- 5 minutes ago
Kristen Corral, co-founder of Tacotarian, has helped grow the plant-based Mexican restaurant brand into a six-location company through creator-driven marketing, founder-led storytelling, and community-focused content designed to reach far beyond the traditional vegan audience.
Watch now to learn how Tacotarian built a vegan brand for the other 97%, why “cringe” content works, and how Kristen Corral uses storytelling to make customers feel like they belong.
Restaurant Influencers is sponsored by:
• Toast All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://entm.ag/ToastRI
• PepsiCo Foodservice: https://entm.ag/RIPepsico
Watch now to learn how Tacotarian built a vegan brand for the other 97%, why “cringe” content works, and how Kristen Corral uses storytelling to make customers feel like they belong.
Restaurant Influencers is sponsored by:
• Toast All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://entm.ag/ToastRI
• PepsiCo Foodservice: https://entm.ag/RIPepsico
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NewsTranscript
00:00The reason that a lot of vegan restaurants fail is not because they don't have good food
00:04or because of all these other things, it's because they're not telling the right story.
00:07They're not inviting people in to try the food.
00:10They're only marketing to the 3% of people that identify as vegan or vegetarian.
00:21Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:24I'm your host, Sean Walchup.
00:25This is a Cali BBQ Media production in life, in the restaurant business, and in the new creator economy.
00:32We learn through lessons and stories.
00:34We've got a great story today.
00:36We are filming at the Tacotarian in Las Vegas with Kristen Coral.
00:41Kristen, I've been following you on LinkedIn, on Instagram.
00:44I've been following the brand.
00:46We started this show in 2022 thanks to Toast, our sponsor of the show,
00:51because we believe deeply in restaurants.
00:53We believe deeply in technology, and we believe deeply in storytelling.
00:57There has never been so much opportunity for restauranteurs to think beyond the four walls of their business.
01:03Welcome to the show.
01:05Thanks. Thanks for having me. I'm excited.
01:07Where in the world is your favorite stadium, stage, or venue?
01:12Oh my gosh. Off the bat with a tough question.
01:16Okay, so I was fortunate enough to go to Paris to see the Olympics in 2024, and I went to
01:25some incredible stadiums there.
01:28So I would definitely say that one of those is probably my favorite.
01:31So we saw gymnastics in, I can't remember any of the names, but like whatever stadium that was where I
01:38witnessed the women's team win the gold, that one for sure.
01:41Okay, we're going to go to Paris.
01:43We're going to go to the stadium that the gymnastics were in.
01:45We have people all over the world that own restaurants that are great content creators that follow this show.
01:50So I know you're a TEDx speaker, so I'm going to give you the mic, and I'm going to ask
01:55you, can you please share how has storytelling impacted your business, not only as a restaurateur, but also as an
02:04entrepreneur?
02:05I mean, storytelling has actually changed the game for our business.
02:09You know, when we decided to take this leap of faith and open this restaurant in 2018, nobody knew who
02:15we were.
02:16So without telling this story of our brand and getting the word out there, how would anyone find us, you
02:22know?
02:22And we're in a niche, like we're a vegan concept, although we don't like to advertise that we're vegan.
02:28So the story becomes, hey, we have this really good food.
02:31Oh, by the way, it just happens to be vegan.
02:34That's the story that we like to tell because the reason that a lot of vegan restaurants fail is not
02:40because they don't have good food or because of all these other things.
02:43It's because they're not telling the right story.
02:44They're not inviting people in to try the food.
02:47They're only marketing to the 3% of people that identify as vegan or vegetarian.
02:52And then it's like preaching to the choir, right?
02:55I have seen your content about the 3%.
02:57As much as we believe in niche content, we also understand the internet.
03:02And people want to be invited into a story.
03:05Can you share a little bit more about how you've built the menu at these restaurants and how you celebrate
03:10that menu so that more than 3%, 97% hopefully can get that message?
03:15Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:16So, I mean, backing up even further than that, like going back to what you're talking about, I think the
03:21niches are, I mean, the riches are in the niches, right?
03:22Like everybody says that, but when it comes to food, like you don't want to niche yourself down so far
03:28that like you feel like too cool for school.
03:32And I went to, I'm from Orlando and when I go back, I try to go to all the new
03:35vegan restaurants.
03:36And I took one of my best friends who's obviously not vegan with me to this restaurant that had really
03:40great food.
03:40And she was like, the food is so good, but I will never come back here.
03:43Yeah.
03:43And I said, why?
03:45It was so good.
03:45She's like, because I don't feel like I fit it.
03:47I feel awkward coming here because it was like very like hippie, over the top, like everything was, you know,
03:55pigs on the walls.
03:56And like, it just didn't, no one felt welcome if you weren't in that like world.
04:01So when we, when we went to open this restaurant, a couple of things.
04:04So my husband and my two other business partners come from the restaurant industry.
04:08I do not.
04:09But what we wanted to do and to my husband's Mexican and my other business partner, Regina's Mexican.
04:14So obviously they were coming with this idea of what they wanted the menu to feel like, what they wanted
04:19it to look like.
04:21We had a chef work with us and help us create like all the seitans and the more difficult, you
04:26know, things to produce on the menu.
04:27But the thing that we do really well is like, if you look around, nothing here is orange, red or
04:33yellow, which is like the traditional, what every American thinks of Mexico and Mexican food.
04:39And we went the complete opposite.
04:41Everything's light.
04:42Everything's bright.
04:43Most of our restaurants have tons of windows, tons of natural light.
04:46You feel welcome and everybody feels welcome.
04:48I think the other thing that we've done really well is, you know, a lot of healthy restaurants, which typically
04:54people identify vegan and vegetarian food as like being overly healthy.
04:58They don't serve real soda.
05:00They don't serve alcohol.
05:01Well, with the exception of alcohol, because I know millennials are not, I mean, Gen Z are not drinking.
05:06But most people want those things.
05:08Like people want to come in and get a margarita.
05:10They want to grab a beer.
05:11They want to grab a Coca-Cola.
05:13So those things, I think, help us to make it feel more well-rounded and not so niched down to
05:18where people feel like they don't belong.
05:20What made you, your husband, your business partners jump off the cliff and get into the restaurant business?
05:25Oh, my gosh.
05:26So I was a showgirl.
05:29Like I moved here in 2003 to be a performer.
05:31So I did that for 10 years.
05:33And then when I was like winding down my career, I was like, what am I going to, like, what
05:36the hell am I going to do?
05:37You know, I didn't really have any hireable skills.
05:39So I started a dog walking company.
05:40I got certified in animal massage.
05:42And I scaled that business by myself.
05:45At that time, my husband was working at another restaurant concept with my other two business partners.
05:50And in 2018, they were doing like an R&D trip with that company to Mexico City.
05:55And I got kind of invited along just because I was the only spouse not working within the company.
06:00So they felt bad for Carlos.
06:02They're like, oh, bring her along.
06:03And so during that trip, we kind of, the four of us got to talking over drinks.
06:07Like, wouldn't it be great if we had our own restaurant?
06:09Wouldn't it be like, what if we did this?
06:11And Carlos and I were eating like a plant-based lifestyle.
06:14So we said, hey, there's a real gap in the market for people that are doing this really well.
06:19And so it just kind of, that was in February of 2018.
06:23By April, we had a lease signed.
06:24By August, we had our first restaurant open.
06:28Looking back, one of the things that we've learned doing this show and doing all the content
06:33that we do is, as entrepreneurs and business owners, we need to tell the stories of the
06:40difficult times.
06:41Can you bring us into the difficult time?
06:43When was a difficult story of opening the first one, maybe opening the second one?
06:47Yeah, I think the learning curve, even though Carlos and Regina and Dan had a restaurant
06:52background and in restaurant management and restaurant financials and all of those things,
06:57opening your own restaurant is very different.
06:59It's all you.
07:00It's all you, number one.
07:01Buck stops with you.
07:01Yeah.
07:02And I think when we opened that first one, while we had hyped it up so much within the
07:06community, we weren't prepared for the level of desire that people had to come.
07:13So on the first night, we ran out of like half of the food.
07:15There was a line on the door.
07:17Everything was too slow.
07:18And so we really had to dial in like systems, processes, training, all of those things.
07:25And then, of course, we opened this location in 2019, December of 2019.
07:31And then the pandemic hit in March of 2020.
07:34So we were closed all of our stores for six weeks.
07:37So that was a huge, huge learning curve.
07:40I mean, we've made tons of mistakes.
07:44I mean, we have a CPG line.
07:46We launched a retail line.
07:47And that's been disastrous up until now.
07:50Now we've got it dialed in, but like figuring out how to like import, export, because it's
07:54made in Mexico, figuring out like the production, because it's retort.
07:58It's not frozen.
07:59It's not.
07:59It's there's so many mistakes that we've made.
08:02But honestly, we've learned so much.
08:03And it's allowed us to now, once we have it figured out, we can just scale it up.
08:11Whether you're a global restaurant powerhouse or local independent like us here at Cali Barbecue,
08:15we all want the same thing, sustainable growth.
08:18And let me tell you, PepsiCo is a partner built to do exactly that, help you build a
08:23sustainable business.
08:24As operators, we get it.
08:26We know that digital matters.
08:27Online ordering, third-party apps, digital menus, online visibility.
08:32It's a lot.
08:32And it's incredibly hard to prioritize when you're just trying to take care of your kitchen
08:37and manage a busy team.
08:38But a few small digital tweaks can have a massive impact, especially when you have the
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08:45That's where PepsiCo's digital lab stands apart.
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09:13If you're a Pepsi customer, stop waiting.
09:15Talk to your Pepsi rep today or click the link in the show notes below to learn how to unlock
09:20your growth advantage.
09:21Let's keep that momentum going.
09:26Tell us more about CPG, consumer packaged goods.
09:29What can restaurants learn about the mistakes that you've made if they're trying to embark
09:34upon different lines of revenue?
09:36So again, we did this, yes, as an additional revenue stream, but also because we were already
09:41looking into co-packing our most popular meets, if you will, for scaling up franchising, right?
09:48So we were like, hey, we're already looking at producing it and co-packing it for franchising.
09:52So why not package it in a retail?
09:56We did it as a retail, but we did it as a retort.
09:57I really wanted it to be shelf stable so that we could mail it to see off our website without
10:01having like to ship a frozen product without it being heavy.
10:05So that took a lot of time, but I will say definitely dial in what your product is.
10:09Don't get blindsided by brokers telling you that they're going to do X, Y, and Z for us.
10:15And I know that a lot of brands have success in retail, but e-com has been incredible for
10:21us.
10:21You have all the control.
10:23You can scale it up.
10:24If you really master meta ads and your advertising and telling your story, the orders will just
10:32flow in, but you have to optimize your website.
10:34It's a psychology in a different way than restaurants.
10:38There's a formula.
10:39And if you learn the formula, you will have success.
10:42What can restaurants learn about the formula for meta ads specifically for their restaurant?
10:47Well, meta ads is a lot of testing.
10:48I don't know if you're big into meta ads, but it's a-
10:51We're big in helping the creative side of meta ads.
10:54Okay.
10:54So what is like the creatives that work really well for us is like the founder story.
10:59Like, why do we do this?
11:01Um, you know, Hey, our restaurants have sold over a million tacos.
11:04Here's why we put that in a pouch.
11:06Like telling the story of why we did retail, showing our faces.
11:09It's funny because I tested videos and they're crushing, crushing, crushing.
11:15But then I tested a static ad.
11:17Wah, wah.
11:19It was like a 40-
11:20Show me, don't tell me.
11:21A $42 like, like a purchase.
11:25And so, um, but then I had someone tell me if you're, if your video ads are doing so well,
11:31why don't you take a screenshot of you guys from your video ad and put that as a static ad?
11:35And I did that and it crushed.
11:37Amazing.
11:38Very cool.
11:39Um, tell me more about social storytelling for the restaurants.
11:43So social storytelling has evolved kind of over the, for us over the last eight years.
11:50Sure.
11:50Um, you know, early on, it was very much like the four of us always, always, always.
11:54And now as we're growing, it's kind of more telling the story of the brand.
11:58It's going to be telling the story of the franchisees is telling the story of the food of the growth.
12:04Um, and I think like there's this misconception that telling a story always has to be this like
12:08big, elaborate, whole monstrosity of a story.
12:12And I don't think it has to be that it can be as simple as like telling a story through
12:17like
12:17a carousel of slides, like why you should do this or how we did this.
12:21I think those kinds of stories have worked really well for us too.
12:24Or just inviting people in a huge mistake that I see even big brands making is blasting
12:30out emails and forgetting that like email is a two-way form of communication.
12:35Ask them a question.
12:37Even if you have an email list of 30,000 people, not everyone's going to respond and say, Hey,
12:41how did you like our special this month?
12:43Like we'd love to hear from you.
12:44Great advice.
12:45And you'd be surprised how much that makes people feel engaged in being a part of your brand.
12:50Did you know that toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada
12:57and UK?
12:58It's an incredible company.
12:59I'm on the toast customer advisory board.
13:01They are proud sponsors of this show, restaurant influencers.
13:04We couldn't do it without their support.
13:06They power our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
13:09If you have questions about toast, if you're thinking about bringing toast on to be your primary
13:15technology partner at your restaurants, please reach out to me.
13:18I'm happy to get a local toast representative to take care of you.
13:22You can reach me at Sean P.
13:23Welch on Instagram.
13:25Once again, thank you to toast for believing in the power of technology, the power of storytelling,
13:30the power of hospitality.
13:32Back to the show.
13:33One of the biggest buzzwords in marketing is community.
13:37It is a huge buzzword.
13:41But I mean, the reason why I love restaurants is you can't run a restaurant unless you understand
13:45community.
13:46Yeah.
13:46How do you build community online?
13:47Well, you can try.
13:48You can try.
13:49But you most likely will have to close the doors.
13:52So here's OK.
13:53This is the biggest mistake I see most business owners making, not just restaurants, but they
13:59rely too much on social media without funneling those people into their community, if you
14:05will, into their email list, into their other communications.
14:08Because what happens is, as we saw with TikTok, if TikTok shuts down and you are only relying
14:16on TikTok to sell your product or your brand, you're screwed, right?
14:19So funneling those people in.
14:21And I'm a big believer, again, in having two-way communications, responding to every email that
14:25comes in, responding to feedback, making people feel heard, asking people, we do polls, like
14:31what should we add next on our menu?
14:33What should be our next special?
14:34Well, even if you're not going to do it, make people think that they have a say in your
14:39business on and offline, and that will help build community.
14:44Another thing that we do really well is we've built these rotating, like viral LTOs, and
14:49we've partnered those with charities.
14:51Cool.
14:51And instead of just handing the charity a check, at the end of the month, we make the
14:55charities participate.
14:56So we bring them in, they have to do a content shoot, they have to come with ideas, they have
15:00to agree to send three emails a month, do, you know, four social posts, all of these
15:04things.
15:05And so we're leveraging their audience and our audience to drive sales for that one LTO.
15:12And sometimes you can drive $30,000, $40,000 in sales off one special because you're, the
15:17charity wants to get people in to raise money.
15:19And then we're helping the charity because we're bringing awareness to what they're doing.
15:23So it's been great.
15:24So there's going to be a lot of restaurant owners that listen to this.
15:27They hear responding to emails, responding to DMs, answering anybody that's digitally
15:33communicating with them, and they're going to get overwhelmed.
15:36But I know from our own experience, and I'd like to ask you, how important is speed of
15:41response?
15:42Speed of response is very important.
15:44I know it sucks sometimes.
15:45I will say there are some tools that I use in social media.
15:51I don't know if you're a fan of ManyChat.
15:52Yeah.
15:52Oh, absolutely.
15:53I use ManyChat for if anyone tags us in a story, it auto responds and says, oh my gosh,
16:01thank you so much for being a super fan of Talk Rotarian.
16:04Here's 10% off use code super fan on your next online order.
16:08So I don't have to manually do that.
16:09That's set up on the backend.
16:11And now, of course, you want to keep an eye on everything and make sure that you're not
16:14missing important messages.
16:15But having those technology to auto respond to certain things is very helpful.
16:21What does digital hospitality mean to you?
16:24Digital hospitality right now for us, I'm really focused on loyalty.
16:28Amazing.
16:29So we recently moved to Thanks.
16:31Okay.
16:31I'm obsessed with it.
16:32I think it's so fantastic.
16:33What has Thanks enabled you to do?
16:36So their loyalty program, number one, it works.
16:38Yeah.
16:39Number two, it integrates well with Toast now.
16:42They have the guest facing display sign up, which just lever, I mean, it skyrockets because
16:49you know, the staff sometimes forgets as much as we train them, they forget to ask if they're
16:52in the loyalty.
16:53So it displays their rewards right there.
16:55It does have the white label app for the customers that want it.
16:58I love the tiers.
17:00So we've built out tiers.
17:01So if, you know, there's an entry tier and then you hit guac squad, and if you're guac
17:04squad, you get like a monthly freebie.
17:06You get all these things.
17:07If you hit the top tier, secret menu access to our secret menu, you get like a more eats
17:12and it's all automated.
17:15So it was, you know, on the front end, I had to build out all these campaigns, build
17:18out all the rewards.
17:19But once it's done, it's done.
17:21Their email system's clean.
17:22They have a deep integration with Klaviyo now.
17:24And I use Klaviyo for, for, for e-comm and they're even deepening that integration next
17:29month.
17:29And so, um, I can now use Klaviyo to leverage my e-comm and my restaurant.
17:35All of that will be integrated into one thing.
17:38And so that's exciting.
17:39I would love for you to talk about Klaviyo because Klaviyo is advanced email marketing.
17:44I know that they're doing more work to get into restaurants because restaurants need to
17:48think like e-commerce companies.
17:49Can you share a little bit of tips and tricks of like why Klaviyo?
17:52But then what can restaurants learn about best practices from e-comm?
17:56Well, this is so funny because when I got onto Thanks, they had an abandoned cart, um,
18:02uh, feature.
18:03And I was so excited because abandoned cart feature on e-comm is like a huge driver of
18:07sales because it sees like what someone's shopping for, uses cookies.
18:11And then it sends them an email saying like, Hey, you left this in your car.
18:14But what Thanks was missing was the code to show the person what was in their car.
18:19And I told them at Thanks, I said, Hey, you guys are missing this.
18:22But now with their integration with Klaviyo, I'll be able to do that.
18:25I asked Klaviyo if I could do that.
18:27And he's like, no one's done it yet.
18:28We can do it.
18:29Do you want to be the first to do it?
18:30And I was like, yes.
18:31Um, restaurants again, have a problem with just blasting out specials and being like
18:39$5 tacos without really understanding who they're talking to and who their customer
18:46is.
18:47And e-comm, you have to have a better understanding of who your purchaser is to the point where
18:54you're talking to like one specific person only.
18:58And if restaurants can really master that, they will be much more successful.
19:04An audience of one.
19:05An audience of one.
19:06And then when you have an audience of one, all the other people that are like that person
19:11will be like, Oh, I can relate to that.
19:13Oh, Oh, that's me.
19:15They're talking to me too.
19:16And that's where you find success.
19:17If you talk to everyone, you talk to no one, no one.
19:20Yeah.
19:20You've been on the speaking tour.
19:23A little bit.
19:24Uh, can you share why it's important for restaurant owners, founders to build a personal
19:30brand, to do the things that I know you're passionate about it, but there's also opportunities
19:34that come tangentially because of the things that you're doing.
19:37Yeah, for sure.
19:38So my first, of course I was a performer, so I've been on stage my whole life, but speaking
19:45is very different than, you know, performing or dancing or ballet or jazz or all of those
19:50things.
19:50So my first real speaking gig was TEDx.
19:53Awesome.
19:54And I was so nervous.
19:56I thought I was going to die backstage.
19:58And this guy, the guy who was ahead of me, um, he was so nice and he grabbed me cause
20:04he saw me pacing backstage.
20:05No, he was after me.
20:06And he's like, you're going to be okay.
20:08You'll be fine.
20:09You're going to be okay.
20:10And I was like, okay.
20:12Um, but I, I loved it.
20:15It was so exciting.
20:16And so it gives me the opportunity to yes, build my personal brand, which also helps the
20:21restaurant because people say like, Oh, I saw that girl.
20:24I'm going to look up taco Terry to see what taco Terry is about.
20:26Maybe they want to franchise a taco Terry and where they live.
20:29So that helps us.
20:30And also getting the message out the same way you are.
20:32I think a lot of small business owners struggle with understanding.
20:37They don't want to be on camera.
20:38They're uncomfortable doing the things that have to be done to grow your business in 2026.
20:44Um, and just kind of educating people and helping them understand why it's important and how it
20:48can help scale your business.
20:50So it's not only business opportunities that come from being on podcasts and being on stage,
20:54but you have no idea how much it helps from a recruiting standpoint as you're growing leaders in your
21:00company.
21:01Yeah.
21:01Because someone that wants to work for a growing emerging restaurant brand,
21:06they're going to see your TEDx talk.
21:08They're going to see you on podcasts and they're going to listen and they're going to go,
21:12is that a brand that I believe in?
21:13And then they're going to apply.
21:15Like the filter that that gets is absolutely incredible.
21:17Yeah.
21:18And that's something like, honestly, you saying that I'm like, oh yeah, that's a good point.
21:21I hadn't really thought of that because it is hard again, to find really good people that
21:27are passionate about your brand.
21:28And when you have those, it makes a huge difference.
21:32Like, um, our manager here, some of our other managers have been with us since day one.
21:36Like since we opened our very first Tucker Terian and they didn't all start as managers,
21:40they've kind of worked their way up.
21:42And so having those people to lean on and really represent the brand makes a huge difference.
21:46What have you learned about franchising?
21:48What have I not learned about franchising?
21:50Um, finding the right people is the most important thing, right?
21:53So when we opened franchising, I knew there would be a lot of demand.
21:57We got a hundred applications.
22:00I told my business partners, it'll be fine.
22:01I'll go through them all.
22:03I'll call all these people.
22:04We're going to get like 50.
22:06We didn't get a single person that really was qualified out of that first 100 applications.
22:13So what I learned is that while I'm a control freak, I cannot do all of this myself.
22:19Um, it was too much.
22:20I'm not a salesperson.
22:22I don't really know all of the things that we need to look for.
22:24So we now work with a team, a sales team, um, that's really dialed into how to sell and
22:30what to look for and how to vet people.
22:32And so now we're getting like really qualified candidates that are also passionate about the
22:35brand.
22:36And amazing.
22:37Can you talk to the restaurant owner that's listening to this?
22:40That's thinking about starting to tell stories on social.
22:43You tell stories, not only about your restaurant, you tell stories about you and your husband,
22:48you tell stories about your dog.
22:49You tell all different types of stories.
22:51It's not one life, my business life.
22:53And then I have my personal life.
22:54Can you talk about the ethos of storytelling, how you think about content?
22:58Yeah, I think, um, talking just about what you're passionate about is the easiest thing,
23:02right?
23:02So I'm very passionate about animals.
23:04Um, I'm on the board of the, the no kill animal shelter here.
23:07So yes, a lot of my content is dog related, which seems weird, but it's one of my content
23:12pillars on my personal social media.
23:14And honestly, I wish it was my only one cause it performs way better.
23:18You have a very good dog video.
23:20My one dog video has like 1.5 million views.
23:23It's unbelievable.
23:24It's a great video.
23:25Um, so yes, talking about what you're passionate about.
23:28And, and even when I, you know, when I had my dog walking business, the reason I got into
23:33all of this is because I found a mentor in that dog walking space, which educated us
23:39on the power of the, of all of this.
23:42And so I learned this in my other business and that's how I scaled my other business.
23:45So I brought all of that into the restaurants.
23:48Um, and it's applicable, it's applicable to any business really, but since we're talking
23:53about restaurants, um, just put yourself on camera.
23:56It's so cringy.
23:57It's so cringy.
23:58I, even today I make a video and I'm like, this is the cringiest video I've ever made,
24:03but it works.
24:04It does work.
24:05People, people relate to the truth.
24:08And as long as you like authenticity is, it's almost, it's such a overused word in marketing.
24:15We know the truth when you go to a trade show, when you go to a conference, when you listen
24:19to a podcast, when you open up a book, when the truth is spoken, it hits you like a ton
24:25of bricks and you pay attention.
24:27And I think that's the, probably if anyone takes away one thing from this entire conversation
24:32is be yourself.
24:33Yes.
24:34Because when I see people being fake, like people that I know in real life being fake
24:38online there, they have, they have no comments.
24:41They have no views.
24:42They have no nothing because people can feel that you're being, yes.
24:45So you have to just be yourself.
24:48Tell me about the purse.
24:50Oh my God.
24:51Can you bring it?
24:51Bring it.
24:52If you're listening to this on the podcast, please go to entrepreneur.com, find the video,
24:57go to YouTube, find the video.
24:59But there is a, we have a purse story that we are going to share.
25:02So tell us the story about the purse.
25:05Okay.
25:05What does the purse say?
25:06For those that are listening.
25:07It says fake like your followers and it's a fake Birkin for those who can't see this.
25:12And it's big and bold.
25:13It's big and bold.
25:15Yeah.
25:15This one's brown and it's just got white lettering.
25:18And so it's, it's, I painted it on myself.
25:20So I was going to the world convention because I was speaking on a panel, which is the women
25:25in restaurant leadership.
25:26Um, great convention, by the way, we'll put a link to women in leadership.
25:30If you're a woman in hospitality, please follow them.
25:33They're doing incredible work.
25:34Oh, incredible.
25:35Yeah.
25:36Um, so it was great convention, but I was like, okay, I'm going to be in a room full of
25:39like
25:40500 women.
25:41I didn't, I only knew one other girl who used to be an employee and now is actually the
25:45first, um, franchisee for Mike's red tacos.
25:48Sweet.
25:48Yeah.
25:49Actually tacos is blowing up.
25:50Yeah.
25:50So she's excited.
25:51So I knew her, but other than that, I didn't know anyone else.
25:53So I was like, okay, I'm going to make this bag.
25:55It'll be fun.
25:55At least it'll be like a conversation starter, but I didn't realize how big of a conversation
26:02starter it was going to be.
26:04So during this event, I mean, everyone kept asking me about the bag.
26:08They were like, I want one.
26:08I want one.
26:09I want one.
26:09And I was, I got home.
26:10Well, I even went to dinner one night and this lady comes up to me and she said, Hey,
26:14I am obsessed with your bag.
26:16I'm going to send you my real Louis Vuitton and I want you to.
26:19And I was like, ma'am, I think you're missing the point.
26:23I'm like, I'm not going to paint on your real Louis.
26:26Number one.
26:26I don't want to ruin it.
26:28Number two, like that's missing the point.
26:29It's supposed to be a fake bag.
26:31She's like, no, I don't care.
26:32Tell me about the message.
26:34I mean, listen, there's of course the obvious, like a lot of people on social media are just
26:38not being themselves.
26:39They're buying followers.
26:40If you truly like click onto their engagement, it's just, you know, a thousand views with
26:45a hundred thousand followers.
26:47So that's the obvious message.
26:49But I think there's a deeper message for women, especially, um, in leadership.
26:54And just as we get into this space, there's kind of this thing where you walk into a room
26:58and everybody has the same YSL bag, the same Louis Vuitton bag.
27:01He's back to like three, $4,000.
27:04If not more like this bat, like a Birkin bag is like 30,000.
27:07It's insane.
27:08And so, but they feel this need to maybe either fit in or, um, feel like, you know, and it's
27:15like, there's this thing where you're kind of keeping up with the Joneses, but at the
27:18same time, as you're fitting, like, why do you want to fit in?
27:21Yeah.
27:22Cause for me, I don't want to fit in with everyone else.
27:24Like I've never fit in.
27:25Right.
27:25So, um, I prefer to stand out.
27:28So that's kind of the message.
27:29Like, let's just stop conforming and like put ourselves out there, have fun.
27:33Like be a conversation starter, be the conversation instead of just participating in the conversation.
27:37So that's the bigger message.
27:39I love it.
27:40Uh, if you guys are watching this, I'm weirdly available at Sean P.
27:43Welcheff on Instagram.
27:44We're looking for the greatest storytellers on the planet.
27:47So if they're hospitality focused, if they're content creators, wherever they are on earth,
27:52please send me a message.
27:53We're looking to connect with people like Kristen.
27:55There are very few of them on earth, but we're starting this show so that we can inspire more
28:00people to get out and tell their story and to speak their truth.
28:03Before I let you go, I need to know about your personal tech stack, iPhone or Android?
28:08iPhone.
28:09iPhone.
28:09Which version?
28:10I have the newest one, whatever that is.
28:12The newest one.
28:12Do you always get the newest one?
28:13I do not.
28:14I usually, um, the last one I had was a 14.
28:17So now what is it?
28:17A 17?
28:18Yep.
28:18So I waited a couple of years.
28:20Uh, what's your provider?
28:22Uh, we have T-Mobile.
28:23T-Mobile.
28:24Are you happy or not happy?
28:24Yeah.
28:25I've had, fun fact, I've had T-Mobile since my very first cell phone at like 17.
28:29I've had Verizon since I've had a phone, which was, I think, yeah, around the same time.
28:34Um, Teams, Zoom or Google Meets?
28:39I hate Teams.
28:40Um, uh, Google Meets, I use a lot just cause I don't have a time limit.
28:44I don't pay for Zoom.
28:45So, but I have really no preference.
28:47Uh, how many emails do you get a day?
28:49Oh, probably like 300 or more.
28:52How many do you enjoy reading?
28:54Three, if that.
28:57Uh, phone calls or text messages?
29:00Um, it depends on the person.
29:03Mostly text.
29:04Uh, do you leave voicemails?
29:06Mm, rarely.
29:08Google Maps or Apple Maps?
29:10I use Apple, but my husband hates it.
29:12He prefers Google, so he gets really mad when I use Apple Maps.
29:15Okay.
29:16Um, how do you listen to music?
29:17Um, I use Pandora a lot.
29:20I use, um, Apple Music a lot.
29:23But honestly, I listen to Howard Stern 99% of the time, so.
29:29Uh, photos or videos?
29:31Ooh, video.
29:32How many pieces of content do you have on your phone right now?
29:35I think upwards of 50,000.
29:38Wow.
29:39Impressive.
29:40Uh, what's your favorite social app?
29:42Instagram.
29:43Instagram.
29:44And LinkedIn, I really love too.
29:46Okay.
29:47LinkedIn too.
29:47Perfect.
29:49Um, YouTube?
29:51I haven't dabbled in YouTube.
29:53I know I'm behind.
29:54There's only one of me.
29:55Yeah, I know.
29:56YouTube's good.
29:57I know.
29:58Everyone says YouTube Shorts.
29:59It's like the OG.
30:00Yeah, definitely.
30:01If you're watching this, we're lucky to get invited to Google.
30:04I should actually get you on the Google restaurant influencers.
30:07Yeah.
30:07Um, they, they, they put on summits, uh, but their goal is to give tools to restaurant specific
30:14businesses so that they can grow.
30:16YouTube Shorts is so important for geotyping.
30:18Everyone says that.
30:18Like you're already making the content for TikTok and for Instagram, but put it on YouTube Shorts.
30:22Okay.
30:23For sure.
30:23I'm going to do that today.
30:24Okay.
30:25Awesome.
30:25Um, what other things?
30:28Uh, chat GPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity?
30:31Which one are you?
30:31Okay.
30:31I use all of them.
30:33Um, however, I'm moving more into the Claude space.
30:37Okay.
30:37The only reason I, I, I like chat to chat GPT is because you can build the custom GPT.
30:43So I've built like a custom GPT to review all my e-com data because we do 3PL at ShipBob
30:49and they build daily and then Shopify, but it's like a whole mess.
30:54And so to track all my KPIs, I built like a custom GPT to do that.
30:58That is all.
30:59What is the best way for people to keep in touch with you?
31:02Yeah.
31:02So, um, on Instagram, I'm the Kristen Corral or at Eat Taco Terian on LinkedIn.
31:07I'm Kristen dash Corral and we're at Eat Taco Terian on every platform.
31:14Kristen, I can't thank you enough.
31:16I can't wait to have you on the show again.
31:17Um, this was awesome.
31:18Eat Taco Terian, check them out.
31:20Las Vegas and San Diego.
31:22And if you're interested in the franchise, where do they go?
31:26Head to our website, Eat Taco Terian.com and then just click the franchising and fill out
31:30the application and someone will reach out to you.
31:32Amazing.
31:33Uh, thank you guys for subscribing.
31:34We appreciate it.
31:35Please share this episode with a friend and as always stay curious, get involved, and don't
31:40be afraid to ask for help.
31:41We'll catch you guys next episode.
31:45Thank you for listening.
31:46If you've made it this long, you are part of the community.
31:49You're part of the tribe.
31:50We can't do this alone.
31:51We started, no one was listening.
31:53Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
31:57Please check out our new series called Restaurant Technology Substack.
32:01It's a Substack newsletter.
32:03It's free.
32:03It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants.
32:07Also go to YouTube and subscribe to Cali BBQ Media.
32:11Cali BBQ Media on YouTube.
32:13We've been putting out a lot of new original content.
32:15Hopefully you guys like that content.
32:17If you want to work with us, go to betheshow.media.
32:20We show up all over the United States, some international countries.
32:23We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling.
32:27You can reach out to me anytime at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
32:31I'm weirdly available.
32:32Stay curious, get involved.
32:34Don't be afraid to ask for help.
32:35We'll catch you next episode.
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