Shows / Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
A coffee podcast providing coffee shop owners and leaders, with insights, inspiration, and the tools you need to grow and advance your coffee business. We learn from experts both in and outside the coffee industry as they deliver specific, practical, and actionable advice about ownership, optimization, profitability, barista work, employee culture, management, scaling, leadership, personal development, and anything else that will help you achieve success in the coffee shop.
Episodes
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Help! My Baristas Ask me the Same Questions!
Do you find yourself saying this? Over the years I have heard this or a version of this on repeat (the irony!) What is going on? Why do your staff ask you the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
633 Making Information Stick in Your Cafe by Removing Yourself as The Obstacle
It is easy to fall into the trap of sitting on helpful information and ideas that can help your business and your people because you feel it needs to be…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! The Logistics of Keeping Your Promises
We promise people a lot of things. Whether they are implied by marketing, or stated directly, the biggest differentiator between a cafe that is trusted and one…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
632: Addressing the Biggest Challenge Cafe Owner's Face
People. This is what owners consistently say is one of the biggest challenges they have in running their shops. Why is this? Well, I was just at Coffee Fest in…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SB Cafe Owner! You Don't Have to Keep Up With Others
Am I behind? This was a question I was asked by a coaching client recently. They worried that they may be not to where most people "should be" in their…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Special! Interview and Commentary From Coffee Fest Los Angeles 2026! w/ Kevin Mejia of Bevel Coffee
Coffee Fest LA was awesome and I am finally getting this episode out right before we fly out to Dallas! Stay tuned. In this episode I sat down with one great…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
631 Ashley Derrick: The Joys and Challenges of Buying an Existing Cafe
Many owners start in the business of coffee shops by buying an existing cafe. Sometimes there is a lot of work to do. Other times, the cafe is already a…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Let Your Cafe Be
In the ecosystem of entrepreneurship we glorify and practice a certain kind of paranoia about our businesses. We are never happy and always suspecting we are…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
630: Two Dollar Drip and The Fight For Accessible Menus w/ Tim Riley of Heavy Water Coffee, Los Angeles, CA
The coffee shop experience is one that should be accessible to a wide variety of people. How we go about building a welcoming and hospitable space is not only…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
629: Founder Friday! Stephanie Jones of Mrs. Jones Cold Brew is The OG Cold Brew Queen!
Cold brew only is not a normal thing for a coffee bar. It takes deep dedication, innovation, and focus to drive that concept and offer customers out of the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Don't Build Compromise Into Your Business
What happens when we build into our systems exceptions for the less than desirable habits of staff? Well for starters we rob that staff member of the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
628: Start With Reasonable Hospitality
We love extremes. Novel services, events, specials, and stunts to catapult us into the consciousness of our customers seem to be what we favor and are fixated…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! The Danger of Fast-Track Training
The temptation for fast-track people during training is a very common one. I would go so far as to say that, half of the reason we see the inconsistencies and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
627: Why You Need to Work IN Your Business
We hear the advice from the popular author of "The E-Myth" saying that we should work ON our business, not IN it. While I understand and agree with the point…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Vibes Are a Cheap Replacement For Meaning
I hear the word "vibes" used as a stand in for a lot of different things. Most often it is used to describe a somewhat ambiguous sense of good feelings or…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
626: Why You Are Not Getting Ahead in Your Career
We all have ambitions and hopes for our career but time passes and we don't see any progress. It would be a mistake to chalk this up to fate instead of a lack…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! It's Got To Hurt If It's To Heal! : The Pins and Needles of Positive Change
All too often we are likely to stick with the comfortable and known dysfunction or the habitual neglect of important areas of our business, than to take the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
625: 5 Ways To Make Your Coffee Taste Better
The quality of your coffee is one of the main reasons people choose your cafe vs another. It is the baseline expectation customers have for a specialty coffee…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
624: Founder Friday! The Power of Inclusion w/ Lindsay Wrege of 321 Coffee in Raleigh, NC
One of the coolest things about coffee is how it can be used as a catalyst for change. Today we are going to be talking with someone who has built one of the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! It's The Way You Say It: Tips For Improving How People Receive Your Words
You may have the best advice and information, but then your delivery can often fall flat or even have the opposite effect. This is very common in the cafe…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
623: Coffee Content Overload! What Matters Most When Consuming Content Today
Today we have an impossibly vast range of resources and content about anything you need to learn or know about coffee and coffee shops. What a time to be…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Don't Give Your Staff Invisible Targets
If we want our staff to succeed, we have to give them clear target to aim for. Unfortunately shocking number of cafes have what I would describe as invisible…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
What are the Key Holder Coaching Groups?
For cafe owners, the way you and your coffee shop grow is determined by how you are supported and nourished by community. The trouble is most owners are…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
622: Lifting Up Coffee Farmers w/ Ben Carlson of Long Miles Coffee!
In coffee we can often question the impact of our efforts. Over time though, small consistent steps in the right direction can not only carry you over many…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! What It Means To Have Integrity In Our Work
Integrity is hard to identify unless you are actively looking for and working on it. But what is "it"? Well, in some ways it is consistency, but that is not…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
621: Managment, Supply Chain, and Building Great Teams w/ Ewelina Kania!
In order to provide excellence in the cafe, we need to focus on people. Building, caring for, and managing a team is the cornerstone of any great cafe. The…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Challenge and Affirmation: Why You Need Both In Your Coffee Shopp
If we know anything it is that striking a balance in our communication is very difficult. It often feels like we are neglecting affirmation for fear of not…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
620: Creating Spaces For Joyful Hospitality w/ Mo Maravilla of Studio Tigre
As we continue to see specialty coffee shops grow and expand into the furthest reaches of the globe, one thing remains an enduring value to customers. That…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Special! Interviews From Coffee Fest Chicago 2026! w/ Lan Ho (Fat Miilk), Miranda Haney (Barista Friend), Asia Vo (Loba Pastry and Coffee))
Every Coffee Fest we sit down with presenters and speakers to talk about their field of expertise and learn from their experience in coffee. This time we had a…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Walking Out Effective Leadership and Management
Leading and managing are only as effective as your knowledge and understanding of the who, what, and why of your cafe. Sadly many people with the title of…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
619: 4 Mindset Shifts Every Cafe Owners Needs
How we think determines how we act. This is especially true when it comes to pressurized situations like the kind that we find in a busy coffee shop…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
618: Founder Friday! w/ Tim Wendelboe | Oslo, Norway
It's Founder Friday and I am so pleased to finally welcome the one an only Tim Wendelboe! Tim Wendelboe runs his own roastery and espresso bar in Oslo, Norway…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Start Small
Seemingly in balance to our episode with Kwame Christian on big swings, we need to talk about small starts! Making decisions about size, scope, and scale of…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Why You Need the Onboarding and Training Webinar!
Summer Webinar Series from Keys to the Shop®! Congratulations! You hired the right people! Now comes one of the most critical parts of the relationship between…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
617: Kwame Christian On How To Take Big Swings in Your Career and Business
There is wisdom in taking well considered steps in your life and business. The trouble is that sometimes, when the best move is a big one, we can write it off…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Are You Holding Your Business Back? Let it Grow!
I had a conversation with a successful cafe and roastery client recently. We talked about delegation and what was standing in the way of them giving tasks and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
616: How to Run a Boardgame Cafe w/ Kevin Kerkhof of Hitherto Coffee and Gaming Parlour!
Boardgames and coffee! The two were meant for one another. Gathering around a table to share an experience with your friends and family is core to how…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Avoid Burnout By Serving Your Managers
We serve 2 types of customers. External and internal. The external customer is the one that comes in for a coffee and spends money and time with us as guests…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
615: The Key to Excellent Cafes, Sales, and Wholesale Support w/ Sam Lewontin!
In the world of specialty coffee, the relationship between roaster and cafe is one of the most vital. In a healthy relationship, there is a support for the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! The Best Strategy is Simplicity
I have noticed a lot of noise in the industry. The coffee shop and its owner are the targets of a crushing and never ending stream of marketing that does not…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
614: 3 Areas to Prioritize for Your People's Success
A cafe's culture is built by intentionally investing in values, hiring, training, and leadership structures and behaviors. These areas are integral to any…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Every Manager Should Have This Trait
We are notorious in coffee for promoting people into management based only on technical skills or that they might not be quite as unreliable as others on the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
613: Challenges and Opportunities in Changing the Industry w/ Writer Sarah Charles of Underscore Communication
Today we have access to information about the world of coffee that is unprecedented. At times it can be overwhelming to consider all the areas of the coffee…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Getting The Hint From Your Customers
Sometimes we hope against hope that we can eventually win the customer over to that one flavor, those later hours of your cafe, or the new menu item that the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
612: Founder Friday! w/ Yaren Maya of Cafeto Cacao in Oaxaca, Mexico!
I am so glad that I came across this jewel of a cafe in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico. We hear often about direct trade relationships, local sourcing, excellent…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
611: What Colin Harmon Knows About Growing Coffee Shops!
As hard as starting a coffee shop can be, growing that shop is where the real work begins. The industry is riff with examples of cafes and roasteries that have…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Are You Ready To Scale?
As time goes on, opportunities to grow your business will present themselves and you need to make a decision on whether you will say yes, no, or not yet. In…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
610: What People Love and Hate in a Coffee Shop |Research Results from Chicago Coffee Fest
What do customers love and hate about coffee shops? It feels like a question that is too easy to answer and as a result I believe we do not spend nearly enough…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Why You Need To Cross-Train Staff
In too many cafes we find staff trained only in the areas they work in with minimal to no knowledge or understanding in other parts of the business. This…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
609: Lessons On Running a True Community Space w/ Blew Kind of D'griot Cafe | Philadelphia, PA
More than just a 3rd space, some cafes are platforms for ideas, catalysts for change, and a space specifically organized and designed to grow and nurture their…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Why It's Hard To Find Good Help These Days
We have heard this phrase before and, if we are honest, we have said it a couple times too. The statement is problematic since it assumes that the world around…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
608: The Best Behaviors for Building Resilient Cafe and Roastery w/ Tracy Allen of Brewed Behavior Consulting
Our businesses are the results of the small and large decisions we make over the years. It is our behavior in the business that ultimately determines the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Founder Friday! w/ Amos Gillespie of Wheelhouse Coffee, Kentville, Nova Scotia, CA
The best coffee businesses are built on solid values, local community, and small consistent steps taken toward deeper connection through hospitality and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! You're Only as Good as Your Worst Drink
It may seem unfair, but it is the truth. Customer hold a special place in their brains for negative experiences. Don't we do the same? And when do most of…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
605: What To Do When You've Been Promoted To Manager
Congratulations! You have been made the cafe manager! Now what? Well, you are now occupying one of the most critical roles in all of coffee retail. As a leader…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Addressing "Bad Apples" On Your Staff
Nothing kills cafe culture like an a staff member who is a bad fit for their role. Often this manifests in work performance issues that are felt by customers…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Special! Interviews From Coffee Fest NYC 2026! w/ Rachel Apple and Ivana Chan (Raise the Bar), Jeremy Lyman (Birch Coffee), Lauren Tran (Bahn by Lauren)
Every Coffee Fest we sit down with presenters and speakers to talk about their field of expertise and learn from their experience in coffee. This last NYC…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
604: 5 Habits Holding You and Your Team Back
Habits we develop around work and leadership can serve to help us grow, or they can hold us back from growth. Many leaders unintentionally develop habits that…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Why You Will Always Be A Small Coffee Shop
Our image of who we are as a business is not necessarily the same as that of our customer. We see all the inside gears and pulleys that hide beneath the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
603: Innovation, Progress, and your Coffee Shop: Finding the Signal in the Noise
The words "innovation" and "progress" are the favorite buzz words of our industry, but what do they mean? It is usually a lot of noise around the subject of…