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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: October, 2019
Oct 30, 2019

This is a truly scary reality that so many cafe employees have had to deal with. Symptoms of getting bit by these bosses looks like overloaded schedules, no boundaries, burnout, stress, and unhealthy self-sacrifice to "prove" yourself to the company. 

Today we are going to chat about this reality and what we can do to avoid it, deal with it , and not to be a blood sucking boss ourselves.

Be careful out there! 

 

 

Visit Our Sponsors!

 

Painless ordering and inventory with ODEKO!

odeko.com/keystotheshop

 

Clean that equipment with the best!  

www.urnex.com

 

Oct 28, 2019

Creating a coffee bar and working in retail all boils down to practicing hospitality. We want to practice this on behalf of our guests and our staff but without taking a critical look at how and who we welcome in, we are not really showing hospitality. We need to look at our thoughts, behaviors, and actions critically in order to grow in any area of life and it is in that spirit that we are going to be exploring diversity today with one of our industry's most accomplished and impactful thought leaders on equity, diversity, and inclusion, Phyllis Johnson! 

Phyllis Johnson is the co-founder and president of BD Imports, an award-winning social enterprise focused on responsible sourcing of specialty coffees.  The company is the recipient of numerous awards including, Responsible Business of the Year and Diverse Supplier of the Year. A pioneer of the women in coffee empowerment movement, Phyllis led the conversation at the United Nations to secure initial funding and work  to support women in coffee initiatives.  She has consulted for the United Nations International Trade Centre, leading the formation of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance chapters in east Africa.  She has had the pleasure of sharing her perspective and the value of working with women entrepreneurs  at the World Trade Organizations and United Nations.  Her work has been the subject case studies taught at Oxford University and Harvard Business School. 

Phyllis holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Harvard Kennedy School,  Barbara Jordan Award for Women’s Leadership.  Her work was recognized by a 2019 Maggie Award for Roast Magazine article, Strong Black Coffee, Why Aren’t African Americans More Prominent in The Coffee Industry.   

Phyllis has served on numerous boards including the Specialty Coffee Association, the International Women’s Coffee Alliance, Coffee Quality Institute, and the National Coffee Association

In this episode we will be encouraged, challenged, and equipped with insights to take the first steps in making diversity a reality in the shop or anywhere we have influence.

Among may things, we discuss:

  • The power of self examination
  • Getting over the fear found in discussing diversity
  • The business benefits of a diverse shop culture
  • Avoiding tokenization
  • Unconscious bias and blind spots
  • First steps to take and the scale of our action

Links:

www.bdimports.com

Phyllis' Instagram

Phyllis LinkedIn

 

Related Episodes:

159: Addressing Unconscious Bias w/ Lauren Lathrop

116: Understanding Gentrification w/ Dr. Stacey Sutton

139: Founder Friday w/ Phil Sipka, Kusanya Cafe

067: 6 Truths about Power

165 : The Art of Deep Listening w/ Oscar Trimboli

 

Thank you to our sponsors!

 

The right equipment for your situation!

www.prima-coffee.com

 

The best plant based beverages on the planet! 

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

 

 

 

Oct 25, 2019

Today we are talking about scaling and transitions with the founder of Indie Coffee Roasters, Alec Tod! 

Founded in 2013 with a home roaster on his back patio, the business has undergone several stages of change and growth over the years to get them to where they are today in their new retail / roasting facility serving the people of Indianapolis, IN.

Today we are not only hearing the story of Indie Coffee Roasters but we are focusing on life in the transition points. What was it like to scale the business and what was the impact it had on the relationships of those in charge of the business.

It has been 7 years of pretty constant growth and change and Alec lays out what contributed to their success in navigating these inflection points behind the scenes.

Some of the things you will learn:

  • The role a solid vision plays in helping guide growth
  • Finding great partners
  • The benefit of taking on investor/partners
  • How to  decide what to buy and where to change
  • Being comfortable with role displacement
  • Learning to not let the business run you
  • Avoiding burn-out

 

Links:

www.indiecoffeeroasters.com

Instagram

 

Thank you to our sponsors!

 

The right equipment for your situation!

www.prima-coffee.com

 

The best plant based beverages on the planet! 

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oct 23, 2019

Sometimes we can overestimate how bad the customer is and in the process make ourselves out to be so very righteous. It is a reality in every bar I have seen that we are blind to the double standard for what we accept from the customer vs what we allow for ourselves. Today we talk about this pesky little habit and how we should move forward and away from our tendency to think we are always right.

 

Related Episodes:

10 Reasons to Love the Customer 

Simple, Powerful Hospitality  

Self Care 101

 

Visit Our Sponsors!

 

Painless ordering and inventory with ODEKO!

odeko.com/keystotheshop

 

Clean that equipment with the best!  

www.urnex.com

 

Oct 21, 2019

How well do you know your business? I'm not talking about the numbers and the stuff that is accessible through the POS or spreadsheets. I am talking about the life of the business and the people and cultures that make it up. The incredible number of intangibles that create the life of an organization. A lot of us assume we know well enough and instead to being curious and diving deeper into what we have, we search for answers, meaning, insight, etc outside of our organization.

Today we are going to be chatting about 7 things to consider when seeking to have organizational self-knowledge.

Just like having personal self-knowledge is critical to leading others well, organizational self-knowledge is critical to being able to lead your company. 

You will learn:

  • Why proximity does not equal knowledge
  • How we rob our staff of attention
  • Attitudes and actions to inspire curiosity
  • The key role of feedback
  • How owners de-value baristas
  • The needed balance to high standards
  • Should you go for big or small changes? 

 

Related episodes:

SB : Feedback Culture

80 : Changing Things in the Cafe

179 : What you MUST Know about Employee Culture 

 

Thank you to our sponsors!

 

The right equipment for your situation!

www.prima-coffee.com

 

The best plant based beverages on the planet! 

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

 

 

Oct 17, 2019

We tend to have a mindset toward systems that breeds a lack of clarity, break downs in communication, and generally an unpleasant and even toxic environment in the work place. Today we are going to chat about viewing systems as a primary form of showing care to staff and where to start in embracing them as such. 

Related episodes:

SOPs FTW

The Broken Chair

4 Keys to and Effective Checklist

Building Empathetic Systems 

 

Visit Our Sponsors!

 

Painless ordering and inventory with ODEKO!

odeko.com/keystotheshop

 

Clean that equipment with the best!  

www.urnex.com

 

Oct 15, 2019

Coffee is more than just a drink. It can also be a vehicle for change. Ending teen homelessness through coffee is the vision of today's guests, Brian Washington and Averett Barksdale, the founders of , Rugid Grind. 

Established in 2019, Rugid Grind is a for-profit coffee provider that, as of now, acts as the sole supporter and funder of The Oneighty Project, a nonprofit dedicated to ending teenage homelessness around the world.

Through rigorous studying of the process and the building of their headquarters in Houston, Texas, they quickly built their branding into one that serves a greater purpose while also serving a quality cup of coffee.

Rugid Grind is dedicated to giving our customers a quality beverage they can count on, but the goal they have committed ourselves to is much bigger than the beverage they serve.

As pastors and frequent leaders of mission trips and outreach projects, Washington and Barksdale have seen the epidemic of teenage homelessness firsthand. Over a million American teenagers will go to sleep tonight without a home, and countless others are teetering on the verge of homelessness. 

The direct funding we provide to Oneighty helps them execute their vision of ending teenage homelessness and giving the at-risk teens of the next generation a greater chance at success. By purchasing, leasing, and developing houses and finding caretakers who are fit for roles of mentorship and parental guidance, Oneighty seeks to create safe, nourishing environments for homeless adolescents not only in Houston, but all around the world.

 

In todays episode you will learn: 

  • What it took to found Rugid Grind and the vision behind it
  • Their coffee learning curve and their adventures in trying to source coffee form Haiti
  • What Brian and Averett experienced when introduced to the specialty community. 
  • How they plan to use coffee to end teen homelessness
  • The value of action and having a vision that is bigger than yourself 
  • How a community can come together to support a worthy goal
  • What shops can do to take action in their own towns

 

Buy Rugid Grind coffee and support their vision!

www.rugidgrind.com

Instagram: @rugidgrindcoffee

 

Related episodes:

106 : Changing Lives Through Coffee w/ Pamela Chng of Bettr Barista

139 : Founder Friday w/ Kusanya Cafe Co-Founder, Phil Sipka

 

Thank you to our sponsors!

 

The right equipment for your situation!

www.prima-coffee.com

 

The best plant based beverages on the planet! 

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

 

 

Oct 10, 2019

Bringing a new employee onto the bar is often a hasty effort. Unfortunately, when we do this, we end up paying for it in the long run.  Today we chat about the sink or swim mentality of on-boarding and what managers need to practice in order to mitigate the negative consequences such a mentality produces. 

 

 

Sponsored by:

 

Painless ordering and inventory with ODEKO!

odeko.com/keystotheshop

 

Clean that equipment with the best!  

www.urnex.com

 

Oct 7, 2019

As goes the culture, so goes the company. This is just a fact. All of us want to be able to say that our employee cultures are strong, vibrant, and dedicated to the vision we have set for the company. Unfortunately though, it aint that easy.

Today we are addressing this with what I believe may be the most powerful series of insights you’ve ever heard on employee culture and how to work for and with it to amazing success.

I am so pleased to be talking with the amazing, Stan Slap, author of one of my most recommended books, “Under the Hood : Fire up and Fine-tune your Employee Culture” 

Stan is the founder and CEO of SLAP company and has spent the last 3 decades specializing in achieving fierce support from manager, employee and customer cultures. They believe within each of these groups there is one problem that has the biggest impact on the enterprise and one solution that is most valuable, coveted and elusive. The SLAP company has cracked the code on these problems and their solutions are highest rated in many of the world's highest rated companies.  They are currently working in 44 countries countries and ahave achieved amazing results in employee culture at companies like Oracle, CNN, Timewarner, Google, Starbucks, eBay, Viacom, and Microsoft among many others. 

I don’t know of a more potent example of what good and bad employee cultural engagement than the elbow-to-elbow laboratory that is the coffee bar. This episode is absolutely a game changer and foundational listening if you want to create and lead an amazing employee culture. 

In this episode you will learn about:

  • 4 of the "7 Deadly Sins of Cultural Engagement"  
  • How culture is formed and what it cares about
  • Best practices for engaging and guiding a culture
  • How do we fail our employees?
  • Secrets to scaling culture
  • How to create “cultural legends”
  • Why you cannot coax a culture into giving you what you want
  • Tactics for true communication
  • How do customers factor into your employee culture?

There is honestly so much more here and I implore you to get the book "Under the Hood", listen to this episode several times, take notes, and see how big of an impact these insights have on your company. 

 

Links:

www.slapcompany.com

 

Remember to sign up to be put on the Keys to the Shop email list to get weekly resources, bonus audio from todays guest, transcripts, and more. Just click HERE to sign up!

 

Related Episodes:

083: 6 Essential Books for your Professional Growth

6 Essential Books for your Professional Growth

018: Hiring, Culture, and the Future of your Shop

 

 

Visit our awesome Sponsors!

The right equipment for your situation!

www.prima-coffee.com

 

The best plant based beverages on the planet! 

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

 

Oct 3, 2019

There are many qualities that contribute to being a solid professional in the coffee shop. Today we are going to focus on two particular qualities that are very critical to get right in the beginning and can set you up for success in the future. Please share this and the related episodes below with your barista staff! 

 

Related episodes:

ep14: A Barista's Guide to Advancing 

ep31: Essential Advice for New Baristas

ep56: The Sleepwalking Barista

 

Sponsored by:

 

Painless ordering and inventory with ODEKO!

odeko.com/keystotheshop

 

Clean that equipment with the best!  

www.urnex.com

 

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