Ervin Liz is an indigenous Colombian of the Nasa tribe who grew up on a coffee farm helping his family plant, pick, process, and sell their harvest. Years later co-founded The Colombian Coffee Connection where he imports, roasts, and sells the coffee sourced from his home in Colombia direct to the consumer and gives 10% of all profits to charitable initiatives on the farm. Relationship coffee does not get more intimate than that!
It’s Founder Friday!!! Today we get to sit down with Justin Hartman who is the Founder of the standard bearing OZO Coffee Company. Justin brings a very down to earth perspective to all he undertakes. We discuss his journey into coffee working as a barista in the best shops he could find, the founding and evolution of OZO Coffee from one small shop using other roasters to now 4 busy cafes with a thriving (Good Food Award Winning)roasting operation. We also dive into management, leadership, scaling the business, the challenges of growth, hiring, and Justins 3 pieces of advice to other shop owners. There is a lot here and I know you will walk away informed and inspired!
There are countless details that go into setting up a great coffee shop. At the top of the list of priorities are the legal considerations that provide you with a foundation on which to build your dream cafe in a way that won’t turn that dream into a nightmare. Today we welcome long time attorney and general counsel to the Specialty Coffee Association, World Coffee Events, and Coffee Quality Institute, Marshall Fuss!
Wooo Hooo! It’s the 100th episode of Keys to the Shop!!! Thank you so much for listening to and supporting this show! I can think of no better way to use this time than to highlight what a critical role you all play in the industry. Today I want to talk to you about why you are the the key. You can provide others with insights, inspiration, and tools that will have a positive impact on your circle of influence no matter what you do in the industry or how long you’ve been doing it. I hope that after todays episode you feel confident to take what you have and put it to work even more within specialty coffee community.
Competitions don’t have to be expensive, complex, or stressful! The Barista League is proof. Today we are talking with Barista League founder, Steven Moloney about this community focused, engaging, and refreshing competition. We discuss the benefits of this type of format, what people who attend are saying, his perspective on specialty retail, and advice for how we can support and liven up our shops and cities on our own. This is a great chat that will leave you encouraged to connect with and learn from your your fellow baristas and maybe even join the Barista League.
As shifts go, the closing shift is normally not a covent one. We can suffer from boredom, lack of motivation, disillusionment, isolation, and end up feeling bitter toward our day-time counterparts who get to work more in the thick of the coffeehouse culture plus make better tips!
It’s Founder Friday! Today we are honored to hear from the owner of The Arrow Coffeehouse, Erica Escalante. Erica is an 8 year veteran of the specialty industry and went from Starbucks barista to coffee shop owner. Her story is one of extraordinary hard work, dedication, building relationships, constant learning, vulnerability, and servant leadership. Her perspectives on communication, making business decisions, hiring, and where she draws energy and joy in her busy life will leave you refreshed and enlivened to work hard to do good.
Did you say “Instant specialty coffee”?! Yup, that’s right. Not only does it taste 300 times better than traditional instant but it may well change the way you think about accessibility, consumer engagement, and how we provide value to the end user. In this episode we are joined by the founder of Voila
In coffee shops we know a thing or two about being stressed! It can range from nagging to debilitating just with a single shift. If you want to experience more calm and peace of mind in the cafe, even in the midst of the business then this episode will definitely help. Today we are talking with celebrated mental wellness counselor and host of the Practice of the Practice podcast, Joe Sanok. Joe share a lot of great insights into the story behind stress, Brain optimization, how staff and owners can manage and reduce stress while at work, the relationship between systems and stress, and helps us walk away with some tools that will bring the well being that we need to sustain a long and healthy career begins the bar.
We all want a fulfilling career in coffee but often times we feel trapped and disappointed with where we are and cannot see the next move. Enter Lee Safar. Lee is the owner of “Map it Forward” and host of the “Map it Forward Live Podcast”. She has amassed a world of experience and knowledge in her over 15 years of working in coffee and draws on both her expertise and other industry success stories to teach you how you can map out an amazing career, grow you business, and be a true professional.
