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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 or coffee career. 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.
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Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders
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Now displaying: June, 2019
Jun 28, 2019

Drive-Thru coffee stands play a huge part in spreading the good word of specialty coffee. The convenience they offer makes both consuming coffee and getting into the business of coffee more accessible. Today on Founder Friday we are talking with a real drive-thru success story,  Jasmine Diedrich Wilson, Owner of the Diedrich Espresso

Jasmine started the company at 19 years old and has been at it for eight years. She started with two stands and now has a whopping sixteen. This is an all women owned and run organization that not only serves great coffee and hospitality to their customers but also gives back the their community every chance they get.

Jasmine is a wonderful business woman who, in the beginning, learned a lot of hard lessons and has since developed an inspirational skill for leadership, management, and the know how to run a multi-site coffee business.

We will learn about:

  • Jasmine's story and the evolution of Diedrich Espresso
  • Leading by empowering others
  • Overcoming your past leadership mistakes
  • Dealing with criticism for how you got your starting capital
  • Elements of a successful drive through
  • Curating the culture across multiple locations
  • Ideal drive-thru menu
  • Achieving hospitality in a drive-thru
  • What are the financial standards for determining staffing levels?
  • Choosing locations

 ENJOY! 

 

Links:

WWW.DIEDRICHESPRESSO.COM 

Jun 27, 2019

As your competition increases, standing out becomes more of a struggle. We chase ways to be unique and often we grab hold of trends, products, and concepts that end up looking more like desperation than authentic expressions of your business and brands. Today we chat about the fact that differentiation, the kind that matters most, comes with time and is well worth waiting for.

 

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Take a moment and visit our awesome sponsors! 

The best cleaner for your coffee equipment: 

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Jun 24, 2019

Managing money can be super stressful. This is especially true when you own and operate a coffee shop, the margins are thin, and there seems to be more going out than coming in. To help us work through our approach to our money we are talking with the Emmy Award nominated and Gracie Award winning financial analyst for CBS News, Jill Schlesinger! 

Jill is the host of the "Jill on the Money Podcast" of the nationally syndicated radio show, "Jill on the Money" which one the 2018 Gracie Award for best national talk show.  Jill appears on CBS radio stations all over the country and covers the topics of economy, markets, investing, and all things financial. She translates complicated business and economic news into understandable relatable topics for everyday people. 

Jill is also the author of the new book, "The Dumb Things Smart people do with Their Money" where she reveals 13 costly mistake we are likely making right now with our money and how much of what causes us to make these mistakes are emotional blindspots related to our mindset on toward money. 

We dive into this idea and more in this episode as Jill details smart and stable ways to approach money. The result is a conversation that will definitely set you on the a course for a more peaceful relationship with your finances. 

In this conversation you will learn about:

  • Developing a balanced mindset toward money
  • Achieving and enjoying your goals 
  • What mistakes small biz owners make
  • Why it’s important to pay yourself 
  • Developing endurance as an entrepreneur
  • Who to take advice from
  • A framework for making decisions 
  • Good practices once you are profitable
  • Investing in your employees and business
  • Creating an environment consistent with your values
  • Setting the financial tone in your business 

LINKS:

www.jillonmoney.com

 

 

Jun 20, 2019

Coffee is too cheap, and we all want customers to pay more for specialty coffee. How can we more effectively shift customers over to paying more, is it through higher quality or better experiences? Today we chat about why elevation of the customer experience is the ultimate leveraging tool for creating sustainable value and ultimately will be what determines whether people will consistently pay more. 

Jun 18, 2019

What we think and how we act are inextricably linked. In the world of hospitality how our views and assumption about others influences everything form how we serve customers -to who we promote to leadership positions in the cafe. A large part of what contributes to our behavior is actually under the radar and as such goes unaddressed. Today we making a conscious effort to tackle and talk about unconscious bias w/ special guest , Lauren Lathrop of Mill City Roasters! 

Lauren works as part of the education team at Mill City Roasters in Minneapolis, where she recently moved after 10 years in Portland, OR. She is an Authorized SCA Trainer, a Head Judge for the United States Barista Championship, and a certified judge for both the World Barista and World Brewers Cup Competitions. She has worked in the coffee industry for over 12 years as a barista, assistant manager, and retail coffee educator. She has also competed in Barista Competitions, earning a spot in the finals at the 2012 Northwest Regional Barista Competition. She now serves as Vice Chair for the US Barista Competitions Committee and has developed a number of new training programs for competitions, including an Unconscious Bias Training for Judges.

In todays episode you will learn about:

  • The evolution of the Unconscious Bias Training and its impact on the competitions
  • Our tendencies for bias in customer serve and in the shop
  • Why unconscious bias is not intrinsically bad
  • What can do to address it personally
  • What we can do to address it systemically
  • Helpful mindsets to adopt in the journey to explore unconsious bias

LINKS:

www.millcityroasters.com

Lauren's email: Lauren@millcityroasters.com

 

Jun 12, 2019

Everyday we have the opportunity to act on thoughts we have that would benefit others and never follow through. There is a whole world of encouragement lying dormant inside each of us that could greatly contribute to harmony within the bar and ease the relational tension that is such so prevalent in cafes around the world. 

Today we discuss the concept of self-betrayal and how not engaging in it can bring everyone to a higher level. 

 

www.keystotheshop.com

chris@keystotheshop.com

 

Jun 11, 2019

Being a manager in coffee ain't easy. There is no end to the number of different issues vying for your attention on any given day and it can seem like you are constantly trying to keep your head above water. Managers are the most important leaders in specialty retail and in order to do our best work we need to learn from the example of others. Today get to learn from the experiences of someone who has seen great success in cafe management, Jon Felix Lund.

Jon has been in coffee for close to 15 years and Currently VP Of Operations for Coava Coffee Roasters in Portland, OR where he has spent the last 6 years. He started as a trainer and quickly moved into management from there.

With an emphasis on developing his team, constantly improving communication, and deftly planning for the future the things that he will need to succeed, Jon is the perfect person to help us learn in this management masterclass

Some of the things you will learn: 

  • Relying on your team
  • Delegating responsibly 
  • Focusing your time
  • Good communication
  • Planning out your time
  • Coddling vs challenging staff
  • Vulnerability as a manager
  • Finding system solutions. Embracing confrontation
  • Advancing as a barista

Where ever you are in your journey as a manager you are sure to get something useful and empowering from this conversation.

Enjoy!

LINKS:

www.coavacoffee.com

www.thegreatnorthpdx.com

 

 

Have questions or comments? Want training or consultation? 

chris@keystotheshop.com

www.keystotheshop.com

 

 

Jun 6, 2019

Sometimes we can give ourselves a pass when it comes to being the type of professional that we want employees to be. Practicing self-awareness is tricky when the work continually distracts you but it is necessary in order to not become a hypocrite at work. Today we talk about why it is important to ask yourself this question and what to do once you have answered. 

Jun 3, 2019

The beautiful thing about coffee is getting to explore the stories of all the wonderful individuals who make up the specialty community. Today we we do just that. 

In this series of four short interviews from the show floor at Coffee Fest Indianapolis we get to sit down with Stephen Garcia, General Manager at Commissary Barber & Barista, Indianapolis, IN  / Andy and Sarah Hassler, Owners of Blue Mind Roasting, Indianapolis, IN / Lizath Zorrilla, Co-Owner of La Finca Coffee House, St. Francis, WI  / Natassa Contini, Owner of the nations first dog cafe, Chateau Le Woof  in Astoria, NY

As we dive into their stories we get to hear about the pressures of ownership, self-care, team management, pursuing opportunities operating a hybrid model cafe, delegation, confronting racial bias in the shop, growing a business sustainably, managing power dynamics between boss and employee, and a whole heck of a lot more. 

I hope you enjoy getting to know these folks. I definitely think you will find something that will encourage, inspire, or equip you for the road ahead no matter where you are in your coffee journey.

LINKS:

 

WWW.COFFEEFEST.COM

 Need consulting or training for your shop? Lets talk!

chris@keystotheshop.com

 

 

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