Built for Salons.By People Who Get It.
We set out to solve a simple problem: salons lose thousands in missed calls. What we found was an industry underserved by technology.
How It Started
Our CEO Arvin spent weeks knocking on salon doors, pitching an AI receptionist that didn't exist yet. Most owners didn't make it past hello. One Friday evening, with one stop left before heading home, he walked into Mermaid Hair Extensions.
Mermaid Hair Extensions, our pilot salon and the place this story actually starts.
Cindy, the owner, listened. She got it immediately, and connected Arvin to her husband Mike, who had spent years in operating roles before joining Mermaid as CFO. A few weeks of sprints later, Salon Agent was integrated with Phorest and live on Mermaid's phones, with Gaby at the front desk as our first real user.
Mike and Cindy started introducing us to other salon owners in their network. That's how we've grown ever since: one salon vouching for us to the next.
Who We Are
Four founders and the receptionist who tested the product before anyone else.
Arvin Hakakian
CEO
Anant Dhokia
CTO
Aur Merin
CPO
Mike Reynolds
CRO
CFO of Mermaid Hair Extensions, our pilot salon, and a career revenue and go-to-market operator. Married to Mermaid's owner Cindy, which is how he learned the beauty business inside out. The reason Salon Agent speaks salon.
Gabriela Rubalcaba
Support
Mermaid's front-desk receptionist. The first person to use Salon Agent in production. Now she helps every salon we onboard.
What We Discovered
After calling dozens of salons, we noticed something surprising: despite AI technology being widely available, almost no salons were using it. We dug deeper and found three consistent barriers.
Too Expensive
Most AI solutions are priced for enterprises with deep pockets, not independent salon owners watching every dollar. The ROI just didn't make sense.
Too Complex
The setup process required technical expertise most salons don't have. Hiring someone to install and configure software added cost and friction.
Not Built for Salons
Generic AI assistants don't understand salon workflows. Stylists, services, rebooking, preferred times. They were built for call centers, not beauty businesses.
Phone-system partner
We'll Even Run the Phone System
A salon AI receptionist is only as good as the phone flow around it. That's why we work directly with PrismRoute, a business phone-system and telecom partner, to refine how calls move from AI to your team.
That partnership is now something we offer our salons directly: through PrismRoute we can supply the phone system itself — stylist extensions, routing rules, queues, voicemail transcription, and SMS — designed for how salons take calls, and usually for less than the bill you're paying today.
Designed around routing, not just scripts
Cleaner AI-to-human escalation paths
Usually about 15% off the phone bill
What We Believe
Every salon deserves technology that works as hard as they do. Small businesses shouldn't be priced out of tools that could transform their operations.
We're building a partner for salon owners. One that handles the phone, clears the inbox, fills the chairs nobody had time to fill, puts every client with the right stylist, and answers the questions your reports never quite get to.
No missed calls. No lost revenue. Just a better way to run your salon.
Ready to See It in Action?
See how Salon Agent handles your calls, texts, DMs and bookings — and fills the gaps in between — so your team can stay with the clients in the chair.