There are many great coffee shops and roasters in this world. What makes a great cafe in my mind is intentionality, a focus on kindness, consistency, hospitality, and quality as a pursuit in service of those things. Living in Louisville, KY I am fortunate to be only 2 hours away from one of my favorite places that I feel has consistently exemplified those virtues.

Crema Coffee Roasters!

Today on Founder Friday we get the pleasure of talking with the co-founder of Crema Coffee Roasters, Rachel Lehman.

In 2008, Rachel Lehman, a coffee professional with over a decade of experience in barista and management work, along with her husband Ben, founded Crema Coffee. The beginnings of Crema was born from their shared midwestern work ethic and determination to carve out and cultivate something that would endure and have a lasting positive impact.

From their first small cafe - to taking on roast - to now having 3 cafes, a thriving wholesale program, and many national and local awards to their name, the dream has been to create a business that provided hospitality and great coffee for their community and learning opportunities for baristas and staff.

Crema has grown to not only fulfill those dreams multiple times over, but has also made a large impact on the greater industry with the example it sets as a zero-waste cafe and a roastery that exemplifies intentionality and consistent holistic focus on relationships.

In this conversation we explore the early years and the start of Crema and learn about how this business has scaled and grown with integrity, consistency, and hospitality as the foundation

We cover

• Starting and Growing a Coffee Business
• How coffee and music share similarities in terms of practice and discipline.
• Why defining a clear mission and values is crucial for a successful coffee business.
• Aligning company culture with the customer experience is essential.
• How building a strong team of leaders and coaching them is key to success.
• Alignment as a crucial component for effective cross-departmental leadership.
• Finding the right balance between bringing in outside talent and maintaining company culture is a challenge.
• Cleaning and Hospitality in the Coffee Industry
• Understanding Every Position in the Company
• Delegating Tasks and Hiring Managers
• Scaling the Company and Giving Opportunities
• Staying True to Company Identity Amidst Competition
• The Key to Crema's Success: Consistency and Reliability

Links:

• www.crema-coffee.com
• @cremacrema

Related Episodes:

• 380 : Founder Friday! w/ Cary and Cindy Arsaga of Arsaga's Coffee Roasters
• 273 : Founder Friday w/ Anne Lunnel and Charles Nystrand of Koppi Coffee Roasters, Helsingborg, Sweden
• 177 : Founder Friday w/ Jonathan Pascual of Taproom Coffee and Beer in Atlanta, Georgia
• 188 : Founder Friday w/ Jon Allen of Onyx Coffee Lab
• 156 : Founder Friday w/ Lauren Crabbe, Co-Founder of Andytown Coffee Roasters, San Fransisco
• 145: Founder Friday w/ Red Rooster Coffee Roasters co-founder, Haden Polseno-Hensley

Insights, perspective, accountability, and growth are just a few of the benefits that have changed lives through consulting, workshops, and trainings. ​For the last few years I have wanted to bring to more people, that same kind of transformational experience in a small group setting and now we are now ready to begin! I have personally been in a group for podcasters for the last 6 years and have also hired coaches, consultant, and been a part of an online community. It has all been indescribably transformational.

• Key Holder Coaching Groups will be hosted by Chris and consist of a curated group of 5 coffee shop owners.
• We will meet together 2x per month for 2 hours over a 6 month period.
• This structured group will allow each member to have multiple hot seat opportunities to present specific issues to the group and gain insight, feedback and direction to help them develop themselves, their people, and their business.
• In addition we will be consistently updated on each others progress and have opportunity to speak into each others lives.
• Key Holder Coaching members will have access to each other via the Circle.so community app

Key Holder Coaching Group Applications are Open!

APPLY TODAY!

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