Meet the Coach Giving Local Businesses “Permission to Give a Damn”

Most business consultants see a team that’s burned out and immediately think: “They need better processes. More training. Clearer goals.”

Nathan Woods saw something completely different when he worked with a nonprofit serving women transitioning from homelessness. 

The case managers weren’t failing because they lacked skills. They were emotionally drained because they’d lost something fundamental about their work.

“Permission to give a damn”—that’s how Nathan describes what was missing. It meant giving them back the freedom to do things that would genuinely help their clients while bringing joy back to their own work. 

And that’s exactly what’s missing in so many businesses today.

As an Unreasonable Hospitality Certified Coach, Nathan helps leaders and businesses bridge the connection gap with both their teams and clients through the lens of hospitality. Through his work with a variety of clients, he’s found that businesses don’t need more leadership development, they need permission to actually care.

Why Traditional Business Approaches Weren’t Enough

Before joining Coach Builder, Nathan was already doing hospitality work intuitively. He’d worked with resorts, built customer touch points, and understood the value of going above and beyond for clients. 

But he faced the same challenge many experienced professionals encounter when trying to systematize their expertise:

Lack of Framework: “I think having a framework that was pre-built was super great,” Nathan explains. “It was kind of daunting to think about building that out.”

Positioning Challenges: While Nathan had the skills and experience, he struggled to articulate exactly what made his approach different from traditional leadership development or customer service training.

Confidence in Delivery: Despite his expertise, Nathan needed validation that his approach could be taught systematically and delivered with confidence to diverse businesses.

Nathan knew he had something valuable, but he needed structure to turn his intuitive understanding into a scalable coaching practice.

The Framework That Pulled It All Together

When Nathan joined Coach Builder in November 2024 and became certified in Unreasonable Hospitality, things started to click for him. 

The timing was perfect: he’d been helping businesses informally, but now he had the tools and credibility to formalize his approach.

The Unreasonable Hospitality Certification gave Nathan:

✅ Ready-Made Structure: Instead of building everything from scratch, Nathan could focus on delivery with pre-built materials and frameworks already in place.

✅ Brand Credibility: “Being attached and affiliated with Unreasonable Hospitality brand and Will Guidara makes things a lot easier,” Nathan notes. The recognition factor opens doors immediately.

✅ Inspiration to Scale: The certification gave Nathan confidence that he could teach his expertise systematically and create real impact for diverse businesses.

✅ Clear Differentiation: Rather than another leadership development program, Nathan could position hospitality as a refreshing lens that gives teams permission to truly care.

Want to see the Unreasonable Hospitality framework Nathan and other Coach Builder coaches use with their clients? Click here.

Transforming Businesses Through Connection

Nathan’s approach centers on a simple but powerful insight: Most of the time businesses fail to connect in meaningful ways with both their team and those who they serve.

His solution isn’t more customer service training, it’s helping businesses understand all their potential touch points and how to elevate them.

Systematic Process: Nathan primarily works through 1 or 2 day workshops where he helps businesses map their customer and employee journeys, then identifies moments that can be elevated through hospitality.

Creative Problem-Solving: When businesses worry they’re not creative enough, Nathan encourages them to “first just have fun” and think of the most hospitable thing they’ve ever experienced, then dial it back to something realistic.

Cross-Industry Application: Nathan brings examples from different industries, sharing stories of how businesses in completely different spaces have created memorable moments for their customers.

Local Focus with Global Principles: Currently working primarily in his local Eugene-Springfield area, Nathan uses word-of-mouth and targeted outreach, often creating personalized proposal websites with custom video walkthroughs for potential clients.

Unexpected Win: How an Insurance Agency CEO Became Nathan’s Biggest Fan

One of Nathan’s most telling successes came with an insurance agency that was no different from any other agency down the street.  

During a networking event, Nathan saw their whiteboard discussions about client engagement and could see they were wrestling with how to differentiate themselves.

“I could tell like there was an inkling of, ‘We need to do something a little bit more,’ but they couldn’t put words to it,” Nathan explains. “I could see the problem they were working through.”

After presenting his solution, the CEO called Nathan immediately. He said Nathan had finally put words to exactly what they wanted to accomplish but couldn’t articulate. 

The workshop with this agency is scheduled for next month, but the process of helping them articulate their vision demonstrated the power of Nathan’s approach: putting words to what businesses already want to do but can’t quite express.

Nathan’s Winning Strategy

1. Permission-Based Positioning
Rather than selling hospitality as customer service, Nathan positions it as giving teams permission to care in ways that feel natural and energizing.

2. Journey Mapping Foundation
Nathan starts with the practical work of mapping customer and employee journeys, making the abstract concept of hospitality concrete and actionable.

3. Local Relationship Building
By focusing on his immediate geographic area, Nathan can leverage existing relationships and provide personalized attention that creates strong referral networks.

4. Story-Driven Teaching
Nathan uses examples from diverse industries to help clients see possibilities they might not have considered in their own business context.

Key Takeaways from Nathan’s Success

• Nathan’s journey offers some valuable lessons for anyone looking to build a coaching business:
• – Don’t reinvent the wheel, use proven frameworks
• – Examples from other industries can spark the best ideas
• – Borrow credibility from established brands when possible
• – Give people permission to care instead of selling them services
• – Start local and go deep before going wide

“Coach Builder gave me permission to utilize the skills and expertises that I have and feel confident that I can go teach it to others and have an impact on others through it… It’s given me that confidence that I can go do this.” — Nathan Woods

Ready to systematize your expertise like Nathan? Coach Builder provides the frameworks, structure, and credibility to transform your knowledge into a scalable coaching business that gives you permission to make the impact you’ve always wanted to create. Join here.