Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

Latest Episodes:

Managing Expectations in Systems Aug 12, 2022

Show notes

This week on KTTS was basically "Logistics Week". When we talk about logistics and systems we naturally think about forming rules for how work is done that others can rely on for a predictable outcome. Trouble is, change is always needed to keep systems relevant, and being flexible or even training your team to be flexible is not an easy task.

On today's Shift Break we will discuss how to build in flexibility alongside our systems so we can respond to challenges quicker with more grace and not worry about change as a threat but embrace it as a natural part of the process.

Related episodes:

Reach out for one-on-one consulting and coaching!

Book a 90 minute consulting Call now!

Interested in consulting? Click here to schedule a free consulting discovery call with KTTS

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The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

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361: Managing Roastery Relationships and Logistics w/ Corey Turner of Andytown Coffee Roasters Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

From the perspective of the cafe, the world of the roastery seems to be shrouded in mystery. Indeed, as we have said on the show before, roasting is practically its own business with its own ecosystem of relationships and systems. Todays guest is someone who began in the cafe and then dove in to that world and has since been creating intuitive solutions for both systems and the people they serve in the roastery. We are siting down to talk with Corey Turner

Corey (They/She) has done it all in 8 years of working in coffee. Barista, trainer, roaster, technician just to name a few. After moving to San Francisco from rural Virginia to pursue an MFA in poetry, Corey began work in coffee and has not stopped since!

Currently working for Andytown Coffee Roasters in San Francisco, California as director of coffee production & logistics, Corey works with an amazing team where they help scale the coffee menu, production, and wholesale.

In our interview today we cover a lot of different topics related to perspectives of managing relationships, building systems, and keeping on top of the inputs that drive the daily work.

This was a lovely conversation and I hope you enjoy!

Links:

www.andytownsf.com

Corey's Instagram @cor_tado

Interested in consulting? Click here to schedule a free consulting discovery call with KTTS

Click here to book a formal one-on-one consulting call!

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Excellence In The Things We Hate Aug 04, 2022

Show notes

"I just want to make coffee!" That thought has crossed all our minds at some point in our barista careers. In fact I remember clearly being reprimanded for my hyper-focus on the espresso machine at the expense of pretty much everything else. In reality, there are tasks and areas of the shop that require excellence just as much as the coffee we serve

Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how we can foster a mindset of excellence toward the things we hate so the whole cafe is cared for and we get to keep doing what we love.

Related episodes:

Reach out for one-on-one consulting and coaching!

Book a 90 minute consulting Call now!

Visit these amazing sponsors!

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

www.espressly.co

360: Encore Episode! Hosting Consumer Coffee Classes: 7 Tips for Success Aug 02, 2022

Show notes

In the shop we serve people the product of our own training and understanding. We also sell them ideas of what coffee can be and our customers will frequently be frustrated at the gap of quality between the shop and their kitchen. This is where consumer coffee classes come in. Before the pandemic we were already seeing a rise in consumer education, but now it has truly gone from novel pursuit to an absolute necessity. I believe every shop should have some form of coffee class for their customers to help equip them to brew your roasted coffee well and also to deepen their appreciation for what you do every day.

In this encore episode from January of 2018 (the infancy of this show) we dive into this topic and I give you 7 tips for how to set up and conduct great coffee classes.

Please listen to the related episodes below for more on the importance of consumer education!

Related episodes:

Visit our amazing Sponsors!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

www.pacficfoodservice.com

www.coffeefest.com

359 : Founder Friday! w/ Nigel Price of Drip Coffee Makers NYC Jul 28, 2022

Show notes

It's Founder Friday once again and I am thrilled to shine a light on someone who has built their business on a heart for people, relationships, and an offering of accessible quality coffees. Today we are talking with the founder of Drip Coffee NYC, Nigel Price!

Nigel left a career in finance to pursue opening his own coffee shop. Once he was immersed in the industry he realized there was much more to doing this successfully than just having a good business would prepare him for. He spent 10 years working in great coffee bars learning and growing his perspective, skills, and concept.

He launched Drip Coffee Makers NYC 3 years ago as a focused mobile multi-roaster cart popping up all over the city. From there he opened his first brick and mortar in 2020, thrived in the pandemic, and now has a fleet of 4 stores and a growing community of committed customers and fan across the city and the industry.

Nigel has a calm and clear passion for people and coffee that has been at the heart of Drip and it's success and today we are going to hear the story of how this all came to be along with some very important insights into entrepreneurship that you will be absolutely key to your own success and fulfillment in coffee.

We cover:

Starting in coffee from finance
Early false assumptions
The real challenge of running a shop
Prioritizing relationships
Paying dues and Finding your voice
Starting as a pop up multi roaster shop
From mobile to brick and mortar
Dealing with transition from barista to operator
It's about the people and their experience
What the future holds

Related Episodes:

Visit our amazing Sponsors!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

www.pacficfoodservice.com

Language Barriers and Understanding Jul 28, 2022

Show notes

"We don't speak Starbucks" I cannot tell you how much damage phrases like this have done over the years. More than just creating hostility at the register with customers who don't speak the same "coffee language" as us, it also sets the stage for more hostility and misunderstanding with customers whose culture, language, or abilities are literally different from our own.

In today's shift break we will be discussing the importance of fostering a desire to serve through understanding and how we can overcome language barriers of all kinds with the right mindset and resourcing.

Related episodes:

Reach out for one-on-one consulting and coaching!

Book a 90 minute consulting Call now!

Visit these amazing sponsors!

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

www.espressly.co

358 : Changing Coffee Through Proportional Pricing w/ Andy and Nanelle Newbom of Torque Coffee Jul 24, 2022

Show notes

The system works exactly the way it was designed to work...and it needs to be broken. This is the goal of a new model of coffee trade introduced by Andy and Nanelle Newbom through their company Torque Coffee.

Andy and Nanelle Newbom are life long coffee professionals who have been foundational in helping establish the standards for transparency and excellence we know today. With their iconic roastery and retail company Barefoot Coffee they helped pioneer Direct Trade, Andy was a founding member of the Barista Guild, and they both have been work in roasting / importing companies since then where they are consistently pursuing equity and systemic change for an industry who's distribution of value is drastically lopsided.

Recently they have launched a new model of trade based the idea of what they call "Proportional Pricing" with their company Torque Coffee.

In this model they seek to give to break the system and replace it with a framework that pays the farmer a set percentage of the coffee's retail value upfront. It really is a great idea and in today's conversation we will get the inside scoop on how this came about, how it works, and what you can do to adopt this model in your roastery.

We discuss:

Iterating models to address the issues
Leaching value from farmers
Double standards
The Torque model: Proportional Pricing
Starting at the ceiling
You don't have as many coffees as you think
Building the system and relationships needed
Taking the risk off the producer
unintentional impacts on producer
Play to pay sucks
The practice of tracking all your costs

Links:

www.torquecoffees.com

Instagram @torquecoffees

Related episodes:

Visit our amazing Sponsors!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

www.pacficfoodservice.com

www.coffeefest.com

SPECIAL: Coffee Fest Live! Chicago 2022 Part 2 w/ Marissa Childers, Jess Gulino, and Tony Dreyfuss Jul 22, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to part two of a live series of interviews conducted on the show floor of Coffee Fest Chicago in June of 2022! In these interviews I sit down with stellar presenters and lecturers to dig deep into a range of relevant and important topics that will help make you and your coffee business better.

Today we will be talking with Marissa Childers, co-founder (along with Ethan Darla) of Tanbrown Coffee, a roastery dedicated to re-writing the narrative about Asian coffee and Asians in coffee. In our chat today we dive into the topic of the current narrative regarding asian coffees and other marginalized origins, and how roasters and shops can help make a difference through highlighting the nuances and complexities those origins have to offer.

To learn more about Tanbrown visit:

www.tanbrown.coffee

Instagram @tanbrowncoffee

Next we get to talk with Jess Gulino who wears many hats at La Terza Coffee. One of her focuses is in branding and helping shops create expressions that resonate with customers and the shops values. In this chat we discuss lots of relevant questions you might have when approaching branding and Jess helps us guide us to more clear understanding of what may be right for you.

Learn more about La Terza Coffee here:

Finally we get to have a conversation with the great Tony Dreyfuss who, along with his father, founded the iconic Metropolis Coffee in Chicago! In this discussion we cover what goes into an effective training program and Tony gives us insight into how they have honed their own program from nearly 20 years of experience.

Learn more about Metropolis Coffee here:

Be sure to tune in to listen to part 1 of this series if you have not already!

HEY THERE!

If you are looking for resourcing, clarity, inspiration, and just a really fun experience then I would suggest attending Coffee Fest Trades Shows!

You can get 50% off your registration by using the code KEYS when registering you and your team at www.coffeefest.com

SPECIAL: Coffee Fest Live! Chicago 2022 Part 1 w/ Luke Waite, Kris Christian, and Perfect Cube Jul 22, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to part on of a live series of interviews conducted on the show floor of Coffee Fest Chicago in June of 2022! In these interviews I sit down with stellar presenters and lecturers to dig deep into a range of relevant and important topics that will help make you and your coffee business better.

Today we will be talking with Luke Waite of The Lev Co and Pomelo Coffee Consulting all about how roasting operations can increase profitability and clarity around their mission.

Learn more about Luke's work here:

Next we chat with Kris Christian who is the founder of Chicago French Press. In our conversation we discuss her story of building a business to make coffee more accessible, black entrepreneurship, and the need for resourcing to continue to see that sector of small business thrive.

Learn more about Kris and Chicago French Press here:

Lastly we get to sit down with Mark Calhoun and Jim Starcev of Perfect Cube. Mark and Jim have been on the show before to talk about data and metrics and in this interview we focus on how and where businesses can get started on the right track to financial tracking and health.

Learn more about perfect cube here:

Be sure to tune in to part 2 of this series where we talk with another three wonderful coffee minds at Coffee Fest!

HEY!

If you are looking for resourcing, clarity, inspiration, and just a really fun experience then I would suggest attending Coffee Fest Trades Shows!

You can get 50% off your registration by using the code KEYS when registering you and your team at www.coffeefest.com

Vanity Metrics Jul 22, 2022

Show notes

In coffee, we like to see ourselves making progress and we check our state against certain metrics and goals that we believe, once reached, will transform our business and as bring satisfaction.

Today on Shift Break we will be discussing vanity metrics and why some of the feedback and status we seek through them will more likely lead to stress and fear, than joy and fulfillment.

Related episodes:

Reach out for one-on-one consulting and coaching!

Book a 90 minute consulting Call now!

Visit these amazing sponsors!

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

www.espressly.co