Turnover is inevitable. Even though we expect it, it's not easy. When it comes to replacing managers though, it becomes 10x as difficult because they occupy a specialized position and typically possess a certain skill set that made them effective.
On today's shift break we are answering a question posed by a listener on how to go about replacing a manager who is moving on.
This is a great episode for both managers and bosses of managers alike. Succession planning for your admin positions is critical and I hope this episode helps guide you down the right path.
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Today we get to explore the ever growing Central African coffee farming industry with some one who's company is creating inroads, resources, and opportunities to improve farmers lives and the global demand for their product.
Keith White Jr. is the founder of Paraiso Trading. Paraiso Trading was created to connect Central African Farmers and their high quality organic produce directly to world markets. The company initially focuses on organically produced Coffee, and Cocoa. However as it grows and adds more farmers to the network it will expand the product portfolio.
Working with women farmers, as well as priding ourselves on only working with farms and Cooperatives that we have actually visited and exceed our social and transparency standards in accordance with those required to be apart of the global economy. They work hard to promote the product at a higher price, work with farm owners and managers to assist in obtaining certifications, educate farmers and others on the benefits of improved sustainability and environmental consciousness, as well as educating consumers on the history behind their cups of coffee and who is producing it.
Having grown up the son of a sharecropper in the south and a farmer himself, company owner Keith White has lived the frustration of growing some of the highest quality products on the market yet still struggling to make a living while others became wealthy from the very same product. We aim to be a part of the change happening in the specialty coffee industry!
In our conversation today we talk all about how the company was founded, the opportunities, challenges, and needs associated with bringing central African farming to the greater market, and what we need to know about what goes on behind the scenes in getting providing a stable and thriving life for farmers.
We cover:
Links:
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265 : Gaining Clarity on Transparency w/ Jonas Lorenz of The Pledge
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It's Founder Friday and we are talking with the founder of Chariots Coffees in Uganda, Ochen Simon Eidodo!
Chariots coffees and Barista Academy was established in 2018 by Ochen Simon Eidodo one of the most renown Ugandan professional barista and 2018 Ugandan Barista Champion, whose experience in coffee brings a high level of quality in the coffee value chain in Uganda helping to promote the highest level of coffee quality from farm to cup.
Chariots Coffees and Barista Academy was designed to be the best buyer and seller of high quality coffees in Uganda. They also are training up a highly professional and passionate barista community in Uganda who will brew the best quality their very own Ugandan coffee. The result is the promotion and boosting of the rate of domestic consumption of Ugandan coffee.
In today's conversation we are going to hear the story of both Simon and Chariots Coffees and the incredible impact they are having on the coffee industry in Uganda. I love hearing about producing countries creating change, increasing internal consumption, and building a stronger coffee community right where the coffee grows. Enjoy!
We cover:
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The day is full of issues calling for your attention. Most of the time there are a few urgent problems that need to be addressed and once they are, new ones seem to rush in to fix the void. Where do big problems come from?
On today's shift break we will be discussing the origin of most big problems, why we miss them, and what do do about it.
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For consulting reach out to: chris@keystotheshop.com
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The problem of cheap coffee keeps producers trapped in cycles of poverty and keeps the power in the hands of those least impacted by what is at best a global crisis. What has led to this current state of the industry and how can we be informed and equipped to make changes with the power we each posses to create a better future and tip the scales in favor of those whose lives are literally on the line? Well that is the subject of the new book "Cheap Coffee" by today's guest, Karl Weinhold.
Karl Wienhold is a consultant, researcher and organizer of postcolonial rural development. He is dedicated to trying to better understand and undo extractive economic power structures that have oppressed people and degraded ecosystems to enrich others since colonial times. He studies coffee, microeconomics, agroforestry, circular economies, and generally fitting square pegs through round holes. He spent several years working as a management consultant specializing in international trade, later shifting to rural development economics and focusing on improving agricultural value chains of tropical cash crops for public, private, and third sector clients. Since founding the farmers' collective Cedro Alto in 2013, he has been supporting smallholder coffee farmers in Colombia, advocating for them in export markets, and moving physical coffee around the world. He has an MBA in global management, resides in Colombia, and is the author of the book "Cheap Coffee.
In our conversation today we talk about Karls journey in coffee and how his experiences, research, and philosophies have developed and contributed to this book. We explore many facets of Cheap Coffee and discuss questions related to the mechanisms behind the crisis and what we need to be aware of in order to take more informed actions as individuals and business owners.
We cover:
Links:
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RoR #6: Buying Less and Doing More w/ Ever Meister
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Baristas are often the subject of much complaining from leadership. "They just don't get how hard it is" we hear them say. We talked about this last week in the Shift Break "Understanding and Bitterness". Baristas however, are also just as likely to construct the same type of unreasonable expectations of owners and leaders that they don't want put upon them.
Today we are going to be chatting about the barista's role in all this and continuing to emphasis the need for mutual empathy, boundaries, and communication.
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Whether you are behind the bar making drinks, or behind a laptop making the schedule for your baristas you cannot rely on just one mindset to achieve the best results in your coffee shop. Just like building an agile business that can pivot well in a variety of situations, our minds must be able to shift between preparation and performance. Today we are going to be exploring some of the most critical mindset shifts with the author of the book "Shift your Mind", Brian Levenson!
Brian Levenson is the founder of Strong Skills, which provides executive coaching and mental performance coaching, speaking and consulting to elite organizations, performers and leaders. He has been fortunate to work with CEO’s, professional athletes and with teams in the NBA, NHL, and MLS, Division 1 athletic departments, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Homeland Security, Hilton, Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and many other organizations.
He also has a weekly podcast, Intentional Performers, where he interviews a diverse group of elite high performers. His new book, Shift Your Mind, is taking the performance and mindset world by storm!
On this episode we are going to be discussing the concept of minds shifts, why they are necessary, and how to practice them.
We cover:
Links:
Intentional Performers Podcast
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On this show we have talked about how leaders are typically seen by staff with some degree of skepticism and/or suspicion due to leaders having authority and how, over time, that gap is closed through building trust and empathy. If that does not happen then that usually leads to bitterness. What we haven't hit on yet is how bitterness can be generated from owners to the staff due staff not understanding what owners or leaders are responsible for.
On today's shift break we are going to chat about how the desire for understanding can breed bitterness and what we should expect and do to keep things professional and build more trust in our business relationships.
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067 : 6 Truths About Power : The Responsible Approach to Power Dynamics in the Cafe
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Roasting practices have come a long way in the past few decades. Today enjoy an incredible wealth of information, resources, and sharing of technique to help us be better roasters. With all these tools a techniques available to us it can be hard to sort out the most helpful and practical bits to apply to our coffee roasting operations. This is precisely the problem today's iconic guest, Scott Rao, set out to solve with his latest book, "Coffee Roasting: Best Practices"
Scott Rao has been in the coffee business for over 25 years as a cafe owner, roaster, consultant, and author. The Coffee Roaster’s Companion and Coffee Roasting: Best Practices have influenced a generation of roasters and shaped the global roasting vocabulary and conversation. Scott’s popular Instagram account @whereisscottrao offers expert-level tips and discussion about coffee brewing and roasting.
I have known Scott for a long time and he has truly been a catalyst and force for deeper exploration of coffee brewing and roasting inspiring a lot of conversation and adoption of techniques that push the industry forward to higher levels of consistency and quality.
In this conversation we are not only going to be diving deep into technical aspects of his new book, "Coffee Roasting: Best Practices" but we will also be talking about the philosophies and mindsets toward roasting that we have had in the past and need to have in the future if we are to grow and faithfully represent a coffee's potential to our customers.
We will cover:
Links:
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RoR #5: Time and Color in Roasting w/ Morten Munchow of Coffee Mind”
242 : A Conversation with James Hoffmann
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We have an incredible range of options available to us when it comes to the green coffees we purchase. Right now our habit as an industry is to spot purchase small amounts of coffee from a wide variety of producers in hopes of getting the pest of the best. The trouble with this is that, while we might believe our method is helping promote great coffee, it is actually undermining the success of the producer and the process.
On this 6th edition of RoR we will be exploring how buying from fewer producers but with a commitment to buy more from the ones we partner with, does more for them AND for the sustainability and thriving of specialty coffee.
To do that we are talking with the author of the Roast Magazine article, "Buy Less, Do More", Ever Meister!
Ever Meister has worked in the coffee industry for 20+ years in a wide range of capacities, but primarily she is a journalist, educator, and communicator whose work focuses on issues of access, equity, and ethics. She is the author of New York City Coffee: A Caffeinated History (The History Press, 2017) and the host of the coffee-marketing podcast In Good Taste on the Sprudge media network.
In our conversation today we are going to explore the shifts in mindsets and actions needed to create lasting, long term, quality partnerships with producers that will truly do more good for all involved.
We will cover:
Links:
Ever's email: Meister@justmeister.com
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Related Episodes:
RoR #1: A Conversation w/ Anne Cooper of Equilibrium Master Roasters
RoR #2: Exploring Quality Control w/ Spencer Turer of Coffee Enterprises
RoR #3: Making Contingency Planning a Reality w/ Andi Trindle Mersch of Philz Coffee
RoR #4: Practical Thermal Dynamics w/ Candice Madison of Royal Coffee / The Crown Oak
RoR #5: Time and Color in Roasting w/ Morten Munchow of Coffee Mind”
Interested in coffee consulting? Let's talk! Email me: Chris@keystotheshop.com
Hiring your friends or relatives can seem like a very convenient solution to the problem of staffing. After all, you know them well and trust them right? What more is there to consider? Well, as it turns out, a lot more.
On today's shift break we are going to be discussing why hiring friends and family can breed toxicity and how you can build preventative measures to guard against it.
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221 : Building your People Program w/ HR Consultant Dana Goodwin
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If there is one thing that is certain it is that, as you grow your roastery, you become pulled in a thousand different directions. The need to maintain the operation, drive sales, maintain relationships, improve quality, etc becomes overwhelming to the point where you are not sure if growing is a blessing or a curse. Luckily for use, as the industry of roasting continues to expand too too do the resources we have at our disposal to help us beat overwhelm and recapture time and energy. In this category RoastTools is leading the charge to help you streamline, optimize, prioritize and focus on the right things for your roastery to truly thrive,
Today we are going to be talking with the founder of Roaster tools Jon Ewald.
As the founder of the award-winning sales and operations software platform for coffee roasters, RoasterTools, Jon Ewalt spends his days strategizing, coding and talking with coffee roasters on how they can get more coffee out the door.
Jon isn’t just another developer who got the coffee bug; he spent eight years building a successful roastery with his wife in the tiny community of Bayfield, Wisconsin, where he developed systems that helped his small team roast, package and deliver thousands of pounds of coffee per week. They sold that business to focus on building (software) tools that help the roasting community achieve that same level of success.
Jon is passionate about helping others avoid the mistakes he made, and freeing up founders to spend more time with the things that drive real change in their businesses: their team, their customers and the coffee itself.
In today's conversation we will be covering:
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