With all the tech buzz happening right now, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype. But after attending this year’s National Restaurant Association Show, Shawn Walchef walked away with something deeper: while AI might be the future, storytelling and human connection are what really move the needle.
That’s why on this episode of The Pre-Shift Podcast, we invited Shawn to talk about the power of content, the importance of showing up, and what it really takes to grow your brand in 2025.
Listen to the episode
Meet Shawn Walchef, Founder of Cali BBQ Media
Shawn Walchef is the owner of Cali BBQ in San Diego, along with Cali BBQ Media. He’s been in the restaurant business for over 17 years, and he’s been involved with media for quite a while, too: “We started a media company back in 2017, when no one was listening to our podcast or watching our videos. Now we produce lots of shows, including ones for other tech companies in the restaurant space, and we believe deeply in storytelling.”
Applying education in the restaurant industry
Shawn starts the podcast with some advice from his grandfather: “To stay curious, to get involved, and to ask for help.”
He says, “If you’re watching this, you’re hoping to find something that’s gonna move your business forward. Curiosity is one part of the equation. You actually also have to get involved, so you have to do something with that information.” For example, after reading a self-help book, it’s up to you to apply what you have learned to your day-to-day routine.
He adds, “ Asking for help is a superpower. There’s never been an easier time to reach out to people you admire, people who are creating content, running restaurants, doing the thing that you want to do, and ask them for guidance.”
How Shawn leads by example with knowledge sharing
He explains that getting to the National Restaurant Show was one of the biggest challenges in his career. He knew there were educational sessions he could attend, but he always used money and time as excuses to skip out. But four years ago, he decided to attend for the first time, bringing along three people on his media team.
“ We believed that there were a lot of people that couldn’t go to the show, so we almost thought it was our responsibility to share, through our podcast, through our Cali BBQ Media YouTube channel, all of the things that we were learning for those that couldn’t get out of their restaurant.” And now, four years later, his team of three has become a team of eight.
AI highlights from the NRA show
As for a key takeaway from the show, Shawn answers directly: AI. While he explains that AI is a buzzword in tech—and you can’t interact with any media without encountering it—what he really wanted to learn was how to apply it practically.
One company that stands out to him is Palona.ai. “What they have is voice AI, so AI ordering is part of their suite. But we are working with them to launch Shawn AI—their AI is trained by my podcasts, ironically. […] So instead of being an auto attendant, someone can call the restaurant and actually have a conversation with Shawn AI, and Shawn AI will be able to sell, hopefully better than anybody on our team.”
He explains that the AI can train on any voice learning language model. For those interested, his team will post videos on how it works, how to onboard, and the results they’re seeing from it.
He also gives Toast a shoutout: “Toast has an ad product—this is something I’ve been waiting a long time for Toast to roll out.” Shawn explains that advertising is difficult to run with traditional tools like Google and Meta ads. But with Toast, you can tie what you’re spending on ads to your sales within the platform, which is pretty powerful.
In-person networking > all the tech talk
But after all this tech talk, Shawn summarizes his key learning as networking with others: “The biggest takeaway that I always take away from the show is that humans are at the heart of technology and hospitality, and you cannot underestimate how much deep business development work you can do in person.”
He adds that all the vendors and restaurant operators pay are most likely at the show. “Not only are they there as a logo, but they’re there as a sales force. They’re there as a marketing team. They’re there as an executive team.” So if you want something from them—be it better terms or better pricing—he suggests telling a story as to why you chose them as a vendor.
To add on, “Not only are the vendors there, but other peers and colleagues who have the same struggles that we have are right there next to you. Like you don’t know who you’re gonna see in the hallway. You don’t know who you’re gonna sit next to on the bus. You don’t know who you’re gonna be grabbing coffee with.” And this creates invaluable opportunities to seek advice, like what they might have done differently when opening multiple locations.
Shawn says, “That is the magic of getting outside of your restaurant—having that interaction, having that ability to develop friendships that last forever.”
The importance of storytelling for restaurants
He also highlights how storytelling has come a long way in a short period. While his team was among the first podcasters to attend the show a few years ago, there was a dedicated stage for him and other creators this time. “There are a lot of us that have stories to tell and do a good job with audio, video, words, and images. That’s something that’s extremely powerful because it allows people a seat at a table.”
He adds that many restaurant or business owners believe in a false narrative—they think, “If you build it, they will come.” But Shawn says, “In the modern media world, that is just not true. You need to be a storyteller. You need to be the one who lets people know why they should come buy barbecue from you, how you make your barbecue, why you pick the recipe that you pick, and why you have the smokers that you use.”
Shawn also advises to be the show, not the commercial. He says that many business owners look at the return on investment of social media wrong—while they may want to create a video that directly translates into sales, that’s not how most people consume content. “We do not go to social media to go, ‘I want to get sold to.’”
“Humans don’t want their story interrupted. So if we don’t want our stories interrupted, we should do a better job of storytelling so that people can learn to hear about our story.” He emphasizes that YouTube is a powerful place to create content, but it’s all about putting in the work and finding the right audience. And it’s about playing the long game—one video his team published from a while back is now surfacing on ChatGPT because it answers a specific question people are searching for.
“They’re finding out who Shawn is, who Cali BBQ Media is, what we do—and now, we have actually deep intent. We have somebody who actually we want to be doing business with, finding those videos.”
The power of legacy media for restaurants
He also explains that while he sought legacy media to start, such as features on TV, print, and radio, no one came to tell their story until his team began to tell it themselves. “Once we started telling our story and getting better at making videos on the internet, all of those news producers, all of those reporters, all of those anchors, they started following us on social. And when they thought about something that they wanted to feature on the local news, they would call us.”
He adds, “Don’t just rely on media appearances. Ask the news for the native video.” If you get a feature, you can take the content and repost it to all your own social platforms to remind people once again of your presence as a restaurant.
How to start telling your restaurant story
And his advice for those just kicking off their restaurant content creation journey? “In the beginning, no one’s gonna watch, no one’s gonna listen—but that doesn’t matter.” He explains that it’s not about making one YouTube video but making a thousand. That’s when real growth starts to happen. It also comes down to figuring out what your audience wants to see. “Whatever people want, we’re going to do more of.”
And the first step is just to take out your phone and start. “The takeaway is what I call smartphone storytelling. The answer is quantity plus speed plus consistency will eventually equal quality.” You have to make a lot of bad posts (quickly and consistently) before nailing the process. “The views don’t matter. What matters is the craft of storytelling—the craft of taking your phone out of your pocket and understanding that there’s always a moment, always a time, always something you can promote.”
For reference, here is one of Shawn’s podcast videos from five years ago:
Compare this to his latest podcast video on restaurant financials:
Final remarks & resources
As for some final words of wisdom, Shawn says, “Restaurant businesses, as I know firsthand—it hasn’t gotten any easier in 17 years running […] And what has helped us is learning how to tell our story.” So, if you want to start telling your story today, you’ve taken the first step by listening to (or reading) this podcast—but it’s up to you to apply the learnings.
Jessica Ho, Content Marketing Specialist
Jessica Ho
Content Marketing Specialist
Hi, I'm Jessica, Content Marketing Specialist at 7shifts! I'm writing about all things related to the restaurant industry.
