- 5 minutes ago
Neen Williams, professional skateboarder and co-founder of NADC Burger, never planned to build a restaurant company. An Instagram post asking where to eat in Austin led to a partnership with chef Phillip Frankland Lee and a burger brand that has grown to 13 locations.
Watch now to learn why authenticity beats algorithms, how community creates opportunity and what it takes to build a restaurant brand people believe in.
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 why authenticity beats algorithms, how community creates opportunity and what it takes to build a restaurant brand people believe in.
Restaurant Influencers is sponsored by:
• Toast All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://entm.ag/ToastRI
• PepsiCo Foodservice: https://entm.ag/RIPepsico
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00My whole model hasn't been like, I need to do this so I can get attention, I need to do
00:05this to get likes, I need to do this to get views.
00:08Like, I'm not about that, right? I'm about just posting what I feel is right to post when I want
00:13to post it,
00:15representing what I want to represent when I want to represent it, and if I truly believe in it.
00:26Welcome to Restaurant Influencers, presented by Entrepreneur. I'm your host, Sean Walchef.
00:30This is a Cali BBQ Media production. We're at the National Restaurant Association show, and now we're off-site.
00:37And the reason that we go off-site is because as important as it is to film content inside the
00:41biggest restaurant show on earth,
00:43it's actually more important to get the stories inside of the restaurant.
00:46Neen Williams, he's a restaurateur, he's a father, he's a husband, he's a creator, he's a professional skateboarder,
00:53he's a lifestyle creator, and more importantly, he's a storyteller.
00:57And we are at Not a Damn Chance Burger in Wicker Park in Chicago.
01:03You invited us in. Thank you so much for your hospitality, for letting us come and ask some questions.
01:08Of course, man. Thank you for coming.
01:10So I've been checking out the brand on TikTok, on Instagram, on YouTube.
01:14You guys have an incredible presence. You have an incredible community of people that believe in what you guys have
01:20built.
01:20My first question is, can I get the recipe?
01:24Not a damn chance.
01:26You lined me up for that one, huh?
01:28Yeah, let's go. Bring us into the brand story.
01:32Yeah.
01:34We talk to restaurateurs all over the globe.
01:37We're so fortunate. Thank you to Toast, our title sponsor, for allowing us to go and tell these stories all
01:41over the earth.
01:41But every story, every business is a family business.
01:46Bring us back to, you know, how did this not, I mean, did you have a chance when you first
01:51started?
01:51Did you think there was a chance?
01:53I mean, we never really pictured that we would be here, of course, you know.
01:58We never thought that we would have 13 restaurants.
02:02We literally just started in the backyard, just me and Phillip, just getting together like two homies,
02:10getting together and just wanting to make the best burger that we could possibly make.
02:13And then things just kind of blew up from there.
02:16Bring us back to that. I mean, what time was that? What year was that?
02:19Yeah, so this was a couple years, I would say probably like 2020, 2021, somewhere around there.
02:30I met Phillip at his Sushi by Scratch restaurant.
02:34I went there for dinner one day.
02:36I was in Austin, Texas.
02:38I did this thing on my Instagram where I'll write down like, I'm going to Austin, Texas tonight.
02:44Like, where should I eat?
02:45Dude, I love it.
02:46If you guys aren't watching, I don't, please, it doesn't matter if you have five followers
02:49or if you have 500,000, like my man over here, please ask your community.
02:53You will be surprised at the secrets that you will find, how it will change your life.
02:57Oh, you get the best spots all the time.
02:59Did somebody tell you to go see him?
03:01No, so he actually was following me.
03:03Yeah, and he hit me up and he was like, hey, come to my spot.
03:06Like, come try out my spot.
03:08Yeah, and I was like, all right, like, I'll go to your spot.
03:11See that, restaurant owners?
03:12That's why you got to be alive in the DM.
03:14That's where the magic happens.
03:16And I saw this, right?
03:17And I was like, okay, like, I'm going to go to Sushi, but I'm moving, right?
03:21I'm like driving.
03:22I have like a three-hour drive to Austin.
03:24So I didn't look at what his spot was.
03:27He just said it's Sushi.
03:28And I was like, all right, cool, I'll head over there.
03:30And so I didn't do my due diligence and, like, check on the spot.
03:35So I show up and it's like this, you know, 17-course fine dining sushi spot, like, hidden inside of
03:44a restaurant.
03:45And, like, I thought I was going to get, like, California rolls or, you know, something very basic.
03:50And it was like this, like, you know, mind-blowing experience.
03:53No way.
03:54Yeah, and he happened to come out that night and he was a chef that night.
03:59So he was, like, my sushi chef making the sushi for me and stuff.
04:03Yeah.
04:03So me and him just started talking and come to find out he actually grew up skateboarding and he knew
04:10me from skating.
04:10Come on.
04:11And then I grew up cooking and, like, me and him started geeking out on each other because, you know,
04:17he's a professional chef.
04:18I'm a professional skater.
04:19We both have, like, similar interests.
04:22And we just kind of, like, we just bonded really quickly that night and then just continued the friendship.
04:29And we started just kind of hanging out, like, in the weeks prior to that.
04:32And we started cooking together because he knew how passionate I was.
04:37Like, I was showing him all my photos.
04:38Like, I built this, like, eight-foot hearth in my backyard, like, big brick structure that I cook steaks and
04:46stuff over open flame.
04:48I hang pineapples and let them slowly, like, you know, sweeten up and slowly cook.
04:53And then I was showing him all that stuff.
04:55And he was, like, yeah, like, let's cook together, you know.
04:58So we started cooking, roasting pigs, doing tacos, doing all types of stuff.
05:03But our favorite treat meal was burgers.
05:07So we would always give each other burger spots.
05:10Like, what's your favorite burger spot in L.A.?
05:12What's your favorite burger spot here?
05:13And we would give each other our spots, you know.
05:16But in Austin, Texas, there wasn't, there was one burger spot that we really liked, but there wasn't, like, any
05:22other burger spot.
05:23So we're, like, we should make a burger spot the way that we, like, the perfect burger spot for us,
05:32you know.
05:33Our idea of the perfect burger.
05:35So we just got together one night and we started, like, messing around with ingredients, with ratios, with the balance,
05:43what kind of pickles, what kind of sauce.
05:46And, like, we used my seasoning, the NADC OG steak seasoning on top of it.
05:51And then once we figured it out, we were just like, all right, let's start doing pop-ups for fun.
05:57And we would just, we would put our money together and, like, make 50 NADC burgers, but they weren't called
06:03NADC burgers at that time.
06:05They weren't called anything.
06:06Yep.
06:06And we would just pop up at, like, we did, like, comedy shows.
06:12We did some at the skate parks.
06:14And we would just pop up and just give away 50 burgers and then just see what happens.
06:19Like, there wasn't really a plan.
06:21It was just, like, we make a really good burger.
06:22Like, what are you doing this weekend?
06:24You want to make burgers?
06:25Let's do it.
06:26We would just go and make burgers and give them away.
06:29And when, I mean, when did it become, okay, we actually have a business here.
06:33Like, what was that moment?
06:35So, we were doing a pop-up at the barracks in L.A.
06:40It's a famous skate park.
06:42It's no longer there, RIP, but I think they're working on some other stuff now.
06:46We were doing a pop-up there for a friend's birthday party.
06:50And we had no name for the company because we were just doing pop-ups everywhere.
06:55So, we decided to make an Instagram that day and so people could tag it, right?
07:03And so, we were, like, going through names.
07:05And we're, like, all right, throwing some random names back and forth.
07:10And we're, like, no, no, no.
07:11And then, like, Phillip was, like, why don't we just name it Not A Damn Chance Burger because you've already
07:16coined Not A Damn Chance.
07:18And people know you for that.
07:20And we're using your Not A Damn Chance spices on the burger.
07:22So, let's just name it NADC Burger.
07:24And I was, like, all right, yeah, let's do it.
07:26Easy, you know, quick.
07:28So, from there, we did that pop-up.
07:32We started the Instagram account.
07:34And then, a friend approached us that had a bar on Rainy Street in Austin, Texas, which is this very
07:42famous, like, party street.
07:44There's a bunch of clubs that were made out of, like, little bungalows, little houses.
07:48And he had an open kitchen in one of his bars.
07:51And he was, like, hey, do you guys want to move into my kitchen?
07:56I have a crew.
07:57We could teach them how to make the burgers.
07:59You guys pay rent.
08:00And you guys can actually sell burgers instead of giving them away.
08:03And we're, like, all right, let's go for it, you know.
08:06And that's just, you know, how it started.
08:09That's insane.
08:10When was the first, like, actual brick-and-mortar store?
08:13Like, when did you decide that, like, okay, maybe they're beyond just selling at a pop-up, selling at a
08:20bar.
08:21Now we actually, like, we're at store time.
08:25So, that first one on Rainy Street blew up.
08:28It went viral.
08:30And we used all the, everything that we made from that first store, we just reinvested into the second one.
08:39The second one will be, like, our actual flagship.
08:42And that's right here down the street of Milwaukee.
08:45So, the second one's in Chicago.
08:48That is our, we rented the spot.
08:54The spot had a bar in it.
08:56Like, we didn't really know how to run a bar at the moment.
08:59So, we brought our friend in that ran the other bar in Austin.
09:03So, he ran the bar.
09:05We named it The Drop-In.
09:06And then we put our burger spot in there.
09:09But what was so unique about this spot is it had this downstairs space that you can reach through, like,
09:18a little slide in the door.
09:21You can open up the wall.
09:22And there was a door.
09:23And it took you down, like, these 15 stairs or something.
09:26And there was a spot in the basement in which Philip wanted to put his sushi spot.
09:31Oh, wow.
09:32So, we found the spot to where we could put his sushi spot in the basement.
09:36And then we have our NADC burger upstairs along with a bar.
09:40Wow.
09:41So, that was basically, I mean, realistically, when it comes down to, like, first actual spot, that was the first
09:48actual spot.
09:51Amazing.
09:51And that's right here down the street.
09:53Right down the street.
09:53Yeah, yeah.
09:57Whether you're a global restaurant powerhouse or local independent like us here at Cali BBQ, we all want the same
10:03thing.
10:03Sustainable growth.
10:04And let me tell you, PepsiCo is a partner built to do exactly that.
10:08Help you build a sustainable business.
10:10As operators, we get it.
10:12We know that digital matters.
10:13Online ordering, third-party apps, digital menus, online visibility.
10:18It's a lot.
10:19And it's incredibly hard to prioritize when you're just trying to take care of your kitchen and manage a busy
10:24team.
10:24But a few small digital tweaks can have a massive impact, especially when you have the right team backing you
10:30up.
10:31That's where PepsiCo's Digital Lab stands apart.
10:34This is an in-house team built specifically for restaurant operators.
10:38They use proven media services and AI-backed menu optimization to drive what actually matters.
10:45More guests, smarter digital experiences, and more profitable online orders.
10:50Just look at the numbers from last year alone.
10:52And the absolute best part?
10:53These digital lab services are available completely free to Pepsi restaurant partners of any size.
10:59If you're a Pepsi customer, stop waiting.
11:01Talk to your Pepsi rep today or click the link in the show notes below to learn how to unlock
11:06your growth advantage.
11:08Let's keep that momentum going.
11:13Tell us a little bit about what does storytelling mean to you?
11:17I mean, we started this show.
11:18We built a media company on top of our barbecue business.
11:22We believe deeply in storytelling.
11:23We've never had so many different tools to be able to reach literally people all over the world.
11:27You don't need to build a big audience, but in the beginning, you just have to start.
11:31Bring me back to your beginning, back to the skateboarding days, back when you were learning that you were building
11:37a personal brand along with being a professional skateboarder.
11:39And now the work that you do as a lifestyle creator, the work you do for here as a restaurateur,
11:44the work you do as a father, all of it, it's all blended together.
11:47But talk to me about your philosophies about how you tell your story.
11:50I mean, I think what brings people in to like certain, you know, brands and certain people, right, is just
12:02like people that are organic and real at the end of the day, right?
12:10Um, my whole model, my whole life hasn't been like, I need to do this so I could get attention.
12:17I need to do this to get likes.
12:18I need to do this to get views.
12:20Like I'm, I'm not about that, right?
12:22I'm about just posting what I feel is right to post when I want to post it, representing what I
12:28want to represent when I want to represent it.
12:30And if I truly believe in it and, you know, if you're with it, then you roll with me.
12:36And if you're not with it, then you don't roll with me, you know, and that's just how it's always
12:39been for me.
12:40Um, just living life and just letting it kind of do its own thing and, you know, just letting it
12:46be right.
12:47Um, I think, I think when people are very hungry and they keep going for stuff and it's like, yeah,
12:53some people find that algorithm and they start to get, you know, the, um,
12:59they start to get notice from that algorithm and, and things start coming up.
13:04But for me, it's always just been organic.
13:06It's just, just live and have fun.
13:08Cause it also keeps it fun for me and I'm happy with what I do and I love what I
13:12do.
13:12So I think, you know, just let it flow.
13:16That's like my, my whole idea and thought about, you know, storytelling.
13:21It's like, this is me, this is what's going on.
13:24And, you know, this is what's happening.
13:26Can you tell us, can you tell us about your fitness journey?
13:29I saw a couple of your videos and very inspirational stuff that you've been doing.
13:33Thank you, man.
13:34Um, fitness journey started a while back.
13:38I, I'm a professional skateboarder.
13:40I get injured all the time.
13:42And then every time I get injured, I have to go to physical therapy and I have to go, I
13:45have to train to build all my muscles and everything back up.
13:49Um, so fitness was always around in skateboarding, but none of us would ever talk about the fitness that we
13:55did to skateboard.
13:56We always just thought skateboarding was enough exercise for what we were doing, but realistically it's not enough.
14:03You still have to strength train, you know?
14:06Um, so the last time I got like seriously injured, I mean, I've been injured so many times, but the
14:15last, my, my, um, most recent ACL tear, which was at 28.
14:20Um, ACL tears take like almost about a year to be back to where you left off.
14:27Some people could get back sooner.
14:28Um, but I always found that it took me closer to a year.
14:32I've had two of them to get back to where I was and feel stable.
14:35And like, I'm not going to mess anything up.
14:37Um, I, that was basically like the catalyst that kind of switched everything around for me.
14:45I was either building up to this time.
14:48I was like partying, super heavy skating, not as much.
14:52And then when I got injured, I had to like make a decision to either continue to party and kind
14:59of throw my career away and skate very little here and there, or switch things around and try to be
15:06the best that I can be.
15:07So I basically decided to go to ladder, right?
15:12Choose the way of just bettering myself.
15:15And, um, I just started doing my physical therapy for my recovery and through my physical therapy, I started getting
15:23into fitness and how I can like, you know, really, um, improve and enhance my performance and my health through
15:31fitness and nutrition.
15:32So I started learning about that and taking courses and certifications just to like selfishly for myself because I wanted
15:40to better myself.
15:41But I just wanted to soak in as much knowledge as I possibly could because I figured, you know, I'm
15:4628.
15:47I'm more on the older side of things.
15:50And making me feel bad over here with skateboarding.
15:54I'm 44.
15:55No, no.
15:56Well, I'm 40 now, but, but with skateboarding, you know, it was like skating is kind of like a younger
16:01sport.
16:02Right.
16:02So I'm just like, all right, I'm kind of towards the older side of things.
16:06Like I need to like really get my shit together at this point.
16:10And, um, so I just started focusing on nutrition, fitness, taking certifications, courses, and I just got really into it.
16:18So at the time I, you know, I was partying up to this, so I decided to go sober when
16:23I started to do all this stuff.
16:24And, you know, it just kind of became my new vice.
16:27It became the new thing that I was into.
16:30Um, and then through all those certifications and courses, I was approached by a company, um, called ladder.
16:38And they were like, they were just kind of a startup at that time.
16:42And they're a tech company, um, that had an app and they're like, Hey, do you want to, um, do
16:48you want to coach for ladder?
16:49You know, you've been putting, putting out all your workouts and your nutrition and stuff on Instagram and social media,
16:56because I would just post, like I said, organically, I'm just, this is what I'm doing.
17:00Here it is.
17:00You know, like I know skateboarders.
17:02Yeah.
17:03I know skateboarders haven't been working out, but I work out now and this is what I have to post
17:07today.
17:07You know, like, this is what I'm doing.
17:09Um, so I was approached by ladder and they're, they had an app workout app and they were like, Hey,
17:15do you want to start coaching, um, for our app?
17:18Like it's a partnership.
17:20And at first I was like, Oh, I don't know.
17:23Like I come from skating.
17:24I never really did anything like this.
17:26And then I was like, all right, I'll try it out, you know?
17:29And I've been with them for like six years now or so.
17:34Yeah.
17:35So, um, and the app is like, now it's like one of the top apps, fitness app store is very
17:41cool.
17:42So I, I've been with them from like kind of the beginning where we were just a startup and now
17:45it's like this like monster mega.
17:48They just did like a partnership with like Hillary Duff recently too.
17:52So it's just like a big, it's a beast now.
17:54Did you know that toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada, and UK?
18:03It's an incredible company.
18:04I'm on the toast customer advisory board.
18:06They are proud sponsors of this show, restaurant influencers.
18:09We couldn't do it without their support.
18:11They power our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
18:14If you have questions about toast, if you're thinking about bringing toast on to be your primary technology partner at
18:20your restaurants, please reach out to me.
18:23I'm happy to get a local toast representative to take care of you.
18:26You can reach me at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
18:30Once again, thank you to toast for believing in the power of technology, the power of storytelling, the power of
18:36hospitality.
18:37Back to the show.
18:38One of the things that I'm, we're obsessed with is community, especially in the creator economy for business owners.
18:44So business owners that actually have the courage to speak their truth, to talk about the things they believe in.
18:48You believe in restaurants, you believe in family, you believe in fitness.
18:51Like you're posting about all of these things.
18:53Can you share for our restaurant owner audience and the entrepreneur audience, like especially business owners?
18:59Because for me, it's just, it's so important that yes, you post as the brand, obviously your brand crushes it.
19:04You guys do a great job on social, but like personally, what has it done to help you as you
19:10open up new restaurant locations?
19:12The posting?
19:13Yeah.
19:13The posting on your personal brand.
19:15Yeah.
19:15I mean, I think it just shows a realness, right?
19:19Realness just shows support from my side, shows that I care about what I'm doing.
19:25Yeah.
19:25Right.
19:25And this is my baby.
19:27NADC Burger is my baby.
19:28Well, you can tell because all you have to do is go through the posts and see you showing up
19:33at these places.
19:33Yeah.
19:34You putting in the work, you do it.
19:36It's so much different than in the past when a celebrity would put their name on a restaurant.
19:39Yeah.
19:40And you're like, the celebrity was never at the restaurant.
19:41Like you're a creator, an entrepreneur, somebody that's actually doing the work, laying the foundation and building the team.
19:47I think the difference too is, you know, I didn't just put my name on this.
19:52Yeah.
19:52It was something that me and Phillip created together.
19:55Like we.
19:55We have a double responsibility.
19:56Yeah, we were in the kitchen.
19:58We created this, like those flavors that you taste aren't just from Phillip's fine dining background.
20:05Like it's also from mine.
20:06It's a collaborative effort between both of us.
20:10And this is my baby, you know, like I created the burger 50%.
20:14He created the burger 50%.
20:15We went together in on this and, you know, I feel if you're going to come and support my burger
20:22spot, like it's only right that I come and show up at the openings, pop up at the restaurants.
20:29You know, I'm back there on the grill.
20:31A lot of people walk in and I'm on the grill with, with, with my guys here, with my cooks
20:35here.
20:36Um, and it's just, I feel like it's only right.
20:39Like it's, I can't be at all 13 at one time, but when I'm in town, like I'm definitely stopping
20:46by and I'm definitely going to hang out.
20:48Like, cause these, these are my babies, you know, and it's all mom and pop, right?
20:52It's only me and Phillip are the two owners and that's it.
20:56You know, we haven't had like any investors or anything like that.
21:00Like it's just us.
21:01And we've just have been able to reinvest and create what we've created.
21:06What's the big dream?
21:07I mean, we're talking about a couple, a couple of gentlemen that started a pop-up called Dave's, Dave's hot
21:12chicken that just sold for a billion dollars to Rourke capital.
21:16I mean, anything is possible in the new world that we live on.
21:18But what are your, what are your, what are your guys dreams?
21:20Have you guys even talked about it?
21:21You've just been so busy, like living in the day, living in the present.
21:25I mean, at the end of the day, it's like, I just want to bring an amazing, delicious burger to
21:31the world, you know?
21:32And if I can pop these up wherever I can throughout the States and even beyond the States, right, that
21:39would be awesome.
21:40You know, as long as like people are enjoying and getting like burgers that we are passionate about, every burger,
21:46like we're very passionate about the build, the cook, the ratios from meat to bun to sauce to pickles, all
21:53that stuff.
21:54Like as long as I can spread delicious eats to everyone throughout the world, I'm, I'm happy, you know?
22:00So one thing I did want to ask you about, um, before we started this, I actually wouldn't be here
22:04if it wasn't for our partners at Chow Now.
22:06They put you on the map.
22:07They're like, you know, there's obviously lots of incredible restaurants in Chicago, but we wanted to find a place that
22:12was doing digital hospitality, right?
22:14It's one of our deep theses is as a restaurant, um, as much as we love taking care of people
22:18inside of our stores at Cali barbecue, we also know that people want convenience.
22:22Some people want to order barbecue and take it out.
22:25Some people want to order it delivered to their house.
22:27Um, I ordered, I went on Instagram, went to your app directly from Instagram, went to Chow Now, your online
22:34ordering, ordered the burger, went through the toast system and my burgers are gonna be ready at the end of
22:39this podcast.
22:39Let's go.
22:40Let's go.
22:41So can you tell me why does, do you and Philip, why do you guys pick the tech partners that
22:45you pick?
22:46What's the philosophy behind the relationships that you guys are trying to give for your customers?
22:51I mean, you know, it's all about the customer at the end of the day.
22:54You know, if we can make the, um, ordering process as easy as possible and as, um, you know, just
23:01clean, easy, quick, they can order from wherever they want to order from, um, that then we're happy.
23:08Right.
23:08It's like, like you said, right.
23:10You went on Instagram, you ordered the burger from Instagram.
23:13It's crazy.
23:14It's just amazing.
23:15And it's going to be ready right after this.
23:17So for us, it's like, it's all about the customer at the end of the day and making sure that,
23:22you know, they get the easiest possible way to order their food and they get it as fast as they
23:27can get it without any hiccups and all these different paywalls and all this stuff.
23:31So Chow Now just makes that super easy.
23:33And, you know, I'm super stoked to be working with them.
23:37That's awesome.
23:37Um, one of my favorite parts is going through your personal tech stack.
23:41So are you iPhone or Android?
23:44I'm iPhone.
23:45Uh, what version?
23:46Uh, I don't even know.
23:48When do you, when do you upgrade?
23:50I think it's a 15.
23:51Like when it dies or like when the battery goes low or when you want a camera or like, how
23:55do you pick?
23:56I'm that dude that'll let things ride out for as long as it's working.
24:00Yeah.
24:01Yeah.
24:01If it's where I'm going to do, you know, like I drove a Prius my whole life.
24:06It's like, I'm, and like, I would have continued, I would still be driving my Prius right now if someone
24:13didn't turn into me.
24:14Like, so it's like, I, I, if it gets me from point A to point B, that's all I care
24:21about.
24:21Like, I don't like, I'm sure I could get a different car, right?
24:25But it's like the Prius got me from point A to point B.
24:28So that's what I drive.
24:29My phone still works perfectly fine.
24:32It's not buffering or anything like that.
24:34So I don't know how, what, what, what number it is, but it works.
24:39You know, do you prefer phone calls or text messages?
24:42Uh, texts all day.
24:43Texts all day.
24:43Yeah.
24:44Do you voice to text?
24:45Uh, no, I do not.
24:46Not at all.
24:47No, not in public.
24:48Not at all.
24:49No.
24:49Okay.
24:50Do you leave voicemails?
24:51Uh, no, no.
24:52Do you listen to voicemails?
24:54No.
24:54How many emails do you get a day?
24:56I don't know.
24:57A lot?
24:58Probably.
24:59How many do you enjoy reading?
25:00Uh, I mean, I don't, I'm like a dinosaur when it comes to email.
25:07A dinosaur?
25:08Yeah.
25:08Like, I didn't even know I had to do this till last night.
25:12Well, we appreciate you doing this.
25:13We appreciate you showing up.
25:15My wife was like, didn't I tell you?
25:17Oh yeah, by the way.
25:18She told me last night at like 10 PM right before that.
25:21Well, thank you to your wife for making sure you get here.
25:24It's super, we're super grateful for her to do that.
25:27Um, what's your favorite social app?
25:29Um, well, I mean, probably the latter app for sure.
25:33Okay.
25:34You know, cause my whole, all my clients and everybody's in there.
25:36So they're talking, asking questions, they need some, um, advice on different movements
25:42and stuff like that, nutrition.
25:44So that's fun.
25:45And then probably Instagram right after that, you know, are you using a AI and which, which
25:50app are you using?
25:51Um, every now and again, I'll chat with chat, uh, GPT.
25:56Yep.
25:56Yeah.
25:56Just to see what it, to see what it's up to.
25:58Kind of more so like a S a second pair of eyes that aren't real.
26:03You know what I mean?
26:04Just to see what it thinks and then kind of throw some ideas off of it and then make my
26:09own decision.
26:10Are you using the toast now app?
26:12Um, I'm not currently not on my phone.
26:14You should definitely use it.
26:15I will.
26:16It's insanely good.
26:16I will.
26:17For sure.
26:17Especially with 13 stores.
26:18Like it's insane.
26:19And there's an AI called toast IQ built into the app.
26:22We do get our, I know like obviously my, I I've built a whole back of the house office,
26:30you know, with NADC.
26:31So like, I'm sure all my teams, my team uses it, but I personally, high level, just check
26:38it out as an owner, like any owner that's watching.
26:40If you're, if you're on toast, please download the app and, uh, used to a toast IQ.
26:44Cause it's absolutely, it's insane what they built inside of that.
26:47For sure.
26:47I'll check it out for taking photos or videos.
26:50Um, I mean a combination of both for sure.
26:53Yeah.
26:54Uh, we were recording on Friday all day at Google.
26:57And my question to everyone that was there was, do you remember when you first learned
27:01about Google?
27:03I don't, but I feel like you've had Google your whole life.
27:06I feel like, no, no, no.
27:08I'm 40.
27:09So I think our life, we've gone through so many different tech change.
27:13Yeah.
27:14Like flip phone, flip phone.
27:16Yeah.
27:17Yep.
27:18I did too.
27:18Crazy.
27:19Yeah.
27:19And then the internet, you know, like dial up, all of that, AOL, all of it.
27:25Yeah.
27:25Yeah.
27:26It's wild.
27:26It's insane.
27:27And now we're at, you know, chat GPT and all of the Spotify.
27:30This is like on YouTube.
27:32It's crazy.
27:32It's like, you have to stay so up to date with all this new technology, like all the
27:36time.
27:37Yeah.
27:38What, um, what's the best way for people to keep in touch with you?
27:41IG?
27:42IG is probably the best.
27:44You're posted on TikTok too?
27:44Not necessarily.
27:45I have a TikTok, but I don't really use it as much.
27:48Um, I have a YouTube.
27:49I don't use it as much neither.
27:50Let's start putting some of those videos on YouTube.
27:52Yeah.
27:53Yeah.
27:53That's straight from the Google offices.
27:54For sure.
27:55For AI, for like AI search.
27:56That's any restaurant owner, any personal brand.
27:58YouTube.
27:59YouTube shorts for sure.
28:00Without a doubt.
28:00Yeah.
28:01The shorts have been cool.
28:02Yeah.
28:02You know, you just throw stuff on there.
28:04I'll kind of repost stuff from my Instagram onto my YouTube shorts usually.
28:08Yeah.
28:09That works.
28:09But all that stuff, like social media, create, um, creation is just like, it's a full-time
28:16job.
28:17Yeah.
28:17Like it's like you're on the computer and like having a four-year-old running around in restaurants.
28:22Sometimes it gets a little hard.
28:24Tell me about it.
28:25I don't know how we do it, but somehow we figure out how to make it happen.
28:28You got to have those teams, you know?
28:29You got to have a good team for sure.
28:30Well, thank you for taking the time.
28:32Uh, are you going to help cook some burgers for us?
28:34Yeah, let's do it.
28:35Okay.
28:35Let's do it.
28:36Um, as always, you guys, you can reach out to me at Sean P. Walchef, Instagram, LinkedIn.
28:40Those are the fastest, uh, but we're weirdly available.
28:43We do live shows every Wednesday, every Friday.
28:45It's called Rising Tides Live.
28:46You can go to betheshow.media slash rising tides.
28:49It's a chance for you to be a guest and meet our community.
28:53This has been awesome, man.
28:54Thank you, man.
28:55Congratulations on the story.
28:56I can't wait to see what happens in the next year, two years, three years.
28:59I mean, this is, this seems like just like the groundswell of something really big.
29:03Yeah, man.
29:04Um, you know, hope for the best and let's get it.
29:07Let's, you know, spread delicious burgers around the world and, you know, let's keep
29:10it going.
29:11Let's make it happen.
29:11As always, we appreciate you.
29:13Thanks toast for being the title sponsor of the show.
29:15Please check them out.
29:16And, uh, if you want to switch to toast, go ahead and do it and then send me a DM.
29:20I'll make sure you get taken care of as always guys.
29:22Stay curious, get involved and don't be afraid to ask for help.
29:25We'll catch you next episode.
29:30Thank you for listening.
29:31If you've made it this long, you are part of the community.
29:34You're part of the tribe.
29:35We can't do this alone.
29:36We started, no one was listening.
29:38Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
29:42Please check out our new series called restaurant technology, sub stack.
29:46It's a sub stack newsletter.
29:48It's free.
29:48It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants.
29:51Also go to YouTube and subscribe to Cali barbecue media, Cali BBQ media on YouTube.
29:58We've been putting out a lot of new original content.
30:00Hopefully you guys like that content.
30:02If you want to work with us, go to the show.media.
30:05We show up all over the United States, some international countries.
30:08We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling.
30:12You can reach out to me anytime at Sean P.
30:15Welchef on Instagram.
30:16I'm weirdly available.
30:17Stay curious, get involved.
30:19Don't be afraid to ask for help.
30:20We'll catch you next episode.
30:22We'll catch you next episode.
Comments