Chris Deferio - Podcast Details

Shows

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Special Announcement From Chris: New Webinar "Principles for Cafe Success" launching Novemeber 5thHere is why I am thrilled to be launching this live webinar called "The Keys to the Shop: Principles for Cafe Success". The more conversations and exchanges we have where we get to clarify, fortify, and focus on excellence in things that matter, the better all our businesses become. In the last almost 9 years KTTS has offered free content in the form of the 2x per week podcast to help operators steward and grow their business by focusing on people, operations, and quality. Now we are prod to announce a new accessibly priced web...

2025-11-1707 min

The People Contingency | Avoid Staff Turnover in ABA 6 | People-First Systems: Building Strong Teams and Reducing Turnover with Chris DeferioHigh turnover is one of the biggest headaches for leaders, especially when working with a young workforce entering their very first jobs. Most businesses try to fix the problem with incentives, strict policies, or constant hiring cycles. But what if the solution is simpler… and more human?In this episode, Chris Deferio, founder of Keys to the Shop and renowned voice in the coffee industry, shares why building people-first systems is the secret to reducing burnout, creating strong teams, and fostering long-term retention. Chris and Holli dig into the mindset shifts leaders need to make, ho...

2025-10-0143 min

Business Mastery Podcast 186. “Mastering Your Hospitality Business” with Chris DeferioSend us a textDawn Kennedy talks with Chris Deferio, founder, owner, and consultant at Keys to the Shop, Podcast + Consulting for Coffee Shops. Chris shares his experiences and valuable tips for customer retention, the unique challenges faced in daily customer interactions, and the importance of setting boundaries to avoid burnout. Dawn and Chris discuss hospitality, customer service, and business dynamics in the specialty coffee industry.In this episode…Who is Chris Deferiot, and whom does he serve? (00:50)The Unique Challenges of Running a Coffe...

2025-08-2038 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Message From Chris: Explaining Key Holder Coaching Groups, Consulting, Coaching, and the Goals of KTTS ServicesHey 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 with you here, pretty informally, to explain these areas of...

2025-08-0818 min

Coffee Roaster Warm Up Sessions 187 | How To Grow Your Coffee Shop and Get Unstuck! With Chris DeferioWe sit down with Chris Deferio from Keys To The Shop to give you clear, practical tips on how to grow your coffee shop business. Ideally, your coffee shop is growing 10-20% year over year and if that's not happening, we break down how to make that a reality. Chris shares so many valuable insights on how to scale your coffee business. Boasting more than two decades of widespread coffee experience, Chris Deferio’s impact on the coffee industry is well known. His career has taken him all over the world, training organizational management and leadership, barista skills, and la...

2025-03-2258 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK! The Necessary Death of the Superstar BaristaThe 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 of the evidence around us that pretty obviously points to the opposite. But oh if we just hire a champion, a coffee person, a lightning rod of a personality, then all will be well! Today on Shift Break we will be talking about why this idea should die a quick and unceremonious death, and in its place we need to build a system of collective accountability to high standards that...

2025-02-0414 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 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 expenses and events, provide opportunities for others, fund growth as needed, and yes, pay ourselves! But what other kinds of margin are there in the cafe that can be just as important? Today on Shift Break we will be talking about why you need to maintain margin both in you finances and also with your energy and focus. In order to even begin benefiting from a thriving coffee shop, yo...

2025-01-2812 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 520: Tips For Great Workflow and Bar PresenceWorkflow 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 of the central themes of training and design is that both the space and the people using it are effective in their role. Once the bar is built, it falls on us to bring it to life with our actions. Having a great bar presence and workflow is not just about efficiency, it is part of the substance of what our businesses are built on and without it, we are frustrated...

2025-01-2740 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK! Cortado ConfusionAs most of you know, Starbucks has once again coopted a traditional drink and introduced it to their menu as a part of their "Back to Starbucks" campaign. The cortado, a 4 oz espresso and milk drink originating in Spain, has been a staple menu item in specialty coffee for decades. Only now it appears on the Starbucks menu as an 8oz drink. Of course we are all bracing for the wave of customers requesting a Starbucks fun-house- mirror version of this drink, much like the macchiato. But there is a whole lot more to discuss than just the bizarro...

2025-01-2212 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Don't Rely on Brand IdentityDoes this sound familiar? "You should shop here because we are local! ...or we support this cause! ...or we have this association!"? While our identity and associations in the community are beautiful and add depth to what customers might love about you, too often we can use these things as means to solicit support in ways that are as though we are guilt trip on people. There are many issues that arise from this that could damage not only your business but the thing you may want to support or represent. Today on Shift Break...

2025-01-1508 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Back to the BasicsThe value proposition of a coffee shop is not a complicated one. Kind service and hospitality in a clean and well organized space serving consistently great coffee. Boooring! At least that what it seems like we must be thinking. Why else would we be so obsessed with the new and novel at the expense of mastering the basics? Today on Shift Break we will be talking about why we should always focus our best energies and focus on the basics that effectively provide guest and staff with a fulfilling experience. It's not about entertaining ourselves w...

2025-01-0608 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: The Delegation DipDelegation is a difficult, but necessary part of growing your coffee business. It is critical in helping you grow as well. Delegation of responsibility and authority is a response to the growth of the business that, while promising to expand your organizations capacity to steward that growth, tests your resolve. That is because of what we will call the "delegation dip". Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how you can (and must!) navigate the initial dip in performance associated with delegation in order to push through to the other side where it creates higher...

2025-01-0108 min

Cashflow Podcasting - Grow Your Business, Boost Your Impact Podcasting for Maximum Business Results with Scott Anthony Barlow, Chris Deferio and Kwame ChristianPodcasting is more than just sharing ideas—it's a game-changer for business growth. In this insightful episode, Scott Anthony Barlow of Happen to Your Career, Chris Deferio of Keys to the Shop, and Kwame Christian of the American Negotiation Institute reveal how their podcasts have transformed their professional landscapes.Find resources, show notes and the full episode at: https://tinyurl.com/5me9wjpj

2024-12-3007 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Keeping the ShopLet's face it, the look, feel, and functionality of the physical coffee shop will always be an important part of showing hospitality to our guests. The issues we are faced with is one as old as time. We meticulously set up our spaces when we first open, get busy, and then slowly allow them to fall apart. We don't notice it so much because we are busy with other things, but the customers notices, and taken together, it has a dramatic impact on everything we put our hands to. Today on Shift Break we will be discussing...

2024-12-2413 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 515: 7 Areas to Pursue in the New YearIt's that time of year where we are collectively setting our sights on both the past and the future. What will this next year of 2025 hold for you and your coffee shop? The answer to that question is that your tends to be made up of the things you focus on most. So if we want to increase our chances of experiencing good things, we need to increase our focus on what good things we would like to see. Today you and I are spending some time together to focus on 7 words / areas that I believe are w...

2024-12-2048 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SPECIAL! Interviews from Coffee Fest Minneapolis 2024 w/ Jaime Becker-Finn of Makwa Coffee, and Frederick Dubose of SunBean CoffeeEvery Coffee Fest we get to sit down with some very cool presenters to chat about their businesses, area, of expertise, and insights that will help you run a better cafe. The last show of the year took place in Minneapolis, MN and was a wonderful time of sharing, community, and value. Even though my equipment decided (after 8 years of service) to die on the spot of my first interview, we got to catch up with two presenters over Zoom and have some very helpful conversations. Today we are presenting to you my interview with Jaime Becker-Finn o...

2024-12-2051 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Adjusting Our View of Labor CostLabor cost is probably the number one most worried over metric in the cafe. Of course, like any other metric that signifies the health of the business, your labor cost needs to be something you pay attention to and control. But the way many cafes approach labor cost can be akin to sawing off the branch they sit on. Short term gain, long term detriment. In a time where the need for talent acquisition and wages are on the rise, it is time we take a fresh look at ways to grow and maintain profitability. Today on...

2024-12-1913 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 513: Rock n' Roll, E-Commerce, and Opening a Coffee Shop w/ Acey Slade of Cat Fight Coffee!Music and coffee seem to just go together. If you are into one, the other is not far behind. Both coffee and music inspire and create community that fuel's our lives. Today's guest began his coffee journey as a full time touring musician and was immediately hooked. His journey took him from e-commerce and pop-ups, to now his own brick and mortar store. Today we are chatting with Acey Slade of the weird and wonderful, Cat Fight Coffee! Catfight Coffee was formed in 2020 by career musician Acey Slade (Dope, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Til L...

2024-12-1846 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK! The Good and Bad of a Training LabThere is no doubt about it, having a training lab is a wonderful asset to have for elevating the quality of your training...until it isn't. Truthfully, much like any tool, it depends on how it is used and whether it is part of a bigger picture. Today on Shift Break we will be talking about the good and the bad of training labs. You don't necessarily need one, but if you do have a lab or are wanting to create one, then this episode will help you create it and use it in a way that...

2024-12-1213 min

Restaurant Owners Uncorked Chris Deferio, Owner, Keys to the ShopSummary In this episode of Restaurant Owners Uncorked, host Wil Brawley speaks with Chris Deferio, founder of Keys to the Shop, about his extensive experience in the coffee industry. They discuss the importance of quality in coffee shops, the role of community, and the challenges of scaling a business responsibly. Chris shares insights on mentorship, the significance of purpose in business, and the growth mindset necessary for success in the hospitality industry. Takeaways Chris Deferio has been in the coffee business for 25 years.Keys to the Shop aims to help coffee shops thrive.Quality in coffee shops goes beyond just...

2024-12-091h 43

Coffee People Podcast Chris Deferio, Keys To The Shop Podcaster and ConsultantChris Deferio is a coffee business consultant and the host of the Keys To The Shop podcast. We chat about how his role in the industry has changed, being a people-first consultant, and why he finds value in being a servant to the industry. "Keys to the Shop® Consulting + Coaching gives cafe owners clarity, tools for growth, and actionable strategies that transform you, your team, and your business long-term." Find online: ⁠@keystotheshop⁠ • ⁠https://keystotheshop.com/consulting/⁠ Coffee People is presented by Roastar, the premier digital printing company focused on coffee packaging. Roastar helps small and burgeo...

2024-12-0557 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK! How Not To Be a Jerk When Training BaristasThe title of today's episode sounds like a no brainer, but you may or may not be surprised to know that it is way easier than you think to be this way when traIning baristas. It is not something that we set out to do, but is born from a confluence of insecurities, myopic focus, passion, and assumption. I say this as someone who has certainly lived it and wants to help you avoid making the same mistake. Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how you can approach training in a way that lessens o...

2024-12-0415 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK! How Long Should it Take To Train a Barista?I feel as though this question is constantly on the mind of owners. It is a question born from a desire to have a well trained staff that makes the quality of the work more consistently great, as well as a desire to be an effective trainer and have the staff "get it" quickly. Throw in a little bit of owner insecurity as they are learning all this stuff themselves too, and you get a recipe for miscommunication, assumption, and frustration that seems to be in the background of the question. Trouble is we often will default...

2024-11-2612 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK! Engaging in the Right Conversations (or how not to accept undue guilt)Did you know that, in spite of all the work you do for others, the sacrifices you make to run your business and do what you can for your staff, plus the positive impact on your community, the you are ACTUALLY evil and/or complicit in the demise of coffee and the people in coffee? Well, if you listen to the conversations, articles, and headlines being created about you by people who don't know you and the details and nuances of the work you do, you'd be tempted to take on that accusation and guilt as statement of...

2024-11-2015 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK! With or Without Experience? Hiring the Best BaristasAh the age old debate. Should you hire someone who is experienced working in coffee? On onhand they have skills that may be helpful and on the other they might have bad habits you need to address. Or should you hire someone without experience? Their first exposure to coffee will be at your shop and you get to train them up on your standards from the start. At the same time they ma take longer to train and could experience bore inertia getting used to the work a coffee shop requires Today on S...

2024-11-1415 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK! Should You Up-Charge for Alternative Milks?In recent weeks Starbucks has announced it will no longer charge for plant-base alternative milks. This comes after efforts from activists claiming discrimination. Starbucks aside, the conversation about up-charging for alt milk has been going on for a while now with people who feel strongly on either side of the topic. Today on Shift Break we will be talking about whether or not you should be charging for alternative plant based milk options, how to approach this from a practical business perspective, why it's not a great idea to be so obsessed with what major retailers do, a...

2024-11-0715 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 506 : Critical Workflows Every Coffee Shop NeedsThe way customers and staff experience our cafes is based many experiences and moments taken together to form what they know as our culture or brand. Each experience can be broken down into many different parts that happen within even one visit and the smart operator knows that unless there is a plan set up ahead of time for how we want those moments to go, then we will provide less than stellar service. The customer loses out on experiencing our best, and we lose out on keeping good customers and good staff. Today we are going t...

2024-11-0536 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: The Best Way for Every Shop to Train BaristasTraining your staff is easily one of the most important things to get right if you want to set them up for success and make sure your customers are getting a great experience every time. Every place has their own way of doing training and most of it is cobbled together from different sources in a desperate bid for a positive outcome. The result if all to often a staff that is under prepared, frustrated leadership, and guest experiences inconsistent standards. Today on Shift Break we will be talking about the absolute best way that every coffee b...

2024-10-3112 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Is Your Love for Coffee Sabotaging Your Success?Coffee is great! Keeping it consistently great in the shop is a challenge and there are many tactics and tools to apply in learning more about coffee and applying what we learn in the shop. But what happens when we allow our pursuit of more coffee knowledge become a distraction from focusing on needed areas of improvement and maintenance in the cafe? Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how our focus on coffee, while needed to a degree, can become an escape from confronting, focusing on, and growing in other very important areas of t...

2024-10-2210 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Finding Time for Change in the CafeSo many great ideas come from conversations, trade shows, podcasts, books, and videos. Ideas and epiphanies that will make your coffee shop better and solve problems that have plagued you and your team for too long. But how do you take the first step to apply those ideas why you feel you don't have the time. On today's episode of Shift Break we will answer frequent question I get asked when I am speaking at a conferences and with clients, how do I find the time to do these things when I am already as busy as I...

2024-10-1814 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Why Your Shop Needs to Tell StoriesEvery coffee shop hosts within its walls countless stories. The life that happens on the pltform of a cafe is just breath taking. This includes stories that showcase you and your team's values in action. Wil Guidara talks about these as legends that embody the and illustrate what we are all about. Be this as it may, stories somehow do not take up very much, if any, time or attention when we onboard, train, and talk about the work with our staff On today's episode of Shift Break we will be talking about why you need to...

2024-10-1011 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Want to be Effective? Don't Use Chat GPTThe allure of easily producing documents and processes for your coffee shop through AI is strong. Using tools to support your business in a thoughtful way is one thing, but too many times I hear about people all but completely outsourcing the task that should be taken on by those who can create with nuance, to software. On today's episode of Shift Break we will talk about what we lose when we use these to-good-to-be-true "solutions" and why the difficulty of creating effective systems, policies, and structures are a necessary part of growing a sustainable people-first business.

2024-10-0113 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK : How to Design Cafe Station ResponsibilitiesWorkflow on the coffee bar is one of the most important things to design when considering how we will deliver excellent service and quality to our customers. Not only is it important to design your menu first and make the café design prioritize the production of that menu but you must also create clarity of responsibility within each station of that bar. On today's episode of Shift Break, we will be talking about some principles for setting up effective station responsibilities behind the bar so that your staff not only have the have the best chance of s...

2024-09-2511 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Hard Work is Hard | Part 2We all work hard and face challenges in the cafe. The way we interpret the effort put in to the work of running a coffee shop will determine both the quality of the shop and our own ability to sustain our energy and effort. The truth is consistent effort is a normal and necessary investment that keeps life flowing through the business. On today's addition of shift break we are going to follow up on our previous episode from a couple years back and add more detail and perspectives.The goal is to help clarify the difference b...

2024-09-1914 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Don't Celebrate Unhealthy WinsWe have to overcome many challenges in the day-to-day operations of the coffee shop. Some of these challenges are inevitable, and our ability to grow from our experiences with them is a mark of maturity that we can celebrate, but many challenges are unnecessary, and in celebrating our abilities to overcome them we unintentionally might be normalizing the dysfunction. On today's addition of shift break, we are going to be talking about why we should avoid celebrating wins that happened as a result of operational dysfunction or from toxic expectations and how to give our best energy...

2024-09-1009 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Special Message: What is a Key Holder Coaching Group and Why Join?The things we learn in community with others can have a profound impact on both us and our businesses. Certainly learning by yourself is a good thing, but there's just something about having a group of people who have your back and have been where you are and are your peers that creates a different dynamic where you can have accountability encouragement insights and be challenged on your assumptions all in the same conversation. In short, it's transformational. Today in this brief recording I want to talk to you a little bit about the behind...

2024-09-0911 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Making Sense of Marketing PromisesMarketing is designed to get you to buy. It is something we all do in our businesses. In fact, to not market is to do the customer a disservice in that they will not be aware of the possibilities your product may have for their business. That said, sometimes marketing goes too far and without a well exercised discernment muscle we can fall prey to claims that do not, or can not, come to fruition. Today on Shift break we will be breaking down the landscape of marketing promises and why it is critical for you to t...

2024-09-0510 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Embrace Your SpaceDesigning 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 Yo...

2024-08-2809 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Focusing on the Whole, Not the PartGetting into coffee and then pursuing it as a career takes your through a few different phases of maturation. One of the first phases is where you focus only on one very specific thing to the detriment of many others. For me, the world could be on fire, but as long as I was behind the espresso machine and dialed in, all was good. Or so I thought. On today's Shift Break we will be talking about why it is necessary for coffee professionals in the cafe to focus on the whole cafe and the experience guests h...

2024-08-2111 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Setting Staff Up For Success When we talk about our employees it is common to talk about "setting up staff for success", but what does that really look like. Talking about it can sometimes wrongly convince us that we are actually doing it. On today's Shift Break we will be talking about what it looks like to set your staff up for success in very practical terms that, if applied, will transform the relationship to one of trust based on evidence in action, not just talk. Recommended episodes: 248 : The 5 Elements of Resourcing your Team 453 : The Craft of Operations 425 : Some Tho...

2024-08-1211 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 490: 7 Vital Things to Include in Daily Shift Work A shop is maintained by the attention and repeated actions we put into it. We need to make sure our systems and tools are crafted well in order to make sure these intentional actions and our best attention is circulated through the whole of the organization. Today we will be talking about 7 things that I believe should be standard in the work we do throughout the day. When we apply these tools and practices we will see a bug change in the way both our staff and guests experience the coffee shop. Related Episodes: 007 : T...

2024-08-1135 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Reassessing Growth Growing the business is probably the number one concern in the cafe industry. In general we tend to look at growth as either scaling the size of the business physically, or the revenue and profitability. What if I told you there was another way you can look at growth? On today's Shift Break we will be talking about ways to look at growth that don't rely only on the usual defaults of revenue and scale, but give you another option to be established and fulfilled as an owner. Recommended episodes: 469: Unremarkable Hospitality and Cafe...

2024-08-0809 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 489: Tips for Creating a Resilient Cafe Ever since 2020, we as a coffee industry have been looking for ways to create more resiliency in our businesses. The cafe in particular is vulnerable to a lack of resiliency. Not only is the coffee shop a relatively low margin and high effort entity with an ROI that can take years, it also relies on the public consistently investing in its products and services. In times of economic trouble, coffee can be one of the first things cut. To hedge our bets and prepare for these times, we must build resiliency before it is needed. Today we...

2024-08-0545 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Are You Growing With Your Business?It is assumed that we should constantly be growing our businesses and looking to expand, scale, and add-to what we have now. Trouble is that, in today's abundantly resourced and optimized environment, we may actually be able to do so at rates that out pace our ability to become the kind of people we need to be to properly handle that growth. On today's Shift Break we will be talking about why your own development as a person is key to successful growth as a business and why hardship and constraints are often not just signs of...

2024-07-3111 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Don't Give UpSeeing results form your efforts is what motivates most all of us. In the coffee shop you are engaged with a dynamic intersesion of moving and living communities that take your efforts and reward you with sometimes obvious and sometimes not-so-obvious feedback. It's when we don't see the results happening the way we imagined that we can be tempted to simply abandon the effort and sometimes the business altogether. On today's Shift Break we will be talking about why you should not give up and how to be patient in the process of pursuing worthy goals in t...

2024-07-2412 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Don't Manage by CrisisManaging in a cafe is one of the ultimate forms of leadership. Part of leading as a manager is planning for, responding to, or avoiding altogether, problems with people, operations, and quality. But instead of spending our best energies in prevention of problems, we tend to manage reactively when problems turn into a crisis. It's a vicious cycle. On today's Shift Break we will be talking about why we need to flip our focus and pull ourselves away from the dependency the business has on us being crisis managers, and instead become people whose best energies are s...

2024-07-1710 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Three BIG Hiring Mistakes (and how to avoid them)Hiring is probably the most important decision you make in your coffee shop. As important as it is to choose the right people, we often are at the mercy of bad habits or are missing key practices we need to make that decisions and end up making too many mistakes that drain you, the business, and the your team of energy. On today's Shift Break we will be discussing three BIG hiring mistakes that I see countless cafes making and how you can take steps to avoid them. This is not just about the well be...

2024-07-1114 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Hiring based on Staff Preference vs Business NeedsMaking decisions about who to hire or even who might need to be let go are some of the hardest but most important decisions to make in a coffee shop. So hard in fact that we can often fall into avoiding the decision by deferring to our existing staff for their opinion on who is or is not a good fit. While involving key staff in these decisions is generally good, putting too much emphasis or all the weight on them can end up in wrong choices for hiring or needlessly extending a staff member's employment solely based on...

2024-07-0411 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: The Best Marketing StrategyWe only have so much energy, time, and money to give to marketing our coffee shops. There is a lot of stress related to having the right strategy for getting people to become aware of you cafe and then visit and keep visiting. To make matters more worse, the consumer must wade through a sea of competitors who are applying similar social media and advertising strategies. So what do you invest into to give you a big return? Today on Shift Break we will be discussing what I believe is an often overlooked and little implemented strategy...

2024-06-2711 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Stop Talking, and Start DoingIt is easy to talk about the things we want to improve, fix, and institute in the cafe. Trouble is that in all the talking of doing the how we need this or that, we tend to leave it there and wait until an opportune or ideal time comes along, rather than simply taking 1 small decisive step toward what we need. Today on Shift Break we talk about why we need to default to taking action more vs simply talking about and planning the perfect next step Disciplining ourselves to do this creates in us and our t...

2024-06-2010 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Respecting Your Barista's Professional BoundariesIn the cafe, it is easy to lapse into assuming that people who work for you, should also be available and responsive at all times even when off the clock. The lack of quick response from staff when off the clock to calls, emails, slack messages etc is often considered some sign that the employee is not right for the organization and can have a negative impact on how that employee is perceived and invested into. Today on Shift Break we talk about the importance of respecting the boundaries of personal and professional and how we should s...

2024-06-1210 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Why You Need Exit InterviewsTry as we might, the reality is that eventually even the best staff will leave our shops for another job or career. How they leave is largely up to us as leaders. Some will exit on bad terms for reasons related to bad management or their own personal behaviors that are an ill fit. Others will have been wonderful team members and right fit for the role, but need to move on. In all cases there is much to learn that we miss out on when we don't conduct exit interviews. Today on Shift Break we will...

2024-06-0511 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: When Numbers LieNumbers tell a story, but not the whole story. Though the number of times someone purchases an item on your menu may indeed mean that they prefer it to other options, what data cannot tell us is whether or not customers who generate those numbers are truly enjoying what they receive or are they quietly tolerating it. Today on Shift Break we will be talking about the need for cafes to fill in the details that numbers alone cannot and why our main focus should be to be connected to the customer experience in the real world...

2024-05-3110 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Owners, It's OK to Make MistakesCoffee shop owners, do you ever feel as though the entire world is on your shoulders and that one mistake will send the whole business crashing down? The pressures and expectations that cafe operators face drive many to pursue unrealistic standards for themselves and others, which tends to multiply mistakes vs the intended avoidance of them. Today on Shift Break we will be talking about why it is ok that you, and other leaders in the shop make mistakes, and how the work of creating the complex and rewarding world of a coffee shop actually thrives on u...

2024-05-2013 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: How to Assess a Barista's PerformanceOne of the most critical parts of leadership in a cafe is how you invest in developing those you lead. Depending on how it is done, evaluating and assessing performance can either inspire and encourage, or it can deflate and discourage. Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how to think about and conduct assessments through a values framework that recognizes both the technical and relational aspects that make up the job of barista. If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to...

2024-05-1410 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Feedback is Not a LectureToo many times we confuse giving feedback with lecturing our staff which easily shuts down the person we were intending to communicate with. Feedback is critical to your culture but, As past guest and friend of the show,Tom Henschel has said, "Feedback is not a lecture, it is a conversation. Today on Shift Break we will be breaking down this statement, what it means, and how to apply it in your cafe. If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next l...

2024-05-0811 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Evil Owners and Lazy BaristasHow many times have we fallen prey to assumptions about one another in the cafe that end up creating needless strife and hold back progress at maybe the most critical point in the supply chain? Answer, too many times to count. We create these characterizations and generalizations at our own peril and wonder why there is toxicity in the coffee shop. Today on Shift Break we will be talking why this type of thinking from both owners and baristas is so common and what we can do about moving past it to actually work together for a m...

2024-05-0115 min

Dialing In Your Coffee Business Ep. 6: Chris Deferio of Keys to the Shop Podcast & ConsultingWelcome to the "Dialing In Your Coffee Business" Podcast! We're excited to help cafe + roastery owners build healthier coffee businesses that take great care of ALL the people-including them! On today's episode we're talking to Chris Deferio of "Keys to the Shop" Podcast & Consulting. Chris has over two decades of experience in the coffee industry and he has been a go-to resource for many coffee shop owners. We hope you enjoy this episode! And thank you for your interest in building a healthier coffee business that takes even better care of people!

2024-04-251h 09

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Beyond the MetricsBusiness success leaves clues. Metrics such as labor percentage, COGs, Employee Turnover Rate, and more are all measurements we use to both guide how validate past decisions and guide future decisions. But what about the intangibles that the numbers themselves have a hard time showing? On this Shift break episode we will be talking about why we need to focus on the numbers as well as the deeper meaning and intangible areas of the life of the business that contribute in a way that often cannot be tracked, but NEED to be invested into for the coffee...

2024-04-2411 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: Minding Our BusinessHow do we help? A few thoughts have been swirling in my mind since the SCA expo in Chicago, and one of them has to do with the best contribution we can make to help each other in the industry with our respective parts of the supply chain. It seems that many are majoring in things that are not directly related to their business, and therefore letting their business slip into disrepair. On this Shift break episode we will be talking about the power of tending to the effectiveness of our businesses, in particular, the café, as a m...

2024-04-1812 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: The Art of Letting GoIn order to progress, you need to let go. For coffee shop owners this is hard to do because so much on the initial business is based on personal work and many "firsts" that bring with them a sense of nostalgia and preciousness that can actually hold you back. The struggle to let go and allow for an evolution and progression might be behind why we can sometimes fail to see things through that we know are good but encounter some deeper personal resistance. On this Shift break episode we will be talking about why letting go i...

2024-04-1112 min

COFFEE &How Coffee Gets to You - Part 4: Coffee Shop with Chris Deferio (Ep. 23)In this episode, Philip Klayman interviews Chris Deferio, the host and owner of Keys to the Shop podcast and consulting. They discuss the complexity of coffee shop operations and the purpose of the podcast in addressing the challenges of people, operations, and quality. Chris shares his competition journey and why he decided to step back from judging. They also talk about the misconceptions of running a coffee shop and the importance of embracing the journey and deriving joy from other people's joy. The biggest challenge in running a coffee shop is identified as people. In this conversation, Chris Deferio...

2024-03-151h 05

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 462 : What a New Children's Book Teaches About Mistakes in Coffee and Life w/ David Foster, Kiln Coffee Bar and Author of Jett Goes to Work With DadHospitality, patience, and giving grace to others and yourself are lessons we can learn from many areas of life. The coffee shop presents a unique opportunity for us to exercise those character traits as we serve customers along side our fellow staff members in the often pressured and fast paced day-to-day cafe work. There will many mistakes made, but in those mistakes lies opportunity for growth and re-affirming a people first focus. Today's guest, David Foster, wraps all this up in an awesome new children's book called "Jett Goes to Work With Dad"! David Foster i...

2024-03-0544 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Special Announcement: 2024 Key Holder Coaching Groups May be the Key to Unlock the Next Level in Your BusinessSpecial announcement! Applications are still open for the next round of Key Holder Coaching Groups! The Key Holder Coaching Group is a select group of coffee shop owners who love coffee, people, and want to see their business and others succeed! Insights, perspective, accountability, and growth. These are just some of the benefits I have seen change lives through consulting and over my years facilitating workshops and trainings. 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 communit...

2024-02-2006 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 458: Encore Episode! My Wife Interviews Me about My Career and How Coffee Brought Us TogetherLooking back is not only a great way to take stock of how you have developed professionally and as a person, but also to bring back into focus what we have to be thankful for. A couple years back my wife convinced me to let her interview me about my career and along the way we also talk about how coffee brought us together. I typically shy away from telling stories of my own career, opting instead to highlight the guests or the principles we talk about on the show. But my wife was right, and this...

2024-02-121h 03

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 448: Founder Friday! Part 2 "Switching Gears" | w/ Doug Zell of Intelligentsia and The Meteor!In this second part of our 2 part Founder Friday we switch gears with Doug Zell, founder of the iconic coffee company Intelligentsia Coffee. In the years that followed the acquisition of Intelligentsia, Doug entered into a new era of creativity related to food, coffee, and his passion for cycling. With his friend and fellow cycling enthusiast Chris St. Peter, they founded the Meteor. The vision began with a desire to create a beautiful environment that combines all the things they love under one roof: delicious ingredient-driven food, thoughtfully chosen wine, carefully prepared coffee, and, bicycles. The hope...

2023-12-1429 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders SHIFT BREAK: The Weight of RelationshipsThe 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...

2023-11-2310 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Raising Your Hiring StandardThe world of hospitality is filled with people who are either a great fit for the field, or not. Problem is that, for the number of coffee shops in operation today demand for great people is way higher than the supply. So how do we make sure we are hiring the best fit for our business? Today on shift break we will be exploring the number one most important thing you need to discover about a person before bringing them on to the team. Related episodes: 329 : How to Teach Company Values to Your Staff 301...

2023-09-1411 min

Negotiate Anything Building Trust for Organizational Change: Expert Strategies with Chris DeferioRequest A Customized Workshop For Your Company: https://www.americannegotiationinstitute.com/services/workshops/In this episode, Chris teaches us how to lead change in your organization by creating an environment of trust.Connect with Chris https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-deferio-269b455/Chris's website http://keystotheshop.com/Chris's Podcast https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/keys-to-the-shopFollow Kwame Christian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwamechristian/...

2023-06-0838 min

Small Town Barista Chris Deferio from Keys to the Shop PodcastWade sits down with Chris for a consulting session to talk about Tod and Copper's business plan's strengths and weaknesses. So much to learn from Chris' experience in the coffee industry and a great way to highlight the great work he is doing with small businesses getting going. Chris can be reached for consulting requests at chris@keystotheshop.comDefinitely look for his podcast Keys to the Shop everywhere you find podcastsCheck us out on all the Social Medias! We would love to hear from you!Instagram:@todandcoppercoffeeW...

2023-06-0547 min

Coffee 101 How We Really Drink Our Coffee - Brewing Secrets Revealed with Chris Deferio of Keys to the ShopIn this episode Kenneth sits down with Chris Deferio, coffee consultant and host of the popular Keys To The Shop Podcast to reveal a few brewing secrets and share their go-to drinks. This episode is packed with tips and tricks coffee geeks and beginners alike will love. They also explain how to enjoy the best coffee while traveling. KEY TAKEAWAYS Being able to make exactly the kind of coffee you like is a wonderful way to start the day. You are 100% in control before the events of the day overtake you. Grind your coffee the night b...

2023-05-311h 00

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 407 : Founder Friday! Encore Episodes, David Schomer of Espresso Vivace!It's Founder Friday! I just learned of the news that the original sidewalk bar for Espresso Vivace is going to be closing permanently. This is very sad news given the rich history of that cafe and the impact it's had on so many. So today I thought it would be a great idea to re-air a conversation I had with David Schomer back in Feb of 2019! Since its founding in 1988 Espresso Vivace has been home to David's groundbreaking and paradigm shifting experiments with espresso coffee and drink presentation. His work has been foundational and formative in the...

2023-04-2854 min

Freedom Nation Podcast Fueled by Coffee with Chris DeferioIn today’s episode, Jeff interviews Chris Deferio of the Keys to the Shop Podcast. Twenty three years ago Chris was in ministry school and turned to coffee to help fuel his studies. Over time Chris discovered that he could taste the different origin of the coffee. Chris really liked the coffee bar experience and decided to go into coffee as a career and the rest is history! Chris and Jeff discuss: Chris started over two decades ago using coffee to help him fuel his studies in ministry school. Fueled with caffeine, Chris discovered he could ta...

2023-02-1528 min

Hospitality Leadership Podcast - Restaurant and Hotel Leadership.EPISODE 100: Chris Deferio of Keys To The Shop Talks About The Opportunities For Coffee Shops Into 2023.So we are 100 episodes in, and I can't quite believe it.With costs increasing across the board and customers becoming more selective with their disposable income, we, as coffee shop owners, must provide much more value to our customers beyond just fantastic coffee. So for this very special episode, I welcome Chris Deferio of Keys To The Shop Podcast and Keys To The Shop Consulting to talk about the opportunities that coffee shop owners and team members can take advantage of as we move towards a period of uncertainty. A big part of what we discuss is customer experience and...

2022-09-121h 00

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 366 : A Conversation w/ Chris Baca of Cat and Cloud CoffeeWe all want leadership and cafe culture that inspires. Through personal and professional development we can learn how to create an environments where our values and core beliefs are lived out in real time. In spite of the inevitable challenges, set backs, and failures that come with entrepreneurship and leadership, when we bring our true selves to work in good faith with others, magic happens. This is what today's guest, Chris Baca has accomplished at the globally celebrated shop and roastery, Cat and Cloud Coffee. Chris Baca is the co-owner of Cat and Cloud and inspires thousands ar...

2022-09-051h 23

Craft Your Own Coffee Podcast [S4E6] 1 on 1 with Chris Deferio // Host of Keys To The Shop PodcastChris is the most seasoned coffee professional who has ever casted on the Craft Your Own Coffee pod. He is a 22-year coffee industry veteran, a deep thinker, a source of wise counsel, and an all-around generous guy. Click here to check out Keys To The Shop (and follow on Instagram) Only a few weeks left to take advantage of 15% off an order of green coffee from Sweet Maria's! Use code CYOCOFFEE at checkout through July 1st 2022. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/craftyourowncoffee/message

2022-06-1336 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders RoR Live! at SCA #6 Chris Kornman| Author of Green Coffee : A Guide for Roasters and BuyersWelcome to the 6th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! In this interview we are talking with industry veteran, green coffee expert, and author of the new book "Green Coffee", Chris Kornman! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds Chris Kornman is a seasoned coffee quality specialist, writer and researcher, and the Lab & Education Manager at T...

2022-05-2039 min

The Indispensables Chris Deferio: Lessons from the coffee shopIn this episode, I talk with Chris Deferio about coffee, leadership, and where they meet.Learn more about Chris's work at his website: https://keystotheshop.com/

2022-05-1845 min

Slick Talk: The Hospitality Podcast Chris Deferio, Founder & Host of Keys to the Shop Podcast & ConsultingChris Deferio is an award winning coffee professional and coffee consultant with 22 years in the retail specialty coffee industry. He has seen great success in his career as a barista, trainer, cafe manager, operations manager, and playing a key role in the scaling and success of many independent coffee shops. In addition to being a 3 time international latte art champion and US Barista championship finalist, Chris has been able to help thousands of people through his in person speaking and training at trade shows, industry associations, and even outside of coffee in the world of craft beer...

2022-04-0654 min

Coffee Runs Deep - Rob Pirie How do you Make a Coffee Shop Succeed - Chris Deferio - Keys To The Shop (Ep. 19)Send us a textChris Deferio, host of the podcast "Keys to the Shop", really dropped some knowledge in this episode. We discuss everything from buying a coffee shop vs building one from scratch, the biggest issues causing coffee shops to fail, the media side of coffee, and consulting. We cover a ton of coffee ground in this episode I am fortunate to have gotten to speak with him. Hope you enjoy the episode and thanks for recording and episode with me Chris!Keys To The Shop Podcast: https://keystotheshop.com/all-podcasts/

2022-03-251h 04

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Customer Caricatures and Inside JokesWhen 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 t...

2022-02-1109 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Pre-Closing MadnessWe have to get the shop closed! Fast! Question is, at what cost? For most of us we engage in pre-close with an aggression that lies our stated commitment to hospitality. Customers are frequently put off by how we go about re-closing and we a frequently behind the eight ball with unrealistic expectation fueling our aggressive attitudes towards it. Pre-closing is crucial part of the day's work that can be done in a way that benefits the cafe the staff, and still allows for customers to enjoy their experience in the cafe when it is open. ...

2022-01-2013 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Taking Offense to CritiqueCustomers have opinions that we disagree with. This is a forever truth of running a business. They have preferences and sometimes they will be disappointed in their experience and take to Yelp to voice their opinion. That can be very frustrating, especially if you feel you are doing everything "right". The temptation is to be defensive, fight, and essentially make the reviewer the enemy. Problem is that this approach, as cathartic as it may seem, shows insecurity and shuts down opportunity for growth and connection. Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how to...

2022-01-1312 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 323 : Reflecting on 5 Years of Keys to the Shop w/ my Wife, Lynnsy DeferioWelp, KTTS is now 5 years old! In this time KTTS has aired 560 episodes and is closing in on 2 million downloads around the world and it simply feels surreal. I have been so blessed by the guests on this show, you the audience, and most of all, my biggest supporter, my wife. SO...on this episode my lovely wife Lynnsy takes to the microphone again to interview me about the journey over the past 5 years as well as getting to know a bit more about me and some of the things that make me tick. She has seen t...

2022-01-0554 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 318 : Why Your Coffee Shop is Key for the Success of CoffeeThe pressure and business of the daily work can easily blind us to the impact that we have on the greater reality of the "Industry". We often think of the industry as existing outside our own shops but the reality is that our we are the industry and ever decision we make as individual professionals and cafes cultivate wha the industry becomes. Today we will be talking about the influence our mindsets, focus, and actions have to either steer the industry to a positive or negative ends. The shop truly is the most important link in the s...

2021-12-0726 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 308 : A Conversation w/ Italian Brewers Cup Champion, Alessandro GaltieriItalian coffee has shaped how the world understands coffee and cafe culture. These days there is a movement to take the traditional Italian way of of getting a coffee and elevate the quality and the experience making it a truly specialty coffee experience. At the heart of that movement is Aroma Caffe todays guest, Alessandro Galtieri. Alessandro has owned and operated Aroma Caffe since 1994 and has been a coffee professional since 1991. As he ran the cafe he began to shift it into a beacon of progressive specialty coffee amidst the traditional coffee culture landscape of his city o...

2021-10-1240 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Ignoring the CustomerOn some level we all can justify ignoring customers in our coffee shop. Seems pretty crazy right? I mean, why would we do that knowing how important it is to give a great experience to the one keeping the lights on?And yet it happens all the time. What starts out as a one time act of giving into convenience, turns into a full blown culture. On today's Shift Break we will be talking about an experience I had recently that illustrates this and thinking through why it happens, why it hurts us, and what to do a...

2021-07-1510 min

The Folly Coffee Podcast Ep85 Category Coffee/Business- Keys to the Shop Podcast & Consulting Chris DeferioIn this virtual episode, Folly Rob sits down with Host & Producer of the Top 100 podcast, Keys to the Shop, a podcast focused on equipping coffee retail professionals with industry knowledge. Chris Deferio is also the founder and owner of Keys to the Shop Consulting, focused on serving retail coffee professionals. Chris has over 20 years of coffee professional experiencing dating back to 2001 and has served a number of roles within the coffee world. This episode covers his coffee journey, how he got into podcasting/consulting, and discussion focused around common mistakes of coffee shop owners. Enjoy! @keystotheshop keystotheshop.com Keys to...

2021-04-141h 05

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 259 : Solving Toxic Customer Service CultureWe have created a monster. Over the years our quest to please the customer has turned toxic as it ignores the well being of our staff and enables entitled, rude, and even abusive behavior. All this in the name of the miss guided notion that "The customer is always right". In today's episode we will be exploring this toxic customer service culture, what is behind it, what its impacts are, and how to begin the process of replacing it with a heathy culture of boundaries and support that create a great experience for both staff and customers a...

2021-01-0525 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 243 : Encore Episode! "The Sleepwalking Barista (Owner)"I am excited to re-share this oldie with you. Mainly because it has a ton of very useful insights that I think we all need to ponder these days. Life (aka 2020) won't let up and the 7 things I talked about back in November 2017 could not be more relevant. In many ways, we spend a lot of our energies reinforcing self-sabotaging behaviors and habits. Thing is, even though I originally broadcast this as being for baristas, you can just as easily see these 7 things in your life as a business owner. So on behalf of the Chris of 2017 an...

2020-10-0542 min

The How of Business - How to start, run, grow and exit a small business.Coffee Shop Talk with Chris DeferioCoffee Shops – how to start and grow and coffee shop or café small business. Chris shares his tips, advice and experience from his years in the coffee shop business. What should you consider before starting a coffee shop, and what should you be focused on to grow your existing shop? He is the founder of Keys to the Shop – a podcast and training company dedicated to advancing coffee service professionals in their careers and helping shops realize their potential. Henry Lopez is a serial entrepreneur, small business coach, and the host of this episode of The How of Bu...

2020-10-0551 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Rebuilding your Staff with Excellence w/ Dave StachowiakAs we seek to rebuild our staff in the midst of the pandemic, many different questions come up about re-hiring, deciding who not to bring back, how to decide who to promote, and generally how do we do this in a way that is good for everyone involved. It is not enamors easy task but today we are going to gain a lot of clarity about these topics and more as we talk with the always insightful, Dave Stachowiak. Dave founded Coaching for Leaders in 2011. Since them the podcast has been downloaded 12 million times and is consistently...

2020-08-0253 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Who you are & What you DoWe all can have a difficult time with serving the public. These days we may be putting on a literal mask, but if we are honest, we have been wearing a metaphorical mask for a while now. Much of how we show up on at work has to do with how we show up outside of work. If we want to thrive I the shop and bring in people who will create a genuinely caring culture then we have to focus ourselves outwardly. Today we are going to be talking about how we can cultivate a wholistic approach to...

2020-06-2510 min

FilteredThoughts 010 - 'The Future of Coffee Shops' with Keys to the Shop, Chris DeferioHi guys! We're back with another great episode for you, with a great guest and topic! We'll be chatting about; The current situation ( what it is like in the US in comparison to the UK), About how our shops & staff will be affected by the current climate, and some food for thought for the future going forward too! Massive thank you to Chris from Keys to the shop - http://www.keystotheshop.com/ - for joining us today to talk in depth about this topic, was great to have you on and chat!

2020-05-051h 02

Coaching for Leaders Employee Retention in Small Business, with Chris DeferioChris Deferio: Keys to the Shop Chris Deferio is a cafe quality specialist who has dedicated 20 years of his life to working in and studying specialty coffee retail. He is also the creator and host of the industry leading podcast, Keys to the Shop, which gives listeners insights, inspiration, and tools to grow as specialty coffee professionals. Chris previously appeared on the show to help us get more perspective on managing part-time staff. In this conversation, Chris and I explore some of the practical steps that small business owners and general managers can take in...

2019-06-1737 min

The Archive of Awesome 288: Managing First Timers in the Workplace with Chris Deferio (Host of the Keys to the Shop podcast)Coffee shop guru & latte art champion Chris Deferio speaks on leading people who are at their first “real job” and keys to thriving in a chaotic environment. You'll Learn: Best approaches for managing first timers How to offer feedback so it’s received well Tips on how to keep sane and focused in a chaotic environment About Chris: Chris Deferio is the host and producer of the Keys to the Shop podcast. He lives in Louisville, KY with his wife and son and has been in professional coffee service for 17 y...

2018-04-1847 min

How to Be Awesome at Your Job 288: Managing First Timers in the Workplace with Chris Deferio (Host of the Keys to the Shop podcast)Coffee shop guru & latte art champion Chris Deferio speaks on leading people who are at their first “real job” and keys to thriving in a chaotic environment. You'll Learn: Best approaches for managing first timers How to offer feedback so it’s received well Tips on how to keep sane and focused in a chaotic environment About Chris: Chris Deferio is the host and producer of the Keys to the Shop podcast. He lives in Louisville, KY with his wife and son and has been in professional coffee service for 17 years. He provides training, consultations, and wisdom to owners, managers, and empl...

2018-04-1846 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 074 : The Life Changing Power of Good Authority w/ Jonathan Raymond : We discuss what Good Authority looks like, team building around personal growth, being vulnerable and honest, how to be more Yoda and less Superman, how to communicate and coach yoGood authority changes lives and can change the world! It all starts with with how we show up for the people we lead and the way we facilitate both theirs and our growth in a people-first culture. In the current climate where being a boss or having authority is rightfully met with skepticism, having the road map and the tools to build a new way of being a leader is critical. Today we talk with Jonathan Raymond, CEO of Refound, and author of the book, "Good Authority:How to Become the Leader Your team Is Waiting For"

2018-02-2058 min

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders 073 : How to be Awesome at Your Job w/ Pete Mockaitis : Career development, strategy, prioritization, productivity, relationships, communication to make you successful and happy at workDo you want to be awesome at your job? Of course! We all do. Today we will be discussing the foundational principles and focuses that will get you there and grow you even further if you're there already. I am thrilled to welcome to the show, the host of the Awesome at Your Job Podcast, Pete Mockaitis. Pete is an incredibly talented career coach and his show has featured hundreds of professionals all weighing in on what it takes to thrive at work. The 6 areas we discuss today are the common link between all the experts Pete h...

2018-02-1356 min

Coaching for Leaders How to Lead Part-Time Staff, with Chris DeferioChris Deferio: Keys to the Shop Chris Deferio is the host of Keys to the Shop, a podcast that helps coffee service professionals to advance their careers by discovering more about barista work, management, leadership, and the operational knowledge to run a coffee shop. Chris has decades of experience managing teams of part-time staff in a high turnover industry. In this episode, he shares the most practical tips his team has discovered for helping leaders be most effective with part-time employees. Key Points You can only go so far with positive feedback...

2017-03-2043 min