Have you ever made a regrettable decision in the moment that you would have made differently if you had given yourself a bit more time and space to reason it through? I think we have all been there. Many are there right now! Every time we decide something in the present based on desperation, impatience, or fear, the future version of ourselves and other, suffer for it. There have been countless examples of owners deciding on hiring, programs, expansion, menu items etc that seemed like a good ide...
Aug 14, 2025•11 min
Becoming a great manager is as much for other people's benefit as it is for your own. In order to do this you have to see it as a practice that incorporates certain mindsets and habits that contribute to developing you into the kind of person who can guide and develop others Today on the show we will talking about three very important areas that managers should be focused on incorporating and improving as they work throughout the week. My advice...practice these things intentionally and work at ...
Aug 11, 2025•29 min
Hey everyone! I was sitting at my desk thinking about the various services and means KTTS has created to help coffee shop owners and leaders in the last 8 years. Seems we have grown a lot! From a podcast with 1,000+ episodes and 3 million+ downloads, to consulting and coaching 85+ cafes, training barista teams, speaking around the country multiple times per year for 20+years, and the latest addition, the Key Holder Coaching Groups which is in its 5th season! I wanted to take a moment to chat wit...
Aug 08, 2025•19 min
We like to use the word "creativity" when describing ideal traits in coffee shop staff. In some ways, this is admirable and very useful, for a lot of us though, without exploring and establishing the details behind it and how exactly it looks to be creative, we end up with a lot of confusion, inconsistencies, and dropping the ball on quality service. Do we really want baristas going rouge getting "creative" with core menu items? Today on Shift Break we will be talking about where and how to appl...
Aug 07, 2025•15 min
What is necessary before opening a cafe? Which is better to prepare you for the challenges and opportunities you will be presented with in your career and as an owner of a coffee shop? This question is asked often by people just getting into the industry and also by those who are experienced already but may want to add something to make sure they are ready. Today on the show, inspired by this being asked of me by both a prospective client and someone who attended a talk of mine at a trade show, ...
Aug 04, 2025•30 min
When a new manager is placed in a cafe, they often will try to change a lot of things in a bid to justify their role and/or create what they believe is the positive change they have long wanted to see as a barista. While both are understandable, neither one should be the first thing a manager takes on as they become established. Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how to order your focus as a new manager, first around learning and building trust, then entering into the work of change. ...
Aug 01, 2025•11 min
These are challenging times for roasters. With the topics of green prices and tariffs dominating the airwaves and minds of owners, everyone is looking for the best way to respond to what seems like an existential threat to their business if left unaddressed. The truth is that the businesses that do the best in these times not only respond well in the moment, but can respond well because they have prepared well before hand by investing in building a business around integrity, depth of relationshi...
Jul 30, 2025•49 min
How we grow in the coffee industry will determine how we lead and how we influence those around us. Our guest today has developed a career that has allowed him to not only grow himself into one with a broad and practical perspective on the industry, but to also help others grow their cafes and themselves. I am thrilled to get to chat with, Akaash Saini! As the Northwest Sales Manager for La Marzocco, Akaash has over 15 years of varied experience, having touched nearly every aspect of the coffee ...
Jul 28, 2025•58 min
It's Founder Friday! I am very happy to welcome to the show the founders of Goldies Coffee Roasters Kristen Redfield and Jenna Currier! Kristen Redfield is a life-long Alaskan growing up in North Kenai, Alaska. In 2010 she began her coffee career as a barista just before graduating from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a Bachelors of Art in Art. In 2013 she co-founded Goldie’s Coffee Roasters in Anchorage with her sister Jenna and in 2018 they started their roastery. Outside of coffee Kri...
Jul 24, 2025•47 min
If we change anything in the cafe, it will more likely be something related to the optics, branding, or remodeling the physical cafe in order to get that feeling like we have become different and this will usher in more motivation, excitement, better quality and hospitality etc. Sadly, no amount of paint, gear,, or remodeling can address the core issues that require people, not place, change. Today on Shift Break we will be talking about why it is better to consider the systems, structure, cultu...
Jul 24, 2025•9 min
Hey everyone and welcome to another Coffee Fest live series. this time from Portland, OR 2025! We get to talk with four wonderful professionals on a host of topics from business operations, green coffee sourcing - to coffee farming and roasting at origin, as well as crafting great signature drinks! In order of appearance we have Laila Ghambari of Guilder Coffee , Emily Smith of Hacea Coffee Group, Sebastian Villamizar of Futura Coffee Roasters, and Ryan Jie Jaing of Less and More coffee. ABOUT O...
Jul 23, 2025•1 hr 20 min
Designing the experience is pretty much all we focus on. From the colors, textures, sounds, layouts - to the drinks themselves, people's experience is something that is born from design. If we want it to be a good one, we need to put in specific effort across many different areas. One of the areas today' encore episode guest focuses on is the building and space itself where guest drink their coffee and form opiniions that build our business or erode trust. Today we are re-airing a wonderful epis...
Jul 21, 2025•54 min
Your decisions in the business related to hiring, quality, operations etc need to be based on what is actually good for the business and the people you work with and for now. Trouble is that we often are stuck at a low level of expectation and accept less than appropriate and right fits because we are defining everything against bad examples from the distant of recent past. In today's Shift Break we will talk about why this thinking gets its claws into our minds, what it does to hold you back, a...
Jul 16, 2025•10 min
I don't think there has been a time in the history of coffee shops where we have been so distracted by things that promise to bring value but turn out to be simply distractions. Noise vs signal, image vs substance, and so forth. In my year of coffee I have seen plenty of cafes burn out from pursuing and building their businesses according to these distractions. Today we are going to detail what these distractions are and what to replace them with and why it is so critical. We have the most resou...
Jul 13, 2025•43 min
How do you know if you are doing a good job? Who are you looking to serve and how do you measure success? For many of us the proof of our doing great work lies in the validation of our industry before it we are happy with the praise and fulfillment of those we serve through the shop. Truth is, great work, done in secret or anonymity, makes a big difference whether the industry recognizes it our not. In today's episode we will be talking about how to shift the narrative in our minds aways from th...
Jul 07, 2025•29 min
Investment is what creates value. There are many other investments beyond the financial that customer must make in the coffee experience that make the act of going to get coffee worth it. In today's Shift Break we will be talking about the necessary costs customers must bear and why they are not inconveniences we should be trying to get rid of, but crucial investments we should be honoring with what we deliver. Here are some related episodes to explore: SHIFT BREAK! Why The Best Hospitality Star...
Jul 05, 2025•12 min
I have talked to many clients as well as Key Holder Coaching Group members who employ seasonal staff. There is a big challenge when looking to hire, train, and manage them since the term of their employment is short and they are either new, or they have had 6 months or more off from the cafe. In today's Shift Break we will be talking about some strategies to use when hiring, training, and managing seasonal staff that takes away the liabilities you might worry about and creates more a better like...
Jul 02, 2025•15 min
The landscape of retail is cluttered with messages, distractions, gimmicks, and desperate bids for scraps of customers attention. After a while, it all starts to look, sound, and feel the same. How do you stand out for the right reasons and engage with your customers and future customers in ways that provide something sustainable and unique? In today's episode we will be discussing some great ways that you can be engaged with your customers, and the community around you so you solidify your rela...
Jun 29, 2025•29 min
It's Founder Friday! Today we are chatting with the professional Rugby player turned specialty cafe owner, Jake Heenan of Burra Bristol! Jake has played professional rugby for over 13 years and started Burra, an antipodean café in Bristol, while still playing full-time. It’s grown to three sites and won multiple awards - shaped by the same principles of culture, teamwork, and performance that he has lived in sport. The kitchen, known for it's amazing brunch, is headed by Michelin starred chef To...
Jun 26, 2025•57 min
If you are a manager or leader on shift, or the owner of the cafe, how you spend your time really matters. You have been given authority as a tool to help those you serve and they are counting on you to be organized and purposeful in the use of your time, energy, and focus. Today on Shift Break we are going to be covering some advice for how you can better organize your time so you go from being reactive to proactive and can offer confidence and clarity to your staff and team as a result of havi...
Jun 25, 2025•13 min
In this ever cluttered world of tips, tricks, methods, eqipment, and tools it can be hard to know what to employ in the cafe to really make a difference. I am of the opiniion that the best tools are not necessarily physical, but are frameworks and ideas that help guide our presence, work, and relationships in the work. In today's episode we are going to be diving into what I believe are some of the most important tools a coffee shop can and should have in order to really see the cafe sing! Liste...
Jun 23, 2025•34 min
"If you're not growing, your dying", phrases like this tend to drive us pursue a path of growth that often prevents us from slowing down or finding margin in which we can see that something, or even we ourselves, need to stop. Today on Shift Break we are going to be talking about how to see entrepreneurship as not just a one time thing, but as a cyclical practice that helps you enter into needed change to either maintain, add, or take away. Related Episodes: 399: Encore Episode! How to Change Th...
Jun 18, 2025•12 min
Have you ever walked into a shop and noticed right away, this place is different. The hospitality, the quality, the feel, the energy, and the comfort and confidence you and the staff feel together is a synergy born from purposeful work behind the scenes. It is a work not just to assemble people and equipment under one roof and call it done, but work to tend to the things that animate, sustain, and breathe life into it. In today's episode we are going to be exploring some of the ways you can brin...
Jun 16, 2025•30 min
Signature beverages and seasonal drinks are a huge part of what rounds out the cafe menu and, if done well, can make you stand out for all the right reason. Of course, it stands to reason, that if they are done not so well, you stand out for the wrong reasons. How can you go beyond TikTok trends and the latest viral sensations and create something that is both good for your culture and good for business? Today on Shift Break we are talking about how you can approach creative drink making in a wa...
Jun 11, 2025•14 min
Coffee. We love it so much! However, in spite of our love for coffee, we have all been burned by taking in just a little too much caffeine as we sip, cup, and enjoy. As technology and methods around decaf coffee have improved and evolved, so too has the demand for having more control over the stimulating effects of the beverage. This is where Caffeine Control Coffee comes in to educate us on caffeine and provide options for people who want to love coffee but stave off the less desirable impacts ...
Jun 08, 2025•1 hr 6 min
In the busy cafe we tend to want to power through the work and in the process we rush the customer. The average cafe guest can feel as though they are simply being handled or herded instead of welcomed and served. Today on Shift Break we are talking about how and why we need to fight against the urge to rush the customer and what it looks like to help them truly connect with and experience our unique offerings and hospitality. Related episodes: 340 : Encore Episode of “10 Reasons to Love the Cus...
Jun 04, 2025•12 min
Everybody leaves. That is the constant of working in coffee shops. How they leave and how you respond to their absence for their good, the team that remains and for your business is a question of how much intentionality you bring to the inevitable departure of staff. Today we are going to explain how we can view turn-over and use it to better our leadership, to streamline and make more effective operations, and to improve our hiring practices in the future. INTERESTED IN 1:1 CONSULTING AND COACH...
Jun 02, 2025•30 min
It's Founder Friday! And this one is quite special. Nori and Tin Burmudez founded Corridor Flow in the Fall of 2019 with community and relationship as their central mission. I was lucky enough to work with them in their beginning stages and for the last almost six years, their commitment to their vision have shown itself in their deeply rooted and instantly resonant presence in their Lomita community. Nori comes from the world of healthcare and nursing, and Tin from the world of engineering and ...
May 30, 2025•1 hr 7 min
Great things happen when we plug into community and open ourselves up to the learning process. This is especially true when you begin your own business and apply those things you have learned from your experiences. It opens up entirely new levels. Today on this 36th episode of Rate of Rise, brought to you by our friends at Mill City Roasters , we are talking with Alex Jacob of Vital Coffee Roasters . Alex Jacob is the founder of Vital Coffee Roasters, Head Roaster for Ascension Coffee Roasters, ...
May 27, 2025•43 min
Training employees remains one of the central tasks of cafe ownership and management. Rather than training from a central standard and source that has been thoughtfully crafted to onboard and develop the skills of the barista to meet specific standards, there is a temptation to want to lean on training by osmosis or by committee where the new hire is simply assigned a shift schedule and told they will learn from the other experienced employees. What you end up with is a lot of mixed messages, co...
May 26, 2025•11 min
