Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

We all make mistakes. It's part of the learning and growth process for everyone. As you go in your career you will find that there are certain types of mistakes that are worse than others in that they have a greater negative impact on you and those around you. I have been doing this coffee thing long enough to have amassed a nice list of those types of mistakes and today I want to share that list with you and elaborate on each one. I am pretty sure most if not all the listeners here will experience or are currently mired down in one or more of these mistakes and it's my hope that by shedding light on it in this episode you will be able to correct course sooner than I did! We cover: Arrogance Being Overbearing Taking it Personally Not listening to my boss Poor Heath Overwork Passive approach to development Related Episodes: 083: 6 Essential Books for your Professional Growth 243 : Encore Episode! "The Sleepwalking Barista (Owner)" Patience & Passivity : Career Advice for the Long Game 258 : Prioritizing your Mental Health in the New Year w/ Dr. Lara Pence 266 : Building Physical Resilience W/ Dr. David Dahl DPT, CAFS Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Your coffee packaging holds more than just coffee. It holds an incredible amount of potential for communication of values, impact on the supply chain, and how coffee itself is percieved and succeeds in the global market. Packaging might not seem like the most compeling topic but the package itself may be on of the main tools that compels consumers and how we approach it matters greatly. Today on the Rate of Rise series from Roast Magaine we will be exploring pacaging and beyond with the author of the Sept/Oct 2021 article "The Perfect Package", Ever Meister. Ever Meister has worked in the coffee industry for 20+ years in a wide range of capacities, but primarily she is a journalist, educator, and communicator whose work focuses on issues of access, equity, and ethics. She is the author of New York City Coffee: A Caffeinated History (The History Press, 2017) and the host of the coffee-marketing podcast In Good Taste on the Sprudge media network. A conversation with Ever will always lead to the deep and existensial issues at the root of our industry and this one is delivers that in spades along side some extremely practical tips and advice to put into action as your develop your own coffee packaging. We cover: Evolution of packaging What are the main considerations Decisions fatigue Customer experience Judging Quality control claims Investing in vendor relationship How do we decide what to prioritize Time budgeting Sustainability The give and take of waste Messaging on the bag Constraints and values Links: Ever Meister on Instagram: @justmeister Meister@justmeister.com Subscribe to Roast Magazine! Use code "ROR" to get $5 off 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 #8 How Post-Harvest Processing Impacts Flavor w/ Siva Subramanian and Byron Holcomb of Olam Food Ingredients RoR #9 Inside the Roaster's Tool Kit w/ Kat Melheim of Black and White Coffee and The Coffee People Zine RoR #10 : What Your Broker Wishes You Knew w/ Scott Merle of La Minita Coffee RoR #11 : Exploring Scent w/ Sandra Elisa Loofbourow

We often talk about charitable assumption and being proactive to address the needs of our guests. But how often are we considering the way we approach the relationship between owners and managers? There are a lot of expectations going both ways but not always a lot of understanding. Today on Shift Break we are going to talk about how if we can lean into communication and the spirit of mutuality then I am going to guess a lot of bad blood can be avoided. Related Episodes: 261 : The Basics of Managing Managers 141 : The 27 Challenges Managers Face w/ Bruce Tulgan 109 : Leadership Abandonment Syndrome : Lack of development in senior staff and what to do about it 229 : 7 Tips for New Managers Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Good intentions are nice and all, but how do you make sure that you can actually deliver on your ideals for quality, service, and beyond? The answer is systems. Unfortunately many shops are organizationally flying by the seat of their pants and delivering an inconsistent and frustrating experience. A well developed set of processes, lists, and procedures will give consistency to the standards we strive to offer our baristas and guests as well as aid us in developing a culture where people feel confident and cared for. But how do we create, establish, and refine systems and processes so they serve our shops and people well? That is exactly what we are going to cover today in a pretty thorough examination of the steps needed to make and launch systems in your cafe. We cover: Beginning mindsets and assumptions Leaders role Observation and feedback Rules for prioritization Writing for detail and for realism Training, coaching, and refinement Advice for both the new and existing shop Related episodes you must listen too! 329 : How to Teach Company Values to Your Staff 123 : The 10 Essentials of a Barista Manual 080 : Changing things in the Cafe : A workflow for Refinement 057 : SOP's FTW! Success through Standard Operating Procedures 007 : The 4 Keys to an Effective Checklist Feedback Culture : Making feedback a part of what you do not just something you sometimes do The Impact of Absence Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

When the customer first walks in the what do you think about them? Well chances are your immediate thoughts will be based on your assumptions formed in conversation with fellow baristas and the inside jokes we have at their expense. Yes, customers can say and do very similar things but why is our default to seek out ways to dismiss and make a caricature of them rather than trying to serve them with the benefit of the doubt as individual? Today on Shift Break we are going to talk about the problem with our natural tendency to train our brain to react to and think about customers in ways that ends up creating an unfair and less than stellar coffee experience. Related Episodes: Gossip: How this toxic element destroys community in the coffee shop and what to do instead 019 : 10 Reasons to Love the Customer w/ Chris Deferio Encore! Curbing Their Enthusiasm 329 : How to Teach Company Values to Your Staff Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

It's pretty easy to write our a set of company values. But how do you teach them in such a way that your staff own them and live by them? Now THAT is not easy. If you want to teach your staff the company values so that you are confident that they know, understand, and act according to them, even if you are not there, then todays episode is for you. We will be talking with about the five tips and methods needed to teach values effectively to your baristas and create a culture the lives those values out every single day. We cover: Creating meaningful values Your daily example The tools you use Cultural saturation Speaking the language Seeking connections to values Being open to change focus Recommended Episodes: Learning -vs- LEARNING Scaling Values Bridging the Values-Actions Gap The Conversational Reality of Your Business : Thought on how to approach creative projects in the new year Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

One of the questions I get asked a lot by consulting clients is when they should instal or think about hiring a manager. I see lots of coffee shops get into the mindset that they "should" have a manager but I don't often see people give competing reasons other than it is part of the coffee shop structure they see elsewhere. Today on Shift Break we are going to chat about a couple reasons you should delay the installation of a manager and why doing so will help you make a better management decision when the time is right. Recommend Episodes: Hiring for Future Leadership Helping Managers Avoid Burnout Tips on how to Replace a Manager 261 : The Basics of Managing Managers 129 : Founder Friday w/ Casey & Jeremy Miller of The Mudhouse, St. Louis, MO Visit our Sponsors!!! Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com

Navigating our way through the coffee industry can be a daunting task. Especially if you want to make a difference. As you go you are confronted with many challenges that threaten your stability and test both your resolve and faith in the reasons you began the journey in the first place. Through it all though, there is a kind of wisdom, strength, and perspective that you gain if you use your experiences, good or bad, as opportunities to refine yourself, what you do, and why you do it. Today we are going to be talking with the co-founder of Metric Coffee in Chicago. Xavier is someone who has had all these experiences and more working in the heart of the specialty coffee world since the early 2000's as a barista, roaster and roasting manager, and now for the last 8 years founding and running his own roastery and cafe space along with business partner, Darko Arandjelovic. Metric Coffee was born from a common desire of both founders to create a better way for themselves and for those producers they represent as roasters. A Good Food Award winning company, Metric definitely roasts and sources excellent coffees, but the relationships and commitment they develop along the way with producers is a hallmark of what makes Metric truly special. In today's conversation we are going to hear Xavier detail his own beginnings in coffee, growing in skill but also restlessness, developing resiliency through personal and professional trials, and of course the values, mission, and motivations behind starting Metric Coffee. This conversation gets deep and hopefully speaks to your heart and mind and gets you to see the world around you and your business in a clearer light. We cover: Developing values early in life Learning as a roaster The catalyst fo beginning Metric Revelations via relationships Using your position to build solutions Developing resiliency through hardships Personal responsibility and not blaming others Why it's not a race Iterating the mission Long term relationships Intuition and who to work with Inspiration to pay it forward through business Having a serving heart Representing the coffee well in a cafe Resourcing staff Defining success Related Episodes: Sustainability Series #2 : Importing & Roasting 060 : Serving the Coffee Plant w/ Hanna Neuschwander, World Coffee Research 265 : Gaining Clarity on Transparency w/ Jonas Lorenz of The Pledge 020 Joe Marrocco : Transparency, Origin Knowledge,and Your Shop : How to approach and apply coffee origin information to enhance, not detract, from the cafe experience 288 : The Truth behind Cheap Coffee w/ Karl Weinhold Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Today we get to talk with a pillar and foundational member of the specialty coffee community, Phuong Tran of Lava Java For 20 years now Phuong Tran has been the owner/operator of the famed coffee shop, Lava Java in Ridgefield Washington. There she discovered a passion for coffee that led her to not only craft the shop into a beacon of hight standards in the beginning of the 3rd wave of coffee, but she also became inspired to begin competing to in barista competitions as a way to improve. She won the U.S. title in 2005 and amidst the notoriety of the win simply continued to run a great cafe and teach coffee to her staff and through the SCA. I am lucky to consider Phuong a friend who I have known since back in 2006 or so. I have been inspired by her consistency, focus, values, and the simplicity with which she runs her shop and crafts her life. Today we get to explore her story from buying a business, discovering specialty coffee, and taking on new challenges - to competition, teaching, and advice to other owners from her extensive experience. I hope you really enjoy this one! We cover: Beginning coffee as an owner Buying an existing shop Learning the industry and taking on challenges Changing and refining things at the shop Establishing standards and finding specialty coffee Motivation for Competition Winning the U.S. Title Scaling to a 2nd location Choosing simplicity Self care and balance Links: www.lava-java.com Recommended Episodes: 305 : Founder Friday! w/ Andrew Sinclair of MadLab Coffee, Los Angeles, CA Founder Friday! w/ Adam Obrátil of Industra Coffee, Brno, Czech Republic 252 : Founder Friday w/ Klaus Thompson of the Coffee Collective, Denmark 232 : Founder Friday w/ Blew Kind of Fanny Lou's Porch Visit our awesome sponsors! Ground Control : Revolutionary Batch Brew Coffee! www.groundcontrol.coffee The Barista Series: Best Plant Based Beverages on Earth! www.pacificfoodservice.com

As we set out in our coffee journeys as either entrepreneurs or professionals within a company, we tend to seek out and cultivate groups of people around us who offer affirmation almost exclusively. Not matter what we are doing, the mindset we have and therefore the mindset we want other to have is to only offer positive and encouraging words. Trouble is that sometimes those words can cover up real needs that should be explored which makes some encouragement irresponsible. In today's Shift Break we are going to talk about this personal echo chamber and the need to pursue reality in the face of our own and others misguided desires to keep us far from it. Related episodes: Stop Lying Keeping it Real 277: Encore Episode: How to respond to Negative Feedback 283 : 5 Bad Reasons to Open a Coffee Shop Taking Offense to Critique Visit our Sponsors!!! Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com