What I’m Reading Now: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

When I was younger, one of my dreams was to work in a high end restaurant. In my mind, of course, the job was probably mostly about the food and wine. I had a friend who owned a couple of fine dining restaurants and I once witnessed the pre-service staff meeting, where everyone tasted and learned to talk about each dish and match with appropriate wines—I was enamored.

This fascination with the hospitality industry inspired me to pick up Unreasonable Hospitality. There is so much in this book that is of value to anyone who has a clientele. Guidara has co-owned and worked in some of the top restaurants in New York, LA, and Las Vegas. This book is about forming a true partnership with your employees in delivering a memorable and bespoke experience for your customers through an relentless focus on giving more (instead of less), perfecting small details, and turning ordinary business transactions into extraordinary experiences for your clients through finding the meaning in your own work.

My favorite quote from the book is “Without exception, no matter what you do, you can make a difference in someone’s life. You must be able to name for yourself why your work matters.”

We look forward to taking some of the ideas gleaned from Mr. Guidara as we continue to refine the important work we do in taking the stress out of retirement plans for our clients.