Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

For so many people cold brew is the first step into the world of specialty coffee. In order to truly serve our customers well we need to make sure that, when we offer cold brew, we do it in a way that is engaging, fun, relatable, and helps showcase to them the vast possibilities of specialty coffee. Well, today we get the privilege to talk with the someone who has spent year exploring, tasting, and talking to creators of some of the best cold brew out there. Rachel Dillon is the host of "The Cold Brew Chick" podcast. A show that takes a deep dive into the multi-faceted world of cold brew and the story of those who produce it. Today she sits down with us and gives us 6 tips on how how we can level-up our cold brew game from all that she has learned from her own conversations and experiences as the ultimate cold brew consumer You will learn about: Why Nitro may not be for you What immersion cold brews can offer The power of samples Flash chill vs cold brew The importance of integrity in marletign How to stand out when you bottle your cold brew Helpful and customer focused mentalities toward cod brew Links: www.coldbrewchick.com Instagram Related episodes: Consumer Revolution Decoding Decaf 10 Reasons to Love the Customer

Huge problems come up for staff and customers when we are not on top of the may unique situations that spring up on the bar. In spite of trying to be preemptive and plan for all possible scenarios you will have baristas who make drinks differently, customers who are not charged for things they should be charged for, and many other types of exceptions that will be made on the bar without your knowledge. Customers end up frustrated at inconsistency and baristas end up confused. Today we are chatting about actions you can take to manage these exceptions now before they develop into toxic traditions later. Manage your inventory with ODEKO! odeko.com/keystotheshop Clean that equipment with Urnex! www.urnex.com

There is no better feeling than when the cafe gets busy, the pressure is on, and you and your fellow baristas dig deep, communicate well, get orders out quickly, accurately, and keep the bar clean in the process. You just crushed it! This is the idea behind La Marzocco USA's amazing team based competition, Crush the Rush. A competition who's aim is to re-create a rush in a cafe under but with even more pressure than normal and to test team's ability to handle that pressure with professionalism and grace. Today we get to talk to the one and only, Josh Littlefield, Events Manager for La Marzocco USA & the man spearheading Crush the Rush and its 2nd country wide tour. In our discussion we chat about the competition's creation, goals, format, and the lessons we can learn from the both the mistakes and successes of the many teams that have all competed in Crush the Rush. You will learn about: Grace under pressure Recovery from mistakes Accuracy and speed Good communication when it counts Handling unforseen challenges The importance of cleanliness and organization Be sure and follow the link below to find more info about signing up for Crush the Rush! LINKS: La Marzocco USA Instagram La Marzocco USA Blog Listen to these related KTTS Episodes: Crushing the Rush Drink Drills! Working Clean Order out of Chaos

Caring for staff is one of the main functions of leadership. Unfortunately, the reality experienced by baristas the world over is that of a dysfunctional, ambivalent, sometimes toxic, or even abusive culture that disregards the welfare and voice of the employee and safe guards the disfunction of the system and the people who run it. Today we chat about how to approach this problem in a proactive way and the mindsets that will put you on the right path for properly care for the people who care for the shop. Links: For more info and stories from the group of baristas that inspired this Shift Break please follow: @coffeeatlarge on Instagram Below are curated links to past episodes that will act as a primer for being a great leader in the cafe: #67 : 6 Truths About Power #121 Working From Your Strengths #4 Leadership in the Cafe :10 steps to being a People First Leader #109 Leadership Abandonment Syndrome #13 Leadership and Management Master Class w/ Eva Attia #105 Leadership and Management Masterclass w/ Maria Cleavelend #28 Why It's OK to be the Boss w/ Bruce Tulgan #55 Personal Growth and Development w/ Jared Truby #18 Hiring, Culture, and the Future of your Shop #80 Changing Things in the Cafe Shift Breaks: Don't You Forget About Me Would You Hire You? Self-Betrayal and the Art of Action People Not Objects Building Empathetic Systems Please Clarify Acceptance of Dysfunction The Affirmation Vacuum Toxic Vulnerability The One-on-One Manager Top 3

The sustainability of the barista profession is a subject that needs to be talked about more. Trouble is that we have accepted that the kind of turn-over we see within the ranks of baristas is how it will always be and cannot be helped. In truth, much of what contributes to a barista leaving their job or leaving coffee is entirely preventable by focusing on "Baristastainability" My guest today, Jenna Gotthelf, is an 8 years specialty coffee veteran and educator with Counter Culture Coffee. Jenna spearheaded this critical professional development project that is based on the results of a globally circulated survey of owners, managers, and baristas. The survey asks professionals about their training, being valued at work, human resources, compensation, working conditions, and other very pointed questions that shed light on some root causes for employee turn-over and professional burn-out. In this conversation we will be talking with Jenna about some of the results of the survey and what kinds of actions and steps can be taken to correct course and build a more sustainable barista profession that in turn builds a stronger retail coffee industry. This is important work and I am so glad for Jenna taking this on! LINKS: The presentation "Baristastainability" will be available at the link below soon. Stay tuned! www.counterculturecoffee.com/learn

Drive-Thru coffee stands play a huge part in spreading the good word of specialty coffee. The convenience they offer makes both consuming coffee and getting into the business of coffee more accessible. Today on Founder Friday we are talking with a real drive-thru success story, Jasmine Diedrich Wilson, Owner of the Diedrich Espresso! Jasmine started the company at 19 years old and has been at it for eight years. She started with two stands and now has a whopping sixteen. This is an all women owned and run organization that not only serves great coffee and hospitality to their customers but also gives back the their community every chance they get. Jasmine is a wonderful business woman who, in the beginning, learned a lot of hard lessons and has since developed an inspirational skill for leadership, management, and the know how to run a multi-site coffee business. We will learn about: Jasmine's story and the evolution of Diedrich Espresso Leading by empowering others Overcoming your past leadership mistakes Dealing with criticism for how you got your starting capital Elements of a successful drive through Curating the culture across multiple locations Ideal drive-thru menu Achieving hospitality in a drive-thru What are the financial standards for determining staffing levels? Choosing locations ENJOY! Links: WWW.DIEDRICHESPRESSO.COM

As your competition increases, standing out becomes more of a struggle. We chase ways to be unique and often we grab hold of trends, products, and concepts that end up looking more like desperation than authentic expressions of your business and brands. Today we chat about the fact that differentiation, the kind that matters most, comes with time and is well worth waiting for. _______________________ Take a moment and visit our awesome sponsors! The best cleaner for your coffee equipment: www.urnex.com Amazing AI purchasing agent that predicts, fulfills, and manages your shop inventory! www.odeko.com

Managing money can be super stressful. This is especially true when you own and operate a coffee shop, the margins are thin, and there seems to be more going out than coming in. To help us work through our approach to our money we are talking with the Emmy Award nominated and Gracie Award winning financial analyst for CBS News, Jill Schlesinger! Jill is the host of the "Jill on the Money Podcast" of the nationally syndicated radio show, "Jill on the Money" which one the 2018 Gracie Award for best national talk show. Jill appears on CBS radio stations all over the country and covers the topics of economy, markets, investing, and all things financial. She translates complicated business and economic news into understandable relatable topics for everyday people. Jill is also the author of the new book, "The Dumb Things Smart people do with Their Money" where she reveals 13 costly mistake we are likely making right now with our money and how much of what causes us to make these mistakes are emotional blindspots related to our mindset on toward money. We dive into this idea and more in this episode as Jill details smart and stable ways to approach money. The result is a conversation that will definitely set you on the a course for a more peaceful relationship with your finances. In this conversation you will learn about: Developing a balanced mindset toward money Achieving and enjoying your goals What mistakes small biz owners make Why it's important to pay yourself Developing endurance as an entrepreneur Who to take advice from A framework for making decisions Good practices once you are profitable Investing in your employees and business Creating an environment consistent with your values Setting the financial tone in your business LINKS: www.jillonmoney.com

Coffee is too cheap, and we all want customers to pay more for specialty coffee. How can we more effectively shift customers over to paying more, is it through higher quality or better experiences? Today we chat about why elevation of the customer experience is the ultimate leveraging tool for creating sustainable value and ultimately will be what determines whether people will consistently pay more.

What we think and how we act are inextricably linked. In the world of hospitality how our views and assumption about others influences everything form how we serve customers -to who we promote to leadership positions in the cafe. A large part of what contributes to our behavior is actually under the radar and as such goes unaddressed. Today we making a conscious effort to tackle and talk about unconscious bias w/ special guest , Lauren Lathrop of Mill City Roasters! Lauren works as part of the education team at Mill City Roasters in Minneapolis, where she recently moved after 10 years in Portland, OR. She is an Authorized SCA Trainer, a Head Judge for the United States Barista Championship, and a certified judge for both the World Barista and World Brewers Cup Competitions. She has worked in the coffee industry for over 12 years as a barista, assistant manager, and retail coffee educator. She has also competed in Barista Competitions, earning a spot in the finals at the 2012 Northwest Regional Barista Competition. She now serves as Vice Chair for the US Barista Competitions Committee and has developed a number of new training programs for competitions, including an Unconscious Bias Training for Judges. In todays episode you will learn about: The evolution of the Unconscious Bias Training and its impact on the competitions Our tendencies for bias in customer serve and in the shop Why unconscious bias is not intrinsically bad What can do to address it personally What we can do to address it systemically Helpful mindsets to adopt in the journey to explore unconsious bias LINKS: www.millcityroasters.com Lauren's email: Lauren@millcityroasters.com