Radical Hospitality

“Bravery is just the determination to do a job that you know has to be done.”

– Audie Murphy

Writing this is bringing me back. I started a newspaper in college called “The Pineapple Press”, writing culinary and hospitality articles for our school. The first half of my career was spent in kitchens and on event floors. Between big corporate and small n’ niche, I learned a powerful instrument in my tool belt. I would later call this “Radical Hospitality“, but there is a dynamic that comes from the openness of personal hosting, creating an experience. This is a discipline that determines whether people stay or leave.

The hospitality industry is one of the longest running, along with prostitution and masonry, and it drives at something universally human – to feel at home, when not at home.

This hospitality is often perceived as something that a travel or food business would offer. Swanky Los Vegas hotels, Disney World, bougie NYC restaurants, Instagram vlogs… someone else does that.

I would make a case that for you, reading this, the attention to hospitality at home and work has huge benefits nearer than you might think.

Radical Hospitality is going beyond what is expected. For example, when I had included this into our mission statement in ministry, I wanted to break a perception that a lot of churches struggle with – making people feel at home.

Hospitality is more than just some food or coffee out on the table. It’s how you receive people. Warmly. I eventually traded in my chef coat for a frisbee and a bible when I got into ministry full-time, but hospitality never left.

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Righteous formula: It’s the people-ready-to-do-so + the intentional environment x budget = Radical Hospitality.

The People – AI won’t replace this. Hospitality is a human thing. People need to receive people. Everyone from the top leadership down needs to exude some level of hospitable engagement with others. From families to corporate HQ, if someone is showing up – make them feel like their home.

Setting up your team to do so requires good recruitment and training. I’ve walked into so many offices and settings where there is either no one there to welcome or receive, OR a sour puss with no business representing the institution. That not just bad manners, it’s institutional failure.

There is a lot of research in the field about how hospitality has a real impact. There is a study back in the 1970’s that captured this with the Mehrabian and Russel model that dug into how three emotional states of Pleasure, Arousal, and Dominance, when combined with environmental factors, affect the decision of the customer.

You can’t just put out Joe-Schmo out front with no instruction. You recruit personable people and form the whole team, not just those on the front lines, to receive and set the environment.

When I worked at Disney, we had three zones – on-stage, behind-stage, and off-stage. When we’re on-stage or guest-facing, everyone is on deck. Everyone was at their best. If you weren’t, you weren’t there anymore.

The Intentional Environment – Where are you attracting people? Is it the office? The next event? Church foyer? Home for the 4th of July? How are your guests coming in? Better yet, how do they feel coming in? Would they come back? Are they having a good time? Does it convert people to your goals and KPI’s?

When was the last time you even thought about it?

Your spacing sans team should feel hospitable – use the senses to align with the goal of what you’re accomplishing.

Visuals – People will usually see what’s going on before any of the other senses kick in. Are the lights on, clear signage, are people gathering, is the lot cleaned up, is someone at the door ready? What is the lighting? Fluorescent and institutional or incandescent and warm? Is the team in the corner cackling to themselves or are they engaging and connecting?

Audible – Music and chatter can make or break a space. If it is audibly dead, people will get awkward real quick. The right ambient music can boost engagement. A study from the University of Leicester showcased a wine shop – when they played French music, the French wine sold. When they played German music, the German wine sold. The customers afterward denied the music had anything to do with it. Every environment has a vibe to it, music is the conduit to the subconscious engager. Chatter is the result of being effective and a force multiplier.

Smells –Baseline, make sure your area doesn’t stink. Nothing will appall someone faster than foul smells. Some places will sit in a smell for so long that they forget that it’s there. You know the places. Pets, mold, sewage – gross. If you suspect you have a smelly place. FIX IT. When a place smells clean, it means it is likely clean. If it’s likely clean, it means the place is intentional. Never eat in places that can’t keep the bathrooms clean.

Pro-grade, are there opportunities to use scents to highlight your reception? Disney is famous for putting scents into the air at their properties; they call it the Smellitzer. Scent is connected directly to memory. Remember Pirates of the Caribbean? You know as soon as you walk up. Candles, flowers, baking/cooking, essential oils, etc. – not overpowering, but enough to engage with. Think about it.

Touch – I’ve worked in a couple of hotels in my career, and the science of temperature was a big thing. Guest satisfaction increases when the temperature is stable and the air quality is fresh. Discomfort leads to fewer add-on purchases and lower likelihood of return. The same psychology is true in any environment.

Taste – My favorite. I traded in my culinary jackets but that didn’t mean the cook in me died. I love food. I love cooking. I love what it does to an environment, especially when you’re trying to win people over. A friend of mine once said, “It only costs a little more to fly first class.” It only costs a little bit more to have a decent spread. Instead of crap coffee in styrofoam, make a good cup in a mug. Instead of cheap pop, put out Coke. Arrange the bottles in order. I’ll come back to spend more time talking about this another time. Jesus broke bread with His people. Powerful engagements happen over meals and food. Conversations break ice faster over a drink or meal.

I’m known for being the coffee/taco guy in when in ministry – I always try to meet over a little hospitality.

Budget – Hospitality is a mindset, not just a budget item. That being said, hospitality does require some skin in the game, but it can fit any budget. Like what my friend said above, it doesn’t cost that much more to find something a little better. But if you’re really strapped for cash, start small. But if you’re one of us who carries responsibility at work or home, you can fill this out and make budget space to go further. Set your environments. Have your people be the people who warm people up.

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So. This is your call to action. Review how you receive people in your home and where you lead the best. I’d love to hear from you. What is your favorite way to host? Who has done it the best in your travels?

Need help with what you have going on? I love training people in this. Let’s get a taco and tacobout it. See what I did there? 

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Adam Jarosz is the founder of Righteous Co. and author of “Iron Ore: Journal of a Man” – a company built on faith, formation, and adventure. With over twenty years of experience in ministry and business, Adam leads retreats, coaches men to be the leaders they were called to be, and writes from the trenches of entrepreneurship.

He’s a husband, father of four, and believer in Christ and His Church, the power of grit and grace, and good bourbon. Follow along for insights that challenge, encourage, and call you higher with his newsletter, sign up to get it right in your email box here: The Climb.