Episodes

NEW EPISODE drops 9am PST In this trailer, I had the amazing privilege to chat to King Cocktail himself, Dale DeGroff. We chatted about the early days of cocktail culture and his rise to fame. MUST LISTEN

For the huge 300th episode of the Post Shift Podcast, I had to get one of the most prolific hospitality industry professionals in the world, Monica Berg. From helping to create and build Norway's cocktail culture to the long road to open her and partner, Alex Kratena's cutting edge Tayer + Elementary, a combination local bar and high concept bar in the same space. Monica has been behind so many projects and initiatives that we only scratched the surface of what she has accomplished in her career...

This was one for the books, being on Sother Teague's podcast, The Speakeasy was definitely bucket list material. We chat the pandemic (obviously), writing, bartending and creating a small city cocktail culture in Victoria, BC. This was a great honor to be on the show and share some insights. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 Share a dram with the hospitality industry’s top global talents: bartenders, venue owners, distillers and industry aficionados. Shawn Soole has lived, breathed, and i...

With the impending release of the 3rd(.1) edition of the World Atlas of Beer, I sit down with author and intrepid beer drinker, Stephen Beaumont to discuss, the changes in beer culture, surprising global markets and the business of craft breweries. Make sure to pre-order the book and support your local brewery. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 Share a dram with the hospitality industry’s top global talents: bartenders, venue owners, distillers and industry aficionados. Shawn Soole has li...

Always love hanging out with the gents from Dork Uncorked and chatting industry news along with my new book, BC Spirits Cocktail Book and the craft spirit movement in British Columbia and Canada. Craft spirits and cocktails is something that I rarely talk about in depth on the podcast and I am glad that they captured my love for the industry here. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 Share a dram with the hospitality industry’s top global talents: bartenders, venue owners, distillers and ind...

Recently, we did a panel discussion with World Class Canadian Winners Grant Sceney, Kait Stewart, Chris Enns, James Grant and Jeffrey Savage, along with the Bartender of the Year, Kait (2017) and James (2021) and Michael Armistead, the head of the whole operation. We chatted about personal experiences with the competition, pieces of advice, how Canada builds such amazing challenges to push bartenders and how the family mentality spreads throughout the competition every year. TEXT ME on COMMUNIT...

It's odd coming up to my 300th episode that I haven't ever told this story, from being 13 and loading sod and landscaping equipment into the late night to running my own bar schools. It took me a really long time to call myself an entrepreneur but I am comfortable with my success as one to use the term. It's been a long journey but one that I wouldn't change. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 Share a dram with the hospitality industry’s top global talents: bartenders, venue owners, distil...

This was a deep dive episode into the taxes and excise that face the craft spirit movement across Canada. Tyler Dyck of Okanagan Spirits is the president of the Craft Distillers Guild and public liaison for the Craft Distillers Alliance and Lift Canadian Spirits that represents 220 distilleries from across the country. We break down exactly what makes up the price of a bottle of craft spirit in Canada and how you can help them break down the barriers for scaling, growth and export. TEXT ME on C...

After this past week, enjoying an amazing time with guest and the industry through 4 tastings and the Negroni Week Cocktail Competition, I wanted to talk about being grateful. You are one of 8 billion people in the world, and while this last year and a bit has not been the greatest, being grateful for where you are in life is something that I need to remind myself of all the time. Reframe your world, I know I have to "I get to do this" than "I have to do this". TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999...

Elayne Duff has been championing brand ambassadorship through her BBAA , mentoring young bartenders on how to hit the ground running and maximizing their opportunities as brand ambassadors. The gap between what brand ambassadors actually do between marketing teams and the overall perception of bartenders becoming ambassadors has been known for years, rarely with systems or direction; Elayne's courses break down the steps from signing on to the end of the first year, if you ever wanted to know ho...

I am late this week with the podcast and it's because we are getting back into events and tastings at the lounge; this week I did 4 tastings in 3 days and it was a lot but got me to thinking how these events, especially the general public sessions. The general public are the untapped champions of your brand, and events are the way to build and create these champions. If you host industry seminars, you should back it up with one geared for the general public, it can give you an amazing ROI. TEXT...

The supply chain issues that we are seeing across most of the industry aren't new but they are posing serious problems for small brands breaking into new markets. With increasing freight costs and long delays in shipping, small brands are being left on the outer for both government run monopolies and the on premise industry. Jon Smolensky breaks down brand building, the challenges that have already been faced and what's next for brands in North America. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 S...

Always a good time to have a throw back episode and chat Social Media for your restaurant, it is more important than ever to do and be at least relatively good at it. I have some pointers for you in this episode, hope it brings you value. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 Share a dram with the hospitality industry’s top global talents: bartenders, venue owners, distillers and industry aficionados. Shawn Soole has lived, breathed, and imbibed hospitality for decades. Now, he delves into th...

We chat to publisher, magazine editor, award wrangler and entrepreneur Kristin Ackerman Bacon from Sip Publishing about Pacific Northwest drinking culture, 10 years of Sip Magazine and awards and the future of print media, pivoting into digital during the pandemic and what's in store for the next 12 months for the company. Some amazing insights into how an established brand grew, supported it's community and the direction it is taking all while proving that niche publishing is possible with hust...

Been wanting to do this for a while, I reflect a lot for better or worse after 20 years in the industry. These are my ten points that I hope will help young bartenders and industry people look to the future and beyond in this fast changing industry. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 Share a dram with the hospitality industry’s top global talents: bartenders, venue owners, distillers and industry aficionados. Shawn Soole has lived, breathed, and imbibed hospitality for decades. Now, he del...

Got to hang out on the Hospitality Spirit with Dr Nich and had a great time chatting cocktails and running bars in this modern age. Hope that some of my younger listeners get some value out of this. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 Share a dram with the hospitality industry’s top global talents: bartenders, venue owners, distillers and industry aficionados. Shawn Soole has lived, breathed, and imbibed hospitality for decades. Now, he delves into the advice, opinions, and provocative stor...

This one has been bugging me a lot as of late, the amount of money being thrown around by establishments to get staff; signing bonuses, increased wages (which as sorely needed regardless, but not in the manner they have been overinflated) and more. My main concern right now is that is making the playing field completely unlevel for the vast majority of venues and is funded by government subsidies. But what happens when these subsidies dry up, the conversations about pay cuts, cut hours, reduced ...

This was a fun and inspirational episode with David Knapp Fisher, speaker and author of the Punch Failure in the Face: Adventures & Lessons From An Awesome-Yet Imperfect-Life. We chat about his start in the hospitality industry and his road to speaker at TedX and events worldwide, what pushed him to write the book and how his teachings can help entrepreneurs and you in your everyday life. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 Share a dram with the hospitality industry’s top global talents: ba...

Are you a bartender who wants to own a bar, a brand and be a community minded business leader all at the same time? Let's chat to Andrew Friedman from Industry Spirits about his journey from bar owner to brand builder and beyond. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 Share a dram with the hospitality industry’s top global talents: bartenders, venue owners, distillers and industry aficionados. Shawn Soole has lived, breathed, and imbibed hospitality for decades. Now, he delves into the advice,...

I have been promising to do this seminar for a while now and finally got around to tying it off, you can watch the seminar on Youtube here. I truly don't believe that social media is properly used by brands in the macro, let alone piling on the added need for TikTok; that being said, I do believe that TikTok gives you one of the best ways to connect with a macro audience. Short form video is underutilized and can be a game changer for many brands, it's easy to create, minimal edits and huge impa...

I have been harping about the state of the industry these last few weeks, labor shortage, wages, tangible and intangible benefits, everything. I still keep reading articles, seeing memes and so forth about staff not wanting to show up. This is a special flashback to a live event I did 3 days before the pandemic, we had no idea it was going to happen but the stories, advice and knowledge from Peter Zambri (Zambris), Solomon Siegel (Pagliacci's) and Brant Porter (Bartholomew's) is still relevant a...

I went on a long overdue vacation last week which is why I didn't put up much content or post podcasts. I was really struggling with my Why? Why do I do this? Work as hard as I do? What's my driver? While I probably could have spent a couple more days on vacation with my family to truly unwind, the couple of days off gave me renewed sense of what I am doing to achieve my goals. I hope this helps you if you are struggling with your why lately. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 Share a dram...

This is a throwback episode about making the transition to consulting in the hospitality industry. Lots of people want to make the switch into consulting but it is not the easiest step to take. I lay out some pointers to help younger industry people plot out a plan to make it work for them. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 999-4182 Share a dram with the hospitality industry’s top global talents: bartenders, venue owners, distillers and industry aficionados. Shawn Soole has lived, breathed, and im...

This week's Shot gets a little deep and heated, I really wanted to get my thoughts down about the conversation of the labor shortage in our industry. It's not because the next generation are lazy, but because they are smarter and understand the industry more than some of us older generation do. Understanding the next generations needs is paramount to fixing the shortage we have right now. We need to look inward and fix the issues we have and have had for decades. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250 9...