Going from barista work to take on a management role can be a tough transition. It can also be a very rewarding one both personally and professionally. On this episode we talk with Lauren Airola about her experiences as a barista and a manager at Onyx Coffee Lab in NW Arkansas. We discuss her "Employee Focused" management style, how she discovered more about her strengths and weaknesses, her advice on how we improve as managers and baristas, and her decision to step away from management back into barista work.
There's just a lot here. I think you are going to find this just as fascinating and helpful as I did!
Enjoy!
Show notes:
www.keystotheshop.com/resources
Other resources mentioned:
Bethany Hargrove's Article in Barista Magazine on transitioning from barista work to roasting
It's the second edition of Founder Friday and today we get to hear the story and learn from the experiences of Maxwell Mooney who owns Narrative Coffee in Everette, WA. We discuss how he got started in coffee, his driving vision for Narrative, how competitions and the coffee community helped shape that vision, and much more! I hope you enjoy the discussion. Maxwell is a true professional and incredibly driven guy and I was certainly encouraged by this conversation.
Show Notes and other resources can be found at: www.keystotheshop.com/resources
Maxwell can be reached at:
website:
social:
Want to donate you Competition wares? Maxwell suggests donating to WINCC (Women Investing in North West Coffee Champs)
Other Resources mentioned in this interview include:
Are barista competitions relevant what I do on the bar every day? How does my business benefit from sending staff to compete? These questions are asked by almost everyone at one time or another when they consider a coffee competitions. Today Jess Steffy, Owner of Square One Coffee in Lancaster, PA, joins us to not only answer these questions but also to share her experiences from being both a successful business owner and the Chair for the SCA's U.S. Competition Committee.
Jess is also a licensed Q Grader, a BGA Certified Barista, an SCA Certified Lead Instructor, a veteran USBC Judge, and certified World Barista judge.
Show notes are available at www.keystotheshop.com/resources
Have questions, comments etc? Chris@keystotheshop.com
Thanks and enjoy this episode with Jess Steffy!
Other mentions intros episode:
Nick Cho's (of the Portafilter Podcast) post on Medium about competition from an owners perspective
You can also learn more about the U.S. Coffee Championships by visiting www.uscoffeechampionships.org
Data, Metrics, Measurements...they play a critical role in the success of your shop. But how we approach the information available to us will determine how well we use it. Today Simon Ouderkirk a former coffee professional who now works with Automattic (the company behind Wordpress.com, WooCommerce, and JetPack) talks to us about how we can best approach data and make it work for business and our people.
If you're like me you can really get caught up in the numbers and maybe miss some critical perspectives that being on the floor talking to your staff and customer provides. You might be the opposite. Maybe you don't look at the numbers enough and are all about being on the floor. You might be missing critical information in the data that can enhance the experience people have in the cafe.
No matter where you are, you will likely be encouraged by this discussion and equipped with a foundational understanding of metrics that will help you use them successfully.
Show Notes are available on the website: www.keystotheshop.com/resources
Enjoy!
-Chris
Joyfulness in our work is something we all would like more of. Nathanael May joins us to discuss how we can cultivate joy in our work in coffee. Being a barista and remaining joyful throughout the day can be challenging especially when things just seem to be going wrong. In this episode we talk about the difference between Joyfulness and happiness, Joy's important role in the cafe, how we can take control of our own joyfulness, giving joy to others, and some tips for how you can start that process.
Nathanael May is the Director of Coffee and Green Buyer for Portland Roasting Coffee in Portland , OR. He is a head USBC judge, WBC judge, and a Certified Q Grader.
You can find some great writing from him HERE
For the complete show notes simply click HERE and you will be directed to our resources page where you can find the downloadable PDF of this episode's main points and key take-aways.
Enjoy the show!
got comments, questions, or suggestions? Email me! Chris@keystotheshop.com