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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, 2022
Dec 29, 2022

Every year we have the opportunity to invest our time and attention into many different things. In a coffee shop it can be overwhelming and toward the end of the year we tend to look back and determine way to improve how we invest our time and attention for a better result. 

In today's Shift Break we will be discussing a few very important and foundational areas where, if you consistently focus your energy with intention, you will find massive return for your customer's, your staff's, and your own happiness and well being. 

Related episodes to listen to next:

 

 

Visit our Sponsors!!!

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

 

Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

www.espressly.co

 

Subscribe to KTTS

Follow on IG @KEYSTOTHESHOP

Dec 27, 2022

What a great year this has been! So many amazing people have graced KTTS with their presence, perspectives, and wisdom. It really is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to high value content that can transform your coffee business and career. 

This makes it very hard to choose which lessons and insights to feature in this episode but I have assembled 8 clips from past guests that I believe offer timeless wisdom and an opportunity to reflect and give you positive momentum for the new year.

So here is the line up in order of appearance and what they speak on: 

  1. EP:327 Phuong Tran | Lava Java: Embracing Simplicity
  2. EP: 375 Roland Horne | WatchHouse: Having a specific value proposition
  3. EP: 366 Chris Baca | Cat and Cloud: Finding your leadership style
  4. EP: 336 Selina Viguera | Blue Bottle: Custom training and cafe management 
  5. EP: 337 Diana Martinez | Cafe Calle: Serving your community well
  6. EP: 359 Nigel Price | Drip Coffee NYC: Accessible Excellence
  7. EP: 328 Xavier Alexander | Metric Coffee: Resilience, stewardship, and legacy
  8. EP 380: Cindy and Cary Arsaga | Arsagas Coffee Roasters: The key to developing a meaningful business

Links to guests websites:

Interested in leveling up your coffee shop or setting up 1:1 coaching?

Visit our amazing Sponsors!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

www.pacficfoodservice.com

www.coffeefest.com

 

Dec 22, 2022

On this last Founder Friday of the year I am quite happy to feature a coffee shop founder story that is firmly rooted in service to the community. First as a pop up at farmers markets and now with a brand new brick and mortar, today we are talking with the founders of Last Mile Cafe in Grand Rapids, MI , Arick Davis and Sarah Layman!

Arick and Sarah come with a lot of experience in non-profit and impact work as well as tech. Their love for coffee and people eventually guided them to begin Last Mile Cafe as a coffee business designed to make an impact through partnerships with charitable organizations and baking into the practice of donating 10% of all revenue to charities voted on by customers. 

As of this recording Last Mile's brick and mortar was only 9 days in to being open and things have just been getting better from there. 

In our conversation we will get an inside look at how they built this impact coffee business, their reasons behind decisions that shaped it, and how they have experienced the journey from mobile to brick and mortar and the road that lies ahead.

We discuss:

  • Leaving the corporate world
  • Building for sustainability and impact work
  • Setting out, pivoting and rebranding
  • Learning coffee as a consumer
  • Partnering with organizations
  • To roast or not to roast
  • Donating 10% to charity
  • Pop ups, farmers markets, and learning service
  • Next steps past 2 weeks open/refining

Related episodes: 

 

Visit our amazing Sponsors!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

www.pacficfoodservice.com

Dec 22, 2022

We all want our customers and staff to be enthused and exhibit what we tend to consider loyalty. Trouble with that word is that it is loaded with assumptions that go beyond reasonable expectations. In fact, many operators are guilty of trying to force loyalty through coercion and making things personal. This is toxic loyalty. 

In today's Shift Break we will be discussing a better way to think about loyalty that builds healthy and sustainable relationships with staff and cultivates an environment where we are more likely to receive peoples advocacy beyond what is expected. 

 

Related episodes:

 

Visit our Sponsors!!!

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

 

Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

www.espressly.co

 

 

Subscribe to KTTS

Follow on IG @KEYSTOTHESHOP

Dec 20, 2022

There has been a resurgence of mobile coffee carts recently. A cart offers the owner flexibility, agility, and a less risky entry into the world of coffee retail. That said, there are many elements that need to be in place for you to be able to set up and run a successful coffee cart that serves you and your customers well.

Today we are going to be digging into the details with special guest Sarah Naylor of Daybreak Coffee Cart in Snohomish, WA. 

After 11 year working in coffee and and 8 years in the pastry arts world, Sarah Naylor took all the hard earned knowledge and wisdom she acquired  through the hospitality industry and ventured out on her own to found Daybreak Coffee Cart. 

Daybreak is a mobile coffee cart and craft coffee catering service located in Snohomish County. Daybreak offers an elevated coffee experience for weddings, corporate events, conferences, and mitzvahs all around. They love serving others and aim to bring joy wherever we go. It is their mission to share kindness through coffee. 

In our conversation we discuss her beginnings and the practical actions she took to start and run her cart in a way that serves her guests with excellence and most importantly, also serves her and her family well. 

We cover:

  • Changing paths via life challenges
  • Putting family first and the “why”
  • True service and operating values
  • The first steps in starting the Coffee Cart
  • Ergonomics and set up
  • Setting, expectations, and forming an LLC
  • Drawing from past experience to inform the journey
  • The key business logistics and necessities
  • Saying no and growing responsibly
  • Menu design and Pricing 
  • Marketing, networking , and promotion
  • Developing confident and positive thought patterns

Links: 

www.daybreakcoffeecart.com

IG: @daybreakcoffeecart

 

Related episodes:

 

Interested in leveling up your coffee shop or setting up 1:1 coaching?

Visit our amazing Sponsors!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

www.pacficfoodservice.com

www.coffeefest.com

Dec 14, 2022

Sometimes it is hard to reconcile our desire for authenticity with the performance and responsibilities that we take on while working in the cafe. 

In fact, for many baristas, their distaste and inability to embrace anything that seems prescribed leaves them incapable of delivering meaningful service and, consequently, incapable of advancing in their work. 

Today on Shift Break we will be talking about your role as a barista and how it is your job to take ownership of the duties of your job, which will in turn create the authenticity you seek. 

Related episodes:

 

Visit our Sponsors!!!

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

 

Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

www.espressly.co

 

 

Subscribe to KTTS

Follow on IG @KEYSTOTHESHOP

Dec 13, 2022

It is easy to assume that if you have found the right person for the manager role then they will not need very much investment or guidance from you to get the hang of things. After all, they are amazing and you trust their "can do" attitude will be enough to help them succeed. 

Obviously this is not the case, but that doesn't stop this misconception from being repeated over and over again in cafes around the world. 

Truth is that no matter who you hire you will need to have a structured plan for how they will be onboarded, trained, and invested into over a significant period of time so they are not only capable, but confident and trustworthy in their work as a true leader, not just a barista with a few extra admin tasks. 

On today's show we will be going over some needed mindsets, approaches and methods for training up a manager that may challenge the way you have been doing things to this point, but will definitely set everyone up for success. 

We cover:

  • Who is a good manager and what do they do?
  • The misconception of time
  • Your role in the relationship
  • Real investment and specificity 
  • Developing beyond knowledge transfer
  • Committing to long term development
  • Co-creation and staying touch with the real needs of the shop

 

Related episodes:

 

Interested in leveling up your coffee shop or setting up 1:1 coaching?

 

Visit our amazing Sponsors!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

www.pacficfoodservice.com

www.coffeefest.com

Dec 10, 2022

Cupping is as close to a sacred act as we get in the world of coffee evaluation. It is a ubiquitous ritual that comes with its own language, implements, and is considered by many to be THE way that we can determine what a coffee has to offer. But what if cupping is not the end all be all we assume it to be? What if certain aspects of cupping are not to be worried about so much allowing us to explore other, dare we say, better ways to to evaluate a coffee? 

In this episode of RoR from Roast Magazine we get to see how recent scientific discoveries have shown us we can stop worrying and start tasting on a new level through an article called "Why We Can Stop Worrying About ExtractionYield in Cupping" w/ the author and coffee legend, Charlie Habegger! 

Charlie is a coffee buyer with field experience in over 20 producing countries. He has built sourcing and quality systems with Intelligentsia, Handsome Coffee Roasters, and Blue Bottle. He has been a U.S. Barista Championship finalist and a subject of the documentary film "Barista" (2015). He has volunteered with the Coffee Quality Institute leading local Q-grader teams in Myanmar and the Philippines. Charlie is now proudly with Royal Coffee in the Bay Area, where he has the fun title of "Sourcing Curator and Placement Specialist", a project-based position of sourcing and marketing. Before Royal, Charlie was a legal cannabis buyer in California's Emeral Triangle, an experience that renewed his love for California and specialty agriculture of all kinds. He thinks constantly about the vast distances many of us never get to cross as consumers.

In our conversation we cover:

  • Pivotal cupping experiences
  • The language of Correct vs incorrect
  • Is cupping the ultimate way to explore potential?
  • The epiphany in the Philippines
  • Cultural context and objectivity
  • Study that addresses extraction yield in cupping
  • Introducing other methods
  • Timing when you taste coffee and where cupping fits
  • Deciding on definition and what is important before tasting
  • The role of history and relationship in cupping
  • Advice for new businesses developing preferences and systems

 

Subscribe to Roast Magazine! Use code "ROR" to get $5 off

Links:

 

Related Episodes:

Dec 7, 2022

Boy oh boy this is a hard question. The initial reaction you might have to this will depend on your position in the cafe, your knowledge of the circumstances around the firing, and your ability to consider more than just the individual in question. In other words, it depends. 

On today's Shift Break we will be talking about how to think about this question and what areas need to be considered before you give a definitive answer that may have unintended consequences on your coffee shop, and more importantly, the people that work in and frequent it. 

Listen to these related episodes next: 

Dec 6, 2022

Innovation in the coffee industry is no longer just about large companies tweaking their standard equipment, but it is becoming democratized through small companies bringing their ideas to market through networking, research, and good old fashioned hard work. Today we are going to be talking with 2 of the 3 founders of one such company who sought to create the brew they always wanted but could not find. WE sit down with Michael Butterworth and Ozgur Jerdan of Etkin Design!

Etkin believes that when brewing coffee, you shouldn't have to choose between batch size and quality. If you brew coffee for your friends and family, you’re often stuck making multiple batches.

The Etkin Dripper is a new, flat-bottom coffee dripper optimized to make up to one liter of coffee. Its proprietary design helps ensure an even extraction and ideal brew time resulting in a sweeter, more full-bodied cup of coffee. 

Michael is a long time industry pro who has been a Q Grader, competitor, cafe trainer, and is an active AST certified trainer

Ozgur is from Istabul,Turkey where the brewer is made with local porcelain and has a long history in academia around ESL, education, and organizational direction. 

Aaron O'Neal is the other cofounder who is not present in this interview. His history and expertise is in the work of media and marketing consultation and leadership as well as a deep love and enthusiasm for coffee. 

In our conversation today we explore the story of how these three friends conceptualized and brought this brewer to market, the relationships, challenges, and what their story means for innovation, hospitality, and how we enjoy coffee at home. 

We Cover:

  • Unique journey to market
  • Hospitality
  • Proper brewing geometry
  • Creating ease for hosting
  • Relationships in business
  • Crowd funding and democratizing innovation
  • Building trust with the manufacturer
  • Turkish culture of hospitality
  • Is home brewing tech too complex?
  • Consumer journey and goals

Links:

https://etkincoffee.com/

@etkindesign

 

Related episodes:

 

Interested in leveling up your coffee shop?

Click here to schedule a free consulting discovery call with KTTS

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Visit our amazing Sponsors!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

www.pacficfoodservice.com

www.coffeefest.com

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