Campfire Chronicles Vol. 6 - Moon Magic and Unreasonable Hospitality
Hey friend,
I turned 51 this week.
Which means I’m officially old enough to know better, wise enough to care better, and tired enough to plan around rest on purpose.
And that’s where this word keeps hitting me in the gut lately: Intentionality.
It’s my word for the year ahead. Not because it sounds nice. But because I want to mean it when I show up. For my clients. For my team. For Alex. For myself.
And that brings me to this book I just finished: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara.
Ya’ll, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
If you work with people—or serve people in any capacity—this one will flip on all the light switches in your brain.
It made me start thinking: what does unreasonable hospitality look like for a boutique brand and content strategy studio that primarily operates online?
Before I dive into the how, let me tell you the real thing that struck me about this book:
Unreasonable hospitality isn’t just about sending gifts or going above and beyond. That’s the expression. But the skill that unlocks it? Listening.
Deep, intentional, curious listening.
The kind of listening that makes people feel known. Noticed. Valued.
It’s easy to assume hospitality is all about what you give. But Guidara flips that idea on its head. The best hospitality starts with how well you pay attention.
Here’s what I’m dreaming about (full disclosure: dreaming is operative here…this isn’t something we’ve completely unlocked…I’m open to ideas!)
3 Ways We Can Show Unreasonable Hospitality in Small Business
1. Personal touches that feel like magic. Anyone can send a welcome packet. But what if we also included a poem? Or a Spotify playlist? Or a handwritten note celebrating the actual words a client said that moved us? I actually started thinking about this in depth after attending the GrowDisrupt Reflect retreat in October. Stephanie Scheller and her team are seriously MASTERS at creating care packages (think swag bags, but with stuff you actually want), and not only did it get me excited about the event itself, it also left a lasting impression.
2. Space to feel seen. We don’t serve avatars. We serve humans. The kind with anxiety, ambition, and ADHD. What would it look like to intentionally create spaces where clients don’t feel like they’re behind or broken—they feel welcomed as they are?
3. Going the extra mile (without making it weird).Sending the edited file early. Re-recording that one intro because you know it could be better. Making a last-minute design tweak without turning it into a scope change conversation. Generosity as a brand value, not a bonus. This one’s a real tightrope. Generosity is one thing, doormat is something else entirely. There certainly needs to be boundaries around this one.
And here’s the thing. Hospitality doesn’t just apply to clients. It applies to how we treat our team. How we show up for each other.And how we build a business that welcomes us too.
A Business Partnership Is Like a Campfire
Alex and I are VERY different people. Different brains. Different pacing. Different generations.
We may even choose different words to frame up our year. And that’s okay. It works because we stay curious.
We make room for each other’s weird. We name what we need. We laugh A LOT. And we try (not always perfectly) to approach each other with hospitality:
What do you need to feel safe here?
How can I make more room for your brilliance?
What can I let go of so we can both breathe?
Unreasonable hospitality starts in-house. And honestly, it makes the client work better, too.
And Now for a Little Bit of Woo
Lunar Planning: Why We Swear By It
A few folks have asked lately how we plan our year using lunar cycles. We wrote a blog about it forever ago (read it here)—but here’s the deeper version:
We align our business rhythms with the moon because it reminds us:
Rest isn’t a reward for productivity. It’s part of the process.
I was recently reminded of this at Reflect during a workshop on play and flow state by Acey Holmes. One key takeaway: recovery, struggle, and release are part of the flow cycle.
Play isn’t frivolous—it’s functional. It can be a form of rest (recovery) or a form of release. Either way, it's a legit part of the process, not something to squeeze in when the real work is done.
Lunar planning is a cycle:
New Moon = intention-setting, visioning, dreaming
Waxing Moon = building energy, task execution, aligned hustle
Full Moon = celebration, reflection, letting go of what isn’t working
Waning Moon = cleanup, closure, boundaries, REST
It works because it mirrors real life. Energy expands and contracts. Motivation ebbs and flows. And I don’t know about you, but at 51... your girl needs to sit down sometimes.
We don’t just believe in strategy. We believe in sustainable strategy. And for us, that means working with the natural rhythms—not just quarterly deadlines and Google Calendar.
It started small for me a couple of years ago, when I reduced my daily meeting budget from 4 to 2 during the waning moon. That change alone set the stage for a slower workweek and allowed for more rest. I also try to plan vacations (the restful kind…family visits may not count) during the waning moon.
Here are some other ways we work our woo woo into business:
We try to schedule our quarterly bat cave sessions during the new moon so we can set clear intentions and map the big-picture vision.
We often schedule our co-boss babe debriefs around the full moon to reflect, celebrate, and let go of whatever no longer serves the mission (or the partnership).
If you’re curious about how to try it for your biz, I’ve got a little something for you!
A Birthday Gift From Me to You
To celebrate turning 51, I wanted to give you something that’s helped me run my business in a way that feels more aligned, grounded, and human. So I’m sharing the mini lunar calendar we use to guide our planning.
To us, it’s more than a calendar. It’s a permission slip. A planning framework that centers on cycles, rest, and sustainable momentum.
Whether you’re moon-curious or fully witchy with your workflow, this guide will help you:
Align your work to your energy (not someone else’s schedule)
Make rest part of your business model
Celebrate progress on purpose
👉 Grab the Lunar Calendar here
Use it. Share it. Print it. Doodle on it. Or ignore it until Mercury goes retrograde. Just know it’s here for you.
Here’s to a year of radical intention, unreasonable hospitality, and running a business that doesn’t just look good on paper—it feels good to live in.
With love and moonlight, Cari
About Campfire Chronicles: Campfire Chronicles hits your inbox every second Friday of the month—your monthly spark of storytelling, straight talk, and strategic goodness for founders, creatives, and big-hearted business owners who want to build brands that actually mean something.
Expect: real stories, no fluff; tactical tips to pressure-proof your marketing; occasional sass & sacred wisdom; tools & resources to make your message work smarter instead of harder. Pull up a log. We saved you a seat by the fire.
