Personal Motivation. Service With a Smile. Summer Breeze. Where Would I Move? Oliva Dean!
- Quote of the Week: “You have to believe in yourself when no one else does—that makes you a winner right there.” – Venus Williams
Venus Williams’ quote refers to a declaration of faith. Believing in yourself is the never-ending internal encouragement that leads to personal motivation and resilience. At forty-five, Venus Williams continues to maintain a busy schedule, and again will return to tennis, where she will pair with her sister, Serena, in the Wimbledon women’s doubles tournament.
Believing in yourself sometimes is interrupted by setbacks, like job loss, breakups, and health issues. These setbacks can lead to you focusing on failures, feeling “stuck in your life,” and self-doubt. According to John Tsilimparis, a Wondermind advisor, there are ways to maintain, or regain, believing in yourself:
- Practice acceptance – come to terms with the situation and acknowledge the experience.
- Lean on your support system – get a fresh perspective from someone you trust, whether that be a friend, therapist, or family member.
- Change it up and do something fun – while it may feel impossible to enjoy yourself while dealing with a negative situation, getting out to dinner, working in your yard, or exercise may provide relief from feeling bogged down.
- Seek out positivity – surround yourself with people who are positive and stay away from the “negative Nancy’s.”
- Set aggressive but attainable goals – whether a goal to change jobs, partners, or your exercise routine, setting goals can build momentum, motivation, and confidence.
Richard Goodall is a school janitor who decided to step out of his lack of belief and shyness to finally audition for America’s Got Talent. Goodall told the judges that if he could do it, anyone could do it. The rest is history:
- We have all dealt with the cause and effect of poor customer service. Companies sometimes prioritize cost-cutting over user experience, treating customer service as a financial drain rather than an asset. The deployment of A.I. and chatbots filter out human interaction, leaving customers stuck in non-responsive loops and unable to resolve their issue. Or, the high turnover faced by many companies becomes a revolving door of under-trained customer-facing employees.
This post comes from a guest writer who has decades of experience with customer service. His take:
Is the Art of Hospitality a Fading Craft?
The art of hospitality is not found in a transaction. It is found in the human connection that surrounds it. Hospitality is rarely about grand gestures. More often, it lives in the small moments: a greeting before an order, a smile before a request, a thank-you before a goodbye. These moments cost nothing, yet they can transform an ordinary exchange into a memorable experience. And because they seem so simple, I find myself wondering: is the art of hospitality becoming a fading craft?
Picture this…
You enter your favorite coffee house and walk toward the counter. The person standing between you and your favorite latte says nothing. No greeting. No smile. No eye contact that suggests they are glad, or even ready, to help. So, you break the silence.
“Hi, how are you today?”
“Fine.”
“I’d like to place an order.”
“Go ahead.”
“I would like a large latte. Oat milk with an extra shot, please.”
Silence follows, broken only by the sound of fingers pounding against the register.
And then…
There is no restating your order for accuracy, no warm acknowledgment, no moment of connection. Instead, the screen is turned toward you for payment, with the tip prompt waiting expectantly.
“Okay. We’ll call you when it’s ready.”
Oh wait, some acknowledgement.
Transaction complete.
Coffee served.
Experiences like this disappoint me. I walk away frustrated, not because a latte needs to come with fanfare, but because the simplest pieces of hospitality were missing. I ask myself: Is this a hiring issue? A training issue? Does anyone care? Do people still expect service? Or is it just me?
I grew up in the service industry. Before I turned eighteen, I had mopped floors, washed dishes, prepped food, worked the line, seated guests, cleared tables, served meals, answered phones, and staffed the front desk. Whether I was back of house or front of house, the expectation was clear: smile, greet people respectfully, listen actively, work with purpose and pride, use the customer’s name when appropriate, and speak words like “hello,” “welcome,” “please,” “thank you,” and “have a great day.” It was instilled in me that customers matter. Without them, there is no job. I was taught that hospitality requires more than completing a task; it requires understanding what guests need to create a positive and memorable experience.
Maybe the future of hospitality isn’t determined by businesses at all, but by the choices each of us makes in our next interaction. A paradox that reminds me that there are people in the service universe who continue to create moments that make guests feel welcomed, seen, appreciated, and valued.
You know who they are. The server who remembers your usual order. The barista who asks how your vacation was. The host who greets you by name before you even reach the stand. These are the people who understand that hospitality begins before the product or service is delivered.
What is their secret? The right hire? Proper training? Something innate? Perhaps it is all the above.
What I know for certain is that they make people feel like they matter. They remember details. They smile with intention. They ask about the experience. They thank guests for coming and invite them to return. They understand that service completes the transaction, but hospitality creates the memory. In a world increasingly focused on efficiency, they still prioritize human connection.
The service trade is not for everyone. Choosing a career in hospitality comes with good days, bad days, long hours, wonderful guests, and customers who may never be satisfied no matter how hard someone tries. But when hospitality is practiced with purpose and pride, it creates warmth, connection, and fulfillment on both sides of the exchange. If you are in the field, be all in. Understand the impact you can have even during the briefest interaction. If you are a customer, you have a role too. Be kind. Be patient. Use your manners. Mirror the respect you hope to receive. Recognize that hospitality is hard work, and when it is done well, it deserves appreciation.
In the end, hospitality may not be a fading craft after all. Perhaps it is simply waiting for more of us to practice it with intention.
Things I Am Thinking for the last Sunday of June 2026
- I have asked about large companies and their headcount. Oracle cut 21,000 employees from their workforce in the last few months. What were those 21,000 people doing that allowed Oracle to have this huge of a reduction in force? Did artificial intelligence (A.I.) provide the path for Oracle to lose 13% of their workforce?
- Please Venmo me $16 million. I promise I can bring in a pool contractor to get the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool up, running, and beautiful by July 4th. My first call would be to the CEO of Latham Pool. https://www.lathampool.com/ $16 million is the amount of taxpayer dollars being spent to fix the reflecting pool.
- I find it surprising that in year 2026, only 5% of CEOs at the world’s largest companies are women.
- Has anyone lived or visited Lewes, Delaware? Just asking for a friend. 🙂
- It is reported that the Strait of Hormuz reopening is flooding oil markets with supply. That can only be great news for all of us.
- Not that I did not enjoy the World Cup’s group stage matches, but I am really looking forward to the round of 32, which starts the win or go home competition.
- Must watch TV: The 5th and final season of The Bear is out. If you have not watched this series, you are in for a treat.
- Thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by the earthquakes in Venezuela.
- The “Stephen Spielberg of Sitcoms” passed away last Friday. He directed more than 1,000 episodes of Cheers, Friends, and many other hit shows. James Burrows experience goes back to The Mary Tyler Moore show back in 1974, then The Bob Newhart Show, Taxi, and 90% of the Cheers episodes. RIP, James Burrows.
Question of the Week. Thank you for your answers to last week’s Question of the Week asking what you would do in all electricity and internet was shut down for a week? Here are some of your answers:
- I would read a lot more, load up on projects.
- Be outdoors, hopefully near or on the water!
- One week in the south of Spain and then head over to Tangier.
- I would have to say that without power and the Internet I would work out and do gardening.
- Hanging out on the beach in Negril, Jamaica.
- I would head to a small town on the coast of Portugal.
This week’s Question of the Week: For whatever reason, you must move to another country from where you live now. What country would you move to, and why?
- Pure Talent. The voices of Anita Baker, Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack, and Aretha Franklin are forever imbedded in my mind. When you listen to any of their songs, there is a particular ‘style of voice’ that you automatically recognize. The same goes for Grammy Award winner Olivia Dean, who at twenty-seven years old brings us that same ‘style of voice’ many of us enjoy. Olivia Dean is Pure Talent.