Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anastasia Yecke Gude. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Anastasia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
It’s funny; I’m a business owner but I feel like I’ve spoken about my company ad nauseum lately so it will be a nice change of pace to recount the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me.
I consider myself lucky that, while considering this question, several instances come to mind:
– The wonderful roommate who told me to keep his security deposit when he moved out while I was between jobs and refinancing my mortage.
– The poor family who invited me to share their simple but delicious meal with them on a long train ride in India.
– The funds my amazing friends in my Rotary club donated to four charitable causes I care deeply about in honor of my 40th birthday.
But the one I’ll share here is about a man in Egypt whose act of kindness I think of often.
In my early 20’s, I wanted to travel the world for a few years after graduating college but not only was I not a trust fund baby with unlimited resources, I also had college loans to pay back. The solution? Join an airline and get paid to travel! Not only that, but I soon learned how to maximize my days off so I could fly standby to faraway places. In addition, being an employee of a major airline also meant I could fly on other airlines as well, at steep discounts.
However, steep discounts also meant flying standby. Which is how I found myself waiting for more than 12 hours in the Luxor airport in southern Egypt as flight after flight left full to Cairo. There had been a mechanical issue with a plane that was supposed to fly that route earlier in the day, and now all the passengers were being parceled out to later flights.
I absolutely HAD to make the midnight flight from Cairo to Frankfurt. From there, I would fly my own airline back to my base in San Francisco. It was the last day of an incredible two-week trek throughout Egypt, and I was down to my last few dollars – so much so that I skipped lunch…then dinner…as the hours crept by and the gate agents kept shaking their heads sadly at me as flight after flight left without me.
I had one more chance: the very last flight of the evening. It was going to be cutting it close but if I could board that flight, I could just make the redeye to Frankfurt. Success! What a relief to finally board (and to ask for extra snacks, as I was famished).
A man sat down next to me; he lived in Cairo and had been in Luxor on a business trip. His English was quite good and he had visited New York before the Twin Towers fell. We chatted for most of the 60-minute flight to Cairo, and as we were landing, I asked him how far of a walk the international terminal was from the domestic one, so I could catch my flight to Germany. I wish I could have seen the look on my face when he told me, “My dear, the international terminal is several kilometers from the domestic one. You will need to take a taxi.”
I literally had about $5 left on me.
I vaguely remember stuttering something incoherent; he assessed my situation and then said, “Don’t worry. I’ll drive you to the international airport.” All the “stranger danger” and kidnapping stories I had heard flashed through my head, but not only did I not have a choice to take him up on his generous offer, during the hour or so that we had been talking together on the flight I had found him to be a kind man and my intuition is rarely wrong. I accepted – embarrassed but so, so grateful.
This man, who surely wanted nothing more than to go home and see his wife and daughter who had missed him while he was gone, took the time to escort a scared young woman out of the local terminal late at night, to the parking lot where his car awaited, and drove (out of his way, I’m sure) to the Matar El Qahira El Dawly International Airport.
As we were pulling up to my terminal, I asked him how I could repay him: perhaps there was a certain souvenir or gift I could mail him from America? I will never forget his response:
“Do something kind for a foreigner in your own country.”
I often think of his words when I see someone who doesn’t speak English struggling with directions, ordering food, or any number of other scenarios. Do something kind for a foreigner in your own country. I am fully bilingual (English/Spanish) and speak some French, German, and Italian, so every time I step in and try to help, I silently thank that man who selflessly helped me all those years ago.
Anastasia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Healing Hands Massage + Wellness is in many ways a product of the Great Recession. Like many people during that time, I decided to switch careers after the advertising company where I had spent almost a decade was acquired by another company. I realized the stress and frequent travel of the last several years had quite literally left me in knots; I took some time off and realized how much better I felt when not hunched behind a laptop. Upon further introspection, I realized some of the things I loved the most were working with my hands and helping others. By becoming a massage therapist and launching my massage therapy and corporate wellness company, I was able to bring things full circle: our team of chair massage therapists has helped provide relief to thousands of stressed-out clients in South Florida.
As we emerge from the pandemic, Healing Hands is focused more on massage therapy than ever and our studio has expanded from one to three treatment rooms. Since nobody likes being nickled and dimed when they get massages, we offer an All-Inclusive Massage where you pay for the time you are on the table (a true 60-minute hour) and all the add-ons that other places charge extra for are included: deep tissue, hot stones, aromatherapy, therapeutic stretching, and cupping. We only invite experienced therapists to be a part of our team, and we are extremely proud to be the highest-ranked massage studio in the Brickell area on Google and Yelp.
Additionally, our company believes in giving back. Healing Hands is proud to be a member of B1G1 (Buy One Give One), an organization that makes it easy for businesses to incorporate giving into their everyday activities. For example, our massage therapists offer water to each client at the end of their session and at the same time, we provide 5 days of access to clean water to a family in Cambodia for every client who gets a massage. To date, almost 40 years of water have been provided. For our social media, for every like/comment/share we provide information to 10 women at risk of domestic violence. So far, more than 22,000 women have been reached.
Healing Hands has since incorporated Giving Projects like the ones above into every aspect of our business as reflected in our motto “Do Good While Feeling Good!” So you know when you choose our company for your massage and wellness needs, it’s not only you who benefits.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
As author James Clear says in his awesome book Atomic Habits, “Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.” At Healing Hands, we have achieved success through the years by treating every client as a VIP and truly listening to what they want from their massage session. We are confident in our knowledge and skillset – while recognizing that of course there are always ways to improve even more. We tell our clients that the best compliment is a referral, and we ask them to review us on sites like Google and Yelp so that others who are looking for quality therapeutic massage can find us easily.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
It all comes down to treating others the way you would like to be treated. Trust, respect, and gratitude go a long way; never pass up an opportunity to tell your team you appreciate them. Celebrate their birthdays and anniversaries with your company. Stick up for them if a client unfairly blames them for something out of their control – the customer is not always right. If you notice an employee is sad or off their game, let them know you care. Don’t be afraid to show them your human side – after all, your team doesn’t expect you to be perfect, and they will respect you more if you own up to any mistakes you make.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://healing-hands.us/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healinghandsmiami/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HealingHandsMiami/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiayecke/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HHMassageMiami
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/healinghandsmiami
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/healing-hands-therapeutic-massage-miami
- Other: Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Healing+Hands/@25.7705578,-80.1963437,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x88d9b69b6bc339d7:0x8721a8a54bbd2a1c!4m5!3m4!1s0x88d9b6a87678970d:0x65fbe113a46bf452!8m2!3d25.770553!4d-80.194155
Image Credits
Paola Lehman, Gaby Martinez