Podcast Episodes

RoR #33: The Other Kind of Sourcing Every Roaster Needs w/ Mark Kutrovski of Mirror Coffee Roasters

Feedback. It is all too common to use this word. But do many of us actively pursue it as if it is foundational to the success of our businesses? Cha…

1 year, 3 months ago

SHIFT BREAK! You Are Not a Third Wave Coffee Shop

Sorry to break it to you, but literally nobody who matters cares how you define yourself. In our quest to find belonging and quell the voice of our i…

1 year, 3 months ago

524: Embracing Professional Development for Your Coffee Shop Team

In order to move to the next level of maturity and capacity, both as people and as a company, a coffee shop and its staff but be pursuing more than j…

1 year, 3 months ago

SHIFT BREAK! Every Customer is a Judge

Now is the time to start redirecting our gaze from competitions and accomplishing greatness on a stage serving judges that do not matter to our shops…

1 year, 3 months ago

523: Encore: How We Ruin Specialty Coffee Experience

We suck at fulfilling the implied or explicit promises we make through our coffee shop marketing. Smiling faces with beautiful drinks and a clean env…

1 year, 3 months ago

SHIFT BREAK! The Necessary Death of the Superstar Barista

The search for a "superstar" barista seems to never die. It is a desire born from our tendency to attribute success and power to one person in-spite …

1 year, 3 months ago

522: Why Celebration and Specialization Make Coffee Better w/ Tim Williams of Fieldwork Coffee and The World Aeropress Championships

Over the years, our collective philosophy and approach to coffee has taken many forms as we learn more about what the industry needs to thrive. We as…

1 year, 3 months ago

521: Founder Friday! w/ Bow Smith of Rowan Coffee, Asheville, NC

Coffee shops are created through intention and reflect the values and often the personality of first the ones who begin them, and then those who work…

1 year, 3 months ago

SHIFT BREAK! The Two Kinds of Margin You Need in the Cafe

 We all know that in order for a business to be sustainable, it has to be profitable. We need financial margin in order to deal with the unexpected e…

1 year, 3 months ago

520: Tips For Great Workflow and Bar Presence

Workflow and bar presence are the necessary foundation on which coffee shines.

Lately I have been doing a lot of cafe design and training work. One o…

1 year, 3 months ago