Arts
Salon Altering Technology a conversation with Millennium founder John HarmsInterviewing John Harms made me think about all the passionate people in the beauty industry. There are the people who create beautiful shapes with hair, people that love to be “day makers”, many who love to create products, run great salons, but software? Computers have left no business unturned, everything has been disrupted, salons have not been exempt.John Harms was one of the first to our industry, he loves creating software for the salon business. He owns Millennium Systems International, one of the leading computer programs for salons and spas in North America. In my podcast with John, he talks about wide ranging subjects, but in so many ways technology has transformed our lives, his software has changed the lives of over 100,000 salons and spas. Yet, John is a very down to earth guy. The guy you would have a beer with at a barbeque. In the podcast he talks about his family that are in the business with him: Jennifer and Micah. John says, once at work though, he is all work.It is interesting how John became focused on the hair business in the first place. He tells the story of this serendipitous meeting that led to creating software for salons. The wunderkind was making software when very few were. One thing led to another and he was making databases in DOS.John’s newest evolution is MEEVO(Millennium/Evolution). It isn't just software he says, it is the next evolution of the salon business. They have inserted voice recognition and much much more. John loves the salon business, he gets the salon business. He is always thinking about what can help his customer’s businesses. He is thinking about automated marketing, internal and external sales funnels, his convo bar and many other software features. He has thought thru a lot of my questions on a technological level. Some were resolved in Millennium while some have no solution. I talked to him about self-checkout, and chair side check out. Meevo is a very competitive product.I asked John the tough questions. As great as Meevo 2 is, what happened with Meevo 1? He explains Meevo 2 will I have choice with credit card providers, how will 3rd party providers work, what is the The Millennium Experience going to be like, what is it like to run a single building with almost 200 people in it?As we get more and more high tech, there is this expectation that it should all just work. It makes me forget, that all these devices are just humming in the background. Tech is sometimes fragile, but if someone has the passion, it is amazing what can happen.Tony Gordongordonsalon.comgordonstylistacademy.com