336: A Cafe Leadership Masterclass w/ Selina Viguera of Blue Bottle Coffee

It’s not very often you come across someone who has spent decades as a true example of what it is to be an exemplary manager, leader, and professional. When you do find them you better be prepared to absorb their wisdom and let it help guide your own career.

Well, today we are privileged to sit down with some one who has done exactly that. We are talking all about leadership, management, and training, with Selina Viguera of Blue Bottle Coffee!

Selina Viguera is well-known in specialty coffee mostly for being an amazing and dedicated barista. She leads the Barista Guild Café at Specialty Coffee Expo and U.S. CoffeeChamps; she’s been a lead barista at TED in Vancouver, as well as TEDxWomen and TEDxMed; her latte art is featured on the Pacific Barista Series Oat and Rice packages. And she’s been “the face” of Blue Bottle, especially in her adopted home in Los Angeles, for years.

Selina Viguera is a coffee professional who has worked in the industry for over 20+ years. Selina has managed some of the busiest Blue Bottle cafes in the North American market such as San Francisco’s Ferry Building location and LA’s Abbot Kinney location, where she is currently the cafe leader for over 7 years.

In our conversation we explore here long career and the experiences that have shied who she is as a leader today.

We cover:

Discovering the work of the cafe and then specialty coffee
Connecting with customers and becoming a leader
Leading the change to specialty in her first cafe
Learning to train and teach
Doors opening for management and leadership
Leading “Team First” and the metric of staff happiness
Training and onboarding effectively
Empowering feedback and conflict resolution
Balance of structure and culture
Embracing difficult conversations and being courageous
What she is most proud of accomplishing
Advice to fellow managers

Links:

Instagram: @sellybean_13

Email: Selina.viguera@gmail.com

Recommended Episodes:

329 : How to Teach Company Values to Your Staff

313 : Coffee Education and Training w/ Michael Phillips of Blue Bottle Coffee

306 : A Conversation w/ 2004 U.S. Barista Champion, Bronwen Serna!

305 : Founder Friday! w/ Andrew Sinclair of MadLab Coffee, Los Angeles, CA

In Praise of Long Term Imperfect Employment

Visit our amazing Sponsors!

Join the Keys To The Shop Newsletter