The Zest S12E15 === Dalia: [00:00:00] Who's your dream guest? Carl: I don't have a dream guest. Anybody who we have on is a worthy guest who should be on the show. And like I said, that could be, that could be the dishwasher or it could be, uh, three star Michelin chef. Dalia: I'm Dalia Colon. And this is the Zest: citrus, seafood, Spanish flavor, Southern charm. The Zest celebrates cuisine and community in the Sunshine State Today. Meet the man behind your second favorite food podcast. It is one of the highest ranked food shows on Apple Podcasts, and no, we're not talking about The Zest, although we hope we're first place in your heart. The podcast in question is Walk-in Talk. It's founded and hosted by Carl Fiadini, who lives in Lithia. Coming from a foodie family and having spent decades in the food industry, Carl pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, instead of selling food, he sells stories about food, overseeing walk and talk [00:01:00] media with his business partners. In addition to the podcast, the enterprise includes food photography, documentaries, a magazine and more. Carl chatted with me at the WUSF studio. In this conversation, we discuss what really happens in an eaterys walk-in cooler. Bring the Kleenex the moment when Carl realized he'd had enough of working in restaurants and what to know before starting that podcast you've been dreaming up, Carl: So everything that we do is based on food, and it's from the farm to the consumer. Food safety, food science, chefs, distributors, manufacturers. I'm from the business. What's the most important thing in a restaurant? For me, it's the walk-in cooler. So what happens in a walk-in. People get hired, fired, reprimanded, go into blow off steam. These are people inside food, the food [00:02:00] industry. You go there and it's the only quiet, cool, cold place in the building that you can go to and be alone. Dalia: It's such a great title. I feel like people would cry in the walk-in. Carl: There's a lot of crying in the walk. Not, not me. I mean, I would never do that. Dalia: No, never. So how'd you get into food? Carl: Long story. Dalia: Make it short. Carl: Ah, good gosh. Um, my great grandfather was a head chef, head cook, let's say on a ship back in the early 19 hundreds. Grandfather owned a restaurant, my father did, grew up in the business. Yeah, I, I did 10 years of food service. Uh, and it's almost like you say it like it's a, a sentence, like a prison sentence. Dalia: I did 10. How long are you in for? Carl: I did 10 years. I did 10 years. Dalia: What did you do in those 10 years? Carl: Everything front of the house. They tried to, uh, they tried to get me into the back, you know, Hey, help me, uh, do prep, here's a knife, cut vegetables and stuff. And I felt for me, 'cause I'm, I'm an [00:03:00] extrovert. I need to be with the people. I felt like it was punishment and I hated it. I respect it, but it wasn't for me. So I've done everything front of the house for management, you know, all the way down to busboy, right. But that was my 10 year stint. Everybody gets at some point, um, you know, burnt out, tired of that life that happened to me, and I ended up doing a shift into produce distribution. So I'm still with chefs, I'm still with people that I, I understand. It's still the same sort of crew, except now I'm selling fruits and veggies. And I did that for almost 25 plus years. So I, I became, uh, you know, worked my way up from salesperson to manager to director and, and all of that good stuff. Dalia: Okay, so then you transitioned into produce, and then now you are the emperor of Walk-In Talk Media So how did you make that leap, and what did you have to [00:04:00] learn? Carl: Well, food service. Outside food service sales is a wonderful life because you earn really good money and it is freedom provided you take care of your clients and you make yourself accessible to the company that you're working for. You have all the time in the world to do anything at all that you need to do. Dalia: So you were selling produce to like restaurants and hotels and things like that? Carl: Correct? Yeah. So I'm basically, it's, it's the language I already knew. Except now I can go anywhere in my territory. And at that time it was in South Florida. I can go anywhere, meet anybody, do anything as long as I'm getting everything done as I'm supposed to, which I did. I was, I was a high performing, uh, rep and that got me into management, um, director of this, VP of that. And it was terrific. It was a great, it was a great life. And, you know, that was the segue, you know, into, into Walk-in Talk Media. We [00:05:00] were born out of COVID, and at that time, you know, Florida wasn't exactly closed, right? But it was like everything was very slow. But we still had obligations to certain clients and whatnot. It's impossible to get in during COVID. It was impossible to get in front of somebody to try to, you know, make another sale or make an introduction, a prospect, a lead. You couldn't do it. So I came up with the idea of. I'm gonna go around the state of Florida with each sales rep, whatever the high profile area was, city, whatever in the background that would be there. So I edited 20 something videos. Dalia: How did you know how to do that? Carl: I didn't. YouTube university. Uh, it's the way to go. Uh, but, but I, but I didn't release anything until really everything was, I thought as perfect as could be. So I put together these 20 videos. And the cool part is [00:06:00] everyone had their media file. We went on LinkedIn, and LinkedIn at the time wasn't much, but 20 people, 20 plus people all hitting send at the same time and then resharing everybody else's videos. We were all getting, uh, you know, 5,000, 10,000 impressions, like it made a wave. Dalia: Who was the audience? Carl: Well, obviously chefs and food buyers and purchasers and general managers and restaurateurs, restaurant owners, stuff like that. Yeah, but it was such a wave of, you know, call it coolness, right? And I was like, wow, this is powerful. And that was kind of the, my first steps into saying, wow, this is something I need to figure out, learn, and utilize. And that's how it segmented into the company. Dalia: So what do you think it was about those initial videos? What were people saying in the interviews that was so enticing? Carl: It wasn't an interview, it was an introduction. That's how I kind of saw it. You know, I had sales reps that were telling me, well, I, I can't get in front of anybody. How am I supposed to, how am I supposed to increase [00:07:00] business during this, you know, pandemic, you know, and I can't even get in front of anybody. And that's the light bulb went off for me. And I said, well, you know what? Video, let's do a video. And, because all of our LinkedIn profiles were business, uh, oriented anyway, and with chefs and whatnot. It was kind of a no brainer, but it worked and it was a great thing. And, and you know, from there, uh, the company started and, and we started on YouTube and I dunno, we have like maybe 5 million views on the channel. And again, I didn't know how to turn a camera on. I had, I had to learn everything. Dalia: Did you even have a camera? Carl: I, uh, I acquired one. Yeah. Yeah. I started with a, with a Nikon, a low model Nikon, like with a kit lens and basic. But you know, and you get a bug for that. Like if you, I have a little bit of a creative side to me. So the fact that it's you, you can create, whether it's stills photography or video, you, you [00:08:00] have all of that in the power of your hand, right? So you can create anything you want. All really all it. All it is is learning lighting. Lenses, some basic stuff, and, and you can produce pretty good quality content. Dalia: Yeah. So what does the podcast look like today? How many people are helping you? And if I've never seen an episode, what should I expect? Carl: We have chefs that come in every single week, and that chef is gonna, you know, create a couple of dishes. Those dishes will be filmed, and those dishes will also go to food photography. So, you know, plus the, the podcast. So it is just a hub of content that layers and layers of, of content that can be had and put together from, from a day. Dalia: That's so cool. Do you believe that your audience is still primarily people in the restaurant industry? Carl: That's always gonna be the, I think that's the rock of it. So Instagram and LinkedIn are my two go-tos. We do some [00:09:00] others as well. But those are my two favorites and that, and that's where we get the most traction. So if you look at LinkedIn and you look at the audience, and you can get pretty deep analytics from LinkedIn. Yeah, it's a lot of food industry people, but it's also, but it's not just like it's, it's not just only the chef and it isn't only just somebody who works in a kitchen or a server or something like that. It's distributors, manufacturers, farmers, you know. Insurance brokers, people that are on the periphery of the food industry, all part of the industry, but like, not what you would consider, like, you know, Hey, is it all chefs? No, it's not. It's a whole litany of, uh, variety of, of guests that we have on. Dalia: I think that's what's so cool about it because it's the walk-in talk and it's like we are being allowed into this inner sanctum where we normally wouldn't be allowed to go Carl: when we first started. A lot of the content [00:10:00] really was about like, all right, we're gonna pick up this rock and show you what's, what's living underneath. That was the beginning, and there's only so much, I think there's only so much of that that you could do before it becomes mundane, you know, it gets a little bit over overdone, so it turned into a lot of, just a lot of other content. I love having, you know, I love having on a food scientist. I love people who can get into the molecular or the granular of a, a situation, you know, why e coli or, you know, what, how come these things are happening? What, you know, why are, what's, where does the inflation come from? Why am I paying so much more for a, a stake than I was, you know, uh, six months ago? Stuff like that. So it's more, it's entertaining and educational together. That's the kind of show it is, you know? Dalia: Yeah. I love that.[00:11:00] So where is all of this happening, and are you still doing it by yourself? Carl: No, uh, I've never, it's never been me. Never been only me. In fact, in the beginning. When we were doing the YouTube channel, I, I was kind of that face and it was sort of, uh. Influencer esque and I realized that I didn't wanna be, that's not me. I don't, I don't need to be in the front of the camera. I don't need to be, you know, Hey guys, look at me. I, I don't need that. But I did want to, I do want to still do, want to build the business and I want to [00:12:00] continue with the vision. I have a terrific team of people. John Hernandez, with, uh, Ibis Images. He's a 35 year, um, brother to me. If it wasn't for him in the beginning, I wouldn't be sitting here. I think he's top five best food photographers anywhere, plus his graphic design skills and all that stuff. We've known each other so long. I express something to this cat and he just makes it happen. I'm like, Hey, this is what I, this is what I'm thinking, what I'm looking for. And he puts it on paper. He makes it, he makes it. So, you know, John, I've got, uh, you know, Pooch Rivera, who is a chef out of New Orleans. Uh, very, he's a decorated chef too. He's not cooking much anymore, but, um, he's been on a bunch of TV shows. He has a pivotal role with walk and talk media, and then there's like, that's the main core and then it kind of ripples out from there. So there's a, there's a ton of, I call them culinary contributors. So these are chefs that I know or have [00:13:00] met and now know who have the goods in the kitchen. They can cook. They have the right personality. They're nice human beings. I don't like to associate with selfish people or, or people with attitude or, you know, any of that. Um, so these are just like, these are good people and. I feel like they deserve a platform. So what they do is they go out on our behalf and you know, we create content for them. They go out, talk about us in their circles, and it kind of helps to perpetuate the whole platform, uh, walk and talk platform. Dalia: That's so great. Everybody wants to be where you are. Everybody wants to have the number one. Apple Podcast in their category, including us. We would love to knock you outta your spot, but I don't know if that's gonna happen anytime soon. So I'm, Carl: you want, you wanna put 'em up? Dalia: I'm glad you're here. Absolutely not. No, you're, we're just, uh, trying to keep up with you. It's fantastic that you're here. What is something people may not know from the outside of podcasting? You know, take us into the walk-in of podcasting. What's [00:14:00] something that's maybe it's harder than it looks or people don't understand from the outside? Carl: Well, that's a, that's a hot one. So if you go on any podcast, um, group, and there's 5,000 members in this, this group, right? And ultimately. Every day you'll get a notification with somebody asking or saying, Hey, I'm starting my, my podcast. How do I make money with this? And the truth is, you should put that in place before you start. You should have a plan of how does this monetize Unless it's a hobby. If it's a hobby, that's cool. If you want it to be a business, you need to put that in the front. Your action plan has to be kind of in the front. But that shouldn't be something you're worried about in the beginning. You need to know it. You need to be aware. Right. But the work that goes into producing one stinking episode is. Ridiculous. Dalia: Who are you telling? Carl: Yeah. [00:15:00] Right. So it's, it's insane. And I think the worst part about all of this, and you could probably attest to this, Dalia: why are we doing this? Carl: Why, why are No, I know. Because I, I enjoy it. I know, I really do enjoy it. Dalia: Like it's, I wanna, I wanna know what you enjoy about it, but tell me the worst part. Carl: Ah, scheduling. Dalia: Yes. Carl: Last minute, like call outs. I can't take it. Like, oh my God, it's the worst thing ever. And you know, listen, stuff happens and you, you know, you kind of roll with it and, and it's okay, but when it happens within 24 hours of go time and somebody says, Hey, know I, I can't make it. Wow. 'cause now you're already like me. I, I prerecord my monologues. I already write everything out. Like we have a serious system and I have two kids. You know, I'm a daddy. And at the end of the day, like to find time to do some of this non-production day work. Yeah, like the setup work, which doesn't happen on our normal production day. It happens, you know, pre and [00:16:00] leading up to Wow. So that's a real kick in the belly. Dalia: Absolutely. Carl: And that's the worst part of the whole thing. Dalia: Yeah, and I always tell people, get like five or so episodes in the can before you release any because. People ghost you. Your internet goes out, you get sick. I got laryngitis last year and I couldn't record the intro, so my colleague got to do it. You just never know what's gonna happen. Carl: So I totally, I totally dig that. And, you know, here's, here's, here's the fun part, right? You set these things up. You have people come in, you doing, you're doing the work at this stage for me, I don't need five in the can. That's the beauty. Of where we are right now. We have the momentum where if I don't, well I think I don't want to be too, you know, cocky with it, but I, I think if I don't put out an episode for two weeks, it's gonna be okay. Dalia: Sure. Carl: You know, I think it'll totally be fine. So I don't have anything in the can at this point. You know, we're [00:17:00] hand to mouth and it's easier that way. I feel like you have to be organized, but if you're. If you're OCD organized, I feel like you're just gonna trip all over yourself. That's just my opinion. Dalia: Yeah, you gotta be a little flexible too. And you probably have people like knocking on your door wanting to be on the podcast. Who doesn't wanna be on the number one food podcast? Carl: Yeah. Uh, we're, it's a blessing to tell you the truth. Um, we have, uh, there's no shortage. We're in production once a week. Right now. We could easily have a podcast four or five days a week, every week, you know, easily. Of course that's, um, I mean that's, you know, put me in a crazy house or something like that, you know, uh, padded room, whatever. That's a lot. That's just a lot. Dalia: Who's your dream guest? Carl: I don't have a dream guest. Do you know that? I don't have a dream guest. You know why? Um, I feel like our platform is bigger than its, than its moving parts. And because of that, [00:18:00] I, I just feel like anybody who we have on is a worthy guest who should be on the show. And like I said, that could be, that could be the dishwasher or, you know, or it could be, uh, three star Michelin chef. Yeah. You know, to me it, everybody has that story. The whole thing has morphed for me. To tell stories. Dalia: That's what food is about really, because if you think about it, people are listening to you talk about food that they will never eat. And it's just in their ears and you're creating a whole theater of the mind for them. And so it really is about the storytelling because you could have, you know, you can't even copyright a recipe, a list of ingredients. So it's kind of, um, generic in that way. But what brings it to life? Is my grandma used to make this, or I was picking strawberries and I came home and I made this pie with my kids, or whatever it is. And then that's what really gives it the texture. Carl: Yeah. We started doing this filming component [00:19:00] to the show maybe seven months ago, eight months ago. You know, towards the beginning of the year I made the decision to, uh, bring video back, but not to just randomly video the podcast. So I decided instead to put all of the time and energy into producing storytelling time with the guest and then B roll of the cooking. And that B roll consists of, uh, slow motion, you know, sped up, whatever. It's, it's kind of like, um, I really try to go for the cinematic look for our weekly production. And I think that production value is terrific and, and that seems to be. That seems to be, uh, working. Dalia: Where does that video live? Carl: So this is everything that I'm saying to you is a living, breathing thing and everything seems to be changing, and I always wanna say it's improving every week as of right now. We're living in a social media world, [00:20:00] right? And is it portrait mode or landscape mode? Where do you live? So I as, as somebody who likes to create something that's moving, that's something that like, you know, that can have some emotion to it, I prefer landscape. You know, 16 by nine, you get a lot more visual with it. You tell a better story, but that doesn't always work well with some of the platforms. Now I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing. I take that 16 by nine and I'll put that on Instagram. You're not gonna stop me, but I, so I do it, I do that, but then I'll, I'll, I'll create another, um, portrait mode, you know, nine by 16, and that will go to TikTok or, or that will go to YouTube shorts or something like that. And then of course, LinkedIn is also that 16 by nine landscape and I, and those work the best for me. Dalia: Cool. You've got this figured out. Okay. So are there any commonalities between what you're doing now with the media and podcasting and [00:21:00] what you were doing when you were like more entrenched in the restaurant industry? Is there anything about that past life that helps you now? Carl: All of it. Like literally everything. Because I get to, you know, if I were going to talk to, uh, I don't know, to go speak with a builder or some other industry. I, I don't have the, the background in that. I don't have the experiences. I don't have reference points to speak of. Uh, for me at that point it would just be questions, right? But because I have a pretty wide spectrum of, uh, experiences in food. I can speak with anybody about anything really, and especially now we're over 170 episodes in on the podcast. I must have filmed, uh, close to 500 episodes on, on YouTube. I deleted, uh, probably 200 episodes. You grow, you get better. And then you're like, all right, that's gotta go. You start looking at the older stuff, you're like, I can't [00:22:00] be seen like this. You know, can't go out with those shoes, right? Yeah. Dalia: Yeah. Wow. And you're doing all of this? From Lithia, Carl: right? So we're between the Lakeland area. Lithia area. We, so we used to go onsite, right? We used to take the whole team and go to the hotel, go to the restaurant, and do everything in-house There. And I realized that, you know what, it's a lot of time, it's a lot more money, uh, to produce these things, doing it that way. So John Hernandez, Ibis images, his house is a half a studio anyway, he's a food photographer. So once a week we commandeer the whole place. And, and you know, it, it. And it's, it's fun. It's, it's really, it's a great time. Lot of comradery, lot of relationship building between brands, uh, brand partners, sponsors, the guests that come on it a lot. It's really cool. Uh, so yes, a lot of our action now takes place in the Lakeland, call it the greater [00:23:00] Lakeland area. Dalia: Fair enough. Okay. But I do have to give a shout out to Lithia because our mutual friend, Carla Stockton, Carl: mm-hmm. Dalia: Uh, our kids are on soccer team together. She said, you know, my neighbor has the number one food podcast. Maybe you should have him on your show. So, thank you, Carla. I'm gonna, I'm bringing her dinner tonight to soccer. Carl: Carla is awesome, Dalia: but isn't it kind of crazy? You never know who's listening, who's paying attention. Like you're sitting in your house or in the studio in Lakeland and, and you have a far reach. Carl: You never, ever know who's listening. And that's why it's important to put on a good show. If you can't get up for your own show and make it fun like then you're in the wrong, it's the wrong industry. Dalia: That's a great point. Very cool. Well, Carl, thanks for coming in. Thanks for letting us into the walk-in. Carl: No, thank you. And I sincerely, I appreciate, um, I appreciate you for, uh, for having me on. Thank you, Carla. Dalia: Thank you Carla.[00:24:00] Carl Fiadini is the founder of Walk-In Talk Media. Thanks to our mutual friend Carla Stockton for suggesting this episode. Now I know you have an idea for a Zest guest, so go ahead and email us at info@thezestpodcast.com. I'm Dalia Colon. I produced The Zest with Andrew Lucas, and Alexandria Ebron is a product of WUSF, copyright 2025. Part of the n.