Welcome to this special edition of the Founder Friday series! We have an incredible collection of interviews from some of the world's best coffee shop operators and entrepreneurs. Within each interview are gems of wisdom that help us move ourselves and the industry forward.
In this special edition of Founder Friday I went back into the archives to mine those gems from past guests around a specific topic, -hospitality and meeting people where they are.
Our industry of specialty coffee has worked hard to build itself up and now we see a mammoth effort to help welcome people into what we have built.
In this episode we will here form four past guests:
Each of these past Founder Friday guests brings a unique take and perspective on what goes in to hospitality and meeting people where they are. From accessible brewing, staff and self care - to friendly service encounters, values, and connecting beyond the transaction, I think this episode will deliver a concentrated dose of wisdom to help inspire us all.
Related Episodes:
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It's one thing to make decisions when you work alone, but quite another thing when you work with others and your decisions have far reaching impact on different employees, leaders, and departments. What e and to do is force change into existing processes without regard for the wake those decisions leave behind.
In today's Shift Break we will be talking about building a decision pipeline that takes into account all the people and relevant down stream departments that this one, seemingly small decision, will affect.
Related episodes:
080 : Changing things in the Cafe : A workflow for Refinement
330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop
Blog: Accountability goes both Ways
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Morgan Eckroth is the new U.S. Barista Champion! Part of the point behind competition is setting the stage for conversation around ideas ranging from social issues to the hands on craft of coffee. In both these areas there are far reaching implications for what the industry latches on to and is inspired to continue developing. On such theme is merging high-end experiences with accessibility in mind. Morgan Eckroth, known for her social media platform Morgan Drinks Coffee, has plenty of experience with connecting with an audience and in her presentation for USBC this year, leaned into the idea that specialty can be and should be experienced by more than just judges at the highest level of coffee.
Morgan is a barista and content creator, having worked in the specialty coffee industry for 5 years. With over 5 million followers across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, she shares her love for coffee through comedic customer service sketches, vlogs about her job, and educational videos. Morgan also released a line of coffee in collaboration with Wrecking Ball Coffee in December 2020 and is working to continue creating a link between baristas and their customers through a shared love for coffee and a dash of humor.
Today we get to sit down with Morgan and hear all about her innovative approach to the competition and all the ups and downs on her journey to victory in Boston.
We cover:
Links:
Related Episodes:
257 : A Conversation w/ Morgan Eckroth of MorganDrinksCoffee!
099 : The Barista League w/ Competition Founder Steve Moloney
173 : 5 Areas of Focus for Retailers
296: Holistic Barista Training w/ David Castillo of Go Get Em Tiger , Los Angeles
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As new processing methods become more popular and prominent, roasters must pivot and adjust how they approach them in order to get the best possible result. Processes like honey and pulped natural present unique challenges for even the most veteran roasters. The good news is that there is a growing family of best practices that will help you see success and consistency while embracing the new and emerging methods on the market. To help us sort through this topic we turn to none other than Mike Ebert of Firedancer Consultants.
As the founder of Firedancer Coffee Consultants, Mike is dedicated to helping clients create a personalized strategy to ensure long-term success. He works primarily with roasters, producers and retailers, drawing from his extensive experience in all facets of the specialty coffee supply chain to guide clients in reaching their potential. Ebert is an Authorized SCA Trainer; holding the professional level certificates in Green Coffee, Sensory Skills, Roasting and Brewing. He has had a hand in many positions up and down the supply chain and continues his volunteer work with the Specialty Coffee Association’s Education Advisory Council as Co-Chair of the Education Content Committee.
In our conversation we cover:
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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”
RoR #6: Buying Less and Doing More w/ Ever Meister
RoR #7 Illustrative Sample Roasting w/ Mike Ebert of Firedancer Coffee Consultants
RoR #10 : What Your Broker Wishes You Knew w/ Scott Merle of La Minita Coffee
RoR #11 : Exploring Scent w/ Sandra Elisa Loofbourow
RoR #12 : Inside Coffee Packaging w/ Ever Meister
It's not uncommon to feel like the day get's away from us and that we are always being taken for a ride by the work. Heck, I can hardly remember entire years of my own career due to not taking on this one essential habit until much, much later.
On today's Shift Break we are going to talk about "Bookending" your day and how to use this time in the beginning and end of your work day to show up fully, mature decisively, and have maximum positive impact on your business, coworkers, and staff.
Related Episodes:
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How do you think about success and your coffee shop? For many people it boils down to financial metrics only which, in the long run, may not bring the kind of fulfillment the we seek when we first set out to begin in coffee. In fact without some more nuanced goals and metrics for success, even the profitability will and does suffer.
Today I want to talk about four ideas of what I believe success can look like that go beyond the financial and help balance our pursuit of profit in a way that bring sustainability to both you and the people you serve through the business.
We cover:
Related episodes:
055 : Personal Growth & Development w/ Jared Truby, Cat & Cloud Coffee
293 : Thoughts on Defining Professionalism
206 : The Emotional and Social Impact of the Cafe Space w/ Noa Berger
302 : Data’s Roll in the Success of your Shop w/ Mark Calhoun and Jim Strarcev of Perfect Cube
227 : Connecting with Hearts and Minds
Blog: Who we are and What we do
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I witnessed a heartbreaking scene unfold while at SCA EXPO in Boston. The situation was a common one in most of our cafes but in this context it really impacted me and inspired this Shift Break.
What are we doing in specialty? Is our talk about accessibility just talk? Are the best expressions of coffee the most exclusive? Lot's of questions rolling around the ol' noggin after this trip and today I wanted to chat about it with you.
As you listen, ask yourself what you would do in this scenario and how we as an industry might be able to do better in welcoming a larger variety of people into our spaces while we simultaneously pursue excellence.
Related episodes:
338: A Conversation w/ Martell Mason of The Sepia Coffee Project, Detroit, Michigan
337: Founder Friday w/ Diana Martinez of Cafe Calle, Los Angeles
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Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!
It is the 5 year anniversary of episode #19 titled "10 Reasons to Love the Customer"!
Coffee professionals tend to pit themselves against the customer as and us vs them battle. The original episode in 2017 was inspired by a magazine article about what baristas hate about customers. This mentality does not good for anyone and because we easily fall into thinking negatively about the customer, I thought it was time we refocus and exercise thankfulness and positivity.
All of these reasons are general enough to be true of almost any car or coffee shop. Truth be told, beyond the general reasons, there are a ton more specific ones that are unique to your own community.
It is my hope that you take this episode and contextualize it, and put in place as a regular thankfulness practice for yourself and your team.
Related Episodes:
Spiders! What they can Teach us About Hospitality
045 : Simple, Powerful Hospitality w/ Philip Turner
016: Raising the Bar on your Customer Experience w/ Michael Butterworth
277: Encore Episode: How to respond to Negative Feedback
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We love the idea of developing a culture of trust. A place where it is safe to open up and be honest without worrying. Vulnerability is the new metric (among others) by which we judge how successful we are as leaders and I am happy that is. But if we are not carful then we risk using vulnerability as a weapon against people.
In today's Shift Break we will be chatting about how our desire to have a team where there is openness and trust can lead to us resorting to coercion and essentially forcing people into vulnerability, making it weird for everyone.
Related Episodes:
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The best espresso machines in the world!
Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!
What does you baristas training produce? For many shops barista training is a loose and rushed experience that falls short in equipping staff with what is needed to succeed. It also creates stress in leadership who desperately want to see good results but through poor mindsets toward training, sabotage the chance of seeing them.
In today's episode we will be talking about what goals and outcomes you need to be shooting for when thinking of and developing your your training programs.
We discuss:
Related episodes:
330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop
080 : Changing things in the Cafe : A workflow for Refinement
248 : The 5 Elements of Resourcing your Team
301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence
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