SHIFT BREAK: Make Customer Feedback a Priority

Chris DeferioPodcast

Do we care what our customers think? If so, how do they know? When you talk to almost any operator of a cafe you will hear them say that they value the customer and their feedback. The question though is how are the customers supposed to deliver it…

442 : We Need Confidence, Celebration, and Joy!

Chris DeferioPodcast

You hear it everywhere. Owning and running a business is hard, taxing, a battle even. And while there is truth to this, it is not the whole truth. In the entrepreneurial journey we have accepted, with no degree of irony, that it is a miserable…

SHIFT BREAK: Your Manager Has No Time To Manage!

Chris DeferioPodcast

High expectations are fine as long as they are coupled with the resources and tools to actually achieve them. No position in the cafe gets the short end of the stick of resourcing than the cafe manager. As baristas watch their manager lose their mind,…

441: How to Achieve Operational Excellence w/ Laila Ghambari

Chris DeferioManagement, Podcast, Training

A coffee shop cannot survive without having excellent operational systems and tools that bring together and make consistent all the craft, values, and magic we want from a cafe experience Just like the work of a barista, 75% of what we do in ownership and leadership has to do with the things that happen off bar. The foundations of business. …

SHIFT BREAK: Quality Still Matters

Chris DeferioPodcast

Quality is subjective. What is not subjective though, is that quality matters. That begs the question, how should we define quality and pursue it in an age of coffee where we want both excellence and inclusivity of expression of preference. Today on…

440 : What Should Scare You About Coffee

Chris DeferioCareer, Podcast

Working in coffee, you come across a lot of unexpected career pitfalls. Things that you may not have expected that can lurk just around the corner and lead us off track in our careers and our businesses. That should scare us. At least it should make us vigilant to pay attention and walk out our careers in a way that …

Founder Friday! Youth, Foster Care, and Human Connections Through Coffee | w/ Miah Sommer of Astute Coffee in Omaha, NE

Chris DeferioFounder Friday, Leadership, Podcast

  More than 23k youth age out of the foster care system each year. Many of these young people, because of the trauma and  instability, end up at higher risk of addiction, homelessness, financial instability and worse. One man whose own past parallels those he seeks to serve, has been working to change this seemingly hopeless cycle through founding a …