Sebastien Centner is the founder of Eatertainment, a hospitality company known for executing high-end events. After stumbling into catering, he built the company on what he calls the 5 Percent Rule. Today, he leads one of Canada’s top catering brands alongside his wife Sheila.
Watch now to learn about the 5 Percent Rule, the creative partnership with his wife, and delivering more than what’s on paper.
Watch now to learn about the 5 Percent Rule, the creative partnership with his wife, and delivering more than what’s on paper.
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00:00You've been doing this for seven years, every week?
00:01I haven't even given you the two per week.
00:03The best advice I could is don't start one podcast, start two.
00:06Start two, okay? Fantastic.
00:12He also has a twin brother.
00:18I have a brother?
00:24Welcome to Restaurant Influencers, presented by Entrepreneur.
00:27I'm your host, Sean Walchef. This is a Cali BBQ Media production.
00:31We are live at CaterSource in Fort Lauderdale.
00:34And our mission, as always, is to find the best storytellers in hospitality.
00:39Wow.
00:40High expectations.
00:42You came highly recommended.
00:43Oh, God.
00:44Top of the recommendation. Really?
00:45Yes.
00:46Wow.
00:46This can't be a very long list.
00:48It's not.
00:48It's a very long list.
00:49It's a very short list, but you were at the top of it.
00:52Oh, well, thank you.
00:52And this is a big show.
00:54Deuce Raymond, he and I are speaking later today.
00:57He invited me to this show.
00:58He's been participating for multiple years.
01:01Phenomenal caterer.
01:02But nonetheless, I'm excited to have a conversation about Eatertainment.
01:06Well, great.
01:06And I'm now a little bit nervous.
01:08Like, you've set that bar really high.
01:10I can hopefully meet it.
01:11Sebastian, welcome to the show.
01:13In life, in the restaurant and catering business, we learn through lessons and stories.
01:18Can you please tell me where in the world is your favorite stadium, stage or venue?
01:23Stadium, stage or venue.
01:27Okay, well, I'm not going to do a shameless plug and mention one of my venues because that
01:30would be not cool.
01:31I'll tell you honestly, my son is a Philadelphia Eagles fan.
01:35And he ended up an Eagles fan because his nanny gave him a jersey that had number five
01:40on it because that was his birthday without knowing the sport or anything like that.
01:43So our whole family is now a little bit obsessed.
01:45Okay.
01:46He's 26 years old.
01:47If they win or lose at the Super Bowl, he was going to cry and he did.
01:51But going to the stadium in Philadelphia has got to be one of the coolest things we ever
01:55did.
01:56And I just absolutely love that stadium because there's so much energy.
01:59There's so much hype.
02:00But also how they've done that, how they built that entire area.
02:02So they've got literally three stadiums.
02:04They've got the bar in the center, which I forget the name of.
02:06That's this massive sports bar.
02:07It's just really well done.
02:08And the energy that you get there is fantastic.
02:11So that's my favorite stadium in the world.
02:12Perfect.
02:13But again, I'm a little bit personal because I'm there with my kids and we like the Eagles.
02:17Fair enough for me.
02:18Go Birds.
02:18We're going to go Birds.
02:19We're going to go to Philadelphia Stadium.
02:21We're going to talk to Informa.
02:23We'll talk to Toast.
02:24Thank you, Toast, for sponsoring this content, for believing in storytelling so that we can
02:28have conversations like that.
02:29But we're going to rent out the entire stadium and put on a worldwide conference.
02:33I'm going to put you on the 50-yard line.
02:34I love it.
02:35Sebastian, here's the mic.
02:37Tell me about the 5%.
02:39The 5%.
02:41Well, you kind of have to come to my session for that, right?
02:42This is behind the scenes.
02:44This is why people come to the show.
02:46All right.
02:46So you know what?
02:47The 5%.
02:47I'm a big, big, big believer in the fact that, look, in our industry, there's things
02:52that people just expect.
02:53They expect, you know, if it's hot food, it's going to be hot.
02:56The food's going to be good.
02:56Like, you know, sell your catering services and not have a client who expects it to be
03:00good.
03:00They expect you to show up on time.
03:01They expect you.
03:02All these things are expectations.
03:03But that's the foundation.
03:05Yes.
03:05What I really believe strongly is that that last 5%, and maybe it's, you know, 10%, 15%, it's more
03:10of a concept.
03:11That's what makes us stand out.
03:12And I look at that as being the biggest advantage we have over our competitors.
03:17And it could be little things.
03:18It could be, you know, responding to an email more quickly, setting out a proposal that doesn't
03:22have typos in it, being more accurate in, you know, how you take the information from
03:26the client and put that into a proposal.
03:27All those little things.
03:28Then executing the event, going out of your way to deliver that extra 5%, I believe is
03:34the best advantage we have to build our businesses.
03:36And you know how competitive this business is.
03:38Yes.
03:38Right.
03:38Everybody is competing on price, these things.
03:41So the clients that we've managed to retain the longest, they know we will bend over backwards
03:47and we will make sure every last detail is organized.
03:49We don't always achieve 100%.
03:51Probably more times than not, we don't.
03:53But we're always striving for that extra 5%.
03:55And I think the clients really appreciate it.
03:57And I think it's made a huge difference in our business.
03:59Do you remember a story of when you first founded Eatertainment, your first client?
04:05Yeah.
04:06You're taking all my content from my last 5%, but let's do it.
04:09That's my job as a host, is to ask the good questions.
04:12It's great questions.
04:12For the audience, for the people listening, for the people out there.
04:14I feel like Kathleen sent you my presentation ahead of time.
04:17I'm just good with digital research.
04:19All right.
04:19Good for you.
04:19You are really good.
04:21And you said a podcast was easy.
04:22It is.
04:23You've done your research.
04:23You're going to have a show.
04:24We're breaking news here.
04:25Sebastian is launching his show in 2025.
04:28Yeah, exactly.
04:29There you go.
04:29Now I don't have a choice.
04:31Now it's on record.
04:31I'm an entrepreneur.
04:32Next week, right?
04:33Yes, next week.
04:33Okay, perfect.
04:34Whenever this gets published, you get a little lag time.
04:36Perfect.
04:38So interestingly, I kind of fell into the catering business.
04:41Okay.
04:41So my parents were both economists.
04:44Nothing to do with hospitality, but my mom was French and she loved hosting.
04:47She loved it.
04:48There was always people in our home, my dinners, cocktail parties, all the time.
04:52And when they moved to Canada together from Paris, when my mom and dad met there, my mom
04:57was sort of like, they were doing some work with university and this, that, the other.
05:01They kind of retired, selling their company to a public company.
05:04Frankly, they should have just stayed there.
05:06And I'd probably be sitting on a beach as a trust fund kid somewhere instead of in the
05:09catering business.
05:10I doubt that.
05:11It's in your DNA.
05:12Right.
05:12And then they sort of fell into the restaurant business.
05:15And for me, I never really loved the restaurant business, to be honest.
05:19It's a grind, but it's also kind of like, I remember when I was much younger, back when
05:23we like had, you know, tapes that we'd play.
05:25It's like, oh, if Atlanta Miles came on and it was like Black Velvet or whatever, oh, it
05:28was two o'clock.
05:29I have four more hours left in my shift.
05:31But what I loved about the event business and why I got into it is it's always different.
05:35Yes.
05:35But I'll tell you something.
05:36When we were in the restaurant business and we went to get into the catering business,
05:39it kind of happened in a weird way.
05:41We had a regular client.
05:42We had all these restaurants.
05:43We ran hotels at the time and we had a regular at our bar who was like, hey, my daughter's
05:49getting engaged.
05:49Do you think you can do her engagement party at our house?
05:51And I was like, I got chefs, I got servers, I got booze, I got glasses, I got food.
05:57Of course not.
05:58Yeah.
05:59It can't be that hard.
05:59No problem.
06:00Yeah.
06:01What an unmitigated.
06:02I don't think I can swear on the show, but what a fucking disaster.
06:05Like absolutely.
06:06You can bleep that out.
06:07But it was a disaster.
06:08When I talk about the 5% in my session, I actually say like, if we delivered 50% of
06:14the client's expectations, I think that might be an exaggeration.
06:18I realized right then and there that this business was something you just had to really
06:23organize well.
06:24And in the first year we did 20 events and literally I learned from event to event to
06:27event.
06:27I did a less and less shitty job each time.
06:31And 20 years later, we do a thousand events a year, but I still remember-
06:34A thousand events a year?
06:35Just over a thousand a year in Canada.
06:37And then we do some international stuff as well, but, and that's everything from like
06:4010 people to 4,000, but it's, it's all over the place.
06:43But I learned that whatever that, you know, event that we're in, you really have to think
06:49of every last detail and put the effort into it and really not cut any corners because
06:54we're planning to deliver that extra 5%.
06:56And I always say that we can deliver the 5%, but only if we've already planned out the
07:01first 95, because then it gives us time.
07:03Like if I'm scrambling, cause I didn't check my rental list and I'm short, you know, four
07:07chafers cause I didn't do the math or I, whatever those things might be.
07:09Well, I'm going to be dealing with that the day of the event.
07:12I don't have time to deal with extra things that come up.
07:15If you plan all that extra stuff, then you have time to deal with the extra things that
07:19come up the, you know, the curve balls that we get in this business.
07:21And that's where you deliver the 5% extra.
07:23And I believe it builds this rapport with your clients.
07:26They trust you, you know, you take the worry out of it and that really builds the foundation
07:30of a great, great, great relationship.
07:31Bring us inside the catering business, the financial side.
07:34What can somebody that's actually listening to this that wants, we have lots of restauranteurs
07:38that listen to this show.
07:39Catering obviously is a completely different business.
07:42It's, it's adjunct to the restaurant business, but it is a different business.
07:46Tell me about the financial side of, of, of the catering side.
07:49All right.
07:49So, so I'm not in the restaurant business anymore.
07:52Thankfully.
07:53Thankfully.
07:54And I'll tell you why, because listen, I have so much passion for hospitality and love
07:58restaurants.
07:58And some of my best friends are really, really successful restauranteurs, but here's where
08:02the economics, I don't understand anymore.
08:04Yes.
08:05Right.
08:05You're paying sky high rents.
08:06Yes.
08:06Just the new world, right?
08:08Food costs never been higher.
08:09Labor costs never been higher.
08:10You have all this risk associated with it, which comes in catering too.
08:13But then what do you do?
08:15You stock your fridges with product that's going to perish.
08:17Yes.
08:18You bring all your staff in and you're paying them whether they're there or not.
08:21And then you pray to God people are going to show up.
08:23And yeah, of course they make reservations, they this, that, the other.
08:25But you know, if it's a Saturday night and it happens to be the NBA finals, then there
08:30goes your Saturday night.
08:31In Toronto, if it's a snowstorm and you had a full, you know, room booked and everybody
08:36decides to cancel, yeah, you're done.
08:37In the catering world, I mean, you know how many people are coming.
08:42Yes.
08:42You generally know what they're eating.
08:44Yes.
08:44And if you're smart, you're paying in advance or mostly paying in advance.
08:47So at least if one of those things happens, you're in a position that you can, you know,
08:52at least mitigate some of your losses on it.
08:54Right?
08:54I might go to a client if there's a snowstorm and say, look, we got to cancel the event.
08:57You know, the morning I will say, okay, where can we save the money?
09:00But they also know that, you know, the food's cooked.
09:02So let's donate it somewhere.
09:04Let's find some, you know, ways to do that.
09:06But that's what I love about the catering business.
09:08Now, the challenge with the catering business is that you have to reinvent yourself constantly.
09:12Right?
09:12So we're always looking for, unlike a restaurant, you design your menu.
09:15It's seasonal or annual or biannual or whatever it might be.
09:19But in the catering business, we're constantly, every day, it's something different.
09:22Right?
09:22And it's like being on an island, like, you know, the restaurant business.
09:24If I run out of ribs on the menu, you 86 ribs for the night.
09:28People order a burger instead or they order chicken or whatever else.
09:31If I show up to an event and I had a chef who worked for me, I'm not going to name him.
09:36He doesn't work for me anymore.
09:37But he was our executive chef when we first started in the catering business.
09:40And he came from a restaurant background.
09:41Yeah.
09:42And he had to tell.
09:43I'd be at an event.
09:44It was one of this, you know, first 50, the first, you know, two or three years.
09:47We're doing 50 events here or whatever else.
09:48And I'd look at him.
09:49I'd say, I almost used his name.
09:51But I'd say, hey, we got the vegetarian meals.
09:55Right?
09:55And you'd go like this.
09:56You'd go, yeah.
09:57And I was like, damn, we don't have a vegetarian meal.
10:01We definitely don't.
10:02Where's the closest grocery store?
10:03And you did.
10:03But I mean, it's just not.
10:05They won't notice, though, the vegetarians.
10:07Oh, back then they didn't notice.
10:09Back then they didn't notice.
10:10Why is it that everybody else is getting a fillet with potatoes and vegetables and I'm
10:12getting potato and vegetables, no fillet?
10:14Well, back then you can maybe pull it off.
10:16Yeah.
10:16But I mean, nowadays, I would say 60 to 70% of our menus are special dietary.
10:21Wow.
10:21Really?
10:22Yeah.
10:22And plant-based is massive.
10:24Wow.
10:24But what the good news about that is that we have so many options nowadays, you know,
10:28to do gluten-free two or three years ago, there weren't a lot of great options.
10:32Now there's so many ingredients, so many products that, you know, some of the, I'm a big carnival.
10:36I love my meat.
10:37I love my potatoes, whatever else.
10:39My guys make a vegan mini burger.
10:41Yes.
10:42That I swear to God is better than the real thing.
10:43And that's coming from me.
10:45My wife was watching this.
10:46She'd be like, impossible.
10:47Yeah.
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11:29Share a little bit about the marketing side of catering.
11:32What have you learned?
11:33Lessons learned.
11:34Lessons learned.
11:35So one of the first lessons I learned a long time ago was we got into PR really early,
11:42way earlier than a lot of our competitors.
11:43And what we did there is we started to say like, you know, if you want to get press for
11:48your business, you're not going to get it by, you know, calling up the local magazine
11:51and say, hey, guess what?
11:52I got this really great new pasta or burger or whatever else, right?
11:56Etc.
11:56You're not going to do that.
11:57The way you're going to do it is you're going to get on their radar for when, you know,
12:01they have a breaking story that, you know, it's Super Bowl and Philadelphia is in it
12:05and they want to call somebody up and say, hey, what's, can you come on and talk about,
12:08you know, Philadelphia themed food?
12:10You want them to call you.
12:11So becoming a resource that way was really important to us early.
12:15And, you know, it led to, you know, the TV stuff we've done, our book, all those sorts
12:19of things.
12:20But more than anything, it's built our brand.
12:22Yes.
12:22And a lot of people wondered when we first did it, they're like, well, you know, you're
12:25giving away your recipes, you know, you're giving away all your ideas, whatever else.
12:28I'm like, if somebody, if one of our competitors has to use that to compete with us, I'm already
12:34so far ahead.
12:35It's too late.
12:35Exactly.
12:36Yeah.
12:36So, and I love, I mean, I love marketing.
12:38It's changed so much now.
12:40I mean, now it's gone all video.
12:41We just redid our website for, you know, the second time in four years or something like
12:45that.
12:45So it's mostly video based.
12:46We have a full-time video editor in-house now that does basically captures every one
12:52of our events and then turns them into some sort of video content.
12:55And, you know, that's another thing we did.
12:57Big investment, obviously big commitment, but we ended up doing two things.
13:01One is now we can create all this video content.
13:03That's so key.
13:03But the second thing is we've been able to take that video content and do mini reels for
13:07our clients that they normally would never be able to afford.
13:10So that last 5%, you know, you finish your event the next day, you might get my invoice,
13:16but you also get a link to all the photos we took and you get a link to a little video
13:21we did.
13:21And that has a lot of value.
13:23No, it's, I mean, it's something that we've talked about.
13:25Obviously we built a media company on top of our restaurant company, but every time that
13:29we put on an event, Spring Valley Tailgate and Barbecue Festival, it was an amateur barbecue
13:33podcast in front of our restaurant, shut down the entire street, a couple thousand people,
13:37you know, amateur barbecue teams, local caterers, local food truck operators.
13:42But one of the things that we learned was how valuable content was, how valuable video
13:47was, not just for us as the event organizers, but for the participants.
13:51Yeah.
13:51To your point of adding the link of like, what's the value add that you can give to your
13:55clients in a day and age where a lot of people want to do it.
13:59They know they need to do it.
14:00Yeah.
14:01But they don't know how.
14:02They don't know how.
14:02Yeah.
14:03You know, it's tough.
14:03And I mean, we've heavily invested in our marketing and social media and video and photography
14:08content and our databases, you know, we have 40,000 photos in our database.
14:13And every year we're probably adding these days, we're probably adding another 6,000 or 8,000
14:17or something like that.
14:18It's grown so quickly.
14:19Not everybody can do that.
14:20Correct.
14:21But you know what?
14:21It doesn't, if you're a small catering company, get your niece to come in and go to a couple
14:27of the events and take, I mean, God knows she probably takes better pictures than 90%
14:30of the media professionals out there.
14:32Yeah.
14:32She understands social media.
14:34Whatever you're doing, start to do it because there's just no easy way to start.
14:39And we know it's consistency.
14:40Like you talk about your podcast, like, and you know, my fears around, can you doing it
14:44every week, right?
14:45You've been doing this for seven years every week.
14:46I haven't even given you the two per week.
14:48It took five years.
14:50We had a podcast and it was until we launched this actual show, restaurant influencers till
14:54we actually started to get traction.
14:55So if I have, if anyone's listening, the best advice I could is don't start one podcast,
14:59start two.
15:00Start two.
15:00Oh, great.
15:01Fantastic.
15:02Fantastic.
15:02Well, it's the learning curve, right?
15:04Yeah, I guess so.
15:05I mean, how many events does it take, right?
15:06To learn how to be a good caterer?
15:08Yeah, you're right.
15:09It's not less.
15:09You're right.
15:09No, you're right.
15:10You're right.
15:10The answer is not less.
15:10Yeah.
15:10You just have me terrified now.
15:13The answer is not less.
15:14I so badly want to do this because I've, I've had so much fun being on podcasts.
15:18I really love the fact that they're natural.
15:19They're authentic.
15:20Yes.
15:20How much prep did we do?
15:21Did you go through my prep questions?
15:23I watch, as I told you, I'll watch a couple of your podcasts because I felt like, okay,
15:27I want, and first now I'm watching them.
15:29So I'm, I'm hooked.
15:30Video.
15:30Yeah.
15:30A hundred percent.
15:31And, um, but in terms of prep, I tried not to do too much, to be honest.
15:35I've obviously did less than you because you've already read my presentation, but I, because
15:40I don't want it to feel, um, inauthentic.
15:43Yes.
15:43Like hit me with whatever question and I'll answer it.
15:45And it's funny when we do TV work.
15:47Yes.
15:47I love live TV.
15:48Yes.
15:49Live TV is the best pre-recorded.
15:51I don't like as much because live TV, you get that authentic moment.
15:54Correct.
15:55Like I might, I remember doing something on TV once and I, I literally was, I think I was
15:59preparing something and I had a drill.
16:00I don't know why I had a drill for it, but I was like drilling holes in coconuts or something
16:03like that.
16:03And it literally slipped and I kind of just gave myself a little neck and here I'm bleeding
16:07on set, just trying to hide it a little bit.
16:08Like, yeah, we're all good.
16:09It's not a big deal.
16:10But it made great TV.
16:11Great TV.
16:12Yeah.
16:12We got a thousand comments afterwards saying, yes, did you go to the hospital afterwards?
16:15Great.
16:15Fantastic.
16:16But it was real authentic.
16:17And that's what I really love about, you know, this forum and, and thanks for having me on
16:21it.
16:21Of course.
16:22Amazing.
16:22Let's talk about TV because obviously the, the biggest TV show in the world, the biggest TV
16:28channel in the world is YouTube.
16:30Yeah.
16:31And that's why we do this show.
16:32We talk to the best storytellers on earth.
16:34We hope that anybody that's watching this, if you own a restaurant, if you're in a catering
16:38company, if you're in the hospitality business that you invest, you actually have everything
16:42that you need.
16:42You have a smartphone, so you don't need to have fancy cameras, an entire team.
16:46You can get there baby steps.
16:48Yeah.
16:48But for you, when you look at storytelling, what is your plan for 2025 and beyond?
16:54Uh, great question.
16:55So it is YouTube.
16:57It is Tik TOK.
16:58I mean, Tik TOK blowing up and it's interesting because I mean, I don't understand Tik TOK.
17:03You don't need to, it's just video.
17:05Well, nobody needs to understand it.
17:06Maybe, but you sort of have to, but there are certain things about Tik TOK.
17:08For example, like my team's always saying like that you don't want to give it away.
17:13Like most of the TV stuff that we do is saying, Hey, I'm Sebastian Centner.
17:16We're going to talk to you today about blah, blah, blah.
17:18No intro.
17:18No intro.
17:19Cold, cold, cold, open.
17:20Exactly.
17:20Cold, open.
17:21Get to the, get to the meat.
17:23Like, you know, yeah, exactly the entree, pizza with ice cream on it, but you got them
17:28right.
17:28And then they'll just follow you into it.
17:30That's correct.
17:30So we are getting right.
17:31Your team is absolutely correct.
17:32And we're learning about it and stuff.
17:34So we're trying to lean more into that.
17:36Um, my wife, Sheila, who, who heads up our content with our director of marketing, Victoria,
17:40she's really the one who pushes on the content side.
17:43So she produces a lot of content for our seven Sheila website and our, and our, um, Instagram
17:47and stuff.
17:48And she's really pushing all that kind of stuff to be frank.
17:51She didn't do it before I was the one, the TV guy.
17:53Yeah.
17:53And then she'd come on with me once in a while.
17:55And I remember the producers being like, you know, she's really good.
17:58Yeah.
17:58And I'm like, yeah, she's way better than me.
18:00Of course, she's prettier.
18:02Right.
18:03And, um, but she's doing a lot of that with our team and I'm sort of focusing a little
18:06bit more on sort of, you know, uh, the business side of it, which is, I realize I've been
18:12given so much in this industry and I love to share.
18:15And all the people that came before us who did share ideas with us, who we wouldn't
18:18be here without them.
18:19I kind of owe that to the next generation coming.
18:22That sounds really old to say that, but I also believe that it's probably the best thing
18:26for our brand because that's what I do.
18:29Yeah.
18:29Right.
18:29And as much as I love the, you know, Superbowl themed stuff and whatever else I've done so
18:34much of that on TV, et cetera, to be honest, my wife's better at it.
18:38Yeah.
18:38And so now when we do it together, it's got a different dynamic.
18:41For sure.
18:41Plus there's something called dual demographic programming.
18:43You ever heard of this term?
18:45No, tell me more.
18:45Okay.
18:46Dual demographic.
18:46I learned this from the TV world.
18:48That's why we, that's why we bring experts on the show.
18:49You know, Brian and Sarah?
18:50No, tell me about Brian.
18:51Brian and Sarah, um, uh, Brian, Island of Brian, the T, the renovation shows, et cetera.
18:56Brian and Sarah Balmer, good friends of ours.
18:58Um, amazing people, lovely people.
19:00What started out with Brian and then the TV networks all of a sudden thought, well, yeah,
19:04you know, there's the, you know, the 35 year old to 50 year old housewife loves to look
19:08at Brian, whatever else, but her husband on is sitting on the couch being like, can we switch
19:11this?
19:11Yeah.
19:12So what do you do?
19:13His wife is pretty.
19:14Let's put her on the show.
19:16Now all of a sudden the husbands, they're like, yeah, let's watch Brian and Sarah.
19:19That dual demographic programming is a big deal.
19:22So you might need a female co-host once in a while.
19:24My wife, she's been a co-host.
19:25Oh, okay.
19:26I didn't know that.
19:26That's great.
19:26Perfect.
19:27There we go.
19:27Every business is a family business.
19:29Yeah, but that's great.
19:29And that's what, but that's the whole thing is that now all of a sudden it's, you're opening
19:32it to a bigger audience.
19:33Yes.
19:33It's, it's just more relatable.
19:35A hundred percent.
19:36And it's a different perspective.
19:37A hundred percent.
19:37Yeah.
19:37The only problem is, is that I don't know about you, but as soon as I bring my wife onto something,
19:41you might as well just turn off my mic and let her go because yeah.
19:45Yeah.
19:45No, I know my wife's Eastern European.
19:47So yeah, no problem.
19:48Once, once she's on camera, it's, it's, it's go time.
19:51All right.
19:51Awesome.
19:51Yeah.
19:52So tell me about the dynamics of working with your wife.
19:55So intimately.
19:56So, um, I mean, we've been married just, it'll be 30 years this August.
20:00Thank you very much.
20:0130 years is amazing.
20:0230 years.
20:02And we met, I don't know, again, this is an X-rated story, but, um, we, no, we met,
20:10we lived in both and lived in Toronto.
20:12We had a chance to meet a lot of times, never met.
20:13We just sort of crossed paths, but never met in person.
20:17When I did meet her, we met, she moved in within a week.
20:21We were engaged within a month and we were married within the year.
20:23Wow.
20:24Yeah.
20:24And she saw my dad naked on our first date.
20:26Come on.
20:27Yeah.
20:28I don't know.
20:28Again, you might want to bleep that one out, but no, we're not bleep.
20:31We don't bleep anything out.
20:32That's all the good stories.
20:33It was accidental.
20:33Yeah.
20:34Um, but no, but we've, we've built our entire relationship on being best friends.
20:38Yeah.
20:38And you know, one of the things I talked about actually in the 5% talk that I've got coming
20:43up later is that often in our business, we get pulled into the weeds.
20:46Yeah.
20:47It's sort of like, I got 30 events going on next week.
20:50I've got this problem.
20:50I got that problem.
20:51I have this challenge.
20:52I'm crazy busy.
20:53And there's always a reason to put it aside, innovation or whatever else.
20:57And my wife's the one who is sort of like, Hey, I'm sick of seeing your matcha green tea,
21:04mini burgers, whatever else.
21:05Like if I see another one of those, like, and I'm like, what are you talking about?
21:07Everybody loves them.
21:08And then I think about it and she's, she's right.
21:10We've been doing it for like six months.
21:11We've got to get rid of it.
21:12Or she'll be someone who says, Hey, I saw this.
21:15I think it's a really cool idea.
21:16You should do this.
21:17And of course my initial reaction is no, we can't do it.
21:19Here's the 20 reasons why operationally it doesn't work.
21:22But what I realized very quickly, usually within minutes, I admit it usually within a few days
21:27is she's probably right.
21:28Yes.
21:29And that's where the dynamic works really well.
21:30We have a lot of respect for each other.
21:32So she is my biggest critic and she's my biggest fan all in one.
21:37And I feel the same way for her.
21:38And because of that, we've been able to really work together for a successful marriage and a successful business.
21:44And, you know, hopefully we pass it on to our kids.
21:46And, you know, one of the things I love, I'm so proud of is we have 26 and 23 year olds.
21:52And our boys will often, we'll call them and I'm like, what are you guys doing this week?
21:55And they say, Oh, we're going to host a dinner party.
21:57We've got some friends coming over.
21:58We're going to do this.
21:59I'm like, so we've passed something on to them.
22:01They're doing it.
22:02I love that.
22:02Did they work for you guys?
22:04They each worked for us for a short enough period of time to make sure they found another
22:09business to be in.
22:10Really?
22:10Yeah.
22:11So my older one's a lawyer.
22:12My older one's a lawyer in Miami.
22:13The younger one works for the Marlins, but the younger one, we put him peeling potatoes
22:18and finishing creme brulees.
22:21So he would burn himself and cut himself.
22:22Peeling the potatoes.
22:24And our older one, we gave him two of the worst jobs.
22:26His job was to clean the staff change room at the restaurant.
22:30Yes.
22:31Worst job in the entire world.
22:32For sure.
22:32And the other job was to help our delivery drivers on the road.
22:36Okay.
22:36And that's where he learned that most of them have no idea where they're going sometimes.
22:39Right.
22:39And so we gave them jobs that were like, now you know how hard we work.
22:44Yes.
22:44So now go try and do something different.
22:46If you want to end up being in this business, 100% will support you.
22:49But they both chose different businesses and, you know, it's great.
22:53It's fantastic.
22:53And I got an amazing team that I work with at Eatertainment that really gives me the flexibility
22:58to do all these kind of things in terms of creativity, in terms of some of the, you
23:01know, the book project and the TV stuff and everything that gives me an amazing amount
23:07of confidence as to where we're going in the future.
23:09And, you know, that comes with a lot of time of having the trust of being able to pass
23:13stuff off and take a step back and say, okay, might not get done my way exactly, but
23:17it's going to be great.
23:18What are some of the top technology tools that you run to run your catering business?
23:23Um, so great question.
23:25First of all, technology has just changed so much.
23:27Yes.
23:28So there's some stuff like, for example, we built our own catering management software.
23:31Beautiful.
23:32Um, there's a couple of ones.
23:33Proprietary in-house.
23:34In-house.
23:34It's all in-house.
23:35License it out.
23:36No, we talked about doing it at one point.
23:37And like the last thing I knew is another business.
23:39I already put a podcast.
23:40Oh, yeah, no, no, I'm a serial entrepreneur.
23:43Trust me.
23:43I'm, you know, yeah, I'll have four different businesses started by the time we finish the podcast.
23:48Perfect.
23:48But no, I, we, it's proprietary.
23:50We own it.
23:51We thought about licensing and I thought, you know, the last thing I need is a thousand
23:54caterers calling me saying, I can't find the enter button.
23:56Yeah.
23:56Um, so we have that.
23:58But then a lot of the tools we use is I'm, I'm a big promoter for AI.
24:01I believe, you know what?
24:01Yes.
24:02Used well.
24:03It can do so much.
24:04We, we, you can't, it's not going to replace what we do entirely, but it's certainly going
24:07to make it easier.
24:08So, um, mid journey, for example, like I remember being on a telco with a video call with my
24:14team and client and whatever else.
24:16And the client saying, well, I want to do a Batman themed Gotham city, you know, past
24:21canopy menu for this party.
24:22Cause of whatever the theme is.
24:23So we're on the call and my team's in, we got a chat going on with me and my team and
24:27I'm in mid journey.
24:28Like, you know, building it out.
24:30I did like this and this all of a sudden I'm throwing the images and then I go to, you
24:33know, whatever perplexity, which is another tool I love.
24:35And I was like, Hey, Batman themed cocktail party, blah, blah, blah, do this.
24:39And I'm copying it.
24:40And literally after the call, this was maybe six months ago, they all came to my office
24:43and say, where the hell did you get all that stuff?
24:45And I said, that's where it is.
24:47It's exactly perplexity.
24:48It's mid journey.
24:49Um, all that kind of stuff's great use.
24:51But at the same time, what I warn people about is, you know, when I get emails and they're
24:56clearly full chat GPT, you just know it's, you know, right.
25:00So, you know, if you're going to do that in your proposals, people are going to figure
25:03it out.
25:03So use them as tools and they'll make your job easier.
25:06They'll make your job better.
25:07You know, nowadays, some of the AI stuff that they do with spreadsheets and everything,
25:11super important.
25:12You know, we talked about a little bit earlier, the restaurant business, catering business.
25:15One thing they have in common is food, liquor, labor.
25:18Yes.
25:18Right.
25:18And we have rentals and stuff, but those are the things you have to make money.
25:21You're going to live or die over those.
25:23So if you can use tools, whether it's, you know, advanced spreadsheets or it's databases
25:28or it's food costing programs, wherever else to do a better job of that, then you're going
25:32to end up having a better result.
25:34You're going to spend less time doing it and you'll have better, you know, success.
25:38What have you learned about the art of negotiation?
25:41Uh, the art of negotiation.
25:43Probably not much.
25:44Come on.
25:45No, I can't be in business without negotiation.
25:47No, you're right.
25:48I'm like, so I'm a, I'm a Libra, so I'm a little bit of a pleaser.
25:51So I'm not, I'm not, I'm not super great at negotiating.
25:55Does Sheila do all the negotiating contracts?
25:58No, but she does all the negotiating with me and she wins.
26:01So the number of deals that we've done, it's like, oh yeah, like, you know, it's a marriage.
26:05Like, yeah, yeah, let's do a deal, whatever else.
26:06It's then six months later, you're like, hmm.
26:08Yeah.
26:08Hold on a second.
26:09But, um, no, I'm, listen, I'm, I believe very strongly that, um, we stand behind our product.
26:15We're not the cheapest in the market, for example.
26:16But we deliver a really great experience and a really great product.
26:22And I think that what I always say to people is, listen, you get what you pay for.
26:26And that's an easy thing to say.
26:27And it's also an easy way to justify why you might be more expensive or something.
26:30But negotiation to me is about being fair.
26:33Both people have to get something out of it.
26:34If you're a really tough negotiator, probably means you're getting more out of it than the person you're working with on whatever that is, whether it's a employee, whether it's a supplier, whether it's a client.
26:43And that's just not going to end well.
26:45Eventually, it's a short road.
26:48But if you get into a situation where you're negotiating and you really are, you know, you're honest, you're straightforward.
26:53You know, yes, we have to make money at this job.
26:56We're not going to lose money on it.
26:57Yes, we might be a little bit more.
26:59Oh, we are this much more.
27:01Great.
27:01Let's look at these, you know, side by side.
27:03Oh, OK.
27:04For example, one of the biggest pet peeves I have in this business is that people don't clients can't look at a proposal and taste the food or necessarily understand some of the nuance.
27:14You can't understand the 5%.
27:16No, you can't understand the 5%.
27:17And, you know, sometimes I'll look at it and say, somebody will say, oh, well, you guys were like 40% more.
27:22And I'm like, OK, impossible.
27:23Yeah.
27:23We might be 10% more.
27:24We can't be 40% more.
27:25And then I'll look at it and somebody's like, well, it's a three-hour event and they've budgeted staff for three and a half hours.
27:31Well, that's not going to happen.
27:32They've got to be there an hour and a half before, two hours before.
27:34They're going to be there an hour past.
27:36They budgeted your rentals at $10 per person.
27:38It's a plated dinner.
27:39It's going to come in at 30 or 40 before you talk about furniture and everything.
27:43People do that.
27:44They get the job.
27:45Then they send a bigger bill or whatever.
27:48It's hard to compete against that.
27:50It's also hard to compete when somebody goes ahead, has a bad experience, and everyone always says, oh, don't worry, they'll come back to you.
27:55The problem is our business is, our industry is big enough that they'll find somebody else.
27:59They won't get burned by it, but they're not going to generally come back with their tail between their legs and say, oh, you know.
28:03So I believe in negotiating.
28:05Just try and be fair.
28:06Be very straightforward.
28:07Everyone has to get a positive outcome of it.
28:09And if that's the case, you're probably going to build really, really good relationships.
28:12How do you cultivate those relationships?
28:17I mean, a lot of respect.
28:19Because how many repeat clients do you have?
28:21Most of our clients are repeat.
28:22Well, not most, but like, you know, a lot of our clients are repeat clients.
28:25And we have some clients that we've worked with for like 15 years on big, big, big events.
28:29Like, you know, Chorus Entertainment in Canada, which is one of the big broadcasters, we did their upfronts, you know, through when they were Shaw to Chorus.
28:37And we did it for like, you know, I think 12 years or something like that.
28:39They stopped doing upfronts.
28:40That's the only reason we stopped doing them.
28:42But that relationship was one of trust.
28:45They knew we were going to execute on this.
28:48And we are fair.
28:49And, you know, somebody could come in and undercut us and wherever else.
28:52But they were smart enough to realize, well, that's a very short-term solution to it.
28:56So, you know, relationships have to be fostered.
28:59I also believe, you know, the unfortunate part about any business is that, you know, relationships sometimes with clients have shelf lives.
29:06Especially if you're talking about event clients.
29:08So I'll give you an example.
29:09I have BMW's M division out of Munich.
29:11We used to do all their launches worldwide.
29:13Five years, we did everything.
29:14Istanbul, Miami, South Africa.
29:17We went everywhere with them.
29:18And we did some crazy, crazy, crazy stuff.
29:21Like Istanbul almost killed me.
29:22All on video.
29:24Yeah.
29:25Most of it on video.
29:26Some photos as well.
29:27Mostly back then it was, you know, going pretty far back on some of these.
29:30But we had this one client at BMW.
29:32And he was, I don't mind mentioning him.
29:33His name is Dominique.
29:34Lovely guy.
29:35Became a good friend.
29:36He was the director of marketing.
29:37And first year we went to the first city and he was like, yeah, we need a real estate.
29:41Really great location for the event or whatever else.
29:43So we looked at 80 locations or 70 or whatever it was.
29:46We came back with the top 10.
29:48Like it's going to be one of these 10.
29:49And he was like, oh, okay.
29:51Yeah, yeah.
29:51Okay.
29:51It's good.
29:52But can we look at these 10?
29:53Sure.
29:54We'll look at those 10.
29:54So we'll look at those 10.
29:55And another 10 or whatever else.
29:56So we ended up looking at another 40 venues.
29:58Waste another three months or something.
30:00Come back.
30:01What do we end up with?
30:02One of the top three venues we recommended.
30:04Year two.
30:05Same thing happens.
30:06Now we're in Cape Town or whatever else.
30:08So we do the same exercise, same story, same story, go through it, et cetera, et cetera.
30:12By the third year, I'm sort of saying like, hey, Dominique, we've kind of been through
30:15this before.
30:15You know where we're going to end up.
30:17You should trust us, right?
30:18By the fourth year, I'm kind of like, look, now you're wasting my time and your money.
30:22Let's figure this out.
30:23All in a very respectful way.
30:25Clients don't want to hear that.
30:26No.
30:26They want to hear, look at 10 more venues.
30:28And I'm going to say, absolutely.
30:30And one of the pieces of advice I try and give people in this business is that because
30:33it's very social, especially with social clients, this can get this way, our clients are our
30:38best friends because they love what we're doing.
30:40We're tasting wine together.
30:41We're tasting food together.
30:42We're flying to South Africa to, you know, test whatever, do helicopter flights for shark
30:47diving or whatever else.
30:48Like we're basically on vacation or whining and dining with our clients.
30:51But always remember, if something goes wrong, we're the help.
30:56They're not our friends.
30:57And sometimes you can develop friendships over long periods, whatever else.
31:00But if something goes wrong, you got to remember that.
31:01And I try and instill that in my team is like, just remember that, you know, we're here to
31:05do a job.
31:06And as much as your client might absolutely love you and everything's going great, it's
31:10still our job to deliver.
31:11And if you don't, you're going to be held accountable for it.
31:14That is great.
31:15Great advice.
31:15Well, if you guys are watching this, we do a live show called Rising Tides Live.
31:19And that's every Wednesday, every Friday.
31:21It's a chance for you to be the guest.
31:22You can meet our community.
31:23We have digital hospitalities all over the globe.
31:25Go to betheshow.media slash risingtides.
31:29Before I let you go, I need to know about your personal tech stack.
31:32My personal tech stack?
31:33I need to know, are you an iPhone or an Android user?
31:36Oh, iPhone.
31:37I've been on Apple.
31:38First of all, I worked for Apple.
31:39Okay.
31:39I created a POS system when John Scully was the CEO.
31:42Really?
31:42First thing out of school.
31:44That was what I was going to do.
31:45We spent about six months on it.
31:46And then Jobs came in and turfed everybody, rightfully so.
31:50I was going to be, I didn't mean him personally, but he asked our division, how many are you
31:53going to sell?
31:53And we're like, we're going to sell 40,000.
31:55He's like, well, I was looking for more 40 million.
31:56So you're out.
31:5740 million.
31:58But I'm still, it's a big target.
32:00Yeah.
32:00Well, that's, I think that's, or maybe 4 million or 10 million or whatever, but that's how many
32:03iMacs he sold or whatever.
32:05I bought my first Mac after the Super Bowl.
32:08My dad bought it, obviously.
32:09With the torch ad and this, that, the other back when Super Bowl ads, I think cost 50,000.
32:14And I've been on Mac ever since through the good, the bad, whatever.
32:16So I'm still an iPhone guy.
32:17And by the way, I have to tell you something.
32:19I'm going to throw out a, like a comment here.
32:22I'm super impressed because all the stuff, all the plugs you have to do and everything
32:25on this show, you're doing it without a teleprompter.
32:28What teleprompter?
32:28No teleprompter.
32:29No, I know that.
32:29And that's amazing.
32:30Human intelligence.
32:31No, but that's really good.
32:33No, the fact you got the websites right.
32:35And the fact that you forget, and that there's nobody saying, don't forget to say this or whatever
32:38else, like I haven't done, I haven't worked off teleprompters, but a lot of hosts that
32:41I work with, they have the teleprompter.
32:42Oh, don't forget to ask this.
32:43And here's, yeah, you say his name's Centner, not Dentner or whatever.
32:47And you do all of this without a teleprompter.
32:49No notes, no teleprompter.
32:51It's the John Wooden style.
32:52I don't know who John Wooden is, but I'll put it.
32:54You prepare, you prepare, you prepare.
32:55And then you just figure it out.
32:56You're ready.
32:57What about you, iPhone or Android?
32:58iPhone.
32:59All right, there you go.
32:59iPhone 16, the newest one.
33:02I'm not the one, like I have that now, but I'm not the person that gets in line for the
33:06new iPhone.
33:06I'll upgrade when I need to upgrade.
33:09Yeah.
33:09For me, it's mostly sort of, you know, we're always, somebody's always breaking a phone
33:13or something in my company.
33:15So I'm like, okay, I'll get a new iPhone.
33:16You can have mine kind of thing.
33:17Exactly.
33:18Usually it's my kids actually, not that.
33:20But no, I love Apple and I love, I'm a huge, I'm a big tech geek at heart.
33:24Okay.
33:24So emails, how many emails do you get a day?
33:28On a slow day?
33:29On a slow day.
33:30300, 400.
33:31300.
33:31How many of those do you enjoy reading?
33:33Oh, good question.
33:34Um, I would say 90% of them.
33:3799%.
33:37Like, I don't, like, you know what?
33:39I went through a period of our career where we had a, um, we had our facility and we had
33:44our, was some restaurants and they were in a big building in Toronto and the landlord
33:48was a huge insurance company.
33:49And they basically said, well, we're going to take your space back.
33:52You know, it doesn't matter what rights you have or whatever else.
33:54So I went through a period of my career about three years where I was basically in litigation
33:58with the largest insurance company in Canada who basically said, yeah, no problem.
34:03Do whatever you want.
34:04We'll just, we'll, we'll run you out of money.
34:05And they almost did.
34:06We ended up fortunately winning and, you know, getting through it on whatever else.
34:11But at that stage of my career, every time my phone dinged, every time a package arrived
34:16at the office, I was just like, what is it?
34:18And, you know, it took me years to get over that.
34:22And I think the pandemic helped because the pandemic was so stressful because we didn't
34:26know what was coming up that when you come out of that and you survived, you know, the
34:29litigation thing that I was in and then the pandemic, you sort of figure out like, it's
34:34all going to sort itself out.
34:35Yes.
34:36Like whatever it is, whatever problem is, we will find a way to do it.
34:39So when it comes to reading my emails, like I get the odd email that annoys me.
34:43Maybe I get the odd email that, you know, will, you know, frighten me or get me worried
34:48because it's some sort of, you know, wrench in the, you know, in the, in the, in the plans
34:54that we have or whatever.
34:55But for the most part, I like reading all my emails.
34:57I get emails from some of my, you know, team that are sort of like, yes, or thanks or whatever
35:03else.
35:03I mean, I'd love.
35:04Acknowledgement emails.
35:05Those are my, close the loop, please.
35:06Yeah.
35:07I'd love to, I'd love to, I'd love to get less of those, but at the same time, like,
35:10you know what it's like to, if you have somebody in your office that wants to, I'm an over
35:13communicator.
35:14I'm an over, me too.
35:15Big time.
35:15Right.
35:15So if somebody.
35:16Just ask anybody over here.
35:17They're all nodding their heads in the background.
35:19Aaron and Andrew are like, okay, yeah, enough.
35:20We got the text.
35:21Exactly.
35:22Well, they're both on their phones.
35:23We got the email.
35:23We got the Slack.
35:24We got all of it.
35:25So, but I've got to feel like, why are you discouraging that?
35:27Like if I said to, you know, somebody in my office who's, I said, you don't need to
35:30send a thanks email.
35:31Yeah.
35:32Why?
35:32Yeah.
35:33A hundred percent send it.
35:34Absolutely.
35:34So, so for email, I mean, and I'm so used to it.
35:36My only big challenge is that we don't.
35:39Yeah.
35:39Gmail.
35:39Gmail.
35:40Gmail.
35:40We do Gmail.
35:41G Suite for everything.
35:42Everything.
35:43Yep.
35:43They're amazing.
35:43Now that they've bumped up the price, but included all of the AI tools, like the Gemini
35:49recording, there's a company called Otter that records your calls and stuff like terrific
35:54service, like great guys, whatever else.
35:56I think Google put them out of business in about, you know, 15 seconds as soon as they
35:59gave everybody Gemini for free to record their meetings.
36:02But no, I, I, my only, my biggest problem is, is that I really have a hard time disconnecting.
36:07Like I'm on email, on text.
36:10I'm not, it's funny.
36:11I had dinner with, uh, to my senior team last night in Miami before the conference.
36:14And we were talking about, I said, like, I don't send emails at four in the morning.
36:18Yeah.
36:18If I'm up and I'm at four in the morning and I'm sending an email, it's timed to, to land
36:23at eight o'clock, nine o'clock, 10 o'clock, whatever time in their inbox.
36:26There are those leaders and those business people that will like fire off emails.
36:29My son works for one.
36:30They'll get like emails at five in the morning, five 15, five 30, five, whatever.
36:35I don't believe in that.
36:36Yeah.
36:36But I am connected all the time.
36:38Connected all the time.
36:39And I sort of believe some people say, oh no, no, you know, you should take time off
36:42or you should do this.
36:43That is my ability to, if I'm away with my wife, for example, I'll spend 15 minutes, you
36:47know, twice a day or whatever else.
36:49And I'll check my email and do a few things.
36:51And it makes me feel like I can enjoy my time.
36:53I agree.
36:54Versus turning everything off.
36:55And then I'm like, oh God, what's going on?
36:56Like for me, I travel with my family, my wife, we go to Bulgaria to visit her parents every
37:01year.
37:01My kids are learning Bulgarian.
37:03But the only reason that I can go is because of the technology.
37:06Yeah.
37:06Because I am connected.
37:07Because before, when I traveled 16 years ago, when I first met her and we would go there,
37:11obviously the tools, the tools I was, I would come back home after one week, let alone six
37:17weeks, which we go now.
37:18And I would have, you know, so much anxiety because I'm like, I have to go and respond
37:21to all this.
37:22Yeah.
37:22Plus I have to catch up.
37:23But now we're connected.
37:25A hundred percent.
37:25Well, I had an interesting situation.
37:27We were traveling a number, a few years ago in the middle of this litigation.
37:31Yeah.
37:31And I was traveling with my wife and the kids on this big trip and we were in Galapagos.
37:35It was this like once in a lifetime trip we had planned for years and we were doing
37:38the trip.
37:39And I remember we had no cellular service.
37:40So my phone was literally there.
37:41I knew stuff was going on.
37:43There's nothing I could really do about it.
37:44So I was just kind of enjoying the moment.
37:46One of the only times in my life where I knew there was stuff going on.
37:48But I couldn't do anything.
37:49But we must have passed a cell tower in the middle of the night on a crossing or something.
37:53So I wake up and I've got like 250 emails and all I can see is who they're from in the
38:00subject line.
38:01And they're like, you know, a case, you know, a point, whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah,
38:05blah, blah.
38:05I was so stressed.
38:07I'm like, where do I swim to?
38:09Where's there a tower?
38:10Where's whatever else?
38:11I need to be connected.
38:12I need to be connected.
38:13Exactly.
38:13So, but you know what?
38:14I realize that there's, it's, it's part of the thing of just doing what I do, but I'm
38:18lucky because I love it.
38:19If I hated it, it'd be totally different.
38:21But I love what I do.
38:22I've done other businesses and I always come back to, this is my love.
38:25Like I really, really love what I do and I'm, and I get to be super creative and we've
38:29gotten, our newest thing is we've gotten really into immersive.
38:31We have an immersive event venue in Toronto.
38:33I saw that.
38:34Yeah.
38:34And it's been, yeah.
38:35And we've done like, so I, I sort of lean into our new projects.
38:38Yep.
38:39I am obsessed.
38:40We just have so much fun doing it.
38:42And the reaction we get from our clients, people come into the room and the first thing
38:46they do is they're pulling their phone out and their smiles and they're wow and whatever
38:48else.
38:49And we're just getting that over and over.
38:50And that is what I love about this business is that reaction you're getting from people
38:53when you're doing something really special.
38:56Maybe it's a validation.
38:57Again, being a Libri, I just need somebody to tell me what a good job I'm doing all the time
39:01or whatever, but I'm a Capricorn.
39:03I need that too.
39:03Okay.
39:04There you go.
39:04So we're fine.
39:04Yeah.
39:06Notifications.
39:07How do you deal with them?
39:08Are you notifications on?
39:10Like all the apps or you turn them off?
39:11Not all the apps.
39:12I turn them on and off depending.
39:13I'll turn my out of office on, but not like I'm not responding.
39:16Just I might be delayed just to let somebody know I'm not going to get back to you in the
39:19normal 20 minutes or something.
39:21Notifications.
39:22Um, no, I think I only have them on really for, for, um, Uber, Lyft and, uh, oh,
39:30Duolingo because I can't lose my streak.
39:33What's your streak?
39:33What are you, what are you studying?
39:34I'm trying to, so I, I'm, I'm, I have, I speak fluent French and English, uh, because
39:39my mother was French from France, but I'm trying to learn Spanish because we split our
39:42time between Miami and Toronto.
39:43I spent so much time there and, you know, try telling an Uber where to go in English in
39:47Miami and you're pretty much, you know, it's not going to get it.
39:49So I really wanted to learn Spanish.
39:51So I'm like on 171 days, 171 days.
39:53How many minutes do you have to?
39:55So what I, so I try to do this is I get up really early.
39:58I walk my dog, this cute little toy schnauzer that is apps that I'm in love with.
40:02Um, we go for 40 minutes and I do my Duolingo.
40:06Amazing.
40:06And now I don't do that every day.
40:07Like this week, I won't do it because I'm traveling and whatever else, but, um, I love
40:11it.
40:11The good news is, is I'm like, I can read fluently in Spanish or almost fluently.
40:16I can't say, you know, can't carry on a conversation.
40:19Like yo hablo Espanol.
40:21That's about all I can say.
40:22And, um, uh, you know, that's my wife's really hot, right?
40:26I think that's like, yeah, people like that.
40:29So, um, and she likes it.
40:30So whatever.
40:31Um, so my Spanish isn't like great, but I do know my next step is, you know, but anyway,
40:37that's why I have the notifications on because I'm like, I can't lose the streak.
40:39I have to do this.
40:40Not so much that the streaks there, but just that it's something I don't want to give up
40:44on.
40:44I love it.
40:45Yeah, absolutely.
40:46Uh, if you guys want to keep in touch with me at Sean P.
40:49Walchef, S-H-A-W-N P-W-A-L-C-H-E-F, please hit subscribe.
40:54Please share this episode.
40:55Please connect with Sebastian.
40:57What's your Instagram handle?
40:58Let them know.
40:59Uh, at Seb Centner, S-E-B-C-E-N-T-N-E-R and at Seb and Sheila, S-E-B-A-N-D-S-H-E-I-L-A
41:07without a teleprompter.
41:09Without a teleprompter.
41:09That's pretty good.
41:10Yeah, I'm getting better.
41:11What are you most active on?
41:12Which social platform?
41:13Instagram.
41:13Instagram.
41:14Instagram.
41:14How about LinkedIn?
41:15How's your LinkedIn?
41:15No, actually LinkedIn, you know what's interesting?
41:17LinkedIn is really important.
41:18Yes.
41:19And we, we didn't realize that until last year when we started to really, you know, realize
41:23that that's what we want to do.
41:24We want to talk to people in our industry.
41:25So now LinkedIn has actually become a big thing for entertainment and of course for the podcast
41:31that's coming out next week, right?
41:32No, I thought you said two podcasts.
41:34You have two podcasts.
41:34I got two shows.
41:35I got two podcasts coming out next week.
41:37Why do one when you can do two?
41:38Exactly.
41:39Sheila, if you're watching this, get the camera out, whatever else.
41:42Get the camera out, yeah.
41:43It's going to be a disaster, but it'll be fun, right?
41:45You'll figure it out.
41:45Yeah.
41:46We'll be talking about this a year down the road.
41:48You're like, I told you you can do it.
41:49Well, CaterSource is in LA next year, so I might be in LA.
41:51It's in your backyard, right?
41:52It's in our backyard.
41:52Yeah, that's great.
41:53And when's the festival you do?
41:55We don't do that anymore.
41:56Oh, you don't?
41:56No, it's too much work.
41:57We do mediums.
41:58It's too much work.
41:59Hold on a second.
42:00So see, this is it.
42:01He's like, do a podcast.
42:02Don't problem.
42:03You just got to get into it, et cetera.
42:04It's like, don't worry about your regular business.
42:06Just get into the podcasting business.
42:09Podcasting is part of your business.
42:10It's a storytelling.
42:11We're all in the storytelling.
42:12No, 100%.
42:12And I'm dying to do it.
42:13So you pushed me.
42:14And you know what?
42:15It's funny.
42:15Before we started, you were commenting that you thought I was really tall.
42:18Yeah.
42:18But wasn't your last episode with Shaq?
42:20Shaquille O'Neal, yeah.
42:21He's kind of tall.
42:23Yeah.
42:23I was going to say, if you think I'm tall.
42:25It makes me feel better knowing that you're tall.
42:28You're 6'7".
42:28Yeah, 6'7".
42:29No, I'm 6'11".
42:30Isn't it 6'11?
42:316'11".
42:326'11".
42:32Yes.
42:33Yes.
42:33Sebastian, it's been an absolute pleasure.
42:35I appreciate you for coming on the show.
42:37As always, stay curious, get involved, and don't be afraid to ask for help.
42:40We'll catch you guys next time.
42:43Thank you for listening to Restaurant Influencers.
42:45If you want to get in touch with me, I am weirdly available at Sean P.
42:49Walchef, S-H-A-W-N-P-W-A-L-C-H-E-F.
42:54Cali Barbecue Media has other shows.
42:57You can check out Digital Hospitality.
42:59We've been doing that show since 2017.
43:02We also just launched a show, Season 2, Family Style, on YouTube with Toast.
43:08And if you are a restaurant brand or a hospitality brand and you're looking to launch your own show,
43:13Cali Barbecue Media can help you.
43:15Recently, we just launched Room for Seconds with Greg Majewski.
43:20It is an incredible insight into leadership, into hospitality, into enterprise restaurants,
43:27and franchise-franchisee relationships.
43:29Take a look at Room for Seconds.
43:32And if you're ready to start a show, reach out to us.
43:35BeTheShow.media.
43:36We can't wait to work with you.