Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

Latest Episodes:

484: Demystifying Mentorship w/ Dr. Ruth Gotian, Author of "The Financial Times guide to Mentorship"" Jul 08, 2024

Show notes

In the the coffee industry, we all need help and we can all give help. In order to truly advance our own careers and those of others we want find success we need plan for and practice mentorship. The trouble is that the need we have for help also creates a lot of insecurities and the idea of mentorship can sound rather unapproachable or inaccessible. The good news is that it does not have to be this away and our guest today will help us demystify mentorship and approach it in a fresh and accessible way.

Dr. Ruth Gotian is Chief Learning Officer and Associate Professor of Education in Anesthesiology and former Assistant Dean for Mentoring at Weill Cornell Medicine. She is a globally recognized expert in mentorship and leadership development.

Hailed by Nature, Wall Street Journal, and Columbia University as an expert in mentorship and leadership development, she was named a top 20 mentor worldwide. Thinkers50 ranked her as the #1 emerging management thinker in the world in 2021, and LinkedIn recognized her as a top voice in mentoring in 2023.

A semi-finalist for Forbes 50 Over 50, Dr. Gotian is a prolific contributor toHarvardBusiness Review, Forbes, andPsychology Today, where she shares insights on optimizing success with a focus on the mindset and skill set of peak performers, including Nobel Prize winners, astronauts, Olympic and NBA champions, she's also an award-winning author of The Success Factor and The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring.

Today we are going to dive deep into what mentorship is, why it is critical for advancing both individuals and industries as well as how to pursue mentorship for yourself and how to be a mentor ot others.

We cover:

Continuous Learning and Surrounding Yourself with Mentors
The Strength of Vulnerability in Success
Finding and Building Relationships with Mentors
Defining a Mentor and Their Role
The Difference Between Mentoring and Coaching
Preparing for Mentoring: Recognizing What You Need
The Value of Formal Mentoring Programs
The Importance of Effective Matching
Building a Community of Practice
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and Judging Success

Links:

https://ruthgotian.com

https://mentoring-guide.com/

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SHIFT BREAK: Hiring based on Staff Preference vs Business Needs Jul 04, 2024

Show notes

Making decisions about who to hire or even who might need to be let go are some of the hardest but most important decisions to make in a coffee shop. So hard in fact that we can often fall into avoiding the decision by deferring to our existing staff for their opinion on who is or is not a good fit. While involving key staff in these decisions is generally good, putting too much emphasis or all the weight on them can end up in wrong choices for hiring or needlessly extending a staff member's employment solely based on the fact that people like them.

On today's Shift Break we will be discussing why we need to making these types of decisions based not so much on the expressed preferences of the current staff (or your own bias for that matter!) but on values alignment and professionally established standards for the business and that role.

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 chris@keystothshop.com of book a free call now:

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Listen to related episodes:

Emotions, Self-Sabotage, and Telling Ourselves the Truth

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483: Encore: 6 Essential Qualities of Coffee Shop Leaders Jul 02, 2024

Show notes

Leadership in the coffee shop can either be the glue that holds it together and nurtures its growth, or it is the force that tears it apart and depletes it of vitality.

In order to make sure it is the former we need to make certain that we, and those placed in leadership possess key traits and qualities that create a people-first culture.

Today we are re-airing a vitally important episode highlighting character traits and qualities every cafe leader needs to possess and practice. In order to be a successful shop you need to have a people first disposition. This episode is

We cover:

The Importance of Mindfulness in Leadership
Practicing Empathy in Leadership
Consistency: Building Trust and Clarity
Cultivating Confidence in Coffee Shop Leadership
The Power of Curiosity in Leading a Coffee Shop

Related Episodes:

Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com

482: Founder Friday! w/ Rahul Reddy of Subko Coffee Mumbai, India Jun 27, 2024

Show notes

At the head of some of the most exciting brands in India's rapidly expanding specialty coffee scene is Subko. More than coffee, Subko has created a platform to show case the flavors, culture, and design of India through multiple disciplines. At it's heart is sourcing, roasting, and serving the best coffee the subcontinent has to offer and Mumbai is just the beginning. Today we get to hear the story and insights of Subko co-founder, Rahul Reddy

Rahul Reddy is the co-founder of Subko Specialty Coffee Roasters and Specialty Arabica Q Grader.

With Subko, Rahul intends to help reimagine the Indian Subcontinent as a legitimate contributor to the global specialty coffee movements. The conception of Subko began in December 2018, and cemented itself in February, 2019, when Rahul decided to leave behind careers in the technology, social enterprise, and risk analyst worlds to train as an apprentice at a specialty coffee company called City of Saints in Brooklyn, New York. There, he learned the art of profile roasting coffee as a roasting apprentice, learned specialty brewing, packaging, producing cold brew, and farm level green bean buying.

In this conversation we cover:

Rahul's Introduction and Personal Fascination with Coffee
The Absence of Indian Farmers in the Global Coffee Discourse
The Value of Diverse Backgrounds and Skills
Specialty Coffee as a Platform for Change
Design and Storytelling to Showcase Indian Coffee
Building a Foundation for Subko
Redefining Indian Coffee: Showcasing Terroir and Post-Harvest Processing
The Permaculture of Indian Coffee: Shade Trees and Intercropping
From Roasting to Cafe: Navigating Challenges During the Pandemic
Verticals of design, cocoa, and coffee
Fostering Creativity and Collaboration: Subko's Team Values
Expanding the Subko Experience: From Mumbai to International Cities
Advice to other entrepreneurs looking to reshape narratives

Links:

https://www.subko.coffee/

IG: subkocoffee

Related Episodes:

Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com

SHIFT BREAK: The Best Marketing Strategy Jun 27, 2024

Show notes

We only have so much energy, time, and money to give to marketing our coffee shops. There is a lot of stress related to having the right strategy for getting people to become aware of you cafe and then visit and keep visiting. To make matters more worse, the consumer must wade through a sea of competitors who are applying similar social media and advertising strategies. So what do you invest into to give you a big return?

Today on Shift Break we will be discussing what I believe is an often overlooked and little implemented strategy that will gain you a lot of long term customers. Best of all, it is not able to be duplicated and helps you stand out from the rest in a way the usual methods a cannot.

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Listen to related episodes:

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

481 : Exploring Sensory Analysis Using "The Coffee Rose"/ Ian Fretheim, Director of Sensory Analysis at Cafe Imports Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

Tasting coffee is arguably one of the most important, yet subjective practices we engage in as coffee professionals. As our guest today will articulate, tasting and evaluating a coffee's Characteristics is done as a means of communicating to others. In order for us to communicate we need a common language and we need to contextualize as we go. That is where "The Coffee Rose" comes into play. Today we are diving into the world of sensory analysis and ways to create accesibity and understanding with special Guest, Ian Fretheim

Ian Fretheim has been the Director of Sensory Analysis at Cafe Imports for 13 years. He holds a certificate in sensory and consumer science from UC Davis and has studied wine assessment with the International Sommelier's Guild. In 2018-2019 he began work on the foundations that would become the Coffee Rose with the goal of improving Cafe Imports' sensory program.

As the Coffee Rose emerged, it became clear that it answered more questions and served greater needs than originally imagined. The Coffee Rose is an unprecedented pivot toward transparency and accessibility in specialty coffee cupping.

Today, Ian and Cafe Imports use the Coffee Rose to describe and assess thousands of coffees, teach cupping and coffee tasting, communicate with partners, and provide a path for experienced cuppers to return to tasting coffee without the filter of forms that abstract them away from the cups and reduce their experience to a series of numbers.

Links:

The Coffee Rose

@cafeimports

Water Activity in Green Coffee Paper

Related episodes:

Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com

SHIFT BREAK: Stop Talking, and Start Doing Jun 20, 2024

Show notes

It is easy to talk about the things we want to improve, fix, and institute in the cafe. Trouble is that in all the talking of doing the how we need this or that, we tend to leave it there and wait until an opportune or ideal time comes along, rather than simply taking 1 small decisive step toward what we need.

Today on Shift Break we talk about why we need to default to taking action more vs simply talking about and planning the perfect next step Disciplining ourselves to do this creates in us and our team the identity and capacity needed to manage the shop well.

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Listen to related episodes:

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

480: Focus on What Your Customers Love Jun 16, 2024

Show notes

Your customers count on you to create a wonderful cafe experience everyday. That is the implied or explicit promise of our marketing and what most of us aspire to deliver. The way we get there is by paying close attention to what our customers love and fortifying those element of the business through focused resourcing and training and improving as we go.

What are some of the most important areas to focus on that will truly communicate to your customers that you take their patronage seriously and that we are here to serve?

Today we are going to cover the main things customers love, why they are important, how to create a culture that maintains them, and what you can expect as a result.

We cover:

Preemptive service
Thoughtful variety
Empathy
Attention to detail
Cleanliness
Consistency
Follow through and acknowledgement

Related Episodes:

Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com

SHIFT BREAK: Respecting Your Barista's Professional Boundaries Jun 12, 2024

Show notes

In the cafe, it is easy to lapse into assuming that people who work for you, should also be available and responsive at all times even when off the clock. The lack of quick response from staff when off the clock to calls, emails, slack messages etc is often considered some sign that the employee is not right for the organization and can have a negative impact on how that employee is perceived and invested into.

Today on Shift Break we talk about the importance of respecting the boundaries of personal and professional and how we should set healthy expectations for staff an ourselves in the coffee shop so we can avoid this toxic overlap.

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Listen to related episodes:

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

SHIFT BREAK: Why You Need Exit Interviews Jun 05, 2024

Show notes

Try as we might, the reality is that eventually even the best staff will leave our shops for another job or career. How they leave is largely up to us as leaders. Some will exit on bad terms for reasons related to bad management or their own personal behaviors that are an ill fit. Others will have been wonderful team members and right fit for the role, but need to move on. In all cases there is much to learn that we miss out on when we don't conduct exit interviews.

Today on Shift Break we will be talking about why you need to strive to conduct exit interviews with all your employees when they leave your shop and how it will benefit you, the business, and especially your future staff.

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Listen to related episodes:

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