Small businesses like coffee shops are known for their ability to be resourceful and get things done with what they have. However, when you set out to open a shop or create a new initiative in an existing coffee bar, there can be a tendency to…
What happens when we allow ourselves to get caught up in comparing ourselves and our businesses to those around us? The simple answer is that we stifle growth and kill off the joy of what we have and who we are doing it all for. Way back in 2017 we released an episode called “Death by Comparison” that explores this …
This time of year I am thinking about what I am thankful for and also I am thinking about how hard it is to enter into thankfulness vs other more accessible emotions and mental states. So much of this, to my mind, has to do with the all consuming…
Back in 2018 at a Coffee Fest in Baltimore I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Stephen Zinnerman, owner and founder of (along with his wife Natasha) The Coffee Enthusiast: A Brewing Company (TCE). Back when we first met on the show floor, he was just starting TCE and since then they have experienced A LOT of growth both …
Where do we even start when choosing tools for our roastery? There are an incredible number of options from basic and inexpensive -to complex and costly. In the most recent issue of Roast Magazine, today’s guest, Kat Melheim gives us an outline of tools and resources through the entire roasting process that can help clarify this dilemma. Kat Melheim (she/her) …
In competition we stress about the performance and we practice the skills repeatedly in order to be able to do well on the day. While this approach is needed, there is another approach to preparation that goes deeper and helps ensure that, no mater…
Do you feel like you need to be good at everything in order to be a good leader? That is a pretty common thought but the fact is that this way approach to leadership stifles both you and those you lead. Instead we should focus on what qualities will allow us to lead people with different skills than us effectively. …
Hustle culture teaches us that we should be working pretty much all the time. In order to succeed we need to sacrifice a lot and where the limit is nobody quite knows. What happens too often is we only really start to back off when we burn out but by…
Training and education is an ongoing process. Not just for those we are training but also for ourselves as trainers and educators. If we adopt the same type of “always learning” mentality we want to see in other, then the way we understand and conduct training will change over time. Today we will be exploring training and education through the …
How we think of money and its place in our coffee shop’s culture will have huge implications for how your staff either engage or disengage with the success of the store. The first step is to examine our mindset and then connect the metrics to…
