Creating Unforgettable Experiences : The Art of Events, Details & Hospitality

Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Well, hello everyone. We are back for another episode of Dine and Dish. ⁓ And wow, what another amazing week, another great show. ⁓ And I am so excited to have my guest on today.

We've done so much fun stuff over the last couple weeks. And ⁓ Kyle is just killing it in the game. I mean, the events he put together in Florida when we had our premiere with the Dining Divas and Foo Boo. And, you know, we were going back and forth and talking, and I was like, you need to go on my podcast.

You're fabulous. And I actually even saved his name on my phone as Fabulous Kyle. So Kyle. Kyle is here today.

Hi Kyle, welcome to Dine and Dish. Kyle Savage: Hello, Michelle. Hello, everyone. This is so cool.

I love what you're doing. I love how you are taking something that you are passionate about and your experience in the restaurant industry, in hospitality, and as just a badass entrepreneur and using your platform to uplift other people, to inspire other people who might be finding their own place along in the journey. And I'm happy to be Part of it. Thanks for having me on today.

Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: I'm gonna give you anything. I don't want how you want to take it. Yeah, something that you want to have to have experience in the restaurant case and it's just areas that you're not using your mind for to find other people to inspire other people. Yeah.

I think I think there are like someone things are having on site. Yeah. So we have so much to talk about. And you know what, Kyle?

I love this. And, you know, it is my passion. You know, being a restaurateur is my job, right? It's my life.

It's my livelihood. It's how we make our living. But I love the whole PR world and I love being on the mic and talking and doing my thing. And we started this podcast a year ago.

And every week we bring on guests that truly love what they do and passionate about their industry and Kyle Savage: Yeah. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: How it relates back to hospitality. Cause at the end of the day, everything relates back to hospitality. Whether you're right, an events planner, lawyers, attorneys, POS companies, mobile ordering.

I mean, I've had the gamut of guests on. And every week it just gets better and better. And you know what you did in Florida when we did the premiere of the show, what you did in Florida, I just thought was so admirable. And to pull off five events in three days, I mean.

Kyle Savage: Yes. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: two events a day and I mean you know Christine she's like me she's so like detail oriented and on her game so I know you were probably like sweating I don't know you have hair under your hat because you probably had to lose some hair over those events ⁓ I was kidding like you can run yeah that's why my hair's up ⁓ Kyle Savage: Right. I do. You've seen my hair.

You've seen my hair at its best. You've you've seen her at our prime. Today today is a today is a bedhead day, so we threw on the hat. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: I got it.

So you know what? Let's jump right into the show. I'm gonna turn the mic over to you because I want you to introduce yourself. I want you to talk about what you're working on, all the incredible events that you're doing.

⁓ by the way, are you in Florida or New York? Right now I am back and forth with my coast. I know. So I had to see what coast you're on, whether you were like north or south, but so I'm kinda in the middle.

Kyle Savage: Currently, right now I am in New York. I go back and forth between New York and Miami. You you never you never know. You never know.

You never know. And you know, next time I fly back down to Miami, which should be in a week or two, maybe I can pop over to Maryland and see you on the way. I wanna check out DVC. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: And you know, next time I find my dungeon planning for, you know, I was going to see that.

⁓ I would love you to do that. Yes. Or I'll come to New York. Wait, better yet, I'm coming to New York because you know I'm moving there anyway and the city's more fun than Maryland.

I wanted to make up again. Okay. For sure. For sure.

All right, jump into it. Tell everybody about you and who you are and Kyle Savage: Yes. Totally. Totally.

But I wanna check out BB's chicken. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: your company and why you started event planning. So as Mr. Runchet Planning Town.

⁓ Kyle Savage: Absolutely. Well, wow, where do I start? We could we could have a whole three segments just about this. So as Michelle mentioned, my name's Kyle Savage and I am an entrepreneur, specifically an event planner, an author, and a keynote speaker.

And my work, I like to say, lives at the intersection of artistry, creativity, and intention. And it took me a long time to get here. So my first business venture was when I was 22 years old. I opened up a theater company, actually.

I went to school, I got a master's in education, English education. And way back when I thought I was going to be an English teacher. And I realized very quickly that that life was not for me. I was not about getting up at 6 a.

m. every single day. I remember sitting on bathroom duty one day in the hallway of like a middle school. And remember I was signing kids in to go to the bathroom because you know they give you your jobs, like lunch duty, this, that.

And I just remember being like, no, this can't be my life. Like I have I didn't get a master's degree to sign 13 year olds into the bathroom or watch these kids eat. Like, there has to be a better way for me to use My passion, my value, God's mission for me, than this. So I actually resigned mid-year.

I resigned mid-year from teaching. And at the time I had this vision to launch my own children's theater company. I grew up on stage on the spotlight. I had been doing theater since I was ten years old.

Musical theater, acting, productions, dance, all of it. So Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: year for something and at the timing I'm decision to launch my own children's thing or something. I grew up on stage with somebody. I've been doing computer since I was ten years old.

We still can do our back page productions, dance, all of it. ⁓ I can totally see that. You have such a huge personality. So I mean, like I said, that's why I said event extraordinaire because the person your personality and Kyle Savage: Think yeah.

Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: The way you dress and the way you carry yourself and the events you put together, I could totally see you doing theater. For sure. Right, right. I saw your fabulous thing with the channel has been like the house.

But so it looks like theater company at twenty two. Kyle Savage: And you have a big personality too, which is why we vibed right away. Right away at Louis Bassi. I sat across from you.

I saw your fabulous fit with the Chanel headband and everything. And I was like, okay, yeah, she's a vibe. But so I launched my theater company at 22. I ran that for nine consecutive years.

We built that. I had $10,000 for my parents. That was what they gave me as my college graduation present. And they were like, good luck.

So I took that ten thousand. I rented a basement of a church. I invested in a marketing company to do my website. And I built that theater company up from nothing.

I mean, door knocking, putting up flyers in delis and grocery stores, asking everyone that I knew to spread the word. And within two years, we evolved from the basement of a church. To open our own Black Box Theater in Main on Main Street in Port Washington. And it just exploded.

We had so many students, so many kids. We did full full musicals, 10 of them a year, great shows, a lot of collaborations. We supported a lot of other nonprofits throughout the way, which was spiritually fulfilling as well. And a big part of keeping the mission alive was fundraising events.

So I would host gala's. I remember we got Lauren Allred from the greatest showman to come and headline one of our gallas. I was determined. I said to my board, I was like, we're getting Lauren Alrid.

And everyone's like, How? What I had to do to get her on that stage, you have no idea how I had to track her down. But I got it and I figured it out because I'm gritty and that's what we always do. We figure it out as entrepreneurs.

And Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Yeah. That's cool. I substantive I sent my word, I was sent for guys over. And everyone's like, No, no, I had to give you the report on how to say you have new idea how we have to power it out.

How did I? That's what he told me to do, figure it out. Kyle Savage: Just my life, so much of the life cycle. I mean, think about theater.

You have costumes, you have lighting, you have sets, you have audio design. All of those elements are the same elements that you incorporate into an event. I mean, you probably can resonate with that when you design a space. You walk in and you need to think about the interior design.

What type of music matches the vibe of your vision? Right? Where are the speakers going to go? How are the lights going to dim?

What do you want the servers to wear? What color are the tablecloths going to be? What color are the napkins going to be? Like all of those little minute details.

It's all in art. It's all part of event planning. So I took everything that I learned from theater and I used it to fuel my next passion, which was hospitality. And I bought a nightclub.

And I owned and operated the only LGBTQ nightclub in Nassau County for three years. Yes, yes, yes. My ring light just went off, so but Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Wow, I didn't know you did that. Wow.

So I I have my three years the galaxy thing. Kyle Savage: So I had I had my nightclub for three years. And again, same thing. I was in charge of booking the events.

So we did birthday parties, we did pride festivals, we did fundraisers for different nonprofits, we did weddings, anything you could imagine. And I just learned more and more and more about the events. And I it fueled my passion. It was the spark inside of me of something I just absolutely loved.

And eventually I was like, you know what? I want to take a step back from being the CEO and the boss of so many employees. I didn't want that anymore. You know, because I never worked my way up to it.

I started at such a young age. So I launched Vibehouse. So now my company is a luxury boutique event design agency. And essentially I'm a contractor.

Clients hire me because they have a upscale event that they want to produce. Whether it's a red carpet, whether it's a wedding, whether it's a gala. Or a magazine launch or a book launch, and I come in and I work with the client on truly understanding what is their vision. So if you were going to open a new restaurant, I would sit down with you and I would say, okay, what is the why, Michelle?

What is your why? Obviously, you want to have a big glamorous event, but I need to understand who my clients are as people. I need to understand what is fueling their passion, because then I can design around that. I can't design if I don't know what I'm designing for, what the intention is behind it.

It's so much more than just picking out florals that are pretty and throwing up a backdrop, at least my approach. My approach is very based in intention. How do you want people to feel when they walk out of the room? Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: And probably not with time for that, but this is my approach.

My approach is very basic in the sense of how do you want people to feel when they walk out of the river. Yeah. So rewind to your first part of your conversation. A hundred percent when it comes to designing a space.

I mean, as a restaurateur, I'm not just the restaurateur, I design the spaces and People ask me all the time, like, how do you come up with these ideas? How do you come up with these concepts? And you know, I go into these spaces and sometimes they're huge. They could be 8,000 square feet, 10,000 square feet, and things just pop in front of me.

Like I I they flash. It's like I can look at an empty space and I see flashes like that should be on this wall, that should be on this wall, there should be a tree in the middle. Like I get these visions for the space. So I I totally understand what you're saying because I I hear it all the time.

Like, how do you come up with these things? So The intention of the space is so important. It's because like you said, you want people to feel amazing. You want them to be, you want them to remember where they are.

You want them to feel a certain way about the space. And you want them to leave and say, wow, like that was a wow experience. So I totally get it. Kyle Savage: I'll tell you this, and you probably you may or may not agree as a restaurateur, but I will only go out to eat at restaurants that have a certain aesthetic.

I would rather go to a restaurant that has a chic, modern, upscale, trendy, vibey aesthetic, and maybe has like eight out of ten star food than go to a restaurant that has the best food in the world, but no vibe. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Yeah. That has a sheet on her that becomes you know trendy to my DSM and maybe has like eight out of ten sparking that you go to a restaurant and has the rest of the room and do them. Kyle Savage: I want to feel immersed in the vibe when I walk in, right?

I want, I'm very busy, as are we all, as are we all. And if I'm investing my time to go somewhere, I want to feel immersed. I want to feel like it's a vibe, it's a scene. Like I want to feel something.

I don't just want to be like, wow, the food was great. I want to be like, look at that art, look at the decor, look at the lighting, the music makes me feel a certain way. All of that matters. Equally, if not more to me, than the quality of the food.

Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: ⁓ a thousand percent. I had a very good friend and I bring this up probably every podcast I do or every few, she was from Fort Lauderdale and she always said, I Eat atmosphere. I don't care about the food. I don't care about what they're bringing to the table.

She's she used to say to me, if there's no atmosphere and there's no vibe, I don't care. I'm not coming back. I'd rather have very mediocre food but have amazing service and amazing energy and be around awesome people than have amazing food and have the worst, like blah, like gr crazy lighting, horrible music, you know, just the aesthetic isn't pretty. And she used to say it all the time, I eat atmosphere.

And Kyle Savage: Yes. I mean so Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: When you're building whether it's an event like for your event planning, whether you're doing a restaurant, whether it's catering, a wedding, whatever it is, you have to take that in into consideration because people want an experience today, right? So rewind to when you first started. You know, you're getting into this whole event planning and hospitality.

Talk to me about because there's so many people listening and they might say, God, I want to do this, you know. I'm in the theater business and I want to get into, you know, event planning. What were your struggles? What were your challenges?

Like when you started as an entrepreneur, what were you know, how did you overcome those? Because I mean everybody has them. We have them today. So, you know, start from the beginning and talk through that process for me.

I love this question. I think it's so funny. But I'm like, I'd like to sort of rest on my Kyle Savage: I love, I love this question and it's just so funny because we are aligned and I am like this with everything. I am like this with the restaurant.

I know from the second I walk into a restaurant from the atmosphere if I'm gonna like it. I know the second I sit across from a guy on a date within two minutes of him opening his mouth, if I wanna finish my drink or if I wanna make my bathroom. Like, ⁓ I have like Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: restaurant beyond here we're going. I know the center later goes from the ISB within two minutes of the book is not finished my three.

Like I can tell I think my time crossed you almost yeah last and why was here because I should die before and the name of my time is my house left. Kyle Savage: I can tell and I knew when I sat across from you, I was like, yep, we're aligned. And I know the alignments there because you mentioned Vibe before. And the name of my company is Vibe House Collective.

And I didn't just pick Vibe because of the vibe, vision, intention, beauty, engagement. Those are four things that I believe make a fabulous event. And we'll get back to that later, but to answer your question, because I had to share that with you first. To answer your question, I think that my struggle is very similar.

And this will probably resonate with your listeners, especially as a young entrepreneur. I began my journey at 22. And for a really long time, I didn't think that I was worthy of those rooms. I was walking into rooms trying to secure funding from corporate law firms and from people twenty-five to thirty years older than me.

And I was nervous about it. I was like, I'm just some twenty-two year old kid. Like, who am I to be asking for this? What makes me what makes me so special?

Why will they invest in me? Why will they believe in me? And even when I went into business at my nightclub, we had a partnership, which I'll never do again. But that's a sa that's another conversation, but never we'll do that again.

And what'd you say? Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: I say we love partnerships. Kyle Savage: ⁓ we love him. But like these are my partners, thirty-five years older than me.

And for a long time, like I struggled with that. I was always the youngest in the room. I was always the youngest at the conference table. And struggling with my own worth and my own identity.

And that's something that I really had to do the inner work with to overcome and to see my own value. Because if you can articulate your value to the world, someone less qualified will. And it took me a very long time to come to terms with who I am and my own identity and realize, no, I do deserve to be in these rooms. I do deserve to be at the table.

I actually deserve to be at the head of the table. And when I finally channeled my own authenticity and finally overcame that fear and started showing up scared. That's when I was able to become even more successful. And that's kind of the journey that it is that I discuss in my book.

That's what prompted me to write my book, The Art of Being Everything. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Yeah, well, hold the thought on your book, because I want to get more into that in a couple minutes. But I want to talk to you about something very interesting that you said. So my last show ⁓ I had on the district director for Toastmasters, and I'm getting ready to speak for them.

I'm gonna be at their ⁓ I'm gonna be one of their keynote speakers at the event in May. And we spent a whole show talking about confidence and public speaking and leadership. And your biggest struggle was one of the things that we talked about. You know, feeling worthy in a room with powerful people.

And you know what? They're not as powerful when you break it down. That you just, it's your, it's how you view them. And, you know, when you go into a room and you talk about confidence and you talk about clarity and the ability to roll things out and consistency.

You know, these are all big words. And it's interesting that you talked about that being your greatest struggle because that's what we focused our whole show on was how can you take somebody and make them a great leader and make them a great speaker and put them in front of the room and build amazing entrepreneurs. So I love that you brought that up because it's so in line with what we just spent an hour talking about yesterday. So it's perfect timing.

Kyle Savage: I love it. I love it. I mean, it's again, it's authentic. And it's taken me a long time to get here.

But now I'm a keynote speaker. I speak on stages across the country. I give the keynotes. I give the opening speeches.

I'm being brought in to speak at schools and colleges and business events about my journey. Because it took everything that I survived, all of my past, I used as a palette. I turned my trauma into triumph. And that's what we all need to do.

And when you do that in your work, the con confidence isn't something. This is what I tell my clients when I teach public speaking. Confidence isn't something that you just get, right? It's not something you can't train to be confident.

There's no handbook on how to be confident. The more you put yourself out there, the more you experience, and the more you take risks. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: I think it's in the office I get office because I just because that's my dream. Because it took every time that I've survived all of my tests I use as a talent.

I took my summer to try and pass the ultimate Yeah, I love that. So I'm companies isn't something similar to my client. Kyle Savage: That's how the confidence starts to grow. You need to really lock in and have clarity.

I always say clarity over confidence. When you're secure and you're messaging, you know what you're talking about. Confidence follow. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Absolutely.

Okay, so we're turning our whole show into Toastmaster speaking too because it's exactly what my presentation is about is clarity. You need to see your vision. You need to understand your vision, communication, you need to be able to communicate that vision and take it to the home run. And then confidence is built.

Kyle Savage: Correct. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: You know, doing all these things, you build the confidence to be a great public speaker. But let's get back into event planning because we're gonna run out of time and then you're gonna have come back next week and finish talking about event planning. But let's jump right into the world of event planning because you need to talk about what goes into planning a successful event.

Because anybody can plan an event, but one that is truly successful, talk about behind the scenes, what guests see, you know, just like the event. ⁓ you did for Christine where you went into the house and it was like a hot mess and you were s you had to pull it all together in an hour. I mean, talk about what goes into making sure these events are foolproof, you know, and they look amazing, even though people don't know that it's not a hundred percent there, you know? Kyle Savage: Yes, I'm making.

Absolutely. I mean, there were so many different elements. So many different elements to designing an event. And I usually like to use the term event designer as opposed to event planner.

And it might be a little snobbish of me, but you know, when I think of event planner, and sometimes for hashtags on social media, not everyone knows what an event designer is, right? Some people are just so ingrained event planner. But when I Speak to people like yourself who are in the industry. I like the term designer because that's what it is.

And to make an event successful, you have to get out of the box. You have to get out of the idea that it's, you know, just it's just an event because it's not. It's an experience. I'm an experienced architect.

Every single moment from the time the invitation goes out is part of that experience. The way that you communicate to people before they even arrive, your messaging, your visuals, your marketing, that is all part of the experience. And again, understanding the clients why. So that's kind of the spirituality vision behind it.

And then from a design perspective, everything has to flow. You have to create atmosphere, whether that's through lighting, whether that's through music. I like to think of things that other people aren't doing, right? What is something that is not overly done?

So, for an example, when we talked about that diva brunch that we had, so what can we do that's different? We brought in a sushi station, we had a violinist, we had a yacht excursion. Then when we did the cigar lounge brunch, we had a magician, the opening night, we had a fashion show and a DJ. I didn't just use one DJ three nights in a row because people get bored.

You constantly want to keep people on their toes. And sometimes, if you notice that event, there weren't florals galore, there wasn't that many decor elements, right? Because sometimes less is more. Sometimes it's about having one really strong activation, like the fashion show, like the yacht excursion.

Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Mm-hmm. Kyle Savage: Sometimes it's about having one really strong activation that is the center or the nucleus of your event. And then you give people time to network. You give people time to mingle.

That's why it's so important to understand your client. This past event, a huge part of it was networking, finding investors, finding sponsors. If I had allocated every single second to something to watch or something to do, my client wouldn't have gotten the outcome that she wanted. Because that's not what she wanted.

She wanted that those dull moments for communication and for people to network and take pictures and get to know each other. That's how we met. You know, through connection and communication. So you have to have to have to understand your clients why.

Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Yeah. Wow, I mean, there's so much to what you just said that's so important. So I say it all the time, your network is your net worth. So every event that you do, especially in events like you do for Christine for the Dining Divas, it's all about networking.

So you have to know how to time an event perfectly as well. So it's not always about just the entertainment. It's about The timing, it's about understanding the vision, it's about execution, ⁓ it's about experience. And, you know, what goes into the good event, the great event, but then tell me about how you execute it to be unforgettable, because that week was epic.

I mean, it was fun, it moved, there were so many different pieces. And you said you talked about different installations and different ideas and what's different. But how do you make it unforgettable? I mean, like there were lines out the door.

And I I mean, I'm just gonna throw this out there and I I have to bring it up. And I love the FUBU team and I love everything that they're doing for my show and the premiere. But one of the things that you could see the difference was, you know, way when Christine pulled the dining divas event together, there were so many different pieces, right? ⁓ and then when we did the FUBU night, it was totally different in terms of the installations of where the focus was.

So that was more focused on the movie and focused on showing the different premieres versus the other events were more about the event planning and the installations and the energy, right? So talk to me about the difference between the good event and the unforgettable event. You know, like how do you pull how do you pull that off? Kyle Savage: It's curating chaos.

It's curated chaos because it it's madness behind the scenes. You don't know what happened before you got there to that gala. The step and repeat was late. We had to move locations of where the yacht picked us up.

We had a model not show up. We had this. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: ⁓ yeah, that you you modeled. You became ⁓ a model in the fashion show.

It's like give me a hat, I'll do it. Kyle Savage: Well listen, you have to you have to jump all in. And I love having this conversation because a lot of people see my Instagram and they'll see me on the red carpets and the fancy outfits, like how I showed up to the gala. Two days before that, I was literally breaking my back, stuffing gift bags and having calls with Christine and venues at 11 o'clock at night and coordinating this, coordinating that.

You have to be laser focused. You have to keep good records and you have to have good relationships with your vendors. One of the things that I'm most proud of is I can call any of my vendors at any time when I know they will show up because I take the time to acknowledge them. Everyone wants to feel seen and celebrated.

And I just talked about this on an Instagram reel recently. After every event, I carve out a half hour of my day and I reach out to every single vendor personally and I thank them. For the value that they added to my event. Because it really takes a team.

And I like to think of myself as the visionary, right? Or the creative director or the creative genius, right? I envision it, but I can do any of it without my team. Right?

I similar to you, I see it. I see it in my head. When I am so annoying with venues, because I want to go back and back and back and back and back. Every time I go, I see something different.

Because lay people don't realize that moving a table six feet one way could change the entire atmosphere of the event. Everything matters. You have to think and see everything. And it all comes down to vision, to having that vision.

What way do you want people to walk? Well, they can't walk this way because we need to have the photo booth over there because it'll be next to the bar. We want people to take photos. Obviously, everyone's going to be drinking.

So let's keep the photo booth by the bar. Yeah, yeah, thank you so much. Right? So then we had to move people the other way.

They came in that way, and that's where they got their welcome drink. Everything is positioned perfectly. You have to think of guest experience. So I went to a lot of clubs as a college kid.

I go to events all the time, gallas, red carpets. I'm always out. And I love going as a guest. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Are you talking about the little circle three sixty things?

Kyle Savage: Because that's where I get inspired. I get inspired for what works, I get inspired for what doesn't work. And there were times that I leave events and I'm like, wow, like I could have done that better. And then there are also times I leave events that are very humbling.

And I'm like, wow, that was sick. Like now I want to incorporate something like that. So it's really just taking and compartmentalizing, being able to compartmentalize and realize, okay, this needs to be done now. by me.

This is something I can delegate to someone on my team. This is something that the venue is supposed to take care of. Let me stay on them. Make sure that they're on point.

You know what I mean? Like you can you have to break it down. You can't tackle the whole thing like an elephant because you'll just get overwhelmed. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: L'immigration.

Yeah. Well, that's a great segue into attention to detail because I I think you've said it so many times since we started talking at least 30 minutes about details, organization, key systems, planning, communication, keeping track of everything. So let's jump right into that. I mean, I have another question to ask you, but we gotta talk about detail because every detail matters to the overall success.

I mean, the flow of the floor, the flow of your guest, your vendors, how they get the drinks out, how they get the food out. So how do you stay so organized to keep all the moving parts together? And what habits or what systems, I mean, what keeps you on track? You know, how do you do this and juggle?

Like I always say I have all these moving spinning plates. I'm like, literally, I'm not just in the restaurant business. I'm keeping all these plates spinning. But how do you do it?

Talk to me about what motivates you to do this every day. Kyle Savage: Honestly, it's really a simple answer. I like to say that our lives are made out of a series of events. And if you really stop and think about that, it's so true.

Think about maybe the most 10 resonant days of your life weddings, right? Baptisms, children's events, anniversaries, a parent's 60th or 70th birthday, sweet 16s, bar mitzvahs. Events make up our lives. And as an event designer, I get to give that gift of peace of mind to my clients.

I get to give them the white glove experience of being a guest at their own event. Whether you're a private tastemaker, whether you're a bride, whether you're a corporation like Dining Divas, I get to give them peace of mind and the gift of being a guest for themselves. And that's my why. That's what inspires me.

I love it. I love being able to curate these moments with intention. And how do I keep it all together? I would say you need to be centered.

And if I came in there crazy with a bad attitude, that would rub off. It's all about your aura. And look, there are times that I have to be short and direct. And someone might come and ask a question, and it happened 75 times, people with questions that were not relevant.

And I was like, I can't talk to you right now. You come back and find me in seven and a half minutes. You, I can't talk to you for a half hour. You Yes.

Yes, absolutely. But you have to go in there with the energy. If your heart isn't in it, your event won't be successful. If you have an event planner who's just looking at it as a paycheck, Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: You're the police.

You gotta police the event. You have to. Kyle Savage: And their hearts are in it, your event is not going to be successful because ever like the event planner is the heartbeat of the event. Everyone follows their energy.

So if you're going in there, low energy, low vibration, your staff, your vendors, your venue is going to feel that. So when I show up for an event, I show up 110% as the most elevated, high energy version of myself because I'm the heartbeat that keeps that event going. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Yeah. It's funny you say that because every restaurant that I've opened ⁓ in, I mean, with I'll use Tuscan Prime before we sold it.

I used to run the floor. I used to run the door. They I mean, I used to tell everybody when we used to do pre-shift, I'd be like, all right, put your lipstick on, you're on the show. You know, when you walk out onto that floor, it's a show.

You know, everybody's looking at you, they know your energy. You know, you are either an energy provider or an energy sucker. Kyle Savage: Absolutely. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: So what are you gonna be?

You gotta be high energy, you gotta be positive, you gotta be motivated, you wanna make money. What's in it for you? You're out there to make money, to make tips. I'm the restaurant owner.

When people come in, they wanna see me. Where's Michelle? Where's Michelle? Where's Michelle?

So I have to go in with a great attitude because I set the tone of the restaurant. So, you know, I'm not afraid to take dirty dishes off the table. I I work hand in hand with my employees because it's so important that they feel my energy to want to bring those energy down back to my my. guest at the restaurant, right?

So Yeah. So you're like the hostess with the most. That's what they call me. I'm there doing the same thing you're doing, but in the restaurant.

Kyle Savage: I agree with you completely. Completely. Absolutely. Totally.

No. Yes, a hundred percent. You need to you need to have the energy. And look, when I get home from these events, Michelle, I am like lifeless.

I am like asleep. I can't talk to people. I don't want to answer a text, a call, I don't wanna look at my dog. Like I just want to veg.

And that is how I know I do a I do a good job. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Yeah, ⁓ light list. ⁓ I'm sure exhausted. Kyle Savage: If I'm lifeless and feel like I have had all the energy sucked out of me, that means that I gave everything that I possibly could.

If I can walk out of event and be like, yeah, let's go to an after party, that means I left something on the table. When Christine and I left that event for three days, we were shut. Everyone went to the after party. We didn't go because we weren't just going for 18 hours a day, those three days.

We were going for 18 hours a day leading up to it. There is so much that goes into it that people don't see and they shouldn't. And that's the goal. Because if you saw it, it wasn't a successful event.

You're not supposed to see it. So when you and all these other people are coming up to me saying it was flawless, it was perfect, that's what I want you to think. In my mind it wasn't because I know what happened behind the scenes, but I curated it and I fixed it and we pivoted and we have a great team. So you never have to see it.

So to you it is flawless. And that's how I know we did a good job. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Yeah. So let's jump right into your book.

Cause I didn't even know you wrote a book until we started talking about the podcast. And you're like, ⁓ I have a book and I motive I do speaking events. So I'm like, all right, what's the book? So you have to fill me in on why you wrote the book.

What's your key message? Any lessons you've learned after writing the book? And you know, ⁓ what's the main takeaway you want people to get after they read your book? And what's the title of your book?

Kyle Savage: ⁓ my gosh, so many questions. Okay, so the book is called The Art of Being Everything. And it really is a roadmap for how to live and lead a life without boundaries. And what inspired me is everything that I've experienced over the past 33 years.

I ⁓ was a caretaker beginning at three years old. My mom has MS. She's been in a wheelchair for the past 30 years. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: 'Cause I wanna know what the book is.

Kyle Savage: My father died during COVID, but prior to his passing, he was in and out of the hospital with two failed kidney transplants. I grew up with a dialysis machine in my house. ⁓ my mom's wheelchair and scooter in my house as an only child, didn't have much help from family members, didn't have any siblings, and a lot of it fell on me. And I watched my parents survive for so long.

Through the love they have for each other, through empathy, through resilience, through radiance, through perseverance, compassion, and drive. And it also showed me that life is not guaranteed, that anything can happen at the drop of a hat. So on one end, I learned from them all of these character traits that made me want to become an entrepreneur. And on the other end, I was like, wow, like, look at what happened to them.

Like I've been given this gift of life, and I'm blessed to be healthy and alive. And there's so much that I can do. And I wanted to share my story, everything I shared with you, my upbringing, my theater, my nightclub, my events, my move to South Florida, everything that I've survived that maybe would have broke other people, maybe would have made other people quit or give up. And I never did.

And it's not to flex, it's not a success story. It's meant to inspire. Because if that book can change one life a day, then writing it and putting my whole life on blast was worth it. Because I wish that I had a book like The Art of Being Everything when I was growing up and when I didn't felt seen and when I felt scared and I felt vulnerable.

Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Wow. What an inspiration. I gotta tell you, you are definitely so impressive. I mean, I learn more and more about you every time I sit down and talk to you.

And you know, I I'm I we definitely are so aligned because I 100% agree with everything you said. And, you know, ⁓ it's about an inspiration, it's about motivation, it's about empowerment, it's about taking people that just want to do what you do and inspiring them to do it. And yeah, I'm doing I'm actually I've been writing a book for five years. I'm just so busy.

I I need to sit down and finish my book, but my book's a little different because ⁓ Kyle Savage: Yeah. ⁓ non la intelligente Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: I'm doing a book about my story and who I am, but I'm partnering it with recipes that we had during each stage. So a recipe that goes with every story. So it's a play, it's a play on a cookbook, but it's not really a cookbook.

It's sitting down at a dining room table or a kitchen table or, you know, wherever we were at that time in our lives and putting together the meal that we ate while we were having those stories. Kyle Savage: I love that. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Because everybody always says, ⁓ you have the best recipes, you know, what's the recipe? And I'm like, I'm not doing another damn cookbook because nobody wants another cookbook.

There's a million cookbooks out there. And who am I? You know? But it's putting it to say, you know what?

You know, when my mom was sick before she passed away of a variant cancer, you know, these were her favorite meatballs in every event that we did. This was like, no matter where we were, we're like, we need to have those meatballs. That recipe is right there with that story. So Kyle Savage: I love that.

And it's so neat. It's so niche. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: I know it's fun, right? But it's there to tell stories and motivate and and so I've been telling these stories.

So the stories are all done. So now I'm working on the recipes to go with the stories. So my book hopefully will make it out. I said last Christmas, but my kids' book made it out, but not my my true story.

So ⁓ like you, I am an author, but I've only written a c a kid's book so far. I have a ⁓ a children's book that I published last Christmas. It's called The Little Restaurant Diva, and I'm doing a series of them about Little restaurant diva and what she goes through different cities of opening restaurants and what she goes through like being scared and changes and so ⁓ but I'm getting there. I will have my book out.

But I can't wait to read yours. Kyle Savage: Yeah, yeah. Okay. I first of all, I love that and I'm so happy for you.

And second of all, when you n have your book, w you know who to call for a big glamorous book launch party. And we'll do it in Manhattan because she'll be a New York girly by then. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Yes, I will, I will. So I will for sure.

Hopefully sooner than later. We're trying to get there in August, but it's all gonna be timing. So jump into before we run out of time, because we're already at 40 minutes, and this happens every show. I get to like the 40-minute mark.

I'm like, no, we're not done yet. I no, we have too much to talk about. Happens all the time. So you're coming back for sure.

Yeah. So just jump a little bit into motivational speaking. Tell me. Kyle Savage: I'll come back, I'll come back.

A hundred percent. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: You know, what inspires you, how you inspire others, when you get up, tell me about some of the events you've done, mindset, resilience, just jump right into motivational speaking for a couple minutes before we go into my lightning round questions. Kyle Savage: It is probably the the number one favorite thing out of everything that I do, honestly, because I get to just be me. I get to just be authentic.

I always say, and every great speaker that I look up to that I've had a conversation with says the same thing. They don't memorize speeches. You know, they don't memorize bullet points or index cards. Maybe you'll take notes, certain things you want to touch on.

But I speak from the heart. I speak about my resilience, my radiance, my reinvention, and my topic of the art of being everything, embracing every identity that we have had to earn throughout our lives. It's so resonant to everyone. I mean, look at yourself.

And I don't even know you that well. You're a mother, you're a wife, you're a daughter, you're a chef, you're a restaurateur, you're an author. Six identities just right there. You're not defined by one.

Every single part, every single one of those six has helped to shape you into the Michelle DeMayo that you are today. If you didn't have one of those five, you'd be a different person. So my message: the stories of the book resonate with everyone. Because as human beings, we are meant to evolve.

We are meant to be multifaceted. And when I get up there on those stages, I just spoke at the Elevate conference in Pompano Beach. I spoke at the Think and Grow Rich movie premiere brunch a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to be speaking in Miami in three weeks, I believe, at a wellness event.

I just spoke at a rewire your business event in Fort Lauderdale. And I get to work with private clients as well. And I get to help them see the authenticity in themselves. It's it's beautiful.

It's amazing. It is one of my favorite things that I do, probably my favorite thing that I do. And I want to be in five to ten years a household name. I want people to know me for my talks.

I'm working on a TED talk right now. Currently yes. Yes. Yes.

I'm in the process of applying to TED Talks. But again, finding ones, everything I do is intentional, right? So it's finding a TED Talk that aligns with Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: ⁓ that I was just gonna ask you. That was my next question.

Kyle Savage: my branding with my mission and my message. I'm not going to just apply to any TED talk. It needs to it needs to feel right. Just like walking into a restaurant.

It needs to feel right. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Just like a platform, you know, right? Well, that's good. Yeah.

Wow. Wow, that's amazing. You know what, Kyle, I love everything about what you're doing. And ⁓ you know, we're running out of time.

And for everybody listening, I mean, Kyle is such an inspiration. I mean, one of the things that when I was there, he had asked me to get up and talk about. I was there for all the events, all the nights, and you know, not knowing him personally. I mean, we had just met.

I've known Christine for nine years and been part of the Dining Divas for a long time. And ⁓ it doesn't surprise me that she would align her Herself and work with someone as fabulous as you and organized and intentional because that's what she eludes and that's what she puts together. So for you to ask me to stand up and just talk about what I saw was so easy. It just came natural.

I didn't even have to think about it. I'm like, yes, I'm happy to do that because it was impressive. And you took so much stress off of Christine. I mean, I know in the past what those events have done to her, and she's running around like a crazy person.

And This year she was able to enjoy herself and and walk around and have a glass of wine with, you know, her boyfriend and her friends and communicate. And there was somebody else taking, you know, that pressure and running the event and running it well and organized and professional. So I commend you for that. And it's been a pleasure to have you on the show.

And as everybody knows, we have to finish with my lightning round questions because we can't leave without hearing, you know. Yeah. So Kyle Savage: My gosh, you didn't tell me there was to be locking round. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: You have to tell me one, your favorite type of an event to plan.

Out of all the events. Kyle Savage: Favorite gala. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Gallas, huh? Why?

I gotta know. Kyle Savage: Gala for sure. I love I love the combination of the glitz, the glam, the red carpet moment of it, how high end it is. And I also love the intention behind it.

It's usually raising money for a charity nonprofit or a good cause. So I get to do something that is aesthetic and fun and beautiful, but also very intentional and philanthropic at the same time. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Mm, yeah. ⁓ I love that.

What's the most stressful event ever? What was your most stressful moment? Kyle Savage: Most stressful moment of my career, walking into that mansion on April fifteenth and seeing it as a construction zone. When the caterer turned to me and said, in thirty years of being in the catering business, this was the only time he thought the event was going to get canceled.

Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Mm. This is the only time it's what we have seven weeks. Wow. And how long wait.

And tell everybody how long it took you to turn it around. Kyle Savage: When Christine Three hours. Three hours. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: And it was and everybody for everybody listening, you needed to see what it looked like because the pictures were fabulous.

I mean, you would have never known that there was lumber in the middle of the kitchen and sawdust everywhere. Kyle Savage: Everywhere, literal construction workers cutting wood on the kitchen island that was supposed to be the sushi buffet. I thought I thought Christine was like punking me when she sent me like the pictures and she was on FaceTime. I thought I was being punked.

I was like, that's not the house. Like I I could I didn't even have words. But listen, we rallied, we got it done. Pivot, not Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: ⁓ my god.

I don't see like something paint like six, seven, eight, six, six, six, eight pieces. I don't want ⁓ my god. ⁓ my gosh. Kyle Savage: Panic.

I always say that. Pivot, not panic. We got it done. Relied on the team.

And none of the guests knew. They knew after the fact from social media, but they didn't know that day. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Yeah. Yeah.

All right. Your biggest client pet peeve. Kyle Savage: Biggest client pet peeve. Hmm, ⁓ god, I mean it's pretty basic.

I'm not adding anyone. When clients don't pay the invoice on time. Like, bruh, just pay. When clients don't pay the invoice on time, but still want you to keep doing the work.

Like when they're Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Like having a client. Your clients don't repeat an invoice sometimes. Mm-hmm. Like drugs.

Just saying. The clients don't repeat an invoice sometimes, but still want to change the form. Yeah. Well, and I don't understand sometimes that the invoice also there's other vendors that rely on that as well.

So if you're collecting money for caterers, flowers, music, then it delays all the other pieces. And how are you supposed to stay detailed to be able to successfully roll out and execute your event, right? Kyle Savage: Ясна, я Totally, yes, they don't understand that. Like I'm not pocketing all this money.

These flowers and the DJ, they're not just poof appearing, like so annoying, very trifling. I'm actually dealing with that like as we speak. So you hit a trigger point. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Yeah.

I actually think that like as we speak so that it shouldn't be ⁓ okay, sorry. Whoever's listening, pay your damn bill. Kyle Savage: Yeah, exactly, exactly. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: All right, and your dream event, if you have to f one event that you would dream to plan, what would it be?

Kyle Savage: I want to do an event in Meekinos, Greece. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Ooh. Kyle Savage: I think Mykonos. I would I wanna do a wedding in Mykonos.

That would be my dream. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: You wanna know you wanna know what one event that I want to attend? My dream? Take a wild guess.

What do you think it is? No, I wanna go to the Met Gala. That's like my dream event to attend. If I could pick one event, because I've been to a million different events, but if I could pick the one event that I 100% before I die, I will attend the Met Gala.

Kyle Savage: What? ⁓ wedding in Migros. ⁓ my God. Can you take me as your date?

Would you take me? ⁓ my God. We could we could walk in there. I think me and you could totally like really finesse a fashion duo outfit.

I mean, we would be right up there with the celebs. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: I would love to. ⁓ a thousand percent. ⁓ we will be celebs.

You'll be a household name and I'll be a household name. So we'll be invited. We'll be right up there together. Kyle Savage: A hundred percent.

A hundred percent. And I want I want a guest spot on the show. I wanna come on I wanna come on to the Dameo Dynasty and do an event. Do an event at one of the restaurants for season two.

Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Season two. ⁓ my God, how fun would that be? Yes, we're gonna do it. A thousand percent.

Yeah. Kyle Savage: That would be fun, right? Let's do that. Let's lock it in, baby.

Lock it in. ⁓ Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: I will. All right. Well, everybody that's listening, you know where to find me.

DMs are always open. We love to hear from you. Restaurantdeva.com and Kyle, you know you gotta tell everybody where to find you.

Everybody's listening. Kyle Savage: Okay, so you can find me online on Instagram. I'm the most active on Instagram. I post there every day, multiple times a day.

The Instagram is Kyle Savage Official, exactly how it sounds. K-Y-L-E Savage, like a savage beast, official. And my website is the same KyleSavage.co.

And from there you can find everything about my public speaking, upcoming events. My Vibehouse Collective website, the book, everything Kyle Savage related, Kyle Savage Official on IG, and KyleSavage.co online. And thank you again, Michelle, for having me.

You are a ball of joy. You are so freaking funny. I loved being a guest on your show. And ⁓ to many more, many more events, many more openings, and much continued success.

Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: Amazing. ⁓ ⁓ same to you, Kyle. You know, it's as everybody heard today on the show, at the end of the day, people may forget the details, they may forget the event, they may forget what they ate or what they drank, but they're never gonna forget how you made them feel. And that's that's a closing that everybody needs to remember, whether at they're at a restaurant, they're at a party, a wedding.

Kyle Savage: Nope, before we say that. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: when somebody leaves, it's how you made them feel. And you know what, even today during the show, how connected we are, how you made me feel. It's inspirational to hear you speak and and talk about your life and where you were and where you are today.

And I know it's just gonna blow up and you're gonna be as big as you wanna be. And ⁓ and to all the best success for you two. And when we do season two, we are definitely gonna do an event together. A thousand percent.

Kyle Savage: Amazing. I love it. Can't wait. Michele DiMeo |Restaurant Diva: All right, well, everyone, that's another amazing episode of Dine and Dish and Kyle hugs and kisses.

And thank you so much for coming on. And let's do this again soon. Okay. I'll see you.

Bye. Kyle Savage: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. See you soon.

Bye guys.