Want to Unlock Your Full Potential? Start here.

An inspiring story and insights from the Highland team show us that anything is possible.

When Will Guidara’s NYC restaurant Eleven Madison Park was listed dead last on the roster of best restaurants in the world, he was deflated but determined. He set out to transform how his business operated and reinvent the meaning of hospitality, with memorable, over-the-top, bespoke experiences. His team surprised a family who had never seen snow with a magical sledding trip to Central Park after their dinner. They filled a private dining room with sand, complete with mai-tais and beach chairs, to console a couple after a canceled vacation. For Guidara, hospitality extended beyond those dining at the restaurant to his own team, who learned that often the answer to tough dilemmas is to give more, not less, as every employee, down to the bussers, were trained to think and act as if they owned the business. Nine years later, Eleven Madison Park was named the best restaurant in the world.

Recently, the entire team at Highland embarked on a journey to reimagine client service by collectively reading and discussing Guidara’s book, Unreasonable Hospitality. Here a few team members share their favorite quotes and insights from the book:

“Start with what you want to achieve, instead of limiting yourself to what’s realistic or sustainable. Or, as I like to say, don’t ruin a story with the facts. Eventually, you’ll reverse engineer your great idea and figure out what’s possible but start with what you want to achieve.”
This inspires me as a Wealth Confidant to help clients discover their dreams and then figure out how to make them come true. It also speaks to me as an individual and a Highland team member that we must dream big and not let logistics get in our way of striving for and achieving the impossible.”

– Advisor Trevor Seamons, MBA, CFP®

“Intention means every decision, from the most obviously significant to the seemingly mundane, matters.”
We assist with some of the biggest and smallest parts of our client’s lives. It’s easy to see how the big parts are valuable, but sometimes hard to see how the smaller aspects contribute to the whole. I’ve realized the importance of approaching the small matters with intention and focus because those small matters add up to a greater whole.

– Associate Josh Harrison, CFP®

“When you grow up a little, you realize that the people getting the most out of their lives are the ones who wear their hearts on their sleeves, the ones who allow themselves to be passionate and open and vulnerable and who approach everything they love at full throttle, with curiosity and delight and unguarded enthusiasm.”
This quote really hit home for me. The energy you put out into the world often finds its way back to you!

– Associate Auddie Sweet

Reading Unreasonable Hospitality together has not only unified the team around a shared vision but also sparked creative ideas and excitement around enhancing client service. One of our core values is “pursuing excellence” with the idea that we can and will keep getting better. Will’s story offers inspiration for all of us on how to unlock our full potential in business and life:

• Challenge conventional wisdom.
• You need to have a point of view to have an impact—you can’t please everyone.
• Endless reinvention—no part of your business or life should be off limits to reevaluation.
• Be fully present to create deeper connections with those around you.
• Creativity starts with what you want to achieve, not limited by what is practical or sustainable.

Unreasonable Hospitality shows us how to reframe challenges big or small and reminds us that determination and persistence are superpowers we all can channel to achieve our goals.