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! You Need to Avoid This HUGE Training Mistake!
Training employees remains one of the central tasks of cafe ownership and management. Rather than training from a central standard and source that has been…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
541: Repetition, Reminders, and Guidance
If you are like a lot of owners or managers you might find the idea of reminding and repeating yourself to be at the top of the "most annoying things I should…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Why The Best Hospitality Starts With The Transactional!
We talk about how we want to provide an experience for the guest, to connect with them, to make a positive impact. The way to get there though is through…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
540: The Good and Bad of Job Descriptions
On average, when I look into a cafe's operational materials and systems, one of the main things that is either not developed well, developed but not updated…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Vendor Hospitality
Who we are when nobody s looking is really who we are. There are variations of this phrase and for most it is convicting and motivates us to increase the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
539: Helping Regular People Enjoy Coffee w/ Matthew Bryce, Seven Sleepers Coffee Lab
"Customers are already dialed in." This is one of my favorite quotes from the interview I had with today's guest. The industry has largely been focused on…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Explaining the Manager's Landscape | A Framework For Leading Staff
Being a manager in a coffee shop is not just about extra administrative tasks, its about leading and guiding people well through the work of the cafe. Many…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
538: The Most Important Things to Focus In The First Year (or any year)
Coffee shops are dynamic places that require a ton of focus on what seems like an endless sea of urgent things. Some are actually more important than others…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Small Wins Build Trust
Once we get a little bit of authority as a trainer, manager, or leader in the coffee shop we tend to dream about and focus on all the things we want to change…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SPECIAL! Interviews from Coffee Fest NYC 2025: Antoine Franklin, Mo Hashmi, Caroline Bell, and Maria Sinatra!
We are back with anew round of show floor interviews from Coffee Fest! This time we were in NYC at the Keys to the Shop booth and got four wonderful presenters…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
537: Success as a Coffee Tech : Training and Relationships w/ Brady Butler W/ Trail Braze Coffee Academy
Maintaining the functionality of your equipment is one of the main tasks involved in running a shop. You yourself may wan to be trained in machine tech, you…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
RoR #35: The Core 7 : Practical Disciplines for a Successful Roastery w/ Luke Waite | Pomelo Coffee Consulting
There are an incredible number of tasks associated with running a coffee roastery. The busy work of keeping things going often gets in the way of working on…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Two Types of Continued Education for Baristas
When you onboard baristas, the work is just beginning. Part of the privilege of leadership is to provide ongoing coaching and training to all staff. This…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
536: What It Means to Set Up Staff For Success
The world of cafe management is full of great ideas that, if applied well, would indeed change things for the better. The idea around leader ship role being…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
535: Founder Friday! 30 Years of Coffee! w/ Ana Burgos and Amanda Jones of Hyperion Espresso, Fredricksburg, VA
Simplicity, focus, community, and legacy. These are some words that I feel apply to the steady and excellent service of Hyperion Espresso these last 30 years…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Don't Force The Wrong People To Do The Right Work
It is a common weakness of hiring managers and desperate owners alike. We hire people that are not the right fit and spend most of our time trying to get them…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
534: Encore! Helping Your Team Work Through Their Strengths w/ Lisa Cummings of lead Through Strengths!
Once you hire the right people for your cafe you move on to the next decision, how to work with them to give them to set them and the business up for success…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Getting Over the Awkwardness of Leadership
Why does it feel so awkward and difficult to take action the way we know we need to as leaders in the coffee shop? If you are human, you feel a kind of…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
533: Principles of Quality Control
The quality of your product matters. Some might get the idea that if only we are kind and hospitable then all will be forgiven or overlooked when it comes to…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: The Myth of a Saturated Market
"I cannot open a coffee shop because my market is too saturated!" Does this sound like something you have heard or even said yourself? Today there are indeed a…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
532: Start with Hospitality
The question we sometimes ask interviewees is, "What is more important, quality, or hospitality?" Spoiler, it's a trick question and the answer we like to hear…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
RoR #34: Roasting for Different Cultivars w/ Rob Hoos | Rob Hoos Coffee Consulting
Roasting coffee sets the stage for how much potential enjoyment a customer has in drinking it. In order to truly bring out the best in a particular coffee, you…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Why Following Through is the Key to Better Coffee Shops
In order to assure our staff that we are listening and want to provide them solutions for issues they bring up we will often promise things in the moment, but…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
531: Why the Rise Convenience Coffee is a Good Opportunity for Coffee Shops
It is easy to get caught up into the vortex of convenience in automation in the industry today. Whether it's the giant chain drive-through's popping up across…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
530: Founder Friday w/ Aisha Bullard and Modou (MAD) Diongue of Original Drip in Dakar, Senegal
Creating a coffee shop that is not only for the community but built with the community is a pretty magical thing. It requires a deft balance between…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! How To Get The Most From a Coffee Event
Whether it is a trade show, local business event, online or in-person summit, or a local throw down, coffee events are a way to connect and offer a lot of…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
529: 10 Years of Coffee w/ Luke Adams of Standart Magazine
Coffee has always been about connection. The coffee shop brings people together inspiring conversations and playing a role in developing relationships that…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Holding Baristas (and Yourself!) Accountable
At a certain point a manager or owner will need to have a difficult conversation with a staff member that ultimately is about accountability. This conversation…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
528 : Growing Yourself and Your Cafe Through Delegation
When you start a coffee shop you find yourself doing a lot of the jobs yourself. Scheduling, inventory, event management, training and onboarding, meetings…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Adding Value in the Cafe
These days a lot of coffee shop owners are thinking about how they can add value for the customer. Of course this is a question that should be asked and right…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
527: Thoughts on How to Approach Training and Onboarding
Besides hiring the right person for the role in your coffee shop, onboarding and training is the most important thing to get right so those you bring on and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! The Work of Offering Kindness in the Cafe
When we talk about the virtues of hospitality, one of the ones that comes up a lot is kindness. The extension of this grace to others in spite of our mood is a…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
526: Founder Friday w/ Fount Coffee and Kitchen Owners, Shawn and Kristen Preissner and George and Katie Kilgore!
Creating and maintaining an elevated standard of hospitality is no easy task. It not only requires strategies and systems, but it requires that those providing…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
525: Encore: Focusing on What is Essential w/ Greg McKeown
As we continue to navigate costs and the increasing competitive landscape of running a coffee shop, focusing on what is essential in your business has never…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
RoR #33: The Other Kind of Sourcing Every Roaster Needs w/ Mark Kutrovski of Mirror Coffee Roasters
Feedback. It is all too common to use this word. But do many of us actively pursue it as if it is foundational to the success of our businesses? Chances are…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! You Are Not a Third Wave Coffee Shop
Sorry to break it to you, but literally nobody who matters cares how you define yourself. In our quest to find belonging and quell the voice of our imposter…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
524: Embracing Professional Development for Your Coffee Shop Team
In order to move to the next level of maturity and capacity, both as people and as a company, a coffee shop and its staff but be pursuing more than just…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Every Customer is a Judge
Now is the time to start redirecting our gaze from competitions and accomplishing greatness on a stage serving judges that do not matter to our shops, and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
523: Encore: How We Ruin Specialty Coffee Experience
We suck at fulfilling the implied or explicit promises we make through our coffee shop marketing. Smiling faces with beautiful drinks and a clean environment…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! The Necessary Death of the Superstar Barista
The search for a "superstar" barista seems to never die. It is a desire born from our tendency to attribute success and power to one person in-spite of the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
522: Why Celebration and Specialization Make Coffee Better w/ Tim Williams of Fieldwork Coffee and The World Aeropress Championships
Over the years, our collective philosophy and approach to coffee has taken many forms as we learn more about what the industry needs to thrive. We as…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
521: Founder Friday! w/ Bow Smith of Rowan Coffee, Asheville, NC
Coffee shops are created through intention and reflect the values and often the personality of first the ones who begin them, and then those who work in them…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! The Two Kinds of Margin You Need in the Cafe
We all know that in order for a business to be sustainable, it has to be profitable. We need financial margin in order to deal with the unexpected expenses and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
520: Tips For Great Workflow and Bar Presence
Workflow and bar presence are the necessary foundation on which coffee shines. Lately I have been doing a lot of cafe design and training work. One of the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Cortado Confusion
As most of you know, Starbucks has once again coopted a traditional drink and introduced it to their menu as a part of their "Back to Starbucks" campaign. The…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
519: The World of Coffee People w/ Ryan Woldt of The Coffee People Podcast
Many, dare I say, all of us, who fell in love with coffee can trace our beginnings to a moment when something we experienced in the cup surprised us with its…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
RoR #32: New Season! Should You Pre-blend Your Green Coffee or Blend Post Roast? w/ Bryant Banker Scannell or Relative Coffee Co.
Whether it started purely as a quest for efficiency, or as a way to achieve consistency in a blend, pre-blending green coffee is a pretty staple practice for…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Don't Rely on Brand Identity
Does this sound familiar? "You should shop here because we are local! ...or we support this cause! ...or we have this association!"? While our identity and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
518: How to Run a Coffee Shop w/ Meaningful Hospitality
Even with all the conversations and tools available to us around the subject of hospitality, it is easy to engage in the pursuit of it in a way that ends up…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Back to the Basics
The value proposition of a coffee shop is not a complicated one. Kind service and hospitality in a clean and well organized space serving consistently great…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
517: Culture and Connection Through Coffee Spaces w/ Armen Alajian of Arto Brick
The act of creating a space is the core existence of the coffee shop operator. The way we set our minds to the task of serving through selecting colors…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: The Delegation Dip
Delegation is a difficult, but necessary part of growing your coffee business. It is critical in helping you grow as well. Delegation of responsibility and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
516: The Impact of Home Coffee Culture on the Cafe w/ Justin Piercy of Daddy Got Coffee
How do you brew great coffee at home? That question is probably one of the most searched and asked questions that has unleashed what seems like a never ending…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Keeping the Shop
Let's face it, the look, feel, and functionality of the physical coffee shop will always be an important part of showing hospitality to our guests. The issues…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
515: 7 Areas to Pursue in the New Year
It's that time of year where we are collectively setting our sights on both the past and the future. What will this next year of 2025 hold for you and your…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SPECIAL! Interviews from Coffee Fest Minneapolis 2024 w/ Jaime Becker-Finn of Makwa Coffee, and Frederick Dubose of SunBean Coffee
Every Coffee Fest we get to sit down with some very cool presenters to chat about their businesses, area, of expertise, and insights that will help you run a…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
514: Founder Friday! w/ Raoul Adwan of Thrd Coffee in Chicago, IL!
For this last Founder Friday of 2024 we are featuring a story that I believe really embodies the spirit of entrepreneurship that fuels so many coffee shops…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Adjusting Our View of Labor Cost
Labor cost is probably the number one most worried over metric in the cafe. Of course, like any other metric that signifies the health of the business, your…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
513: Rock n' Roll, E-Commerce, and Opening a Coffee Shop w/ Acey Slade of Cat Fight Coffee!
Music and coffee seem to just go together. If you are into one, the other is not far behind. Both coffee and music inspire and create community that fuel's our…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! The Good and Bad of a Training Lab
There is no doubt about it, having a training lab is a wonderful asset to have for elevating the quality of your training...until it isn't. Truthfully, much…