Should You Hire Back a Fired Barista?

Chris DeferioPodcast

Boy oh boy this is a hard question. The initial reaction you might have to this will depend on your position in the cafe, your knowledge of the circumstances around the firing, and your ability to consider more than just the individual in question. In…

382 : Hospitality, Innovation, and the Birth of a Brewer w/ Etkin Design Co-founders, Michael Butterworth and Özgür Jerdan.

Chris DeferioCoffee Tech, Hospitality, Podcast

Innovation in the coffee industry is no longer just about large companies tweaking their standard equipment, but it is becoming democratized through small companies bringing their ideas to market through networking, research, and good old fashioned hard work. Today we are going to be talking with 2 of the 3 founders of one such company who sought to create the …

Ineffective Training

Chris DeferioPodcast

It happens all the time. We create and conduct training sessions, programs, and systems that contain a lot, but do not produce a lot.  We end up with staff that are ill equipped for handling the day-to-day work and challenges that await them and…

380 : Founder Friday! w/ Cary and Cindy Arsaga of Arsaga’s Coffee Roasters

Chris DeferioBusiness, Founder Friday, Leadership, Podcast

How do you measure the impact of you business? We talk about metrics mostly related to finances and judge success accordingly. But the deeper and more fulfilling impact a coffee shop can have is based in relationship. You may ask yourself the question, does what I am creating or have created have “heart and meaning”? If your answer is yes …

Thankfulness and Giving Energy to the Positive

Chris DeferioPodcast

Thankfulness, positivity, affirming others, and seeking out the good can easily be things that get pushed aside in favor of the problems, stresses, and challenges of this life. As a result we develop a lob sided perspective in reality. On today’s…

Imperfect Action and Finding Time

Chris DeferioPodcast

“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good” This quote from Voltaire has been passed around a lot over the years, even still it seems we always find ways to procrastinate on starting things because we either want it to be perfect, feel fear of…

378: 5 Areas to Develop in Managers

Chris DeferioCareer, Leadership, Podcast

It is easy to assume that a managers main role is only to take on basic administrative tasks. At least this is the way I would argue most shop treat the role of manager. It is too often a “set and forget” scenario that inevitably leads to  managers being in the dark, ill equipped, and frustrated. Ultimately this is all …

The Insult of Sink or Swim Training

Chris DeferioPodcast

It’s wild to me that this still exists in coffee. The idea that we can throw a new hire in to the mix of a shift in a new cafe and expect that they will prove themselves as being valuable based on if they fail or thrive.  On today’s Shift Break…