections between people who’ve learned to work together through launches, crises, and transformations.

The Career Insurance You Build Daily

Looking back on my years inside large organizations, one insight stands above the rest: your network is everything.

Strategies evolve. Companies restructure. Leadership changes. And as we’re seeing now with challenges from increased competition, inflation, and shifting consumer behavior at Starbucks, even the most iconic brands face disruption. The constant in all of it is people.

My colleagues, mentors, clients, and peers formed the fabric of my professional story. That network fueled opportunities, supported transitions, and ultimately made me a better leader. When I decided to leave corporate life to start an agency, it wasn’t a leap into the void. It was a step forward supported by relationships I’d invested in for two decades.

“The relationships you build aren’t just nice to have. They’re your career insurance policy. When everything else shifts, the people who know your work, trust your judgment, and value your perspective become your greatest asset.” 

I’ve learned through my own transitions and now witness daily in my executive coaching practice at Close Cohen.

Building Networks That Transcend Org Charts

For anyone seeking to grow or evolve their career, whether you’re currently employed or navigating a transition, cultivating and nurturing a strong network is one of the most powerful levers you can pull. Here’s what makes the difference:

Invest in relationships before you need them. The Starbucks partners who thrived through multiple restructurings weren’t the ones who started networking when rumors began. They were the ones who’d spent years building genuine relationships across functions, levels, and locations.

Go beyond your immediate team. 

Partner Networks at Starbucks create connections between people with shared identities, experiences, and interests, fostering a sense of belonging that extends beyond job titles. The most valuable connections often come from unexpected places: someone in a different business unit, a vendor who becomes a mentor, a peer at an industry event.

Make deposits, not just withdrawals. 

Strong networks are built on reciprocity. Share knowledge. Make introductions. Celebrate others’ wins. Support colleagues through challenges. The currency of professional relationships isn’t transactions. It’s trust.

Maintain connections beyond company walls. 

Some of my most valuable relationships began at Starbucks but deepened after we’d both moved on. Alumni networks become increasingly valuable as people disperse across industries and take their expertise with them.

The Resilience Factor

Starbucks has a long history of investing in partners, from being the first major retailer to offer health benefits to both full and part-time employees in 1988 to introducing groundbreaking stock programs that gave employees ownership. These weren’t just benefits. They were investments in creating a community where people felt genuinely connected to the company’s success.

But here’s the paradox: the companies that invest most deeply in their people often face the hardest choices during restructuring. Niccol acknowledged that the company did not make these decisions lightly, recognizing their impact on partners and their families.

This is precisely why individual career resilience can’t depend solely on company loyalty. 

The most stable thing you can build isn’t tenure at a single organization. It’s a network of relationships that transcend any single employer.

What This Means for You Right Now

Whether you’re at a company facing restructuring, considering a career pivot, or simply trying to advance where you are, the lesson remains consistent: invest in your network with the same intentionality you invest in developing technical skills.

For those in transition: Your network is now your job search engine, reference system, and emotional support structure. Reach out to former colleagues, reconnect with mentors, and be transparent about what you’re looking for. People want to help, but they need to know how.

For those still employed: Don’t wait for uncertainty to prompt action. Schedule regular coffee chats with people across your organization. Join employee resource groups. Attend industry events. Build relationships that have value beyond immediate work needs.

For leaders: The culture you create today shapes whether people will want to work with you again tomorrow. Companies that foster genuine partnership culture, where collaboration is viewed as the best path for success and accomplishments are shared, create more resilient organizations.

The Lesson I Carry Forward

In both my agency work and my coaching practice, I see the same pattern over and over again: professionals who invest in genuine relationships navigate transitions more smoothly, find opportunities more quickly, and build careers with more meaning.

The Starbucks restructuring is a reminder that no organization is immune to market forces, strategic shifts, or leadership changes. But the partners who built strong internal and external networks? They’re not just surviving these changes. They’re leveraging their connections to write their next chapters.

Your network isn’t something you build for the bad times. It’s what you cultivate every day through authentic connection, genuine support, and mutual investment in each other’s success. That’s the lesson that transcends any single company, industry, or career stage.

It’s what got me through my own transitions. And it’s what I see making the difference for executives and professionals navigating an increasingly dynamic career landscape.

The question isn’t whether your organization will face disruption. The question is: When it does, will you have built the network that helps you not just survive, but thrive through it?

Nancy Poznoff is an executive coach at Close Cohen Career Consulting, where she helps professionals navigate career transitions and build leadership presence. She spent over 20 years in corporate marketing leadership roles at Starbucks, Zillow Group, and T-Mobile before co-founding marketing agencies Kingston Marketing Group and Mother Bear Agency.