Rules of Behavior

Why John Rudolph was terminated as a client: A cautionary tale.

Denise Epperson, Harmony Massage Office Manager

3/17/202511 min read

Let me kick this off with an introduction: Hi, my name is Denise. I am Heather's office manager here at Harmony Massage and Bodywork. For the record, I do not work directly for Harmony Massage, I own my own business and Heather contracts me to handle her customer service and marketing. She also allows me opportunities to mesh my skills as a NASM CPT, YACEP compliant Yoga Instructor and Certified Professional Life Coach, with her services. Many of you probably already know Heather is my daughter. She is still my boss. And there is not one minute of the day that I do not keep that in mind and respect her position. Heather has built her business up from the ground all on her own. I am a guest here. I follow her orders.

So let me backtrack a bit to my personal background and how I came to be here at Harmony. Heather was looking for an opportunity to expand her business but Heather isn't going to just let anyone in here. She respects herself and her clients too much. I am aware many of you have been coming to see her for years. I have decades of experience working in hospitality, food and beverage, or medical in one capacity or another. I have worked in local and federal government positions. I have worked in corrections (which I hated) and my favorite place to be is working in psychiatric environments. I am a helper and I love it when people feel good about themselves. That's why I became a personal trainer, a yoga instructor and a life coach. One thing all of these situations have in common is interacting with people from all walks of life and all types of cultural backgrounds.

Terms Of Service vs Confidentiality vs Libel

As some of you have become aware, one of our clients, John Rudolph, is unhappy and is going to various websites, leaving negative reviews about the business and making some pretty harsh accusations. Under normal circumstances, we do not disclose information about our clients. However, when you leave public reviews you are already disclosing your identity. By making accusations against us we have the right to rebuttal claims. We understand that there will be times that we might have to take corrective measures to accommodate clients because something went wrong somewhere along the way. It's part of the business. No one is perfect. We are always willing to attempt to set things right. However, in this case this person is seeking to do harm when there is no fault on our part. I wouldn't have been a very good government employee if I couldn't write out a report and lay out the facts according to the policies and put it to a timeline.

The Facts

For those of you who have not yet aquatinted yourselves with our Terms of Service you can read them here. We all click the agree button on the EULA without reading it. No judgments here. The Cliff's Notes version is that we expect to be treated with respect. When I say that, I mean act like you would if you went to the hospital and you were speaking with your healthcare provider. We also reserve the right to refuse service if we feel you're being inappropriate or pushing boundaries. Take into consideration, that Heather has to be alone in a room with you. If she already doesn't trust you she's not going to put herself in that position. She is my precious daughter, and I don't want her taking risks either. So when in doubt leave it out. This brings us to the bare bones of this situation: Why John Rudolph got fired from being a client and what he decided to do about it.

12/24/2025

John Rudolph had been a client of Heather's for several years until recently. In December 2024 Mr. Rudolph contacted me about wanting personal training. Our initial contact was by phone, but at the time I was still trying to get services organized so we continued the discussion later on via text message. Here is a transcript of that conversation, taking place Christmas Eve Day, which I have simply copy and pasted here:

Massage Therapy Session・Heather Williams (scheduling date omitted for client privacy. Session was booked by the client)

JR: I have a phone that doesn't like apps

JR: What new things do you need to know

[automated] I think you want to book an appointment. I noticed you have an upcoming appointment for (date omitted for client privacy) Would you like to: Reply with a, b or c. a) Reschedule this b) Book a new one c) Not booking

JR: C

DHM: If you dont have anything new just disregard it. Apparently Square has instituted an AI bot to confuse everyone.

JR: It's working

December 24, 2024 at 9:23 AM

DHM: If you need help please call or text the business number 386 488 2122 and I am happy to help. I will ask Heather if she minds if I disable the AI assistant (if we can). Since I'm here we don't really need it.

JR: I actually prefer email

December 25, 2024 at 2:37 PM

JR: Merry Christmas Denise

December 27, 2024 at 6:31 PM

JR: Hello

DHM: Merry Christmas. Hope you had a good one.

JR: How are you today?

DHM: Sorry I got busy playing catch up today and forgot to get with you about the sessions you asked about.

JR: No worries

DHM: If you want we can set a free 30 minute assessment appointment. I've got some time next week.

JR: I have been working on USCG stuff most

DHM: Are you still serving?

JR: Who

JR: Yes

DHM: Oh ok. Awesome.

DHM: Did you have something you needed help with?

JR: Core strength

JR: Endurance

DHM: I can definitely help with that.

JR: Good

DHM: I just wanted to make sure you're aware I'm doing training remotely. I'm in Oklahoma.

DHM: I couldn't remember if I mentioned that the other day.

JR: I remember

DHM: Ok we have some equipment at the office. Or we can do sessions from your house if you have access to equipment.

JR: What type

DHM: I don't think we have enough stuff at the office to really do a hardcore man workout. But have some tricks up my storage that could sufficiently roast you.

DHM: What are the chances you have access to a TRX trainer at home?

DHM: Heather doesn't have one either but I have one here.

JR: I don't know anything about that

DHM: Ok some dumbbells or kettlebells.

JR: Nope

DHM: Ok no worries. We can use the stuff at the office. At least to get us started.

JR: Good

DHM: I can pow wow with Heather and see if I can get her to pick up a few extra weights. Would you like to schedule a time to meet up next week?

DHM: I have some time Monday in the morning and early afternoon.

JR: What price

DHM: For Monday nothing. It's just a meet and greet. Want to settle on one session for an hour for $35 after that and then we can do a bundle for sessions if you want to keep going.

DHM: I've been bundling up with Heather doing sessions so I haven't set my individual sessions and prices yet.

JR: Ok

JR: I got to think

JR: Renovating house

DHM: Ok no rush. Let me know. Heather and I are doing sciatica relief and shoulder neck pain relief bundles. Right now. But I understand renovations. I'm renovating my house too. Three years and counting.

JR: I just have to manage money and time

DHM: I completely understand.

JR: I'm calling it a night Denise

JR: Been a long day

JR: Need sauna

JR: Massage

JR: Shower

JR: Bed

JR: Talk later?

JR: Good night my friend

DHM: Sorry got busy. Enjoy your evening. Talk soon!

December 28, 2024 at 5:36 AM

JR: Nothing to be sorry about sweetheart. You're wonderful.

JR: Hi

JR: Just wanted to see how you were doing

JR: Have a great night

December 29, 2024 at 8:13 AM

JR: Good morning

JR: Hello Denise

JR: Sorry we didn't talk

December 30, 2024 at 12:58 PM

JR: Hi Denise

JR: I wanted to tell you I can't afford a personal trainer and massage

JR: I do want to help you market your plans if I can

JR: At least be a sounding board

JR: You and Heather are fantastic and I want to see you succeed

Zero Tolerance Policy

As you can see after we concluded the business portion of our conversation Mr. Rudolph continued to contact me in a much more casual manner. He did so at multiple times of the day and night for several days. I found the tone of his conversation to be inappropriate for a client/ coach relationship and I stopped responding to him. In the meantime, Heather, who has full access to the conversation contacted me because she got the same vibes after reading this conversation. Due to her familiarity with this client and information he had relayed to her, she recognized there were variations in information he had given me and things he had told her.

So what would be the benefit of being untruthful about such innocuous details to someone you do not know?

Based on our discussions over several days, Heather decided to terminate the client relationship with Mr. Rudolph. Admittedly, neither of us were in a hurry to talk to him because we had the creeps. Given his next appointment was not for several months, we shelved the situation in the hopes he would cancel on his own and we didn't have to directly deal with him. Honestly, if given a chance, problems have a way of handling themselves.

02/26/2025 - 03/05/2025

I don't respond to people who make me uncomfortable. I am a narcissistic abuse survivor. This tactic is called grey-rocking. To most people it probably seems like I am reading too much into things. I can't explain why I know when people are bed news, I just know. Like once you see it you can't unsee it. I could call it a bias and delude myself, but being aware has always saved me. Overly familiar behavior, insinuating oneself into center focus, monopolizing time and small changes to details are mega red flags for me. Heather handles her own client terminations, so that's what she decided to do based on the information we had at the time.

03/07/2025

This text message is sent directly to the business phone, which I have, not Heather. She has already sent me a copy of the email she sent to Mr. Rudolph. I am already aware that she has terminated the therapy / client relationship with him.

In my experiences, when one party ends a relationship and then rejected party reciprocates by re-ending the relationship on their own terms, it is very red flag behavior. It also validated, in my mind, that the decision was valid and my feelings about this client were correct.

We hoped this would be the end of it, but no.

03/15/2025

On or about Saturday March 15, 2025 John Rudolph took it upon himself to leave an unfavorable review of Harmony Massage and Bodywork on Google. We recognize and respect every person's opinion. We only hope that you will give us an opportunity to resolve problems and concerns. We also hope that you will leave an HONEST review.

We felt like this type of retaliation was pretty petty, but we hoped he got it all out of his system and that would be the end of it. Not so fast!

03/16/2025

Yesterday afternoon Heather gets another notice of this review which was left by Mr. Rudolph on Massage Book:

It's now becoming apparent that this nonsense is not about to stop. Guess what? We guessed it right. In response to Heather's responses to him he went back and changed his Google review to the following: (We became aware of this 03/17/2025)

Thank you for contacting Customer Service

If your concerns with Harmony Massage and Bodywork were about my lack of empathy regarding your financial situation, why did you leave a second review on Massage Book a day later completely omitting your concerns for my callous disregard and blatantly lie about Heather's office having glass walls and lack of ambience being your issue? Neither were these concerns over the conditions of the Harmony Massage office mentioned in your first or second reviews written on Google, the day before and after the Massage Book review was written.
Based on the conversation above, being the full transcript of our conversation, would you please determine which parts of this conversation were offensive to you or gave you the impression that I am only concerned with money?
I had no idea you had a dog. Have you considered contacting Finn's vet to notify them they should work pro bono so you can hire a personal trainer?
I had no idea you had a wife. I have a husband whom I love and respect. Outside of keeping clearly defined coach/ client relationship boundaries, I also don't text with random men late at night because I have integrity. I noticed mention of your wife got edited out of your reviews when Heather mentioned you were crossing boundaries.
The boundaries established for client behavior are clearly stated in the Terms of Service agreement, which is also on our Terms of Service page on this website.
In your initial review you clearly stated that you had no issues with Harmony Massage and Bodywork until I began working as the manager. You have also stated in your reviews positive things about Heather and wished her well. This being the case, it is unclear why you also leave her poor reviews over easily disproven claims, such as Heather's office has a glass wall. It is my personal belief that you left the poor review on Google to discredit me for the reasons which you knew were why you were terminated as a client. When Heather responded to your accusations with the actual reason, you retaliated by leaving a second review on Massage Book to damage her business by addressing your opinions on the physical location, while failing to mention me or anything I said about your finances as an issue. You then went back and edited the first Google review to discredit the response she left there and remove mention of your wife. I can only assume so people don't form a negative opinion of you. Let's be honest, married men don't leave texts like the ones you sent to me to random strange women they have never met unless they are trying to hook up.
There are several details in your statements which keep changing to fit the narrative you are attempting to create. I also prefer email. I am known to send emails to discuss the phone conversation we just had if I feel the need. I never make a statement for which I do not have evidence to back it up. I document everything. I am aware that people change stories so I make screenshots of texts and reviews. I save copies of texts and emails. You never know when you will have a client make a claim that may result in legal measures being taken.
I have established contact with the Daytona Beach Police Department to establish next steps. If you think I won't travel to Florida to make a report or face you in court, you don't know me very well.
Consider the entirety of this post your public notice to cease and desist your harassing behavior, and stop contacting us or our business(s) directly or indirectly. Ignoring this notice will result in legal action. Should our petition to the court be successful we will pursue full reimbursement of damages regarding loss of business, travel expenses, loss of time at work, and legal expenses. Your physical presence at the Harmony Office or our personal residences will result in a 911 call placed.