The Welcome & The Ripple

Hey Beloved,

First a few quick things...

I am gearing up for another Unreasonable Hospitality Mastermind Workshop. If you are interested, reply to me here.

Also, a while back I let you know about a riverside lodge pursuit I was working on. Well, it kinda fell away... and then it came back. It has been a lesson of ownership vs stewardship. More on that soon, hopefully.

Ok.. I had a quick thought over the weekend and thought I would share.

You know when you drop a rock in water? You see those ripples — one right after another. One creates the next, which creates the next.

It is the same with welcome.

When you welcome someone well, it does not stop with them.

It ripples outward.

Let us dive in.

It starts with the guest...aka the customer...aka your neighbor...

They walk in. They are seen. They are greeted like they matter. Not because you need something from them. Not because they are a transaction. But because they are human, and you decided their arrival was worth your full attention.

And something shifts.

Their shoulders drop. Their breathing slows. They stop performing and start being.

That is the first ripple.

Then there is the space.

The room changes when welcome is offered. Not because you rearranged the furniture. Not because you lit a candle. But because the energy shifted. The temperature of human connection rose.

Others feel it.

A table nearby notices the warmth. The staff catches the vibe. The whole place lifts.

Welcome is not a single act.

It is a weather system.

And then there is the story.

The guest leaves and tells someone about it.

Not because you asked. Not because there was a review card.

Because they were treated in a way that made them feel like they mattered, and that feeling is too good not to share.

They tell their friend. Their friend tells another. That is how reputations are built.

Not through marketing.

Through ripples.

But there is one more.

The deepest one.

When you welcome someone into their own belovedness — when you help them feel seen, safe, and valued — you are reminding them of something they may have forgotten.

That they are worthy of welcome. That they belong. That they are, at their core, beloved.

And that reminder does not just affect their day.

It affects how they welcome others.

The ripple becomes infinite.

Here is what most people miss.

The fifth ripple — the one that comes after all the others — is about you.

After you have welcomed guests, transformed the space, sparked the story, and reminded someone of their belovedness... something happens in you too.

The act of giving attention expands your capacity to notice.

The decision to be present rewires your nervous system toward generosity.

You become more fully yourself.

You are not just giving welcome.

You are becoming more welcoming.

Hospitality does not just transform the guest.

It transforms the host.

You do not need a bigger budget.

You do not need a fancier space.

You do not need more time.

You need one decision: to welcome fully. To be present. To treat each arrival as if it matters — because it does.

That decision creates ripples you will never fully see.

The guest transforms. The space transforms. The story transforms. Someone you will never meet transforms.

And yes — you transform too.

All because you decided to welcome.

That is not just good business.

That is salt.

That is what we are meant to do.

Here is to the ripple.

With gratitude,
Nathan

P.S. Who has welcomed you in a way that changed you? I would love to hear the story. Reply and tell me.