Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders – Details, episodes & analysis

There are many great coffee shops and roasters in this world. What makes a great cafe in my mind is intentionality, a focus on kindness, consistency, hospitality, and quality as a pursuit in service of those things. Living in Louisville, KY I am fortunate to be only 2 hours away from one of my favorite places that I feel has consistently exemplified those virtues.

Crema Coffee Roasters!

Today on Founder Friday we get the pleasure of talking with the co-founder of Crema Coffee Roasters, Rachel Lehman. 

In 2008, Rachel Lehman, a coffee professional with over a decade of experience in barista and management work, along with her husband Ben, founded Crema Coffee. The beginnings of Crema was born from their shared midwestern work ethic and determination to carve out and cultivate something that would endure and have a lasting positive impact.

From their first small cafe - to taking on roast - to now having 3 cafes,  a thriving wholesale program, and many national and local awards to their name, the dream has been to create a business that provided hospitality and great coffee for their community and learning opportunities for baristas and staff.

Crema has grown to not only fulfill those dreams multiple times over, but has also made a large impact on the greater industry with the example it sets as a zero-waste cafe and a roastery that exemplifies intentionality and consistent holistic focus on relationships. 

In this conversation we explore the early years and the start of Crema and learn about how this business has scaled and grown with integrity, consistency, and hospitality as the foundation

We cover

• Starting and Growing a Coffee Business
• How coffee and music share similarities in terms of practice and discipline.
• Why defining a clear mission and values is crucial for a successful coffee business.
• Aligning company culture with the customer experience is essential.
• How building a strong team of leaders and coaching them is key to success.
• Alignment as a crucial component for effective cross-departmental leadership.
• Finding the right balance between bringing in outside talent and maintaining company culture is a challenge.
• Cleaning and Hospitality in the Coffee Industry
• Understanding Every Position in the Company
• Delegating Tasks and Hiring Managers
• Scaling the Company and Giving Opportunities
• Staying True to Company Identity Amidst Competition
• The Key to Crema's Success: Consistency and Reliability

•  www.crema-coffee.com
• @cremacrema 

Related Episodes:

• 380 : Founder Friday! w/ Cary and Cindy Arsaga of Arsaga’s Coffee Roasters
• 273 : Founder Friday w/ Anne Lunnel and Charles Nystrand of Koppi Coffee Roasters, Helsingborg, Sweden
• 177 : Founder Friday w/ Jonathan Pascual of Taproom Coffee and Beer in Atlanta, Georgia
• 188 : Founder Friday w/ Jon Allen of Onyx Coffee Lab
• 156 : Founder Friday w/ Lauren Crabbe, Co-Founder of Andytown Coffee Roasters, San Fransisco
• 145: Founder Friday w/ Red Rooster Coffee Roasters co-founder, Haden Polseno-Hensley

Insights, perspective, accountability, and growth are just a few of the benefits that have changed lives through consulting, workshops, and trainings. ​For the last few years I have wanted to bring to more people, that same kind of transformational experience in a small group setting and now we are now ready to begin! I have personally been in a group for podcasters for the last 6 years and have also hired coaches, consultant, and been a part of an online community. It has all been indescribably transformational.

• Key Holder Coaching Groups will be hosted by Chris and consist of a curated group of 5 coffee shop owners.
• We will meet together 2x per month for 2 hours over a 6 month period.
• This structured group will allow each member to have multiple hot seat opportunities to present specific issues to the group and gain insight, feedback and direction to help them develop themselves, their people, and their business.
• In addition we will be consistently updated on each others progress and have opportunity to speak into each others lives.
• Key Holder Coaching members will have access to each other via the Circle.so community app

Key Holder Coaching Group Applications are Open!

APPLY TODAY!

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

Designing your coffee shop can be one of the most exciting parts of the opening or scaling process. Exciting, that is, until we come up against resistance to our great ideas in the form of space limitations, quirks, historic preservations, zoning, etc. 

On today's Shift Break we will be talking about how we can  embrace the limitations and constraints of our spaces in a way that moves us from frustration to actually being energized and confident in our unique cafe.

You should listen to these episodes next:

• SHIFT BREAK : 2 Tips for Bar Design
• 367 : Designing Your Coffee Shop for Community w/ Dr. Lisa Waxman
• 240 : What to do before your Build your Bar
• Are You Open?
• 169 : Designing the Guest Experience w/ Dr. Lisa Waxman

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 [email protected] of book a free call now: 

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

Key Holder Coaching Group Applications are Open!

APPLY TODAY!

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 [email protected] 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 is from Africa, yet the way we think of and enjoy coffee today is largely separated from the roots that produced that original fruit. The disparity we see in the value stream today, where those growing coffee do not receive the fruit of their labor, is the consequence. 

Today we get to talk with someone who has been laboring hard to honor coffee's root in an effort to create a better future for both those who grow coffee as well as for under served communities whose own cultures are tied closely to coffee's history. 

Bartholomew Jones is an emcee, cxffee nerd, and multi-hyphenate creative.

Alongside his wife, Renata Henderson, he is the co-founder of Cxffeeblack and co-owner of the Anti-Gentrification Cxffee Club, a coffee educational center and cultural hub located in Memphis, TN.

Founded in 2018, Cxffeeblack is a community-oriented, multi-disciplinary, education-based coffee company that became a trailblazer in the coffee industry by creating an entirely all Black coffee supply chain from Ethiopia to Memphis, TN, the first of its kind.

Cxffeeblack is on a mission to return coffee to its African roots and in the process create an equitable Black future. Bart is a Sprudge 20 honoree, an annual list of the Top 20 coffee influencers cultivated by Sprudge Media Network, a renowned international authority on coffee and its culture; Cxffeeblack was one of the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity’s 2024 Innovator of the Year awardees.

We discuss:

• Creating a Space for Authentic Creativity
• Honoring the Roots and History of Coffee
• The Impact of Colonialism 
• Collaboration and Co-Creation in Coffee Culture
• The Evolution of Coffee Black
• Empowering Individuals to Find Themselves in Coffee
• Diverse expressions of Coffee
• Creating a Community Space: The Anti-Gentrification Coffee Club
• The Coffee Black Flagship: A Dining Room and Co-Generative Dialogue
• Inspiring Coffee Shops that Honor Roots and Engage with Communities

Links:

www.cxffeeblack.com

https://www.instagram.com/cxffeeblack/

Related episodes:

• 116 : Understanding Gentrification w/ Dr. Stacey Sutton
• 352: Music, Culture, and Coffee w/ Hip Hop Artist, Propaganda
• 338: A Conversation w/ Martell Mason of The Sepia Coffee Project, Detroit, Michigan
• 279 : Founder Friday! w/ Daniel Brown and Nephthaly Leonidas of Gilly Brew Bar
• 230 : Making room for Community in your Shop
• 139 : Founder Friday w/ Kusanya Cafe co-founder, Phil Sipka
• 315 : Growing and Connecting w/ Stephen Zinnerman of The Coffee Enthusiast!

Learn more and put in your application for the next 

Key Holder Coaching Group!

APPLY TODAY!

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 [email protected] of book a free call now: 

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

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

The coffee shop environment is filled with more that just coffee. It is a swirling mix of emotions, thoughts, expectations, communication, action, interpretation of actions, and everything in between. In other words...Relationships. The hardest part of coffee is the people they say. And while it may be true, it is also true that people are integral to coffee and to the joy and fulfillment of the experience.

On today's annual thankfulness themed Shift Break we will be talking about how the relationships and resources we have now are both a weight of responsibility but also a necessary fuel that we and the business are designed to run on in order to find sustainable success. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

-Chris

In my consulting work through KTTS Consulting, management and leadership structures are one of the main conversations we have. Working to create clarity, understanding, and systems for success in leadership has a compound effect on the rest of the business. Would you like to work with me 1:1 to help your cafe thrive in quality, operations, and people? 

Click below for a discovery call and lets have a conversation! 

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

Related episodes:

• Thankfulness and Giving Energy to the Positive

• Priorities and Deep Thankfulness

• 224 : Essentialism: Focusing on what truly Matters w/ Greg McKeown
• The Miracle of the Mundane: How curiosity helps our sustainability

Thank you to out sponsors!

Custom branded apps for your coffee shop: www.espressly.co

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

Why do we overcomplicate things? Certainly details matter with SOPs , recipes, etc...but communication to our customers and staff can often be more confusing than helpful in delivering the impact and purpose we intend. The coffee shop is a dynamic place with a ton of inputs and noise swirling together. Having a simple clear way to communicate will help cut through the noise. 

Today we will be exploring how to do just that, and in turn how simple communication and messages can bring big results for cafes. I am happy to be joined today by author and expert in simple messaging, Ben Guttmann! 

Ben Guttmann is a marketing and communications expert and author of Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win — and How to Design Them. He’s an experienced marketing executive and educator on a mission to get leaders to more effectively connect by simplifying their message. Ben is former co-founder and managing partner at Digital Natives Group, an award-winning agency that worked with the NFL, I Love NY, Comcast NBCUniversal, Hachette Book Group, The Nature Conservancy, and other major clients.

Currently, Ben teaches digital marketing at Baruch College in New York City and consults with a range of thought leaders, venture-backed startups, and other brands.

In our talk we cover: 

• The reason and ways we over complicate massages
• What makes a simple message impactful 
• The negative impact of too many words
• How do we ensure the right result from our communication? 
• Nobody cares and the paradox of choice
• Applying constraints to challenge ourselves
• The perception of confidence 
• We can only care about so much

Links:

Buy the book : Simply Put!    www.Benguttmann.com

Ben Guttmann on LinkedIn

Listen to these episodes next:

• 215 : Communication and Marketing Master Class w/ Spencer M. Ross, PH.D.
• 421: Encore Episode: Simple, Powerful, Hospitality w/ Philip Paul Turner
• 432 : How to Win in Specialty Retail Coffee
• BLOG: Good Communication is “For Here”
• 321 : Marketing and Moral Injury w/ Josh Tarlo of Kiss the Hippo

Hire Keys to the Shop Consulting to work with you 1:1 to transform your operations, quality, and people. Schedule a free discovery call now!

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

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

Do we care what our customers think? If so, how do they know? When you talk to almost any operator of a cafe you will hear them say that they value the customer and their feedback. The question though is how are the customers supposed to deliver it and are you making it easy for them to do so?

On today's Shift break we will be talking about how we can pursue customer feedback in a clear and meaningful way that builds trust, connection, and a sustainable coffee shop.

Listen to these next!

• 282 : How to Listen to your Customers
• Feedback Culture : Making feedback a part of what you do not just something you sometimes do
• 196 : Understanding Customer Preferences w/ Peter Giuliano

In my consulting work through KTTS Consulting, management and leadership structures are one of the main conversations we have. Working to create clarity, understanding, and systems for success in leadership has a compound effect on the rest of the business. Would you like to work with me 1:1 to help your cafe thrive in quality, operations, and people? 

Click below for a discovery call and lets have a conversation! 

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

Thank you to out sponsors!

Custom branded apps for your coffee shop: www.espressly.co

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

You hear it everywhere. Owning and running a business is hard, taxing, a battle even. And while there is truth to this, it is not the whole truth. In the entrepreneurial journey we have accepted, with no degree of irony, that it is a miserable business bringing joy to our communities through coffee. Don't buy it. 

Today we are going to be talking about the transformational role that confidence, celebration, and joy play in not only helping your business succeed, but in allowing you to find fulfillment and life through the running and growing of it. 

This is an incredibly important truth that needs to be given priority in our daily lives. Lets embrace confidence, celebration, and joy together through coffee!  

Listen to these next:

• 008 : Finding Joy in Coffee w/ Nathanael May
• 317 : Encore Episode: Death by Comparison
• 227 : Connecting with Hearts and Minds
• Emotions, Self-Sabotage, and Telling Ourselves the Truth
• 394 : Happy Coffee People w/ Wendelien van Bunnik
• 181 : Organizational Self-Knowledge
• Over Optimization

Hire Keys to the Shop Consulting to work with you 1:1 to transform your operations, quality, and people. Schedule a free discovery call now!

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

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

High expectations are fine as long as they are coupled with the resources and tools to actually achieve them. No position in the cafe gets the short end of the stick of resourcing than the cafe manager. As baristas watch their manager lose their mind, they in turn pass on the opportunity. Come be a manager where there is more stress, more work, less time to do it, and more expectation. No thanks. 

Today on Shift Break we will be discussing how you can set up your manager with the structure and time they need to thrive in the role. Who knows, maybe people will actually see the position as an attractive role to aspire to rather than one that receives their pity. 

In my consulting work through KTTS Consulting, management and leadership structures are one of the main conversations we have. Working to create clarity, understanding, and systems for success in leadership has a compound effect on the rest of the business. Would you like to work with me 1:1 to help your cafe thrive in quality, operations, and people? 

Click below for a discovery call and lets have a conversation! 

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

Keep the conversation going! Listen to these episodes next:

• 261 : The Basics of Managing Managers
• 435 : Encore! It’s OK to be the Boss, w/ Bruce Tulgan
• 425 : Some Thoughts on Supporting Your Manager
• 383 : How to Train a Manager

Thank you to out sponsors!

Custom branded apps for your coffee shop: www.espressly.co

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

A coffee shop cannot survive without having excellent operational systems and tools that bring together and make consistent all the craft, values, and magic we want from a cafe experience 

Just like the work of a barista, 75% of what we do in ownership and leadership has to do with the things that happen off bar. The foundations of business. How we create, employ, and refine structures means the difference e between realizing potential and courting disaster. 

Today we are going to be talking with the great Laila Ghambari. An expert in operations and coffee shop training and management, all about achieving what she calls operational excellence. 

Laila Ghambari has nearly 20 years of specialty coffee experience. She won the prestigious title of United States Barista Champion in 2014 and was elected member of the Executive Counsel for the barista guild from 2012-2016. Her experience is in running multi-unit retail operations, training and education, as well as team and organizational leadership. 

This year Laila founded "by Laila Ghambari", her coffee and consulting business that is Providing Simple Tools Every Coffee Shop Needs to Achieve Operational Excellence. 

​In this conversation we cover: 
​🔑Laila’s family legacy of coffee
​🔑Pursuing education and training
​🔑How winning the US barista championship helped her mindset approach to achievement and 
​🔑Lean management and the role of gemba kaizen 
​🔑managment of multi-unit retail
​🔑Defining operational excellence
​🔑Tools to begin and tools

Links: 

www.lailaghambari.com

IG:  @LAILAGHAMBARI

Listen to these Episodes next!

• SHIFT BREAK: Defining Excellence and Success
• 330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop
• 057 : SOP’s FTW! Success through Standard Operating Procedures
• SHIFT BREAK: Pull Out The Fridge
• 424: Developing Menu and Hospitality Guides 
• 375 : Founder Friday! w/ Roland Horne of WatchHouse
• SHIFT BREAK: Ineffective Training

Thank you to our amazing sponsors!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

www.pacificfoodservice.com

Quality is subjective. What is not subjective though, is that quality matters. That begs the question, how should we define quality and pursue it in an age of coffee where we want both excellence and inclusivity of expression of preference.

Today on Shift Break we will be talking about why quality still matters and how we should think about what, how, and for whom are we crafting these coffee experiences.

Related episodes:

• 406 : Five Ways to Immediately Improve Your Coffee Quality
• 393 : The Tyranny of Taste w/ Kosta Kallivrousis
• RoR #20 : Challenging the Status Quo w/ David Lalonde of Rabbit Hole Roasters, Montreal, Quebec
• 430 : Embracing “Unreasonable Hospitality” w/ Will Guidara | Thank You NYC + The Welcome Conference
• 282 : How to Listen to your Customers
• Prioritize In-House Training and QC
• 426: Fostering a Culture of Continuous Improvement

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

www.espressly.co.