- 4 months ago
David Meltzer, entrepreneur, mentor, and chairman of the Napoleon Hill Institute, teaches that empty seats don’t mean empty impact. Through his stage theory, he shows how content captured anywhere can be amplified everywhere.
Watch now to learn why he calls losing $100 million an investment, how stage theory multiplies impact, and what he’s building in public.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
Watch now to learn why he calls losing $100 million an investment, how stage theory multiplies impact, and what he’s building in public.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
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NewsTranscript
00:00Can you take a photo of how many people are watching us and listening to us?
00:04Because this is why people don't do it.
00:06There's no one sitting in these seats, which I find funny.
00:18Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:21I'm your host, Sean Walchef.
00:22This is a Cali BBQ Media production.
00:25The stage theory in its full effect at the National Restaurant Association show
00:29in Chicago, 2025.
00:31I got my mentor here.
00:32Dave, you and I have been working together since 2019.
00:36When I had a crazy dream to get into the storytelling business.
00:39I owned restaurants, but I said,
00:41business storytelling, I think could be better.
00:43And I think I should go out there and do it.
00:45And I need help.
00:46One of the most important things that you have helped me realize
00:49is the power of asking for help, the power of connection,
00:52and the power of the truth.
00:54Welcome to the Restaurant Show.
00:56I'm so blessed to be here,
00:58but more than blessed to be in this unbelievable fishbowl of content
01:02that will be perpetuated forever in our own social silos.
01:07I'm also proud.
01:09A lot of people talk the talk.
01:12And you know, when I perturbate my clients,
01:15which means agitate the situation,
01:18to educate and empower them,
01:21I will always call them out on not walking the walk.
01:24Yes.
01:24And because that's what stops you.
01:27A hundred percent.
01:27It's easy to talk about.
01:29I'm going to do this at the National Restaurant Association.
01:32I'm going to create the show, not the commercial.
01:34I'm going to be part of Entrepreneur Magazine and media.
01:37I'm going to be part of a community of millions of people
01:39to help inspire,
01:42empower, empower, with passion, purpose, and profitability,
01:45the unbelievable opportunity that exists.
01:49And I will tell you how proud I am of you,
01:51because I have had to perturbate you.
01:53Yes.
01:53I've had to agitate you in order to facilitate,
01:55to make easy something like this,
01:58with the significant impact that it's having
02:00at one of the biggest shows in the world,
02:03the National Restaurant Association show.
02:05I brought my daughter and her boyfriend
02:06to the show yesterday,
02:07and all their friends were jealous.
02:09Oh my God.
02:10It's like, can we come?
02:12Yes.
02:12So let's talk about opportunity.
02:15Let's talk about forecasting.
02:16You've been here.
02:17This is the first time at the show.
02:18You go to all of the biggest stages in the world,
02:22the CES conferences, the Super Bowl,
02:24you name it, you've done it, you've seen it.
02:26What is a vision?
02:27Let's lay out a vision for,
02:29as we know, the stage theory.
02:31There's so many restaurants that can't,
02:33I mean, part of the reason why I love coming to this show
02:35is that 14 years I ran my restaurant,
02:37I was inside the restaurant,
02:38and I didn't ask for help.
02:41I didn't get outside of my four walls.
02:42And now the last four years,
02:44I'm like, my biggest mission is to make sure
02:46that everything that all of these people are doing,
02:48the technology side, the equipment side,
02:50how to run a better restaurant,
02:51a more profitable restaurant.
02:52I am hoping that by making podcasts,
02:55by making YouTube videos,
02:56by doing the stage theory,
02:58more people next year
03:00will get out of their restaurant
03:02and a rising tide will lift all ships.
03:04It will.
03:05And what's so interesting is
03:06I don't own a restaurant.
03:09No, but you're in the hospitality business.
03:10I'm in the hospitality business.
03:12I probably got more exposure
03:14than any of the 2,200 companies here,
03:18the food groups here.
03:19I had John Taffer posting about me, right?
03:23I had other sharks on Shark Tank
03:25posting about me being here.
03:28I had so many people
03:30and it's more than just the fishbowl.
03:32Yes.
03:33So, and I wasn't here.
03:35The show's been forever.
03:36I haven't been here the whole show.
03:37No.
03:38But I've got the mileage
03:39because I have an expertise in four areas
03:43that you are my wingman in.
03:45Number one, I capture content continually.
03:48It wasn't just the interviews I did yesterday.
03:51It was the meetup that I had,
03:53the VIP dinner,
03:54the conversations that I had before,
03:56during, and after the content.
03:58Yes.
03:59Then immediately having a templated system
04:01in order to facilitate,
04:03to make easy.
04:04You'll hear me say that a lot.
04:05I am a facilitator of my own life.
04:07I like to live at ease
04:08and dissipate the dis-ease
04:10to modify it to every platform.
04:13I had TV, magazines, newspaper, web.
04:17I had the Instagram, TikTok,
04:19all the LinkedIn, YouTube,
04:21everything immediately templated
04:23to go ahead and do the pre-production
04:25of the live
04:27and then create the production of the live
04:30and then now creating the post-production
04:33of the live.
04:35Then this idea of amplification,
04:37once you have it templated,
04:39now you are distributing it
04:41to millions of people
04:42who know millions of people.
04:43You don't know where it's going to end up
04:45and what opportunities, options,
04:46and touches that pay will be occur.
04:47But the real value that you get and I get
04:50is that we have now taken the greatest show,
04:53this National Restaurant Association show,
04:56and created a silo until next year.
04:59Until next year.
05:01You know what's magical for me?
05:03This is something that...
05:04Actually, Kyle, can you take a photo
05:06of how many people are watching us
05:08and listening to us?
05:10Because this is why people don't do it.
05:12There's no one sitting in these seats,
05:14which I find funny.
05:15There is not one person.
05:17This is the last day of the show.
05:19There is opportunity to do business.
05:20There is opportunity to develop.
05:22Most people would be terrified
05:25to be on a stage,
05:26to be in a fishbowl,
05:26to have cameras,
05:27be embarrassed that,
05:29oh my God,
05:30no one's going to listen to my podcast.
05:31But you know, I know,
05:32that's not what we're doing here.
05:34No, it doesn't matter.
05:35I do meetups in over 200 cities.
05:37I travel in 200 cities.
05:39And I don't care who's there.
05:42No.
05:43What I care is how many cameras are here
05:45and what systems and processes I have
05:47in order to amplify it.
05:48I told a story at a meetup
05:49about Dr. J and Kareem O'Jil-Jabbar
05:53because somebody asked me,
05:55who's the coolest athlete?
05:56Because I ran the most notable sports agency
05:58in the world.
05:59Who's the coolest athlete that I knew?
06:01Yep.
06:01And I told them the story about Dr. J
06:03and Kareem O'Jil-Jabbar
06:05when I was a ball boy at 12
06:07of the San Diego Clippers.
06:08San Diego Clippers.
06:09Yes.
06:09Come back.
06:10Please come back to San Diego.
06:11We would love that.
06:12And please, Chargers as well.
06:14But here's the interesting thing.
06:16When I told that story, Sean,
06:18two people showed up to my meetup.
06:21I love it.
06:21Two people.
06:22And I wasn't even in America.
06:24I love it.
06:25But somebody asked me that.
06:26Yes.
06:27That piece of content
06:28has over on all platforms
06:3110 million views.
06:34So although there's one person out there
06:36that sees waving to us.
06:39If you tell an interesting enough story,
06:41we could have over 10 million people so far
06:44because it's perpetual.
06:45Yes.
06:46And I have had opportunities
06:47because someone told me,
06:48you know what?
06:49I didn't know who you were.
06:50Good.
06:50You're in the majority.
06:51Yes.
06:52Correct.
06:52But I heard the story about Dr. J
06:54and it moved me
06:55and I wanted to meet you
06:57and I was wondering if you could help me
06:59or do you know someone that could help me?
07:01It's absolutely amazing.
07:02I mean, the things that you've helped me
07:04as a mentor,
07:05we've done together
07:06and now to be able to be here
07:08and to work with the National Restaurant Show.
07:11Business is fun.
07:13Life is fun.
07:14It couldn't be more fun.
07:15Life.
07:16Life.
07:16Like there is no business.
07:17Like, right?
07:18There's activities.
07:19Activities.
07:20I love it.
07:20Activities you get paid for.
07:21Activities you don't get paid for.
07:23Sleep is my number one activity.
07:25Yes.
07:25Most people don't think of it
07:26as work or business
07:28or family time.
07:30They don't think of it
07:31as any of that.
07:32I do.
07:33That's why it's my number one
07:35non-negotiable
07:35because I know
07:36if I recover better
07:37than anybody else
07:38and I assess
07:39the information that's infinite
07:41and the energy that's infinite
07:42better than anyone else
07:44that my business,
07:45quote unquote,
07:46my family,
07:47quote unquote,
07:48my health,
07:49quote unquote,
07:50a third of my life
07:51is in the trajectory,
07:52the divine direction
07:53of a higher self
07:54to facilitate,
07:56to make easy
07:57all of the things
07:58that I think are important
07:59like my health
07:59and my family,
08:00my finance,
08:01my faith,
08:01the study of time
08:02and the study of relativity.
08:04Did you know
08:04that Toast powers
08:05over 140,000 restaurants
08:08across the United States,
08:09Canada and UK?
08:11It's an incredible company.
08:13I'm on the Toast
08:13Customer Advisory Board.
08:15They are proud sponsors
08:16of this show,
08:17Restaurant Influencers.
08:18We couldn't do it
08:18without their support.
08:20They power our barbecue restaurants
08:21in San Diego.
08:22If you have questions
08:24about Toast,
08:25if you're thinking
08:25about bringing Toast on
08:27to be your primary
08:28technology partner
08:29at your restaurants,
08:30please reach out to me.
08:31I'm happy to get
08:32a local Toast representative
08:33to take care of you.
08:35You can reach me
08:36at Sean P. Welcheff
08:37on Instagram.
08:38Once again,
08:39thank you to Toast
08:40for believing
08:40in the power of technology,
08:42the power of storytelling,
08:44the power of hospitality.
08:45Back to the show.
08:47So what's important to me
08:48is that we build in public.
08:50So everything that we're trying to do,
08:52we're failing in public,
08:53we're succeeding in public.
08:55That's why we created
08:55Cali Barbecue Media.
08:56One of the coolest things
08:57that I'm proud of myself
08:59for doing
08:59is capturing the content
09:00of the journey.
09:01So if you go
09:02to our digital hospitality show,
09:04you can actually see
09:05David coaching me,
09:07me learning the lessons,
09:09me falling on my face,
09:10me getting back up.
09:11I'll fall on my face forever,
09:13but I will always get back up.
09:14I'll illuminate me
09:15falling in the face.
09:16There's a funny story.
09:17On the flight here,
09:18which we really pressed time,
09:20Nick and I yesterday.
09:21Press time?
09:21You call that pressing time?
09:23Yeah.
09:23You came 50 minutes
09:25from landing in Chicago
09:26to getting into McCormick
09:27to interview John Taffer
09:29and Greg Majewski.
09:29It was like
09:30the most ridiculous thing ever.
09:31David's running through.
09:33We have security.
09:33He doesn't have a badge.
09:35He's running.
09:35He's getting kicked out.
09:36I'm like,
09:37it's David Meltzer.
09:37You're taking a selfie
09:38with people like,
09:39hey, it's Dave.
09:40Take my badge.
09:40Yeah.
09:41Like, what's happening here?
09:42He is so good.
09:42And yet he pulled it off.
09:45Here's an interesting story.
09:46Pulled it off.
09:46When we're on the plane,
09:47he texted me
09:47about one of our coaching group members.
09:50Yes.
09:51A group member.
09:51And she said,
09:52I didn't know Dave owned a house
09:54in Florida.
09:55This $14 million listing.
09:59And I was like,
09:59why do you think I own this house?
10:01Because they talk about a brand.
10:05They took pictures of me and my family,
10:07put it in the house.
10:09Stop it.
10:09I'm not lying.
10:10Brilliant.
10:11They put it in the house.
10:12A realtor did that?
10:12A realtor.
10:13Fantastic.
10:13I looked up the listing.
10:14That's fantastic.
10:15I sent him the phone number to see.
10:17And I'm thinking,
10:18if I didn't illuminate.
10:19Yes.
10:20Right?
10:20Yes.
10:21What it is.
10:22I'm like,
10:22what a compliment it is.
10:25Whether it was,
10:25you know,
10:26to show that,
10:27hey,
10:27this house was being auctioned off
10:29because this guy went bankrupt,
10:30which was 18 years ago.
10:32Right?
10:33Or whether it's,
10:34hey,
10:34this was the successful guy's house.
10:37I am applied and identified with both.
10:41With the guy who lost everything.
10:43Yes.
10:43With a guy who's super successful
10:45in all my activities.
10:47All of them.
10:48All my activities.
10:49I'm successful,
10:49but I fail at every one of my activities.
10:52As finance,
10:53for example,
10:53I failed really big in that activity.
10:55How much money did you lose?
10:56Over a hundred million?
10:57A hundred million dollars.
10:58And you're still here.
10:59It's better than ever.
11:00My wife doesn't like me saying this.
11:02She's like,
11:02Steve,
11:03stop.
11:03Stop with the content.
11:04I call it an investment.
11:04Content is gone far enough.
11:06No,
11:06no,
11:06she doesn't mind that.
11:07She hates that I say that I invested a hundred million dollars.
11:11Without that investment,
11:13Yes.
11:13I wouldn't be where I am today.
11:15So how could I not see it as an investment?
11:17I don't believe in sacrifice.
11:18Yeah.
11:19That's a vision of shortage and of scarcity.
11:22Yes.
11:22I believe in investing.
11:23When you go to college,
11:24you invest in yourself.
11:25When you do this show,
11:26you invest in you,
11:28your brand,
11:28the show.
11:29It's an investment.
11:30Stop saying I'm sacrificing.
11:32There is no negotiation,
11:34no trade,
11:34no good pro quo of equality.
11:37It is simply,
11:38I'm making an investment in Hawaiian culture.
11:40It's called Malama,
11:41right?
11:41When I love the earth,
11:43it loves me back.
11:43When I love my relationships,
11:45they love me back.
11:47I make that investment.
11:49Tell me about Napoleon Hill before I get you out of here.
11:51Napoleon Hill had the major impact on my life.
11:53He wrote,
11:54Think and Grow Rich,
11:54Outwitting the Devil,
11:55The 17 Principles of Success,
11:57so many other pieces of content
11:59that is the basis for things like Tony Robbins,
12:04the movie,
12:04The Secret,
12:05The Laws of Attraction.
12:06It all started with Napoleon Hill in the 1930s
12:09when he said,
12:11what man can conceive,
12:12man can achieve.
12:14In other words,
12:15when you have intention,
12:16a definiteness of purpose
12:17that you can do,
12:19say,
12:19think,
12:20feel,
12:20and believe
12:20in alignment of your divine direction
12:22with that definite purpose,
12:24everything that you imagine
12:26will happen in your life
12:27or better.
12:28You may not see the evidence
12:29or the evidence may be contrary
12:30that it is better,
12:31but it is better.
12:33And so,
12:33I became,
12:34recently,
12:35the chairman of Napoleon Hill Institute
12:37to help amplify
12:38and utilize the stage theory
12:41so that his brand,
12:43his content,
12:44Napoleon Hill,
12:44I mean,
12:45will never die.
12:46It will be a perpetual social silo
12:49because my great mentors
12:50like Bob Proctor,
12:51Wayne Dyer,
12:52all of these people,
12:54including the ones that are live today,
12:55Brian Tracy,
12:56Zig Ziglar,
12:56they're dying.
12:58Nobody knows who they are.
12:59Just like the athletes
13:00that nobody knows who Warren Moon is.
13:02If somebody would have told me
13:03that I'm more recognizable today
13:06than Warren Moon would be,
13:07I would have laughed my MF and ass off
13:10because I would have thought
13:11that is absolutely a joke,
13:13but it's absolutely true.
13:14More people identify David Melcher
13:16than Warren Moon.
13:17That's absolutely incredible.
13:18We're at the National Restaurant Association show.
13:20We want you here next year.
13:22David and I are working on some big plans
13:24thanks to Informa,
13:25thanks to the team,
13:26special thanks to Toast.
13:27They believed in me.
13:28They're a primary technology partner
13:29at our barbecue restaurants.
13:31They have an incredible booth here.
13:32They power over 140,000 restaurants.
13:35If you have a Toast story,
13:36we want to hear it
13:36and we want to come to your Toast location.
13:38But more importantly,
13:39Dave,
13:40thank you for the inspiration.
13:41Thank you for helping me get involved.
13:43Thank you for helping me ask for help.
13:45And this party is just getting started.
13:47I toast you, Sean Walchap.
13:53Thank you for listening.
13:54If you've made it this long,
13:55you are part of the community.
13:57You're part of the tribe.
13:58We can't do this alone.
13:59We started,
14:00no one was listening.
14:01Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
14:05Please check out our new series called Restaurant Technology Substack.
14:09It's a Substack newsletter.
14:11It's free.
14:11It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants.
14:15Also go to YouTube and subscribe to Cali BBQ Media.
14:19Cali BBQ Media on YouTube.
14:21We've been putting out a lot of new original content.
14:23Hopefully you guys like that content.
14:25If you want to work with us,
14:26go to BeTheShow.media.
14:28We show up all over the United States,
14:30some international countries.
14:31We would love to work with you
14:33and your growing brand on digital storytelling.
14:35You can reach out to me anytime
14:37at Sean P. Walchap on Instagram.
14:39I'm weirdly available.
14:40Stay curious, get involved,
14:42and don't be afraid to ask for help.
14:43We'll catch you next episode.
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