Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

In the world of specialty coffee, the relationship between roaster and cafe is one of the most vital. In a healthy relationship, there is a support for the client that mirrors the hospitality and quality that the roaster hopes the cafe produces using their coffee.
There may be nobody more qualified to speak to both side of this relationship of mutual support than today guest, Sam Lewontin! 
Sam is a veteran coffee professional whose nearly 30 year career has taken him from barista in many small and obscure shops, to owning and growing one of NYC best Cafes Everyman Espresso along with Sam Penix. Sam Lewontin carved out a niche for himself as one of coffee's most thoughtful, clear, and intentional operators as well as decorated barista competitors. 
After a long career in barista work and cafe hospitality and ownership, Sam took the listening, communication, and service skill he honed in th shop, and applied it to the world of sales and wholesal support for Stumptown Coffee Roasters and now most recently is representing Counter Culture Coffee! 
Literally every time you interact with Sam, he is not just enthused to see you, but in genuinely interested in your good. This is why we are talking with him today to learn about how we can develop our hospitality approach in like fashion, but take a page from him play book in sales to truly help our clients solve problems and thrive in their business. 
We discuss:
The evolution of Sam's career from hobby to professional and the importance of continuous learning how friend and mentors shaped his world. 
Creating accessible and welcoming coffee experiences through thoughtful design and hospitality
The role of networking, community building, and trust in growing coffee businesses
Meeting customers where they are: making coffee approachable and familiar
Practical tips for supporting wholesale clients with streamlined resources and support
Prioritizing high leverage support tools instead of generic offerings
Facilitating connections between wholesale customers, tech support, and global producers
The philosophy that the core value of cafes is delivering an approachable, memorable hospitality experience
 
REGISTER NOW FOR THE SUMMER WEBINAR SERIES! 
Build a Stronger Coffee Shop: One Step at a Time
Great coffee shops don't happen by accident. They are built by hiring the right people, training them well, and leading them with clarity and consistency.
In this live three-part Summer Webinar Series, Chris Deferio shares the practical systems and coaching insights that have helped coffee businesses build stronger teams, healthier cultures, and more resilient operations.
Each webinar includes:
Live instruction and Q&A
PDF workbook
One hour of virtual consulting for each live attendee
Lifetime access to the recording
Register for the individual sessions that fit your current needs, or scroll down to save 20% on the complete Summer Webinar Series.
REGISTER NOW FOR THE SUMMER WEBINAR SERIES! 
 
chris@keystothshop.com
of book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Related episodes:
246 : Selecting a Wholesale Coffee Provider
473: A Master Class in Wholesale Coffee w/ Honor Forte of Olympia Coffee Roasters
Be honest with your Wholesale Accounts
133 : 5 Keys to Successful Wholesale w/ Sarah Richmond

I have noticed a lot of noise in the industry. The coffee shop and its owner are the targets of a crushing and never ending stream of marketing that does not care about your success, but only moving units. The uncertainty that was supposed to be solved, is made worse, and the simple desire to serve coffee professionally, gets over complicated. No wonder we burn out so often. 
 Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how simplicity is the best strategy for any coffee shop and is worth establishing as a central pillar of the business so you can navigate the pressured environment of entrepreneurship and build something on a stable foundation.  
 
REGISTER NOW FOR THE SUMMER WEBINAR SERIES! 
Build a Stronger Coffee Shop: One Step at a Time
Great coffee shops don't happen by accident. They are built by hiring the right people, training them well, and leading them with clarity and consistency.
In this live three-part Summer Webinar Series, Chris Deferio shares the practical systems and coaching insights that have helped coffee businesses build stronger teams, healthier cultures, and more resilient operations.
Each webinar includes:
Live instruction and Q&A
PDF workbook
One hour of virtual consulting for each live attendee
Lifetime access to the recording
Register for the individual sessions that fit your current needs, or scroll down to save 20% on the complete Summer Webinar Series.
REGISTER NOW FOR THE SUMMER WEBINAR SERIES! 
 
Sign up for 1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email chris@keystothshop.com
OR... book a free call now to talk about working together
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Related episodes:
421: Encore Episode: Simple, Powerful, Hospitality w/ Philip Paul Turner
Keep Systems Simple!
Founder Friday! w/ Amos Gillespie of Wheelhouse Coffee, Kentville, Nova Scotia, CA
Menu Simplicity as Hospitality
Building your Coffee Shop's Capacity from Simplicity

A cafe's culture is built by intentionally investing in values, hiring, training, and leadership structures and behaviors. These areas are integral to any cafe's success. The issue is that for many, they tend to be rushed or even afterthoughts, leaving the people part of our coffee shops under developed and the resulting culture fragile. 
In this episode we will go over the three areas we are covering in an upcoming webinar series and how each of them factor into your cafe's success.
Today we will discuss:
Values+ Hiring
Onboarding + Training
Leadership + Management
 
REGISTER NOW FOR THE SUMMER WEBINAR SERIES! 
Build a Stronger Coffee Shop: One Step at a Time
Great coffee shops don't happen by accident. They are built by hiring the right people, training them well, and leading them with clarity and consistency.
In this live three-part Summer Webinar Series, Chris Deferio shares the practical systems and coaching insights that have helped coffee businesses build stronger teams, healthier cultures, and more resilient operations.
Each webinar includes:
Live instruction and Q&A
PDF workbook
One hour of virtual consulting for each live attendee
Lifetime access to the recording
Register for the individual sessions that fit your current needs, or scroll down to save 20% on the complete Summer Webinar Series.
REGISTER NOW FOR THE SUMMER WEBINAR SERIES! 
 
chris@keystothshop.com
of book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

We are notorious in coffee for promoting people into management based only on technical skills or that they might not be quite as unreliable as others on the team. We also rush good people who need more time to develop resilience into the position and set them up for failure. In order to make good decisions, there are many traits we need to look for in a a manager, but one in particular is important enough that I feel every manager should possess at least the beginnings of it.
 
 Today on Shift Break we will be talking about the need for a particular kind of resiliency that I have seen the best managers have. If you look for this in your team and in those who apply for roles in the shop it will set them up for success in their technical, admin, and leadership responsibilities well into the future.
 
Worth a note is the fact that owners are also hugely responsible for how they bring in, train, and provide standards and structures for leadership. You cannot lead based on intuition and some "it" factor. The argument here is not that management make up for and excuse the the lack of systems and structures, but that they would be and can be part of the process of helping lead others in those things and help advance them as well.
Sign up for 1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email chris@keystothshop.com
OR... book a free call now to talk about working together
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Related episodes:
109 : Leadership Abandonment Syndrome : Lack of development in senior staff and what to do about it
419: Behaviors That Establish Excellent Management Culture
383 : How to Train a Manager
Proactivity in the Owner – Manager Relationship
314 : The 6 Essential Qualities of Coffee Shop Leaders

Today we have access to information about the world of coffee that is unprecedented. At times it can be overwhelming to consider all the areas of the coffee industry that need fixing while we also work daily to care for those we have immediately with us.
The trick is to tune into sources that convey not just the reality of the problem, but can also feature stories that showcase hope as we work to make progress.
Today we get talk with someone whose work in writing about coffee has helped countless people grapple with and take steps to address our industry's most pressing issues.
Sarah Charles is the founder of Underscore Communications, former Editor of Coffee Intelligence, and Senior Communications Officer at the International Trade Centre (ITC/WTO agency). A principal author of the ITC Coffee Guide 4th Edition, she writes for print and online publications and produces industry reports and books covering coffee trends, trade, and development.
Her work makes sense of the world's messiest systems – climate, trade, culture, food – through sharp storytelling, fresh angles, and analysis. She holds an MSc in Sustainable Development from SOAS, University of London and is a founding member of the Greek IWCA chapter. 
Today we will discuss:
Sarah's start in coffee writing
Romanticism vs. Reality in Coffee
The Impact of Writing on the Coffee Industry
Navigating Challenges and Finding Inspiration
Hopeful Futures for Coffee Farmers
The Power of Necessity in Innovation
Community and Connection in Business
Hopeful Trends from China's producing Community
Knowledge as Leverage in Coffee Trade
The Impact of Consolidation on Specialty Coffee
Balancing Ethics and Profit in Business
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/unprincipledwriter/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-e-charles/
https://iwcagreece.org/
https://www.intracen.org/resources/publications/the-coffee-guide-fourth-edition
 
KEYS TO THE SHOP OFFERS
CONSULTING + COACHING
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email 
chris@keystothshop.com
of book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Related episodes: 
451: Business Growth, Integrity, and Coffee Farmer Equity w/ Martin Mayorga of Mayorga Coffee
602: Renata Henderson | Cxffeeblack | Putting The Heart Back Into Coffee
560: Bio-Innovation and Securing the Future for Coffee Farmers and Their Land w/ Felipe Sardi of La Palma y El Tucan
510: Advancing Equity in Farmer-Consumer Relationships w/ Ethiopia's Beamlak Bekele!
Sustainability Series #1 : The Farm