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
512: The 5 Non-Coffee Books You Need to Read!
Ideas are like green coffee seeds. They are bundles potential cultivated by earnest hands that are then received by others who take them and develop them…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! How Not To Be a Jerk When Training Baristas
The title of today's episode sounds like a no brainer, but you may or may not be surprised to know that it is way easier than you think to be this way when…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! How Long Should it Take To Train a Barista?
I feel as though this question is constantly on the mind of owners. It is a question born from a desire to have a well trained staff that makes the quality of…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
511: The Art of Designing Unique Coffee Bars w/ Scott Magic of Magic Architecture
Creating a cafe space is about finding a fitting home for the equipment and people behind the counter who will use it. It is about finding a synthesis, a flow…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
510: Advancing Equity in Farmer-Consumer Relationships w/ Ethiopia's Beamlak Bekele!
One of the beautiful things about working in coffee today is the connectivity that is available to players in the value stream. Those who want to make the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
509 : Founder Friday! (Special 2 Part Before + After Episode w/ Nic and Krystal Tanaka of Kohiko Coffee House, Sugarland, TX!
It's Founder Friday! I am so thrilled to feature people who have become friends through getting to know them at coffee vents over the years. They have launched…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Engaging in the Right Conversations (or how not to accept undue guilt)
Did you know that, in spite of all the work you do for others, the sacrifices you make to run your business and do what you can for your staff, plus the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
508: Fighting Exploitation and Human Trafficking Through Coffee w/ Jenny Barber and Jake Jiron of Talitha Coffee Roasters!
Coffee brings people together for all sorts of reasons. One of the beautiful ways coffee is used is as a vehicle for change in areas of our world that…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! With or Without Experience? Hiring the Best Baristas
Ah the age old debate. Should you hire someone who is experienced working in coffee? On onhand they have skills that may be helpful and on the other they might…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
507: How High-Level Systems Help Your Cafe Thrive w/ Preston Lee, The 30% Rule
When you think about the things that make the biggest difference in culture, hospitality experience, staff morale and the profitability of your coffee shop…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK! Should You Up-Charge for Alternative Milks?
In recent weeks Starbucks has announced it will no longer charge for plant-base alternative milks. This comes after efforts from activists claiming…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
506 : Critical Workflows Every Coffee Shop Needs
The way customers and staff experience our cafes is based many experiences and moments taken together to form what they know as our culture or brand. Each…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: The Best Way for Every Shop to Train Baristas
Training your staff is easily one of the most important things to get right if you want to set them up for success and make sure your customers are getting a…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
505: Maintaining Excellence in the Everyday Work of Coffee Shops w/ Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood
Innovation and an obsession with what is "new" has long been a primary force capturing the imagination of coffee pros and entrepreneurs. Trouble is that the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
504 : Founder Friday! w/ Parviz Dadashov of United Coffee Beans in Azerbaijan!
Today on Founder Friday we go to Azerbaijan to talk with the founder of a coffee shop and roastery that is at the heart of the national specialty coffee…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Is Your Love for Coffee Sabotaging Your Success?
Coffee is great! Keeping it consistently great in the shop is a challenge and there are many tactics and tools to apply in learning more about coffee and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
503 : 5 Coffee Industry Movements Your Shop Needs to Embrace
The coffee industry, specifically the coffee shop, has been changing. Trends and fads come and go, but movements are born from a collective need to evolve and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Finding Time for Change in the Cafe
So many great ideas come from conversations, trade shows, podcasts, books, and videos. Ideas and epiphanies that will make your coffee shop better and solve…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
502: Creating Meaningful Coffee Experiences
We all say that guest experience is the most important thing. I would agree, but exactly what do we mean by this? In today's marketplace we are hyper focused…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Why Your Shop Needs to Tell Stories
Every coffee shop hosts within its walls countless stories. The life that happens on the pltform of a cafe is just breath taking. This includes stories that…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
501: Teamwork, Mentorship, and Translating Coffee w/ 2024 Brewers Cup Champion of Turkey, Nida Fetullahoğlu
Translating coffee from one form to the next, and serving it in a way that further translates the value of that coffee into a rewarding experience for the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Want to be Effective? Don't Use Chat GPT
The allure of easily producing documents and processes for your coffee shop through AI is strong. Using tools to support your business in a thoughtful way is…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
500! Reflections and The Role of the Coffee Shop in the Industry
The impact of the coffee shop on the entire industry is astounding. The beauty and transcendence of a well run cafe offers excellence and care to staff and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
499: Founder Friday! w/ Kenzel and Tio Fallen of Three Keys Coffee, Houston, TX
Today on Founder Friday are exploring the story of Three Keys Coffee in a wonderful conversation with the founders, Kenzel and Tio Fallen! Kenzel Fallen is…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK : How to Design Cafe Station Responsibilities
Workflow on the coffee bar is one of the most important things to design when considering how we will deliver excellent service and quality to our customers…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
498: 10 Small Things to Fix in Your Coffee Shop This Week
Small things make a big difference in the coffee shop. Trouble is, that we tend to procrastinate addressing the natural falling away of doing small things well…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Hard Work is Hard | Part 2
We all work hard and face challenges in the cafe. The way we interpret the effort put in to the work of running a coffee shop will determine both the quality…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
497: Caught in the Middle: Answering Questions from Frustrated Management
The first place you're going to see burn out in the coffee bar is in the position of management. These lucky people are not only given the task to lead the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Special Part 2 : Live from Coffee Fest LA! w/ Anna Gutierrez of Barista 22 and Sandra Elisa Loofborow of Loupe Coffee Consulting
Welcome to Part 2 of this special Coffee Fest live on the show floor episode! Interviews from Los Angeles 2024! Los Angeles was so amazing and we got to sit…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SPECIAL! | PART 1 Coffee Fest LA! 2024 w/ Shanita Nicholas of Sip and Sonder + Elisa Hoyos and Leo Abularach of Picaresca Barra de Cafe
Welcome to Part 1 of this special Coffee Fest live on the show floor episode! Interviews from Los Angeles 2024! Los Angeles was so amazing and we got to sit…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Don't Celebrate Unhealthy Wins
We have to overcome many challenges in the day-to-day operations of the coffee shop. Some of these challenges are inevitable, and our ability to grow from our…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
496: Hard Decisions and High Standards
Much of what gets written regarding the reasons behind declining standards in the coffee shop focuses on the leadership and what they can do to facilitate…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Special Message: What is a Key Holder Coaching Group and Why Join?
The things we learn in community with others can have a profound impact on both us and our businesses. Certainly learning by yourself is a good thing, but…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Making Sense of Marketing Promises
Marketing is designed to get you to buy. It is something we all do in our businesses. In fact, to not market is to do the customer a disservice in that they…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
495 : Encore Episode: Loving the Closing Shift: Problems, Solutions, and Transformational Mindsets
To me, there is something special about the closing shift. Yes there is a lot of work, but there is an honor in tending to the place that just that day made…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
493 Founder Friday! w/ Rachel Lehman of Crema Coffee Roasters in Nashville, TN
There are many great coffee shops and roasters in this world. What makes a great cafe in my mind is intentionality, a focus on kindness, consistency…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Embrace Your Space
Designing your coffee shop can be one of the most exciting parts of the opening or scaling process. Exciting, that is, until we come up against resistance to…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
492: How to be The Best Coffee Shop
What is the "Best" coffee shop? As long as coffee and coffee shops have been around, us humans have been rather preoccupied with what the best coffee of coffee…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Focusing on the Whole, Not the Part
Getting into coffee and then pursuing it as a career takes your through a few different phases of maturation. One of the first phases is where you focus only…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
491: Graceful Exits: How to Sell Your Coffee Shop w/ Aaron Friedman
When you start a business, pretty much all your attention goes to getting it up and running and then to keeping it going and growing it over the hopefully many…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Setting Staff Up For Success
When we talk about our employees it is common to talk about "setting up staff for success", but what does that really look like. Talking about it can sometimes…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SPECIAL! | Coffee Fest NOLA 2024 w/ Turgay Yildizli of Specialty Turkish Coffee, Doron Petersan of Sticky Fingers Sweets and Eats, and Jonathan Riethmaier of Mammoth Coffee
Welcome to our special episode from Coffee Fest live on the show floor interviews from New Orleans, 2024! To start us off we will be talking with Turgay…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
490: 7 Vital Things to Include in Daily Shift Work
A shop is maintained by the attention and repeated actions we put into it. We need to make sure our systems and tools are crafted well in order to make sure…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Reassessing Growth
Growing the business is probably the number one concern in the cafe industry. In general we tend to look at growth as either scaling the size of the business…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
489: Tips for Creating a Resilient Cafe
Ever since 2020, we as a coffee industry have been looking for ways to create more resiliency in our businesses. The cafe in particular is vulnerable to a lack…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
488: Founder Friday! Honoring Coffee's Root w/ Bartholomew Jones of Cxffee Black!
Coffee is from Africa, yet the way we think of and enjoy coffee today is largely separated from the roots that produced that original fruit. The disparity we…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Are You Growing With Your Business?
It is assumed that we should constantly be growing our businesses and looking to expand, scale, and add-to what we have now. Trouble is that, in today's…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
487: How to Think Fast and Talk Smart in the Cafe w/ Matt Abrahams
Every day in the cafe we are called on to communicate "in the moment". Whether we are baristas, trainers, managers, or owners ; how effective we are in those…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Don't Give Up
Seeing results form your efforts is what motivates most all of us. In the coffee shop you are engaged with a dynamic intersesion of moving and living…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
486: Why You should Fire Your Landlord and Consider Owning Your Building w/ Paul Neal
One of the most heartbreaking things I see is when an established cafe is forced to upend everything due to changes to the cost or use of a space that they do…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Don't Manage by Crisis
Managing in a cafe is one of the ultimate forms of leadership. Part of leading as a manager is planning for, responding to, or avoiding altogether, problems…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
485: Your Shop vs The Industry - How to Free Yourself From Dependency
The Industry. What does that even mean? Owners and professionals use this term as though it has specific power to give clarity or meaning to the work they do…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Three BIG Hiring Mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Hiring is probably the most important decision you make in your coffee shop. As important as it is to choose the right people, we often are at the mercy of bad…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
484: Demystifying Mentorship w/ Dr. Ruth Gotian, Author of "The Financial Times guide to Mentorship""
In the the coffee industry, we all need help and we can all give help. In order to truly advance our own careers and those of others we want find success we…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Hiring based on Staff Preference vs Business Needs
Making decisions about who to hire or even who might need to be let go are some of the hardest but most important decisions to make in a coffee shop. So hard…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
483: Encore: 6 Essential Qualities of Coffee Shop Leaders
Leadership in the coffee shop can either be the glue that holds it together and nurtures its growth, or it is the force that tears it apart and depletes it of…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
482: Founder Friday! w/ Rahul Reddy of Subko Coffee Mumbai, India
At the head of some of the most exciting brands in India's rapidly expanding specialty coffee scene is Subko. More than coffee, Subko has created a platform to…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: The Best Marketing Strategy
We only have so much energy, time, and money to give to marketing our coffee shops. There is a lot of stress related to having the right strategy for getting…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
481 : Exploring Sensory Analysis Using "The Coffee Rose"/ Ian Fretheim, Director of Sensory Analysis at Cafe Imports
Tasting coffee is arguably one of the most important, yet subjective practices we engage in as coffee professionals. As our guest today will articulate…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Stop Talking, and Start Doing
It is easy to talk about the things we want to improve, fix, and institute in the cafe. Trouble is that in all the talking of doing the how we need this or…