Digital Hospitality

By Shawn P. Walchef

Digital Hospitality is an interview podcast series that explores the ways successful people have harnessed the power of the Internet and social media. The show is hosted by Cali BBQ Media Founder Shaw... more

4.7

102102 ratings

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about Digital Hospitality:

How many episodes does Digital Hospitality have?

The podcast currently has 608 episodes available.

Digital Hospitality episodes:

January 22, 2026Pitch The Tide – Matt Haselhoff: Founder, CEO of Founder of One Goal Consulting
In this Pitch The Tide session, Matt Haselhoff, founder of One Goal Consulting, breaks down why the restaurant technology ecosystem has become noisy, fragmented, and increasingly hard for operators to navigate. Drawing on decades of experience across restaurant tech and integrations, Matt explains how sales pressure, vendor sprawl, and broken trust have created a confusing buying environment for brands. He introduces One Goal Consulting’s modern “manufacturer’s rep” model, which curates best-in-class, non-competing technology partners and connects operators to the right solutions based on real needs, not sales quotas.

Interview Takeaways:
Clarity Beats More Tech – The problem is not a lack of tools. It is too many of them. Operators do not win by adding more software. They win by simplifying, rationalizing, and choosing technology that actually gets used and drives real outcomes.
Trust Is the Real Platform – In a market flooded with cold emails, demos, and overpromises, progress only happens through trusted relationships. A curated, vendor-agnostic advisor model cuts through the noise and helps operators make decisions based on needs, not sales pressure.
Objective Decisions Replace Gut Feel – The future of restaurant tech buying is not opinions and hype. It is usage data, ROI, and proof. When brands can see what is actually being used and what is not, tech stacks get leaner, cheaper, and far more effective.
Episode Links:
Matt Haselhoff LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-haselhoff-26769678/

One Goal Consulting: https://onegoalconsulting.com/

Cali BBQ Media: https://content.calibbq.media/

Join Our Next Show: https://betheshow.media/rising-tides/

Shawn Walchef on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnpwalche

About Our Sponsors
DAVO:

DAVO automates every step of the sales tax process — from collecting to filing to paying...
Click here to learn more
Marqii:

Marqii is designed to create unforgettable customer experiences...
Click here to learn more
...more
1h 3min
January 21, 2026How S2 Grills Built a Chicago Empire with a “Championship Village”
Andre and Suheir Williams share how S2 Grills grew from a nightclub food concept into a multi-state brand with nine locations and over a million lamb chops sold. They break down what it really takes to scale without drowning in back-office chaos, why sales tax nearly became a monthly nightmare, and how automating it with Davo changed everything. The conversation explores building a “championship village,” keeping a core team intact through rapid growth, and why staying curious, showing up to industry events, and asking for help are essential for any operator who wants to grow the right way.

Interview Takeaways:
Automate the Compliance, Not the Culture – You can’t automate a million lamb chops, but you can automate the tax code. By integrating Davo with Toast, S2 Grills shifted their sales tax to a “set it and forget it” model. This ensures 100% compliance and protects their cash flow daily.
Build Your “Championship Village” – S2 Grills attributes their scale to treating their team like family. By bringing on partners with specific corporate, financial, and event planning expertise, they created a specialized unit that allows the founders to focus on the brand’s vision.
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel – The fastest way to grow is to learn from those who came before you. The S2 founders prioritize networking and attending major industry conferences to find mentors and technology solutions that prevent them from repeating common industry mistakes.
Episode Links:
Watch: Digital Hospitality on YouTube

Listen: Digital Hospitality Podcast

Visit: S2 Grills Online

Toast POS: Try Out Toast

DAVO: Davo Sales Tax Automation

About Our Sponsors
DAVO:

DAVO automates every step of the sales tax process — from collecting to filing to paying...
Click here to learn more
Marqii:

Marqii is designed to create unforgettable customer experiences...
Click here to learn more
...more
10min
January 20, 2026Rising Tides Live: How To Create Memorable Moments
2026 goals took center stage on Rising Tides Live as the community gathered to reflect on the lessons of 2025 and set intentions for the year ahead. With Mike Bisceglia and Elizabeth Doss filling in for Shawn Walchef, operators, creators, technologists, and founders shared stories about growth, resilience, and the power of simply showing up during busy and uncertain seasons. From building new ventures and giving back to local communities to embracing content, connection, and consistency, a clear theme emerged: progress is created through participation. When people share real experiences, support one another, and commit to steady action, a rising tide truly lifts all ships.

Interview Takeaways:
Moments Are Built With Intention: Memorable experiences do not happen by accident. They come from preparation, strong operations, and giving teams the freedom to act when opportunities appear.
Access Creates Stories Worth Sharing: Behind-the-scenes experiences and real process are more compelling than polished marketing. When people are invited into the story, connection and sharing happen naturally.
Consistency Turns Moments Into Reputation: One great experience is not enough. Brands are built by delivering meaningful moments again and again through habits, systems, and culture.
Episode Links:
Cali BBQ Media: https://content.calibbq.media/

Join Our Next Show: https://betheshow.media/rising-tides/

Shawn Walchef on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnpwalchef/

About Our Sponsors
DAVO:

DAVO automates every step of the sales tax process — from collecting to filing to paying...
Click here to learn more
Marqii:

Marqii is designed to create unforgettable customer experiences...
Click here to learn more
...more
1h 1min
January 20, 2026The Day Sam The Cooking Guy Changed My Business
Shawn Walchef’s relationship with Sam The Cooking Guy reveals how mentorship, authenticity, and proximity shape modern influence. Built through real conversations and shared experiences, their connection highlights why being yourself scales further than performing, why relationships matter more than platforms, and why today’s most durable restaurant brands and media companies grow from trust, consistency, and showing up long before the spotlight arrives.

Interview Takeaways:
Authenticity Scales When It’s Lived – Shawn Walchef’s growth as an operator and media founder was shaped by the decision to be the same person on and off camera. Learning from mentors like Sam The Cooking Guy reinforced that trust is built through consistency, not performance, and that authenticity is what makes influence sustainable.
Relationships Create Long-Term Leverage – Walchef’s partnership with Sam The Cooking Guy began long before subscriber counts or brand deals mattered. By investing in real conversations and collaboration early, Walchef built relationships that continued to open doors as both businesses and platforms grew.
Mentorship Accelerates Better Decisions – Honest feedback and shared experience helped Walchef see blind spots around branding, storytelling, and clarity. Guidance from Sam The Cooking Guy proved that the right mentor does more than offer advice, they help operators make bolder, smarter decisions that compound over time.
Episode Links:
Shawn Walchef LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnpwalchef/

Shawn Walchef Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shawnpwalchef/?hl=en

Cali BBQ: https://calibbq.media/

Sam The Cooking Guy: https://www.thecookingguy.com/

Sam The Cooking Guy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/samthecookingguy

About Our Sponsors
DAVO:

DAVO automates every step of the sales tax process — from collecting to filing to paying...
Click here to learn more
Marqii:

Marqii is designed to create unforgettable customer experiences...
Click here to learn more
...more
7min
January 15, 2026Pitch The Tide – Runbin Dong: Founder, CEO of Scale Social
In this Pitch The Tide session, Runbin Dong, CEO and founder of Scale Social, shares how his family’s restaurant roots led him to rethink modern restaurant marketing. Drawing from firsthand operator experience, Runbin explains why authentic customer content consistently outperforms polished ads and influencer campaigns. He introduces Scale Social’s QR-driven platform, which turns everyday guests into brand advocates by capturing real moments in-store, rewarding participation instantly, and amplifying the best content across paid and organic channels. At its core, the platform helps brands close the authenticity gap, drive measurable traffic, and scale genuine customer storytelling without adding operational complexity.

Interview Takeaways:
Authenticity Outperforms Ads – Customers trust real people more than polished campaigns or paid influencers. User-generated content created in the moment consistently drives higher engagement, stronger recall, and better performance than traditional marketing.
Turn Guests Into Growth Engines – Scale happens when everyday customers become active participants in telling a brand’s story. By lowering friction and rewarding participation instantly, operators can transform casual diners into repeat advocates without asking them to be creators.
Brand Safety Meets Local Voice – National brands need consistency, but growth depends on local relevance. Platforms like Scale Social bridge that gap by capturing authentic, location-specific content while maintaining control, quality, and measurable ROI at scale.
Episode Links:
Runbin Dong LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/runbindong/

Scale Social: https://www.getsocialscale.com/

Cali BBQ Media: https://content.calibbq.media/

Join Our Next Show: https://betheshow.media/rising-tides/

Shawn Walchef on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnpwalchef/

About Our Sponsors
DAVO:

DAVO automates every step of the sales tax process — from collecting to filing to paying...
Click here to learn more
Marqii:

Marqii is designed to create unforgettable customer experiences...
Click here to learn more
...more
1h
January 14, 20265 Powerful Secrets From Interviewing Top Hospitality CEOS
Shawn Walchef’s journey building restaurants and media reveals a deeper lesson about how modern leaders grow influence. After years of showing up, asking bigger questions, and learning in public, he began to see the patterns that separate short-term wins from long-term impact. This piece explores why consistency beats breakthroughs, why visibility creates leverage, and why today’s most effective founders are not just building companies, but building their own media.

Interview Takeaways:
Consistency Beats Breakthroughs – The most meaningful opportunities in Walchef’s career came from years of showing up, not single moments of success. Relationships, trust, and credibility are built through steady effort and long-term commitment. Progress compounds when you stay in the game long after most people quit.
Think Bigger. Be Visible Sooner. – Nearly every big conversation started as an unrealistic idea and an uncomfortable ask. Growth favors people who act before they feel ready and share the journey in public. Visibility creates leverage long before titles or scale arrive.
Build Your Own Media – Modern leaders cannot outsource their story. The most influential founders today are building both companies and channels. Content is no longer marketing. It is infrastructure that compounds influence, learning, and opportunity over time.
Episode Links:
Shawn Walchef LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnpwalchef/

Cali BBQ: https://calibbq.media/

Jordan Boesch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-boesch/?originalSubdomain=ca

7Shifts: https://www.linkedin.com/company/7shifts/

Gregg Majewski LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greggmajewski/

Craveworthy Brands: https://www.linkedin.com/company/craveworthy-brands/

Toast: https://pos.toasttab.com/

Troy Hooper LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtroyhooper

About Our Sponsors
DAVO:

DAVO automates every step of the sales tax process — from collecting to filing to paying...
Click here to learn more
Marqii:

Marqii is designed to create unforgettable customer experiences...
Click here to learn more
...more
10min
January 13, 2026Rising Tides Live: 2026 Goals
2026 goals took center stage on Rising Tides Live as the community gathered to reflect on the lessons of 2025 and set intentions for the year ahead. With Mike Bisceglia and Elizabeth Doss filling in for Shawn Walchef, operators, creators, technologists, and founders shared stories about growth, resilience, and the power of simply showing up during busy and uncertain seasons. From building new ventures and giving back to local communities to embracing content, connection, and consistency, a clear theme emerged: progress is created through participation. When people share real experiences, support one another, and commit to steady action, a rising tide truly lifts all ships.

Interview Takeaways:
Progress Comes From Participation – Momentum is not created by waiting for perfect conditions. Operators, creators, and leaders move forward by showing up, contributing to conversations, and engaging with their communities consistently. Growth follows action, not intention.
Consistency Beats Big Swings – The focus for 2026 is steady execution. Small, repeatable actions compound over time and build resilience during uncertain seasons. Sustainable progress comes from routines, not one-time bursts of effort.
Community Creates Leverage – Sharing lessons openly, supporting peers, and building in public strengthens everyone involved. When people invest in each other’s growth, opportunities expand organically and individual wins turn into collective momentum.
Episode Links:
Cali BBQ Media: https://content.calibbq.media/

Join Our Next Show: https://betheshow.media/rising-tides/

Shawn Walchef on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnpwalchef/

About Our Sponsors
DAVO:

DAVO automates every step of the sales tax process — from collecting to filing to paying...
Click here to learn more
Marqii:

Marqii is designed to create unforgettable customer experiences...
Click here to learn more
...more
42min
January 12, 2026Fix Your Schedules, Fix Your Service! Will Stewart Explains the New Rules of Restaurant Labor
Labor scheduling has quietly become one of the most fragile pressure points in restaurant operations. Will Stewart, founder and CEO of rightwork, draws on his experience inside Starbucks to show how labor targets, human behavior, and unpredictable demand collide at the store level. He breaks down why traditional scheduling fails in real-world conditions and how forecasting, labor modeling, and AI-supported tools can help managers build schedules that reflect actual demand while keeping decision-making in human hands.

Interview Takeaways:
Operational Experience Driving Calmer Teams – rightwork was shaped by Will Stewart’s years inside Starbucks, where small labor decisions carried massive consequences at scale. Seeing how schedules, targets, and human behavior collided in real stores formed his belief that hospitality depends on calm operations.
Technology That Supports Human Judgment – Rather than replacing managers with automation, rightwork was built to support how people actually work. Forecasting and labor modeling handle complexity, while AI-assisted scheduling acts as a co-pilot managers can guide and override. The result is better schedules without sacrificing local knowledge or control.
Trust Built Through Better Systems – Labor breaks down when expectations and reality drift apart. rightwork creates shared visibility between leadership and store teams by grounding labor targets in data and operational context. When systems are clear, managers stop guessing, teams operate with consistency, and hospitality improves naturally.
Episode Links:
Will Stewart LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-stewart-23339b66/

rightwork: https://right.work/

rightwork LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rightwork-inc/

About Our Sponsors
DAVO:

DAVO automates every step of the sales tax process — from collecting to filing to paying...
Click here to learn more
Marqii:

Marqii is designed to create unforgettable customer experiences...
Click here to learn more
...more
49min
January 07, 20263 Mistakes My Media Company Wont Make Again
Shawn Walchef shares the hard lessons learned while scaling a modern media company from passion project to profitable business. After years of creating content without revenue, growth came through hiring sooner, reevaluating technology constantly, and expanding beyond a single show. The story reframes media as an operating business, not a hobby, showing how people, systems, and multiple products create leverage. The result is a practical blueprint for creators ready to turn consistency into momentum.

Interview Takeaways:
Hire Before You’re Ready – Waiting to build a team slows everything. The moment experienced people are brought in, output accelerates, quality improves, and founders regain focus. Hiring is not a cost. It is the lever that turns effort into scale.
Your Tech Stack Is a Growth Decision – Tools are not neutral. Outdated systems, long contracts, and delayed adoption quietly cap distribution and revenue. Modern media demands constant reevaluation across audio, video, and written content to stay flexible as platforms and behavior change.
More Products Create More Revenue – A single show limits sales conversations. Launching a second product forces clarity, expands inventory, and stretches the team in productive ways. Like a strong menu, multiple offerings turn attention into sustainable income.
Episode Links:
Shawn Walchef LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnpwalchef/

Cali BBQ: https://calibbq.media/

About Our Sponsors
DAVO:

DAVO automates every step of the sales tax process — from collecting to filing to paying...
Click here to learn more
Marqii:

Marqii is designed to create unforgettable customer experiences...
Click here to learn more
...more
7min
January 05, 2026The Thinking That Turns Busy Restaurants Into Profitable Ones
Shawn Walchef sits down with Roger Beaudoin, founder of Restaurant Rockstars, to explore where real profit is hiding inside restaurant operations. Drawing on decades as an operator, Roger shares why menu engineering is often the biggest financial lever owners ignore, and how tightening profit spreads can unlock meaningful gains without raising prices. The conversation moves through leadership versus management, empowering teams to think like owners, and building loyalty through recurring revenue ideas that actually work.

Interview Takeaways:
Menu Engineering Unlocks Hidden Profit – Many restaurants lose money because menus are built around habit, not contribution. When profit spreads within each category are tightened, operators can dramatically improve margins without raising prices or changing the guest experience.
Empowerment Builds Better Hospitality – Teams perform best when they are trusted with responsibility and incentives. Empowered employees think like owners, sell with intention, and create stronger guest experiences that drive loyalty and revenue.
Systems Create Operator Freedom – Clear systems around training, salesmanship, and profitability reduce burnout and dependence on the owner. When the business runs with structure and accountability, operators gain leverage, time, and a more sustainable path forward.
Episode Links:
Roger Beaudoin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-beaudoin/

Restaurant Rockstars: https://restaurantrockstars.com/

The Restaurant Rockstar Podcast: https://restaurantrockstars.com/podcasts/

About Our Sponsors
DAVO:

DAVO automates every step of the sales tax process — from collecting to filing to paying...
Click here to learn more
Marqii:

Marqii is designed to create unforgettable customer experiences...
Click here to learn more
...more
44min

FAQs about Digital Hospitality:

How many episodes does Digital Hospitality have?

The podcast currently has 608 episodes available.