Mike's superpower
Early on at Balance, we had a couple come in for massages. Same start times, different rooms. One of them got started right away, but the other's therapist had an emergency and had to leave. That left us with a problem: one client relaxed and enjoying their massage, and the other stressed, waiting, upset, and unsure what was going to happen.
We did what service providers often do: we tried to guess what would make it right. "Can we reschedule you? Can we comp your session? Can we book you with another therapist later this week?" None of it landed. She grew more frustrated.
Finally, we stopped guessing and asked her directly: "What can we do for you right now to make this better?"
Her answer caught us completely off guard:
"I'd like my cigarettes."
It wasn't the request we expected, but that's exactly what made it powerful. In that moment, we realized we had an opportunity to learn, to step outside our idea of service and into hers.
That moment made us better. It humbled our assumptions and reset our expectations. It taught us, in real life, that service isn't about ego or control. It's about honoring what people truly need.
That's how the "Pack of Smokes" story was born. Not because cigarettes are the heart of good service, but because choice is. At that stage of Balance, we didn't even have the words "Giving Choices" in our Service Wrapper. We were still learning from the real-life moments that shaped us. That's what made stories like Pack of Smokes so powerful, they became anchor points we taught again and again, giving us a shorthand for what mattered even before we had a system to name it.
The truth we carried forward is simple: you never really know what someone needs until you ask.
Service isn't guessing. Service is asking.
Because asking creates clarity, and clarity makes the choices meaningful.
From Clients to Teammates: The Power of Choice
That moment showed us something bigger: if choices matter to clients, they matter just as much to teammates. From the start, we made sure that lesson lived inside our organization, weaving choices into how people were recognized, developed, and connected.
That's Mike's Superpower.
He doesn't assume what people need. He asks, and he actually listens to the answer.