Cat & Cloud Podcast

Originally aired March 11, 2024

Some exciting news: as we approach Cat & Cloud's 10 year anniversary, we are gearing up to launch some changes to the Cat & Could Podcast. New segments. Fresh industry voices. Candid insights into all things craft, hospitality, culture and leadership development. While we're heads-down, we're pulling some of our favorite episodes from the archive.

This week: what does it look like from a team member's perspective to experience a coffee origin trip? Jorge Madrigal, one of the most cross-trained members on the team, details his trip to Colombia. Along the way, Chris and Jorge...

Originally aired March 11, 2024

Some exciting news: as we approach Cat & Cloud's 10 year anniversary, we are gearing up to launch some changes to the Cat & Could Podcast. New segments. Fresh industry voices. Candid insights into all things craft, hospitality, culture and leadership development. While we're heads-down, we're pulling some of our favorite episodes from the archive.

This week: Doing the Right Thing, a Cat & Cloud After-hours episode. Jared, Chris, and Charles get into a wide range of topics spanning the business, with a single through-line: what does it actually mean to do right by people?

Originally aired January 25, 2025

Some exciting news: as we approach Cat & Cloud's 10 year anniversary, we are gearing up to launch some changes to the Cat & Could Podcast. New segments. Fresh industry voices. Candid insights into all things craft, hospitality, culture and leadership development. While we're heads-down, we're pulling some of our favorite episodes from the archive.

This week: The Seven Steps of Service. What are they? What are they for? And why are they so straightforward? Learn why these fundamentals shape how we train hospitality in our cafes, and why leaning into the spirit of a...

Summer camp but for coffee professionals! Learn about what Jared & Charles were up to this week at Camp Coffee Shop, a brand new retreat hosted by Barista Magazine all about building community in the coffee industry. This was four days of coffee workshops and skill-building sessions, unplugged in nature, with everyone from new business owners to coffee industry veterans.

Jared gives us the industry veteran perspective. He covers a summary of the talk he gave, Building a Cafe People Love to Work In, impressions of panels and workshops he attended from other long-time industry friends, and how...

This week Chris & Jared get carried away in conversation with a newer member of the Cat & Cloud team. Misha Holtz— who's been ramping up in the marketing team at Cat & Cloud for the last three months— gets pulled onto the mic without warning and grilled about her path from founding software engineer to leading our digital platforms and marketing work.

Turns out her Cat & Cloud story started way before her start date. She was a barista at Verve Coffee back in the mid-late 2010s, crossed paths with Cat & Cloud and the founding team on opening day and then...

Cat & Cloud Podcast 

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com

Interview with Chris Baca: 10 Years of Cat & Cloud, Building Culture, and Keeping Specialty Coffee Accessible

Reflecting on nearing Cat & Cloud’s 10-year milestone, Chris Baca emphasizes valuing day-to-day progress over anniversaries while acknowledging the achievement of surviving a life in small business and growing from a single store with eight team members to four cafes and over 100 staff, plus a brand in good standing. He recalls early DIY demolition at the Portola location and clarifies the timeline: pop-ups began in 2015 and...

Cat & Cloud Podcast 

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com

Two Big Ideas: Café Ownership Reality Check & Why Coffee Can't Be What It's Not

Episode Summary Chris Baca and Jared Truby dig into Casey's prompt "What's the big idea?" with a pair of hot takes on the state of specialty coffee. Jared argues the classic neighborhood café — unless run by one or two deeply committed owners — is essentially dead in the current economy, sparking a wider conversation about living wages, misplaced expectations, and why intentionality (not luck) separates cafés t...

Cat & Cloud Podcast 

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/

Episode Summary

Chris Baca and Jared Truby sit down with Rachel Keen, green coffee buyer at Counter Culture Coffee, about her winding path into the role — from barista in New Zealand to farms in Costa Rica and Colombia, teaching English in Japan, and an educator job that turned into green buying. They cover the real, day-to-day of the job, how global events impact coffee prices, stories about big characters in the coffee industry, and Counter Culture's...culture, volume, hiring phi...

Cat & Cloud Podcast 

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/

Part 2: Cafe Imports Source "Where Do We Go From Here" Panel hosted by Chris Baca - Ep# 457

Welcome to Part 2 of this live panel discussion hosted by Cafe Imports recorded at the World of Coffee, in San Diego, CA. 

Cat & Cloud’s own Chris Baca moderates This Source Event as the conversation shifts into new territory.  We jump back in with Jeremy Lyman (Birch Coffee) in Brooklyn, Laila Ghambari (Guilder Coffee) in Portland, and Kali Solac...

Cat & Cloud Podcast 

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/

Cafe Imports Source "Where Do We Go From Here" Panel hosted by Chris Baca 

Episode Summary

Recorded live at the World of Coffee, in San Diego, CA, Cafe Imports hosts the second SOURCE event, a panel discussion focused on “Where do we go from here?” - where business leaders in coffee tackle issues facing the industry today. Cat & Cloud’s own, Chris Baca moderates a candid conversation with cafe and roasting business owners from across the country. Jeremy Lyman (B...

Cat & Cloud Podcast 

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/

Ping Pong Q&A with Cat & Cloud Owners, Chris Baca and Jared Truby - Ep# 455

Jared, Casey, and Chris try (and mostly fail) to follow the rules of a structured Ping Pong Q&A — but the detours are the good stuff. After a bird interrupts the studio, they dig into how basketball and skateboarding have shaped how they lead and work, touching on confidence, enrollment, team culture, and knowing your role. The conversation builds into a meaty debate about sca...

CAT & CLOUD PODCAST

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/

From Soil to Service Part 6: Interview with Cat & Cloud Head of Retail, Herman Madrigal - Ep# 454 

EPISODE SUMMARY

Jared and Chris sit down with Herman Madrigal, Head of Retail and one of Cat & Cloud's longest-tenured team members at eight and a half years. They trace his unlikely path from championship cell phone salesperson to yoga teacher to barista to retail leader, and the specific moments — a TL who knew his order and his nam...

Cat & Cloud Podcast 

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/

From Soil to Service Part 5: Interview with Cat & Cloud Head of Wholesale and Partner Program, Marc Gessler (contd)- Ep# 453  

In this episode, the team continues the conversation with Marc to explore what great hospitality actually looks like in practice—from cafés to wholesale partnerships. They cover the importance of core promises over rigid SOPs, creating memorable guest experiences, building authentic relationships, and why being a "good hang" is a business advantage. Marc shares insights on partner success, responsiveness, scaling hospitality witho...

Cat & Cloud Podcast 

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/

From Soil to Service Part 4: Interview with Cat & Cloud Head of Wholesale and Partner Program, Marc Gessler - Ep# 452  

Chris and Jared sit down to trace Marc’s full arc — from a listener and fan of the Cat & Cloud podcast, to becoming the Partner Program's Wholesale Director. From a six-page job application essay, his powerful first glimpse of a teal coffee bag, and what it actually means for him to take care of the people who take care of your coffee...

Cat & Cloud Podcast 

Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/

From Soil to Service Part 3: Coffee Roasting Field Trip and Interview with Cat & Cloud Roastery Leaders continued -  Ep# 451

Chris Baca continues his interview with the Head of Coffee Roasting at Cat & Cloud, Jonson Henry and Connor Doyle. What starts as an honest look at the operational pressures of running a roastery — labor challenges, unpredictable wholesale orders, the stress of being the last line of defense — opens up into something deeper. We hear about the transition to a new...

Cat & Cloud Coffee 

www.catandcloud.com/

In Part 2 of the From Soil to Service series, the Cat & Cloud Roastery team pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to roast, organize, and ship tens of thousands of pounds of coffee while still staying connected to craft, quality, and intention. Connor Doyle and Jonson Henry share their very different paths into coffee, the realities of scaling a growing roastery, the science and artistry behind roast profiling, and the challenge of building sustainable systems without losing the soul of the product. The c...

Cat & Cloud Podcast  Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ From Soil to Service Part 1: Inside the World of Green Coffee - Ep# 449 In this episode of the Cat & Cloud Podcast, Chris Baca and Casey Ryan sit down with Director of Coffee Dulce Venancio to explore the journey of coffee “from soil to service.” Dulce shares how her background in agriculture, her connection to producers in Mexico and Central America, and her growth within Cat & Cloud led her into green coffee buying. The conversation dives into how coffee is sourced, how relationships with producers and importers are built, the realities of th...

Cat & Cloud Podcast Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ Episode Summary This episode explores what it really takes to build a café from the ground up—starting with a blank slate but bringing hard-earned experience along. The conversation moves from practical decisions like choosing the right neighborhood and building authentic community connections, to deeper reflections on mindset, motivation, and the emotional realities of ownership. Along the way, the hosts break down coffee program philosophy, hiring approaches, and the importance of aligning values with operations. The episode closes with a candid look at the mental load of running a business, offering a g...

Cat & Cloud Podcast Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ The World of Coffee Reflection: Observations, Stories, and Lots of Love for the Community of Coffee - Ep #447 In this episode, Chris, Casey, and Director of Coffee Marc Gessler, recap World of Coffee San Diego 2026: the caffeine overload, the booth shifts, the reunions, the strange travel moments, and the bigger feeling of being part of the global coffee community. What starts with jokes about over-caffeination turns into a thoughtful reflection on why events like this matter—not just for products or trends, but for connection. The crew talks about Cat & Cloud’s pl...

Cat & Cloud Podcast Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ Coffee and a Danish Barista Champion, Christopher Hoff - Ep #446 Summary: In this episode, Jared and Casey sit down with Danish Barista Champion Christopher Hoff, a top-six finisher at the World Barista Championships, to talk about competition, coffee, and the deeper story behind both. Christopher shares how his world routine centered on the coffee variety Wush Wush, a tropical and complex coffee that became a metaphor for his own journey of trying to become something he wasn’t before learning to compete from a more grounded, authentic place. The conversation moves fr...

Cat & Cloud Podcast Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com Taking Care of the Pack w/Leah Wolff in HR - Ep #445 Summary: In this episode, the team sits down with Head of HR Leah Wolff to explore what it really looks like to build people, culture, and leadership inside a growing coffee company. Leah shares her journey from starting as a concierge during the pandemic to stepping into an executive leadership role, offering a candid look at how growth happens through ownership, feedback, and continuous learning. The conversation digs into the difference between traditional HR and a more human, culture-driven...

Cat & Cloud Podcast  Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ What We Think Matters vs. What Actually Matters w/ Chris and Casey - Ep# 444  This episode opens with an introduction to Casey Ryan—his background in filmmaking and eventually as an independent school principal, and how he found his way into Cat & Cloud—but quickly shifts into a deeper conversation about hospitality, coffee culture, and business. At the center is the question of what guests actually care about versus what coffee professionals think they care about, leading to a thoughtful breakdown of service, empathy, and meeting people where they are. Chris reflec...

Cat & Cloud Podcast  Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ Coffee Futures Fund: Community and Support for Emerging Coffee Shop Owners - Ep# 443 Summary In this episode, the crew sits down with Akshat Khandelwal, founder of Coffee Futures Fund, to unpack the reality of coffee shop ownership—and why so many founders struggle in silence. Drawing from conversations with hundreds of operators, Akshat shares how the industry has focused heavily on product quality while overlooking the people behind the bar. The conversation explores loneliness in ownership, the myth of “figuring it out alone,” and how mentorship, community, and shared experience can dramati...

Cat & Cloud Podcast  Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ Monday Morning Coffee Industry Check-in - Ep #442 Summary In this episode, Chris, Jared and Casey cover a wide mix of coffee-industry updates, behind-the-scenes projects, and big-picture reflections on what makes specialty coffee compelling. They preview upcoming events including a Bay Area roundtable with Coffee Futures Fund, their plans for World of Coffee in San Diego, and Chris’s upcoming Cafe Imports panel focused on the real challenges business owners are facing right now. The conversation also dives into the design and philosophy behind the new third version of the Chris Baca Dia...

Cat & Cloud Podcast  Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ Finding Joy in Every Season of Work: Part II – Ep #441 Summary In part two of this conversation on finding joy in every season of work, the team (Chris, Jared and Casey) digs deeper into the shift from barista life into leadership, ownership, and building something that lasts. Chris and Jared reflect on how early work experiences, both inspiring and dysfunctional, shaped the kinds of leaders they wanted to become and reinforced the importance of community, fun, and genuine human connection in coffee. The episode explores how easy it is for owners and...

Cat & Cloud Podcast  Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ Finding Joy in Every Season of Work: Part I – Ep #440 Summary In this episode, Chris and Jared (plus Casey) reflect on the early days that pulled us into specialty coffee and how those experiences shaped the work we’re still doing today. From skateboarding friendships and barista competitions to building cafés and leading teams, we talk about how the things that bring joy evolve over time. As careers grow and responsibilities expand, the work changes—and sometimes the parts you loved most become harder to hold onto. We explore the idea tha...

Cat & Cloud Podcast  Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ On-Stage, Off-Stage: Why Owners Stand in Line (And Other Hospitality Go’s & No-Go’s) – Ep #439 Summary In this episode, Jared, Chris, and Casey riff on authenticity and then dig into hospitality as “on-stage vs off-stage” work—treating a café like a live performance where everything guests see, hear, and feel (cleanliness, order, smell, noise, staff energy) shapes the experience before they even taste the coffee. They unpack “clubhousing” as a major no-go—when staff get lost in their own conversations or tasks and fail to include guests—and argue that the goal isn’t robotic ser...

Cat & Cloud Podcast Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ Specialty Coffee Ambassador: Meeting Guests Where They Are - Ep# 438 EPISODE SUMMARY Chris, Jared, and Casey dig into a classic specialty coffee problem: the gap between “coffee nerd language” and what customers actually need to have a great experience. They unpack why trust and hospitality come before origin stories and point scores, and how to guide people with simple, confidence-building choices instead of overwhelm. Along the way they riff on the limits of the 80+ point mindset, why the market ultimately decides what’s valuable, and how cafés can create “stair steps” th...

Cat & Cloud Podcast The Evolution of Leadership: From Barista to Business Owner - Episode #437 Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ Summary In Episode #437, Chris and Jared explore the real shift that happens when you move from barista to business owner. What once felt like fast-paced camaraderie and clear wins on bar becomes a slower, more complex game of systems, sacrifice, and long-term responsibility. They talk through the hidden cost of leadership, the tension between collaboration and independence, and why owners often see a hundred problems before they see progress. The takeaway: leadership evolves, satisfaction changes, and the key is choosing...

What Matters Most When Opening a Coffee Shop- and Where to Spend Your Money - Episode #436 Cat & Cloud Coffee www.catandcloud.com/ Summary Thinking about opening a coffee shop? Here’s where your money actually matters—and where it doesn’t. In this episode, Chris Baca and Jared Truby…aka Dale ;) unpack what actually matters when you’re opening (or refreshing) a café: create a real feeling of place without overspending on flashy build-out, “blow the bag” on the essentials (espresso machine, grinders, and water filtration), and don’t get distracted by optional prestige projects like roasting, direct trade, or origin travel bef...

Scaling Excellence Without Losing The Soul of Your Company In this episode, Jared, Chris, and Charles wrestle with the challenge of scaling excellence while protecting culture. Drawing from a recent leadership offsite, they explore why growth doesn’t dilute a company’s soul—unprotected culture does. The conversation breaks down the role of founder-led vision, repeatable systems, and strong local leadership in turning values into daily behavior, while addressing hiring, pruning, and the real costs of doing things well. At its core, this episode is about choosing intentional growth, aligning people and purpose, and doing the hard work required to scale...

In this week’s episode, Jared and Chris explore the difference between creating procedures people follow and building systems people believe in. They explore New Zealand’s coffee culture, why team buy-in matters instead of just compliance, and what happens when employees are asked to adopt systems they didn’t help create. Along the way, they discuss how strong teams embrace challenges during change — and why respected long-term employees often become the key stewards of lasting system improvement. (00:00) Coffee Culture on the other side of the Planet (05:00) Kiwi Coffee Organizations (11:25) Buy-in vs Compliance (19:25) Employee Ownership of a System They Didn’t Create ...

This week on the podcast we are chatting about what could be in the new year and ultimately touch on a few things that could go a long way to help – Getting away from it all. From things like vacations all the way to just not having your phone on you, especially during a shift behind the bar, there are a lot of things you can do to make sure your perspective is refreshed and ready for what’s next. Ultimately we are just excited about things to come. This new year has a lot of opportunities for us and we a...

In this episode, we explore the collaborative spirit of the coffee industry and why we value sharing knowledge even with our peers and competitors. We discuss how adopting standards and certifications helps us evolve and allows us to better serve large-scale partners. Throughout the conversation, we reflect on the importance of community connection and the unique local culture that defines how we live out our business. We also address the challenges of "craft under pressure," focusing on how leaders can navigate financial stress and industry disruptions with resilience. We share our thoughts on the necessity of unlearning old habits to...

This episode is a wide-ranging conversation about how coffee businesses support people at different stages, from new partners to experienced teams. Marc joins the show to talk about wholesale, training, and why the goal isn’t to force one “right” way of doing things, but to help partners find systems that actually work for their reality. Along the way, the conversation touches on craft, technology, and hospitality — how simplicity can be more empowering than complexity, why consistency matters more than perfection, and how good tools and thoughtful training help teams take better care of guests. At its core, the episode is about...

This week is a classic “how did we get here?” episode — starting with the pain of losing a recording, then jumping into what’s been happening in our world, from a surprise New York Times mention to a hospitality-heavy event with Mazzer at Sightglass. We talk about what makes coffee service feel special without getting stuck in inside-baseball language, and how energy, flow, and intention can shape the whole experience. From there we spiral into specialty coffee in places built for speed, using Downtown Disney as the example: expectations, wait times, identity, and why “special” has to be obvious and deliver fast...

This episode explores how company culture is shaped by the balance between craft and hospitality. We talk about what happens when standards exist without care, and when care exists without standards — and why both extremes create problems for teams and guests alike. Culture, in this sense, becomes the set of signals that tell people how to make the right call in real moments. At its core, the conversation is about clarity and support. When leaders clearly communicate what matters and back it up through consistent decisions, teams don’t have to guess whether perfection or people come first. The goal isn’...

This week’s episode is all about culture — what it is, why it matters, and how it actually shows up in the day-to-day. We talk about how culture isn’t a slogan or a vibe; it’s the collection of choices, habits, and behaviors that shape how a team works together. From communication to expectations to how people support each other, culture becomes real through what consistently happens inside the business. At the core of the conversation is the idea that culture isn’t fixed. It has to be built, protected, and sometimes rebuilt. When leaders set clear examples, hold standards...

This week we talk about what it really looks like to think ahead in a business. Instead of getting stuck reacting to today’s problems, we look at how small, intentional planning can make everything smoother — from scheduling and staffing to equipment, goals, and long-term projects. It’s about choosing direction instead of drift. The big idea is simple: forward thinking isn’t fancy. It’s noticing what keeps tripping you up, fixing it before it becomes a pattern, and giving yourself space to plan for what’s coming. When you do that consistently, the future gets a lot easier to manage. 🔗...

This week we dig into The Predictive Index and how tools like it can help leaders better understand the people on their team. Instead of guessing at strengths, motivations, or communication styles, PI creates a clearer picture of how someone naturally works — and how to set them up for success. We talk about why these insights matter, how they can guide hiring and coaching, and where they fit alongside culture, values, and real-world performance. At its core, this episode is about using data to support people, not define them. PI isn’t a shortcut or a replacement for good leadership; it’s...