Shawn Walchef has spent his career trying to get better at two things: running a restaurant and telling the story behind it. When he joined the Toast Customer Advisory Board in late 2021, he thought he was signing up to give feedback on a point of sale system. Instead, he found a community of operators, leaders, and learners who helped him rethink how a restaurant grows, how technology fits into that growth, and why every operator needs a seat at a bigger table.
Today, Walchef credits the advisory board with shaping his business, sharpening his media brand, and showing him how collaboration drives progress for everyone on the platform.
“It has had a massive impact on me,” he said. “And it can have a massive impact on you if you decide to get involved.”
Obsessed with Customer Success
One phrase comes up repeatedly when Walchef talks about Toast: customer success. Toast claims it is obsessed with it, but the advisory board proved that the words were backed by real structure and investment.
Toast runs multiple advisory boards for different business segments: small and medium sized restaurants, enterprise, and international operators. Members meet four times a year, two virtual and two in person. Toast flies operators to headquarters to share what is working inside their restaurants and what is not. The focus is always the same: what do real operators actually need.
“Every time I go, I learn something new,” Walchef said. “And every time I go, I see how much Toast cares about how we are doing in our restaurants.”
For Walchef, that commitment matters because operators represent more than their own businesses. They represent the entire Toast ecosystem, which now includes more than 127,000 restaurants.
The Power of a Real Feedback Loop
Many tech companies say they want feedback. Toast sits its executives in the room and takes notes.
Co founders Aman Narang and Steve Fredette, along with senior leaders such as Chief Marketing Officer Kelly Esten, attend the advisory board meetings and listen directly to the operators using the product every day. They want to know what works, what breaks, and what needs to change.
It is not the request for feedback that impressed Walchef. It is what came afterward.
“Every time we come back, something has improved,” he said. “That is how obsessed they are with getting better.”
For Walchef, it was a lesson any business owner can use. Want to build a better product. Build a better feedback loop.
Community for Operators Who Feel Alone
Running a restaurant can make you feel isolated. Walchef knows this feeling well. For years, he believed he was on an island, fighting battles that no one else could see.
The advisory board changed that.
“As I met more operators, I realized I was not alone,” he said. “There were others who were smarter than me, worked harder than me, and had lessons I could bring home to my team.”
Through the board, Walchef connected with operators such as Sean Tran and Chaz Khan from Tono Pizzeria and Grill, along with others who later joined his Restaurant Influencers show. The community showed him the power of getting outside the restaurant, learning from peers, and sharing openly.
It is the same belief that fuels Rising Tides Live, the weekly digital community Walchef hosts with Cali BBQ Media for curious operators, founders, and creators around the world.
Why Every Brand Needs Advocates
The final lesson came from his own story. In 2020, Walchef recorded a simple Toast unboxing video with his general manager, now CFO, Eric Olson. The video explained why they switched from Aloha to Toast and what mattered to their team.
That single video grew into years of partnership: event content, creator work, two shows, and hundreds of shared stories. It also led to his role on the advisory board.
Walchef believes every company needs advocates who are willing to tell the truth, celebrate wins, and highlight what needs to improve. Operators have that same opportunity with every tool they use.
“If you pick technology for your restaurant, those companies need your story,” he said. “They need to know why you care.”
A Rising Tide for Everyone
Seventeen years into his restaurant career and five years into building Cali BBQ Media, Walchef is still figuring things out. But the advisory board taught him something simple and lasting: progress happens faster when operators learn together.
“No one is coming to tell your story for you,” he said. “But if you get involved, ask for help, and share what you learn, you will find your community.”
He believes that is true for Toast. He believes that is true for Rising Tides. And he believes that is true for every operator who chooses to step out of the kitchen and into the conversation.
A rising tide lifts all ships. And for Walchef, the tide keeps getting higher.
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