I used to choreograph dances with a clear picture in my head. I’d show up to rehearsal with a full concept, story arc, score, and the emotional tone dialed in.

And then real humans would show up. Dancers with different movement quality than I’d envisioned. A section that felt flat no matter how many times I tweaked it. And just the gnawing sense that it wasn't working. 

Every time I clung too tightly to my original vision, the final piece fell short and the audience didn't care. But when I stayed open—when I watched what was unfolding and let the work breathe—the result was always better. It was more human. More magnetic. And far more resonant for the audience. It was the result of following the signal, even if they contradicted my original idea.

That lesson has followed me into business. Especially when it comes to the customer journey.

We build these grand narratives. We map them in Figma, flowchart them in Miro, craft onboarding emails and demo flows and community invites that all make sense… on paper (or in my case, in Notion).

Me, choreographing, directing, and being generally bossy

The map is definitely not the territory.

Customer journeys don’t live on paper. 

They live in the in-between. In the parts we didn't plan for, when our customers click, scroll, abandon, return, or ghost entirely.

Here’s a real, quick example from a recent client:
A B2B company had solid marketing, good signups, and a promising product. But demo-to-close rate was abysmal.

We traced it to a few small—but significant—fractures:

• The booking flow required five clicks and had no context. Even the automated calendar invite was confusing.

• Confirmation emails were generic templated.

• Demo leads often didn't show up, and no one followed up.

• The demo itself was overly scripted and did not take the buyers custom case into account.

By tightening up the booking UX, humanizing the confirmation flow, and letting the small sales team personalize their walkthroughs (with less pressure to "nail the deck"), demo conversions rose 27% in six weeks.

We didn't reinvent anything. We just listened to the signals. 

That’s the work.

Every customer behavior can be mapped to an assertion, and every assertion can be tested. For example, in the case of my client above:

1. If people are not booking demos, but purchasing the product, that's a sign that the demo is not necessary and likely a poor use of time.
2. If people are not showing to the demo, they've not been reminded, and not just of the call, but the value of the product.
3. If the person leading the demo is having to gather too much info at the top and rushing the demo, your booking link needs intake questions.

Three Takeaways

Here are three tactical filters I use often—whether I’m choreographing an actual dance or untangling a broken brand experience:

1. Check for sunk cost attachment

Just because you spent hours building a thing doesn't mean it’s working. If your journey isn't performing, don’t “optimize.” Reconsider. Let the piece evolve. Stay open.

2. Micro-journeys matter

Don’t look at “sales funnel” or “onboarding” as monoliths. Break them down into micro-interactions: Where does someone hesitate? Where do they abandon? Where are you assuming intent that isn’t there? You’ll spot the trust leaks faster.

3. Loosen the Reins

Your brand isn't static. Your customers aren’t either. Every touchpoint is a conversation—so treat it like one. Don’t recite a script. Listen and respond. Iterate with care.

And if you're wondering whether your own journey has gone off-script, you don’t need a full reinvention. You just need someone who can see it clearly. That’s what I do at Brandkind.

I help teams fix what’s breaking in the customer experience—fast.

From single-session workshops to full-scale redesigns, mywork spans alignment, retention strategy, and ongoing advisory. If you're seeing signs of friction—or just suspect there's room to tighten the system—start here:

👉 Book a Call

Recent reads you might like:

• The Credibility Gap – When your internal culture and external promises don’t match, customers notice—and no amount of polish will save trust once it’s broken.

• Your Decision, Their Consequences – When leadership makes choices in a vacuum, the fallout lands entirely on your customers—so pressure-test everything from their point of view before launching it.

• What the Hell Does "Because it Works" Even Mean?- When ‘it works’ becomes your excuse to exploit users, success metrics lose meaning—and so does trust.”

-April