Tiny Sidecar: A Coffee Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Erica Escalante knows cafés and she’s not afraid to tell you what actually works or what doesn't. In this episode, Cait sits down with Erica to talk about her years of experience in coffee, what she’s learned from operating cafés, and how that experience led to her newest venture, The Cafe Operator. They get into leadership, building better systems, the realities of running a café, and the value of having someone in your corner who can cut through the noise and give you clear...

Send us Fan Mail This week on Tiny Sidecar, I’m joined by Keri Roberts and truly, this was one of those conversations I had a hard time editing down because I wanted to keep all of it. We chat about all the roads that the first years of building a business takes you on: sourcing, community, learning to roast, building meaningful business relationships and a touch of everything else. It’s thoughtful, funny, honest, and full of the kind of little side topics that make a conversation feel ...

Send us Fan Mail Kat Melheim is the creator of Coffee People Zine, an independent publication built around the art, stories, and creativity of people working in coffee. In this episode, Kat and Cait talk about where Coffee People came from, building something outside the traditional rules of the coffee industry, and what it takes to keep an independent creative project going. They get into making space for other people’s voices, the importance of creativity and play, and what can happen when ...

Send us Fan Mail Anu Menon is the co-founder of Driftaway Coffee, a company she started with her husband in 2014. More than a decade later, Driftaway has grown into a company known for thoughtful sourcing, transparency, and finding creative ways to connect people more deeply with the coffee they drink. In this episode, Anu and I talk about what it actually looks like to grow a coffee company over the long haul: from choosing to build without outside investment to figuring out what transparenc...

Send us Fan Mail In Part Two with Amaris Gutierrez-Ray, we dig deeper into what it means to lead with intention in the coffee industry. We talk feminist leadership, responsible sourcing, and why treating people well shouldn’t be separate from running a successful business. Amaris shares her perspective on building strong leaders instead of simply managing employees, creating workplaces where people can grow, and cultivating a positive culture that lasts beyond any one person. We also continue...