It's Founder Friday! And this one is quite special. Nori and Tin Burmudez founded Corridor Flow in the Fall of 2019 with community and relationship as their central mission. I was lucky enough to work with them in their beginning stages and for the last almost six years, their commitment to their vision have shown itself in their deeply rooted and instantly resonant presence in their Lomita community.
Nori comes from the world of healthcare and nursing, and Tin from the world of engineering and construction. Mix this together with their heart for service and passion for coffee as a vehicle to inspire gathering, and you have all the right components to build what is the perfect combination of function and hospitality in Corridor Flow.
Today we explore their 6 year journey cultivating their business and growing themselves in the process. Using coffee, radical hospitality, and a steady focus on serving people, Corridor Flow has embodied so many of the things that make a coffee shop more than just a sum of its parts. Something that opens doors for many possibilities through he flow of people and coffee.
Please enjoy this wonderful Founder Friday episode!
Links:
Related episodes:
INTERESTED IN 1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING?
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email
of book a free call now:
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Want a beautiful coffee shop? All your hard surface, stone, Tile and brick needs!
The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series!
Great things happen when we plug into community and open ourselves up to the learning process. This is especially true when you begin your own business and apply those things you have learned from your experiences. It opens up entirely new levels.
Today on this 36th episode of Rate of Rise, brought to you by our friends at Mill City Roasters, we are talking with Alex Jacob of Vital Coffee Roasters.
Alex Jacob is the founder of Vital Coffee Roasters, Head Roaster for Ascension Coffee Roasters, and a 2025 Fellow with The Chain Collaborative. He holds two master's degrees in Public Health and Public Administration and is a licensed Q Grader. His passion for coffee began as a hobby and developed into positions as a barista and roasting assistant during graduate school. It was a desire to combine his passions of community impact and coffee that eventually led him to change careers, leaving the world of healthcare. Alex's aspirations had him seeking ways to better understand the coffee supply chain and how to use coffee as a method of impact. This path of continuous learning and community-focused development is what fuels his work today.
We learn:
Links:
Related episodes:
Our Sponsor for Rate of Rise!
Training employees remains one of the central tasks of cafe ownership and management. Rather than training from a central standard and source that has been thoughtfully crafted to onboard and develop the skills of the barista to meet specific standards, there is a temptation to want to lean on training by osmosis or by committee where the new hire is simply assigned a shift schedule and told they will learn from the other experienced employees. What you end up with is a lot of mixed messages, confusion, disengagement and inconsistencies.
Today on Shift Break we will be talking about why training by committee, or by simply having the existing staff "show them the ropes" is a bad idea and what we should be doing instead.
Related episodes:
HIRE KTTS CONSULTING AND COACHING!
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email
of book a free call now:
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Thank you to out sponsors!
Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/
The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com
If you are like a lot of owners or managers you might find the idea of reminding and repeating yourself to be at the top of the "most annoying things I should not have to do" list. To a degree you are right. But only partly. It really depends on how those tools are used and how you approach your own role in the cafe
Today we are going to explore how the tools of repetition and reminders are actually forms of guidance that, in their right place, can bring about the kind of change and excellence you want to see in the coffee shop.
In fact, it seems that the key to leadership in the cafe starts with reminding and repeating to ourselves the truth that we are using our position to serve and facilitate. These elements are critical a solid coffee business.
Related Episodes:
INTERESTED IN 1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING?
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email
of book a free call now:
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Want a beautiful coffee shop? All your hard surface, stone, Tile and brick needs!
The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series!
We talk about how we want to provide an experience for the guest, to connect with them, to make a positive impact. The way to get there though is through embracing what may seem like the opposite of what we want, the transactional. Gasp!
Today on Shift Break we will be talking about why the transaction between you and the customer, the ordinary exchange of money for goods, is the gateway and foundation to building a truly remarkable business and hospitality experience!
Related episodes:
In Praise of the "Transactional"
518: How to Run a Coffee Shop w/ Meaningful Hospitality
505: Maintaining Excellence in the Everyday Work of Coffee Shops w/ Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood
SHIFT BREAK: Back to the Basics
SHIFT BREAK: Is Your Love for Coffee Sabotaging Your Success?
HIRE KTTS CONSULTING AND COACHING!
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email
of book a free call now:
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Thank you to out sponsors!
Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/
The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com
On average, when I look into a cafe's operational materials and systems, one of the main things that is either not developed well, developed but not updated, or just not there at all, are job descriptions.
For many coffee businesses, there is a default to describing their growth and thus operation as "organic" and as a result, while some progress is made, they can tend to find themselves hitting a wall where everyone feels a constant sense of uncertainty that impact the business.
Today we will be talking about the good and the bad ways we create and utilize job descriptions in the cafe and how you can approach the use of them to serve your staff and customers well.
As always, I hope you gain one or a few insight from this episodes that you put into practice to make a positive difference in the shop!
Related Episodes:
INTERESTED IN 1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING?
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email
of book a free call now:
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Want a beautiful coffee shop? All your hard surface, stone, Tile and brick needs!
The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series!
Who we are when nobody s looking is really who we are. There are variations of this phrase and for most it is convicting and motivates us to increase the integrity of how we move in life and work. In the cafe, we talk a lot about hospitality regarding guests and more recently we have talked about hospitality for the staff. But what about the people that support and are vested in your businesses through services and products?
Today on Shift Break we will be talking about the importance of extending our hospitality to vendors like delivery drivers, bakeries, service companies, and others. Whether in-person or over the phone, how we treat people matters and either builds relationships or erodes them.
As goes the relationships, so goes the business.
Related episodes:
Service, Spite, and Compromise
133 : 5 Keys to Successful Wholesale w/ Sarah Richmond
Are We Giving our Best to the Least?
HIRE KTTS CONSULTING AND COACHING!
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email
of book a free call now:
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Thank you to out sponsors!
Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/
The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com
INTERESTED IN 1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING?
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email
of book a free call now:
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Want a beautiful coffee shop? All your hard surface, stone, Tile and brick needs!
The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series!
Being a manager in a coffee shop is not just about extra administrative tasks, its about leading and guiding people well through the work of the cafe. Many managers in bars around the world are kept buried in tasks and don't have a clear view of the landscape in front of them. This leads to avoiding essential conversations and a lack of growth in both the manager and the staff.
Today on Shift Break we will be talking about a great tool developed by Bruce Tulgan in his book "It's OK to be the Boss" called "The Manager's Landscape". I will go through the framework and show how you can utilize it to know how to effectively lead and manage the people you have best tasked with serving.
It only takes a moment to get this started so I would encourage you to take action after this episode and start applying these principles today!
Related episodes:
KEYS TO THE SHOP®
CONSULTING AND COACHING!
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email
of book a free call now:
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Thank you to out sponsors!
Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/
The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com
Coffee shops are dynamic places that require a ton of focus on what seems like an endless sea of urgent things. Some are actually more important than others and learning what they are and training yourself and your staff to focus on and cultivate them from the start can help set the next years of your businesses life up for healthy operation and growth.
Today we are going to explore what areas you need to be focused on int he first year in order to make best use of your time. Areas that, if given serious investment, will make everything else work together.
This is not just for new businesses though. If you have been open a while and want to recalibrate, simplify, focus, and refine, this one is for you too.
Related Episodes:
INTERESTED IN 1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING?
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email
of book a free call now:
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Want a beautiful coffee shop? All your hard surface, stone, Tile and brick needs!
The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series!
Once we get a little bit of authority as a trainer, manager, or leader in the coffee shop we tend to dream about and focus on all the things we want to change. Unfortunately the projects that we know will improve things often do not get the reception we want from the boss and we feel dejected and frustrated.
Today on Shift Break we will be talking about the need to have patience and to prioritize the right work and projects in order to gain trust so the good things you want to do in the future are better received.
Related episodes:
SHIFT BREAK: Setting Staff Up For Success
SHIFT BREAK: Making Minimum Viable Changes
SHIFT BREAK: Managers, You Don't Need To Do It All
Flexibility for Owners and Managers
HIRE KTTS CONSULTING AND COACHING!
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email
of book a free call now:
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Thank you to out sponsors!
Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/
The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com