Someone pulled her name off the board. So I built the board again.

Thirty technicians on a rotation. Eighteen chairs, manicure and pedicure. The fights were never about money — they were about one question asked at the desk all day: who is next?

The list was on a magnet board. And with thirty names on it, someone could take a name off.

That is what finally forced it, in October last year. One tech came to me and said another had pulled her name off the turn list. Not by accident — physically, off the board. There was nothing to point at: no record, and no one had seen it happen.

So I built the software. Not a feature list — the board, on a screen, with a log behind it.

Zero turn complaints since.

Not fewer. Zero. Once the order is visible and logged, there is nothing left to dispute — and when someone does ask, the desk points at the screen instead of defending a decision. Thirty names is past the point where a board works: too many to hold, too many chances to move one quietly.

"I've worked in nail salons for 10 years and I've never seen software put this kind of order into a salon."

— Suzy, nail technician, 10 years

The magnet board was never the problem. Believing it was.

Fair Flow is the software in this story. $39/month per location, unlimited staff, 14-day trial.

Illustrative image. Suzy is a nail technician at the author's salon.