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 : Evolution Through Small Steps
When we set goals it is usually because we have come to realize a need for change. In the cafe this can result in making a large scale transformational effort…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
RoR #28 : Ease and Accessibility in Sample Roasting w/ Andrew Stordy, Inventor/Founder of IKAWA
Sample roasting empowers people with the knowledge of possibility locked in the coffee. Bringing sample roasting that provides for more continuity and better…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
450: A Conversation About Mobile Apps and Hospitality w/ Joe Capone of Espressly
Hospitality is a pursuit that relies on our ability to not only offer our guests excellence in quality, consistency, and interaction, but it also relies on us…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Embracing Your Constraints
You can't always get what you want. In fact, getting exactly what you want may hinder your growth and creativity in the long run. Most of us in the cafe space…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
449: Convenience and Automation in Coffee w/ Tim Cox of Franke Coffee Systems
The coffee market is much bigger than just specialty coffee. In fact specialty makes up just a fraction of coffee consumed globally. The advent of convenience…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
448: Founder Friday! Part 2 "Switching Gears" | w/ Doug Zell of Intelligentsia and The Meteor!
In this second part of our 2 part Founder Friday we switch gears with Doug Zell, founder of the iconic coffee company Intelligentsia Coffee. In the years that…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
448: Founder Friday! Part 1 "Switching Gears" | w/ Doug Zell of Intelligentsia and The Meteor!
The landscape of specialty coffee has been influenced by many people and companies over the last few decades. The foundations of the standards and methods we…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK : It's OK to Have Reasonable Tolerances
The pursuit of excellence drives us to create very stringent standards for our coffee, service, and businesses. There is nothing wrong with this, except for…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
447: Understanding the Business of Coffee w/ Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood
The world of coffee trade and commerce is complex to say the least. The difference between a business that succeeds and one that flounders is largely based on…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: How to Approach Holiday Hospitality
The holiday rush is in full swing and many of us (most of us) are trying our best to just survive the frenzy. Shops are full of customers as well as friends…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
446: Building a People-First Coffee Tech Culture w/ Jason "Double J" Johnson, Black Rabbit Service Co.
As the tools we use to craft coffee multiply, so too does the need for companies to keep the machines running well. Service techs are an essential segment of…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: We Need Inconvenient Coffee
We are obsessed with innovation that tends to solve problems that are increasingly inconsequential to the customer. A race to put coffee in virtually any…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
RoR #27 : Scaling and Relationships in a Small Roastery w/ Cody Gordon, Cerberus Coffee
Taking what you have learned over many years of working in coffee and creating your own roasting and cafe business is no easy task. It requires a strong enough…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
445: Evolution of the Barista-Machine Relationship w/ Ryan Willbur, Middleby Coffee
The magic baristas can render from coffee relies on not just their skill and the incredible efforts from producers and roasters, but also on the quality of the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
444: Founder Friday! w/ Julia Peixoto Peters of Peixoto Coffee, Arizona
Between the moment a farmer hands over their crop, to the moment a barista hands a customer a cup of that same coffee, there is a complex system that will…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: The Weight of Relationships
The coffee shop environment is filled with more that just coffee. It is a swirling mix of emotions, thoughts, expectations, communication, action…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
443: Keep Your Communication Simple! w/ Author Ben Guttmann
Why do we overcomplicate things? Certainly details matter with SOPs , recipes, etc...but communication to our customers and staff can often be more confusing…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Make Customer Feedback a Priority
Do we care what our customers think? If so, how do they know? When you talk to almost any operator of a cafe you will hear them say that they value the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
442 : We Need Confidence, Celebration, and Joy!
You hear it everywhere. Owning and running a business is hard, taxing, a battle even. And while there is truth to this, it is not the whole truth. In the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Your Manager Has No Time To Manage!
High expectations are fine as long as they are coupled with the resources and tools to actually achieve them. No position in the cafe gets the short end of the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
441: How to Achieve Operational Excellence w/ Laila Ghambari
A coffee shop cannot survive without having excellent operational systems and tools that bring together and make consistent all the craft, values, and magic we…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Quality Still Matters
Quality is subjective. What is not subjective though, is that quality matters. That begs the question, how should we define quality and pursue it in an age of…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
440 : What Should Scare You About Coffee
Working in coffee, you come across a lot of unexpected career pitfalls. Things that you may not have expected that can lurk just around the corner and lead us…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Founder Friday! Youth, Foster Care, and Human Connections Through Coffee | w/ Miah Sommer of Astute Coffee in Omaha, NE
More than 23k youth age out of the foster care system each year. Many of these young people, because of the trauma and instability, end up at higher risk of…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Wrong Fit For the Role, or Wrong Fit For Your Business?
It can be difficult to tell the difference between and employee who is not the right fit for your business, vs a barista who is is simply not the right fit for…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
438 : How to Build a Successful Cafe w/ Erin Young of Red Buffalo Cafe
Opening a running a successful cafe is no easy task. I requires passion as well as attention to the details around systems, relationships, and being able to…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Making Minimum Viable Changes
Once we see that there are changes that need to be made tyo improve our shops, we can tend to either freeze under the enormity of the task, or we can respond…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
437 : The New Age of the Barista: Mindsets + Habits for Success
What does it take to be successful as a barista or even just a coffee professional today? I believe the main differentiator for cafes is the experience and the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: Rest and Meaningful Work
As we focus this week on balance and taking stock of the levels of energy and effort we put into our cafes, we must also consider the type of work we are…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
436: Stop Burn Out! and Make Work Effortless w/ Greg McKeown | Best Selling Author "Effortless"
How many times have we heard that we are supposed to give work our all? Give 100% or even 110%? And then we wonder how it is that professional baristas…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SHIFT BREAK: I Learned it from Watching You!
Whether or not you are familiar with the 80's anti-pot commercial this episode references or not, the fact is that those who we lead are looking at the example…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
435 : Encore! It's OK to be the Boss, w/ Bruce Tulgan
Fully stepping into your authority is an act of service. Your position as a leader is meant to serve those you lead. But if you do not think it is ok to be the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
434 : Founder Friday | Leo Ferreira | Puzzle Coffee Shop, Tanzania!
Tanzania is well known the world over for growing and exporting wonderful and iconic coffees. Mostly every coffee professional has enjoyed a Tanzania Peaberry…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
RoR #26 : How to Approach Roasting Fine Robusta w/ Cleia Junqueira | Consultant + Q-Robusta Grader
Fine robusta has been the hot topic of conversation in the specialty industry these last few years and for good reason. What was once relegated to the…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Defining Excellence and Success
We love to talk about setting each other up for success and pursuing excellence in what we do. In some ways we are like the person trying to order food in…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
433: How to Earn Loyalty
How do I find loyal staff and win loyal customers? This question and many like it has been asked thousands of times as we deal with incredible amounts of turn…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
You Need to Prioritize In-House Training!
Cafe standards are often a jumble of various people's ideas sourced from both far flung areas of the industry and the past habits of new staff. We are in a…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
432 : How to Win in Specialty Retail Coffee
It is a new era is specialty retail coffee. Great coffee can be found very easily in most major cities and people are making better coffee at home than they…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Raising Your Hiring Standard
The world of hospitality is filled with people who are either a great fit for the field, or not. Problem is that, for the number of coffee shops in operation…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
431: An Exercise in Listening to Coffee w/ Alexander Roach of Boycott Coffee + The Alphabet Book of Coffee
As professionals, our communication about coffee is only as good as our ability to truly tune in to the message that emerges from the many different voices…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Pull Out The Fridge
Ever wonder what's behind the fridge? Most of us have had the unique "pleasure" of finding out. The build up of cup lids, loose change, grime, and other…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
430 : Embracing "Unreasonable Hospitality" w/ Will Guidara | Thank You NYC + The Welcome Conference
Coffee is all about human connection. That we get to create both the beverage and the experience people have when enjoying it is at once a great…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
RoR #25 : Training Up the Next Generation of Roasters w/ Steve Lee of Pocket Knife Consulting + Linea Caffe
Effectively training up an apprentice roaster is key not only to your succession, the growth of your business, and the consistency of your quality, -but…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Insecurity in Management
Now that you are the boss, manager, trainer, or leader, there is a lot of pressure to perform and prove yourself to those your lead AND to yourself. It is easy…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SPECIAL! Part 2 | Coffee Fest Anaheim 2023 w/ Steve Chang of Copa Vida Cafe and Jon Ferguson of Coffee Tech Central
Welcome to Part 2 of the Coffee Fest live on the show floor interviews from Anaheim, CA 2023! This time we are starting off with an interview with Steve Chang…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
SPECIAL! Part 1| Coffee Fest Anaheim 2023 w/ Kenneth Davids and Madeleine Longoria Garcia
Welcome to Part 1 of the Coffee Fest live on the show floor interviews from Anaheim, CA 2023! It was a pleasure to kick things of with coffee legend and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
429 : Believing You CAN Run a Great Shop w/ Michael Ryan of Threadbare Coffee Consulting
In the face of necessary reality checks and the inherent ups and downs of starting and running a coffee shop, there must always exist the foundational idea…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
428 : Founder Friday | Maxwell Mooney's Final Chapter at Narrative Coffee and New Beginnings
Early on in the podcast (2019) I had Maxwell on to tell the story of Narrative and then 3 more times since then to discuss deeper topics related to running a…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
For Here or To-Go?
What would you think if you went to a sit down restaurant an hour before close where, after seating you, they brought your food out in doggie bags "because we…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
427 : Encore Episode: What you MUST Know About Employee Culture w/ Stan Slap
While culture is a needed focus, today it has become the hottest buzz word that can mean almost anything. What is most useful these days as we rightly focus on…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
426: Fostering a Culture of Continuous Improvement
Having an engaged staff that are motivated and inspired to not just get through the shift, but to truly invest into the cafe and help improve things is a dream…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Generate More Urgency!
So many things vie for our attention in the day-to-day work of the coffee shop. In the midst of the fires we need to put out, questions that need answers, and…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
425 : Some Thoughts on Supporting Your Manager
Managers hold the key to the success of the shop. They are tasked with taking all the people, place, and processes and making them work well together day to…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Faithfulness and Honesty
It is easy to get discouraged in running a cafe. There are a million things to do and the temptation to despair becomes worst when we hold an idealized version…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
424: Developing Menu and Hospitality Guides
When it comes to our training and resourcing of staff we often have a desire for people to "get it" and to be detail oriented, but fail to give them much to…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
423 : Founder Friday! w/ Danny and Michelle Quiroz of Reserva Coffee Roasters | McAllen, TX
I am so excited to present this Founder Friday with two people who are doing amazing things in coffee! I met them in the first year of their business in 2018…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
Three Questions for Better Cafe Decisions
Everyday we make decisions about both small and large things in the coffee shop. Often those decisions are made in a reactive way that is more born from a…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
ROR #24 : Perspectives on Roasting for Espresso w/ Jaroslav Tuček of Doubleshot, Czech Republic
Roasting for espresso is a tricky business. Not only are there multiple variables that inherently complicate the extraction process but there is also a wide…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
422: Coffee Truck Success w/ Vincent LaVolpa of Green Joe Coffee School
One of the best options for getting started in coffee without as much risk is a coffee truck. Especially emphasized post-pandemic, mobile concepts like coffee…
- Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
The Courage to Correct
While we always want to assume our staff are aspiring for the highest standards, we know that they (just like us) need help. In the course of the day there are…