Let's Get Unreasonable
Oct 29, 2026
Have you ever read a book that you just couldn’t stop thinking about?
For me, that’s been Will Guidara’s “Unreasonable Hospitality.”
This nonfiction dive into life behind achieving 3 Michelin stars and becoming the number one restaurant in the world just keeps showing up for me.
The author co-produced the intense show “The Bear,” but this book had way less drama and almost as much heart.
For someone who loves food, but has yet to venture too deep into haute cuisine, this look into fancy restaurants is an adventure.
As Will talks through menu changes, constantly striving for more, and tension between the back and front of the house, I kept seeing the parallels between restaurants and Advancement.
While that feels like the nerdiest connection on earth, it’s been so fun to imagine what Advancement can learn from unreasonable hospitality.
Will’s definition of unreasonable hospitality is the creative, intentional pursuit of relationships.
He describes a culture where generosity is the norm.
He expects his team to care more and try harder.
Ideally, in Advancement, we strive for a similar experience for donors.
We’re building relationships that will thrive beyond us.
We’re inspiring generosity.
We care deeply about both humans and education.
We try really f*ing hard.
The part we skip
Where Advancement falls short is bringing unreasonable hospitality internally to the team.
We spend very little time on culture and on bringing the back and front of the house together toward the same mission.
We set higher and higher expectations, but give little time for strategy, connection, and innovation.
We put so much care into the relationships we build with donors. What would change if we brought that same level of care to the people doing the work?
I had the chance to attend the very first Unreasonable Hospitality Summit in Nashville, and one quote Will shared has stayed with me. It came from Teller, of Penn & Teller:
“Sometimes magic is simply someone spending more time on something than anyone else would reasonably expect.”
I love that.
And I keep thinking about what it would look like to spend a little more unreasonable time on ourselves and our teams.
Make some unreasonable time for you
These are the kinds of conversations I want us to make room for at UPLIFT 2027.
You deserve the time, space, and connection to think big about your work life and your home life.
UPLIFT is Jan. 26-27 in Palm Springs.
Join us to spend some unreasonable time on you.
