Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

Coffee is built on relationships. Wholesale relationships are particularly important in that there is a need for both equipping and resourcing, as well as connecting and encouraging. How well we engage with and serve people literally sets up the entire industry for success. 
With that in mind I thought there might be no better person to represent the heart of what it means to serve clients well, than Bear Soliven Chief Wholesale Officer at Onyx Coffee Lab! 
Bear Soliven has spent 15+ years in the coffee industry as anything from a barista, baker, and, for a short season, a roaster. 
For 11 of those years, he has called Onyx Coffee Lab home, spending the past 10 as a wholesale representative helping cafés and hospitality partners build their coffee programs. He loves the craft, but it is the people that give the work its meaning: the friendships formed over time, the pleasure of making something well, and the welcome offered across a counter. 
Occasionally, he competes in Cup Tasters, chiefly for the fun of it, and perhaps to keep his palate from growing too pleased with itself.
Beyond coffee, faith, hospitality, and belonging sweep through every avenue of Bear's story. 
He finds much to value in ordinary things: good food, a shared cup, great movies & books, and especially the chance to make someone feel at home.


Today we get cover: 
Authenticity, confidence, and professional boundaries
Supporting cafe founders through uncertainty
Wholesale as attentive hospitality, not a sales pitch
Depersonalizing friction and offering candid advice
Building systems around a relationship-first workflow
Setting client expectations and adapting communication
Team support, shared expertise, and weekly alignment
Why a coffee brand cannot fix a broken cafe culture
Bear's advice for people starting in wholesale
Links: 
https://www.instagram.com/taco.papi_/
https://onyxcoffeelab.com/
 
Keys to the Shop Consulting:
Consulting to help you and your coffee business thrive
Book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Related Episodes: 
615: The Key to Excellent Cafes, Sales, and Wholesale Support w/ Sam Lewontin!
 

473: A Master Class in Wholesale Coffee w/ Honor Forte of Olympia Coffee Roasters
246 : Selecting a Wholesale Coffee Provider
133 : 5 Keys to Successful Wholesale w/ Sarah Richmond
 
 
SPONSORS!
"Your Brand Cafe" for all your Cups, Sleeves printing and much more! 
 
The worlds best plant based beverages! The Barista Series!

Stories are how we communicate something deeper than just information. They help both old shape their worldview and grasp concepts that have far reaching impact on the countless decisions we make through our lives that affect the lives of others. No matter how small, it makes a difference. That is one of the central messages of the book written by today's guest, Wendra Lynn. 
Wendra Lynne is an artist and author with a background in commercial art, as a long time member of the Art Directors Guild for Screen and Television. Today, she brings her artistic expertise and love of nature to write and illustrate picture books uniquely painted with real coffee blended into watercolors. Her first book, The Wondrous Cloud Forest, uses coffee-infused illustrations to tell the story of how shade-grown coffee can protect wildlife, support Indigenous communities, and promote sustainability. Her second book, The Little Bean That Grew to Brew, follows a single coffee bean's journey from seed to cup, mirroring a child's journey of growth and discovery while celebrating resilience, finding purpose, and the big difference seemingly small choices can make.
Today we get to talk about Wendra's experiences in art, coffee, writing, and we unpack the lessons she has placed in the Little Bean book as well as the lessons she has learned form her life as an artist that we in the coffee shop world can apply to what we create and who we become as we do. 
Links: 
https://thelittlebean.org/
https://www.bywendra.com/store/p52/The_Little_Bean.html
 
Keys to the Shop Consulting:
Consulting to help you and your coffee business thrive
Book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Related Episodes: 
622: Lifting Up Coffee Farmers w/ Ben Carlson of Long Miles Coffee!
112 : The Power of Story w/ James Harper of Filter Stories Podcast
519: The World of Coffee People w/ Ryan Woldt of The Coffee People Podcast
SHIFT BREAK: Why Your Shop Needs to Tell Stories
 
 
 
SPONSORS!
"Your Brand Cafe" for all your Cups, Sleeves printing and much more! 
 
The worlds best plant based beverages! The Barista Series!

"I want to have one on ones but they always turn into gripe sessions!" You have perhaps experienced this problem. You go to sit down with staff and begin a habit of good communication and it rapidly devolves into a gossip session about other staff, management, etc. Discussion of issues is a good thing, unless it is poorly managed.  
Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how you can approach your meetings in a way that avoids turning communication into commiseration and healthy discussion into gossip sessions. 
There is a lot here and I hope it helps! 
 
Related episodes: 
Gossip: How this toxic element destroys community in the coffee shop and what to do instead
Shift Break! The Problem of Commiseration
Service, Spite, and Compromise
Customer Caricatures and Inside Jokes
463: Tips on Having the Right Meetings
 
KEYS TO THE SHOP CONSULTING 
Book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Thank you to out sponsors!
Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/
 
The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

Do you find yourself saying this? Over the years I have heard this or a version of this on repeat (the irony!) What is going on? Why do your staff ask you the same things over and over again? Well, the answer may not be what you want to hear, but it may help solve the problem. 
Today on Shift Break we will be talking about what the most common reasons are for staff asking and re-asking questions, what it means, and what you can do to solve the real problem or discern whether there is even a problem at all! 
This is one of those episodes where you have to come with a mind to take ownership.
Related episodes: 
 Communicate, Duplicate, Repeat : Key habits that make information stick
541: Repetition, Reminders, and Guidance
490: 7 Vital Things to Include in Daily Shift Work
 
KEYS TO THE SHOP CONSULTING 
Book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Thank you to out sponsors!
Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/
 
The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com

It is easy to fall into the trap of sitting on helpful information and ideas that can help your business and your people because you feel it needs to be perfect. One more class, one more book, one more podcast and then I will act. Really anything, can and does and it become a tool for avoidance not education.

Today we are going to be talking about why we procrastinate on taking action and also how we can avoid taking action compulsively out of self interest or ego. The issue that stands in the way of applying information well is typically us. Not the information. Let's talk about it and remove yo as the obstacle.


 
Keys to the Shop Consulting:
Consulting to help you and your coffee business thrive
Book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Related episodes:
587: How To Apply Insights To Your Coffee Bar
SHIFT BREAK: Getting Over the Awkwardness of Leadership
SHIFT BREAK! Taking the First Steps Toward Change in the Cafe
 
SPONSORS!
"Your Brand Cafe" for all your Cups, Sleeves printing and much more! 
 
The worlds best plant based beverages! The Barista Series!