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Hospitality Has Always Been Both Emotional and Technical

Elite Experiences Elevate Businesses

You can make the best product, buy the best technology, and assemble the smartest team. But if you can’t put it all together in the form of a great customer experience, you’re probably not going to win in today’s competitive market. The business leaders featured in The Way Up were united in their intense focus on customer experience. Their stories and advice can help your business on its growth journey.

Come for the Experience (and Buy Something, Too)

When you run a highly complex local business, every day is a test.

Alex Samuels knows this intimately, as the idea for her business came from a bad customer experience she had while on vacation in 2020. After a few days of debating whether or not to treat herself to a custom cowboy hat, she finally made an appointment, only to be met by an inattentive staff member who sent her on her way with a hat that didn’t quite fit.

The idea that she could create something better, even though she didn’t have retail experience — stuck with her over the next year until she launched Rustler Hat Co. as a bootstrapped side hustle. Word of Rustler’s white-glove custom creation experience spread quickly, and a flood of clients followed.

“It's not about the hat, it's about the experience and the memories,” Samuels said. “Then you start thinking, ‘Well, if it's not about the hat, you could have a million experiences.’ And so that's been the coolest part watching people continue to come back for their fifth, sixth, seventh [hats].”

The 45-minute hat creation experience starts with a greeting and a beverage before the customer settles into their consultation with a stylist, where they discuss options including accessories, height, and fitting the hat to the shape of the customer’s head. The result is usually something quite personal.

“A huge piece of our business is people bringing in stuff for their story [to put on their hat],” Samuels said. “What we like to say is ‘What's your story?’ And so how can we make that story continue on?”

78%

of retail leaders told Square that in-store experiences — from product demos to interactive test drives and classes — are key to their future business growth.

Source: The 2025 Square Future of Retail report

Key Takeaway

While every business can’t be as high-touch as Rustler, constantly thinking about the baseline experience you want to give customers and finding ways to make it far better every single time is a proven way to stand out in the market. Need a place to start? Try quarterly focus groups for your loyalty program members (they want your business to succeed) or single-question surveys asking for opinions about your service after each sale.

Less Transaction,
More Interaction

Green Apple Books co-owner Pete Mulvihill said Square makes transactions seamless, giving his busy staff time to build important connections with customers.

“The transaction shouldn't be sticky. It should happen while you're chitchatting about the books that people are buying,” Mulvihill said. “And with Square, people don't even notice… The smoothness of the transaction itself allows us to focus on the things we want to do, which is connect with the customer or suggest yet another book they buy.”

Samuels, whose staff uses Square at Rustler’s main store and events, drove the point home.

“What I think that Square does well for us is that it frees up our staff to really spend time with our customer, creating those experiences,” Rustler said.

Home Cooking + Home Decor = Home Run

Chef Charles Gabriel has been feeding the Harlem community, whether they could afford it or not, for over 50 years. His restaurants have always had a reputation for being a safe space in an evolving, and at times dangerous, area of New York City.

“The community is the essence of what we do. It’s our brand,” said Chef Quie Slobert, Charles Pan-Fried Chicken’s chief operating officer.

You can see what the community means to Charles Pan-Fried Chicken in the way they approach customer experience. Their restaurants are designed for diners to feel like they’re about to experience the ultimate home-cooked meal.

“I want you to walk into Charles Pan Fried Chicken and feel what Charles is about,” said Chef Quie Slobert. “Picture yourself having dinner with your family, and all the food is on the table, and you're just digging in and having a good time. And that's the thought I want you to have when you come in.

“You walk in, [and] you see pictures on the wall. It's like you're in a nice, clean home. Not a cafeteria. Not a restaurant. You're in his home.”

Key Takeaway

You can’t make your business a community symbol overnight, but consistency and a set of operational principles can set you on that path. To start, think about what you want your brand to represent when people see it, and then make a list of visual and emotional cues you can consider adding to your operation to spark those feelings.

Beat Expectations by Telling a Story

Halfway across the country, Chef Edgar Rico is thinking about the first impression his restaurant presents, too. But in a very different way.

“People are already coming in with this expectation of ‘Oh, this is a James Beard Award-winning restaurant. It should be this elevated, fancy experience,’” said Chef Edgar Rico, co-owner of Nixta Taqueria in Austin, Texas.

But there are no white tablecloths here. Instead, Rico and his team use an every-taco-counts mentality to win the day.

“We're going to win you over by giving you the storytelling of each one of those purveyors that we get ingredients from,” Rico said. “We love to tell everyone that story of [how] we get our corn from San Miguel Tilcajete in the state of Oaxaca by our farmer, whose name is Martin, who's been growing this corn for over eight generations in a traditional milpa method."

“You're like, ‘Holy crap, this is the most expensive taco I've ever eaten in my life.’ But there's also a lot of care and intention and decisions that were made [and that’s] why this taco cost so much.”

Co-owner Sara Mardanbigi, who runs Nixta's operations, sees this type of storytelling and intense dedication to getting the details right as a natural way to grow their business.

“I think hospitality has always been both emotional and technical,” Sara Mardanbigi said, adding that establishing an outstanding experience your customers will want to experience again creates a scenario where a business can get enough data to optimize to boost sales and fund future investments.

Key Takeaway

Passion can be one of your greatest assets. Sara and Edgar translated their passion into something customers can’t wait to experience. Want to do this but need a place to start? Try making two lists. Make one list of how you want to represent your passion for your craft to your customers. Then, with that first list in mind, make a second list of the small improvements you could try that shows customers how deeply you care. Finally, pick one or two achievable ideas to test. Depending on your customers’ reactions, you may find a new — and authentic — way to expand your fanbase.