"The little cafe, with a big heart." These words were spoken by Curtis Herrera who, along with his wife Miel, own Cafe Corazon in Kansas City, MO. Cafe Corazon is vibrant homage to Miel and Curtis' Latin roots (Argentina and Mexico respectively) and in the last year it has been open has quickly garnered praise for their warm hospitality, traditional drink including a wide selection of Yerba-mate, and their dedication to showcasing their culture in everything they set their hand to.
In our conversation today we will hear their story and the passion and challenges that went into creating this unique space, the lessons they have learned, and their advice to others in the industry. Cafe Corazon is the epitome of authenticity and a fine example of what the future of the cafe space can look like when we celebrate our diversity and dedicate ourself to serving our communities while being true to ourselves all along the way.
We discuss:
Links:
Related Episodes:
097 : Founder Friday w/ Erica Escalante of The Arrow Coffeehouse
232 : Founder Friday w/ Blew Kind of Fanny Lou’s Porch
225: Encore Founder Friday! Dorian Bolden of Beyu Caffe, Durham, NC
199 : Founder Friday w/ Mario Jimenez of Banana Dang Coffee, Oceanside, CA
171 : Founder Friday w/ Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana of Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters in India
The BEST in commercial coffee equipment!
Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks?
www.pacificfoods.com/food-service
" Hey! Did you see what so-and-so is doing?" "Oh! look at what _______ is starting to sell?" It's comments like these that are often a sign that we are a bit too obsessed with our competition. What do we gain from this preoccupation? Not much. What do we lose? A lot.
Today we will be talking about how you are not your competition and a healthy way to work toward betterment.
Related Episodes:
Elevated batch brew and so much more!
Solid, cafe quality espresso for an accessible price:
How do you ensure that what you teach in training is effective for both the employee and the business? Well, there are many different elements but amongst those element are four foundational mindsets and practices that serve to hold everything together. Today we are going to be exploring how focusing on minimum viable skills, patience, real-life training, and tracking/follow-up will completely transform your training program and build better baristas.
Related episodes:
The BEST in commercial coffee equipment!
Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks?
www.pacificfoods.com/food-service
We have developed a mentality that if we can just get the right manual, the best onboarding, the most effective hiring process then all will be well and staff will magically fall in line and our shops will run smoothly. The truth? It's not that easy, no matter how hard you work on those things. Today we will be discussing this propensity, why it is dangerous, and how the real work begins and ends with hands-on leadership.
Recommended episodes:
123 : The 10 Essentials of a Barista Manual
109 : Leadership Abandonment Syndrome : Lack of development in senior staff and what to do about it
194 : Encore Episode! Leadership in the Cafe: 10 Steps to being a People First Leader
179 : What you MUST Know About Employee Culture w/ Stan Slap
Visit our awesome sponsors!
Elevated batch brew and so much more!
Solid, cafe quality espresso for an accessible price:
You are unique, but are you just marketing everyone else? How do you differentiate yourself as a business when the market has become so saturated with everyone saying the same things? Customers need clear messaging that delivers meaning, sets you apart, and drives loyalty to your shop. In a time where more than half of the ways we communicate with existing and potential customers is remote, having solid messaging is an absolute must. Today we are going to be discussing all of this with coffee marketing pro, Garrett Oden!
Garrett is a coffee industry native who left the cafe to pursue coffee marketing as a freelance copywriter and content strategist. He helps brands like Caffe Nero, Amavida Coffee, Alternative Brewing, and others across the industry find and communicate meaningful messages to customers through website writing, content marketing, packaging, and beyond.
Get ready to do a deep dive into actions and strategies that will help you make long term improvements to the way you represent your brand to the world.
You will learn about:
Links:
www.coffeemarketingschool.com/keys
Related Episodes:
We have a problem. Dreaming up a vision and writing out our list of core values, missions, etc. is an exciting and crucial part of any business. The problem is that most cafes stop there. The list of ideals an noble pursuits never make their way into reality and are soon relegated to only being invoked at staff meetings. So many of the issue we have with toxic work places, burned out staff, and needless turn over stem from the values-actions gap.
Today we are going to discuss this issue and how you can make sure your values are not just nice ideas, but are lived out in the real life of the business.
Interested in consulting & coaching : chris@keystotheshop.com
Links to related episodes:
Visit our awesome sponsors!
Elevated batch brew and so much more!
Solid, cafe quality espresso for an accessible price:
Links:
Black and White Coffee Roasters
Related episodes:
The BEST in commercial coffee equipment!
Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks?
www.pacificfoods.com/food-service
Writing a job description is the first step in getting the right people in the right positions in your shop. They seem pretty straight forward but there are some elements that you need to consider when creating these documents that, if applied, will create a document that is truly a resource that benefits the business and the staff. Today we will cover some of these elements and why they are critical.
Links to related episodes:
Communicate, Duplicate, Repeat
Visit our awesome sponsors!
Elevated batch brew and so much more!
Solid, cafe quality espresso for an accessible price:
As we seek to rebuild our staff in the midst of the pandemic, many different questions come up about re-hiring, deciding who not to bring back, how to decide who to promote, and generally how do we do this in a way that is good for everyone involved. It is not enamors easy task but today we are going to gain a lot of clarity about these topics and more as we talk with the always insightful, Dave Stachowiak.
Dave founded Coaching for Leaders in 2011. Since them the podcast has been downloaded 12 million times and is consistently ranked as the #1 podcast in business, coaching, and management.
Dave was named in Forbes as one of the 25 Professional Networking Experts to Watch in 2015 and has also been featured in U.S. News & World Report.
He previously served as Senior Vice President with Dale Carnegie of Southern Los Angeles and led training programs for top organizations like the Northrop Grumman Corporation, The United States Air Force, the Boeing Company, and the University of California system.
In our conversation today we will cover:
Links:
Dave's past KTTS episodes:
184 : Making Great Business Decisions w/ Dave Stachowiak
025 : Mastering the Art of Training w/ Dave Stachowiak
My past episodes on Dave's show:
415: Employee Retention in Small Business, with Chris Deferio
Related episodes:
172 : Why Tracking Performance is a Must!
074 : The Life Changing Power of Good Authority w/ Jonathan Raymond
The BEST in commercial coffee equipment!
Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks?
www.pacificfoods.com/food-service