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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: December, 2019
Dec 29, 2019

That's it! The year is done and to help us ring in the New Year I am re-airing a classic from way back in the day. January 17 2017 is when "Leadership in the Cafe : 10 Steps to being a People First Leader" first aired. Now, three years and 274 episodes later, the message rings just as true and is just as relevant as ever before.

If there is anything you need to do to secure a great year for yourself, your staff, and your business it is focusing on how we show up as leaders in the specialty coffee retail space. This episode gives you some great first steps to achieve that. 

I hope you have a happy New Year. Thank you sincerely for listening, sharing, and allowing Keys to the Shop to play a part in your coffee journey. 

As you seek to unlock new levels this coming year just remember that YOU... are the keys to the shop!

 

Related Episodes:

100: Why YOU are the Key

013 : Leadership & Managment Master Class w/ Eva Attia

089 : La Marzocco USA General Manager, Andrew Daday

105 : Leadership & Management Masterclass w/ Maria Cleaveland

109 : Leadership Abandonment Syndrome

028 : Why it's OK to be the Boss w/ Bruce Tulgan

The Affirmation Vacuum

 

 

Click here to vote for Keys to the Shop for "Best Coffee Podcast" in the 11th Annual Sprudgies! 

 

 

Interested in Keys to the Shop Consulting services? Let's talk Chris@keystotheshop.com

Get on the Keys to the Shop email list and get the transcripts, bonus audio, and extra resources! Click Here!

 

www.prima-coffee.com/keys

5% off your purchases at Prima Coffee form now until January 31st! Just use the code "HOLIDAY5" when you visit this link! 

 

 

Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks? 

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dec 27, 2019

It's Founder Friday! Today we get to sit down not once, but twice with Colin Whitcomb of the newly opened Canary Coffee Bar in Milwaukee, WI. 

In this episode we talk with Colin a couple months before Canary opened and then 3 months after to get a detailed look inside the planning and running of a new business

Along with being an amazingly nice guy, Colin has been in coffee for 14 years having worked in some of the nations tope coffee bars. He is also a BGA Executive Counsel member and a long time barista competitor. Colin knows coffee and coffee shops and this move to open his own cafe is quite exciting. 

There is a lot covered in this 2 part episode and I hope you get a lot form Colin's experiences as an entrepreneur. 

You will learn about:

  • Canary's unique business concept
  • The value of having people help you in the build out
  • Dealing with the city 
  • Learning to let things go
  • The most rewarding parts of starting a coffee bar
  • The challenges of staffing and gauging business needs
  • Self care and time management
  • Why you should over capitalize your business

 

Links:

www.Cararycoffeebar.com

Instagram

 

Related episodes:

184 : Making Great Business Decisions w/ Dave Stachowiak

111 : Self-Care 101

002 : Master Your Workflow w/ Ryan Soeder

Interested in Keys to the Shop Consulting services? Let's talk Chris@keystotheshop.com

 

Get on the Keys to the Shop email list and get the transcripts, bonus audio, and extra resources! Click Here!

 

5% off your purchases at Prima Coffee form now until January 31st! Just use the code "HOLIDAY5" when you visit this link! www.prima-coffee.com/keys

 

Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks? 

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

 

 

 

 

Dec 26, 2019

When you start or run a coffee bar you are going to be faced with a ton of options for what products and ideas you will adopt. Saying yes to any and everything can get you and your business in trouble  down the road. Today we are going to be talking about why saying "No" can open up more opportunities for success than it closes off and why limitations in the beginning produce freedom in the long run. 

Related episodes:

Reach out! 

wwww.keystotheshop.com/consulting

chris@keystotheshop.com

 

 

This Episode brought to you by ODEKO!

Painless and accurate ordering and inventory 

odeko.com/keystotheshop

Dec 24, 2019

27 Million. That is the number of people who are trapped in modern day slavery. It is a number that may leave many wondering what they can possibly do in the face of such a daunting statistic. However, today's guest decided that she needed to take action and try to make a difference. Esther Hope-Gibbs is a veteran coffee professional, AST instructor, and the Director and Founder of Manumit Coffee Roasters.

Manumit Coffee offers dignity & hope to survivors of modern slavery through training & employment. Their coffee is roasted by men and women who have suffered horrendous exploitation at the hands of traffickers and modern slave traders but are now rebuilding their lives through coffee. 

In today's conversation we get to hear the Story of Manumit Coffee and all the positive impact it has had over the last two and a half years since its founding. I am so honored to talk with Esther and love that we get to share this episode about giving people the gift of freedom through coffee on Christmas Eve. 

I hope this is inspiring and encouraging!

 

In this episode you will learn:

  • How Manumit Coffee was born
  • The unique challenges of training a vulnerable community
  • The importance of boundaries 
  • The necessity and benefit of structure
  • How Manumit has facilitated success for survivors
  • How to be prepared to take on work with vulnerable people in your business

Links:

BUY MANUMIT COFFEE! www.manumitcoffee.co.uk 

Instagram

 

Related Episodes:

Changing Lives Through Coffee w/ Pamela Chng of Bettr Barista

Solving Teen Homelessness w/ Rugid Grind

 

Interested in Keys to the Shop Consulting services? Let's talk Chris@keystotheshop.com

 

Get on the Keys to the Shop email list and get the transcripts, bonus audio, and extra resources! Click Here!

 

5% off your purchases at Prima Coffee form now until January 31st! Just use the code "HOLIDAY5" when you visit this link! www.prima-coffee.com/keys

 

Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks? 

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

 

 

Dec 19, 2019

Most everyone has had fun playing this game as kid. While it's a great game parties, it's not so great for the coffee shop. Today we talk about how this game gets started in the cafe and what we can do to "ruin" it before it creates major communication and quality problems in our business.  

 

Related episodes:

Communicate, Duplicate, Repeat

The Art of Deep Listening

Please Clarify: Being on the same page as your boss

 

Reach out! 

wwww.keystotheshop.com/consulting

chris@keystotheshop.com

 

 

This Episode brought to you by ODEKO!

Painless and accurate ordering and inventory 

odeko.com/keystotheshop

Dec 17, 2019

Has it been a while since you last trained the staff and practices are outdated or ineffective? As a business grows the need for raising the standards in the shop becomes an absolute necessity.  The new year is approaching and if you seek to bring in a new level of quality to you operation then making the right steps in implementing  these changes is key to determining whether they stick in the long term and your business stays relevant and competitive. 

Today we get to talk about the 3 phases of successfully taking on retraining in the shop and some of the pitfalls to avoid in the process. 

You will learn about : 

  • Taking ownership over status quo
  • The value of knowing the details
  • Organizing and planning
  • Setting up the training sessions
  • The right mindset to have in this project
  • Creating new normal

Related episodes:

 

Interested in Keys to the Shop Consulting services? Let's talk Chris@keystotheshop.com

Get on the Keys to the Shop email list and get the transcripts, bonus audio, and extra resources! Click Here!

5% off your purchases at Prima Coffee form now until January 31st! Just use the code "HOLIDAY5" when you visit this link! www.prima-coffee.com/keys

 

Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks? 

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

 

 

Dec 12, 2019

In the coffee shop there are so many expectations placed on us but often the results of the work are not fully within our control. When you combine these two things it is a recipe for stress and burnout. Today we are talking about how we can approach the situation with grace and facilitate staff success rather than blaming them for things that they cannot control. Every shop deals with this in some way and I hope this helps inspire better understanding as we strive for excellence together. 

Links:

wwww.keystotheshop.com/consulting

chris@keystotheshop.com

 

This Episode brought to you by ODEKO!

Painless and accurate ordering and inventory 

odeko.com/keystotheshop

 

 

Dec 10, 2019

Writing the schedule is one of the hardest things a manager has to take on. It is also one of the primary ways to care for the staff and the success of the cafe. It determines labor cost, quality of service, consistency of standards and more. If there is one thing that I focus on a lot with my consulting clients it is scheduling well. 

Today we will be discussing 6 tips that will aid you in the schedule writing process and save you and your staff from getting caught in the cycle of feeling perpetually unprepared, behind, and stressed out.

Links:

Working from your Strengths

One-on-ones

Hiring, Culture, and the Future of Your Shop 

Founder Friday w/Casey and Jeremy Miller of The Mud House

 

Interested in Keys to the Shop Consulting services? Let's talk Chris@keystotheshop.com

Get on the Keys to the Shop email list and get the transcripts, bonus audio, and extra resources! Click Here!

5% off your purchases at Prima Coffee form now until January 31st! Just use the code "HOLIDAY5" when you visit this link! www.prima-coffee.com/keys

 

Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks? 

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

 

 

Dec 5, 2019

The idea of transactional is not what most of us have in mind when we think about hospitality. We tend to think of that more in relational terms and hold the transactional out as the antithesis to hospitality. What if we are wrong? What if we are mischaracterizing transactions and in the process failing to give our customers the hospitality they want and need? 

Today we chat about these ideas and how our mindset surrounding this can help us through the business of the holidays and beyond. 

Links: 

Keys to the Shop Consulting

 

Related episodes:

 

This Episode brought to you by ODEKO

Painless and accurate ordering and inventory 

odeko.com/keystotheshop

 

Dec 2, 2019

While tea is a staple menu item in virtually every coffee bar around the world, our understanding of tea can be fairly limited and the selection of teas often stagnates over the years. Much of this maybe because we don't know where to start with tea and need some guidance in our approach and in setting up a dynamic tea menu. All this and more is what will be addressed on today's episode talking about tea with special guest, Jeffery Champeau, Vice President of Business Development at Rishi Tea

Rishi Tea and Botanicals has been an importer of organic teas and botanicals from the very best sources since 1997. Their Direct Trade is founded upon long-standing, personal relationships with growers who cultivate ecologically sustainable gardens in remote locations around the world. They offer a highly curated. variety of teas and botanicals from Ooolong, green , white, and pu-erh - to matcha, chai, botanicals, and more. 

Jeffery has been with Rishi since 2011 but has been fascinated by and immersed in the culture and world of tea for the better part of his life. He possesses a deep understanding of the history and culture of tea as well as its preparation and is passionate about advocating for the farmers who make it all possible.

As Jeffery has traveled the world experiencing tea in many different settings I am excited to talk with him specifically about where we stand coffee shops his advice to help us present tea with the same care and mindfulness we give to our coffee. 

In this episode you will learn:

  • A little history of Rishi and of Jeffery's path into tea
  • How does Rishi curate their offerings?
  • Building sustainable relationships with tea farmers
  • Basics of tea and tasting tea
  • What has changed in how coffee shops approach tea over the years
  • What are we doing wrong
  • Best practices should be adopted to make great tea
  • How to build a great tea menu

 

Links:

www.rishi-tea.com

Instagram

 

Related Episodes:

037: Chocolate and Coffee w/ Brian Bykke 

117 : Coffee and Cocktails w/ Amanda Whitt 

039: Lessons from the Restaurant Industry w/ Eric Cattiatore 

 

Prima Coffee:

Now listeners get 5% off their purchase (some restrictions apply) when they use promo code "HOLIDAY5"

Visit : www.prima-coffee.com/keys 

 

 

Pacific Barista Series: Plant Based Performance Beverages

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

 

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