Starbucks’ new CFO has turnaround chops. Here’s how she plans to help Brian Niccol fix the company

In her years as finance chief at major companies like Nordstrom, Bright Health, and Target, Cathy Smith often went to Starbucks cafés when she needed to take a meeting, step away to think, or get a jolt of java and kill a bit of time between appointments.

“I can’t tell you how many decades Starbucks has been like my personal third place,” Smith tells Fortune. “I knew I could go into a Starbucks, grab a great cup of coffee, sit down at a table, and do whatever I needed to.” Her go-to drink is an Americano with a splash of 2% milk.