Folio Presents: Working Class to Breaking Glass: Wanda J. Herndon in conversation with Zabrina Jenkins

Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum is pleased to welcome trailblazing Starbucks executive and author Wanda J. Herndon, in conversation with advisor Zabrina Jenkins, to celebrate the release of her upcoming memoir, Working Class to Breaking Glass: One Woman’s Fight to Belong and to Lead, now available to pre-order.

Herndon’s story begins in Flint, Michigan, where her father, a man who left school in the eighth grade and rode a bus North in search of freedom and a living wage, handed her a quiet directive: “Get an office job.” She took that dream and ran with it, becoming one of the first in her family to graduate from college at a time when Black students were too often steered away from college preparatory tracks. At Michigan State University, she pursued journalism while navigating financial stress, imposter syndrome, and the weight of being among the few. These experiences didn’t break her, but clarified her purpose.

Entering the workforce in the mid-1970s, Herndon quickly learned that a degree was only the entry fee. With unflinching candor, she recounts the sting of racial profiling on her first business trip, the professional isolation of being a “first” and an “only,” and the invisible armor she had to build just to belong. At Starbucks, she rose through the ranks to earn a seat at decision-making tables where faces like hers had rarely been seen, becoming a cultural advocate committed to expanding opportunity within corporate structures. Deeply personal and practically wise, Working Class to Breaking Glass is more than a career memoir. It is a story of legacy, resilience, and what it truly means to lead.

RSVP Here