Why we built Mahana

I spent ten years as a software engineer in big tech. Then my wife and I left to start a pottery studio in Southern California.

Running a small studio meant wearing every hat. We hired staff to teach pottery classes, but we weren’t big enough to have someone on payroll just to answer questions via emails and texts. So I did it. Customers were reaching out at all hours asking about class times, pricing, private events. I was drowning.

Then we had a newborn. Messages piled up. Customers moved on before I could respond. So I dusted off my software skills and built something to help: a simple system that understood our studio via a written knowledge base and could warmly respond to the common questions we got via text. Not robotic canned replies. Real, thoughtful responses that sounded like us.

It worked. Customers got answers in seconds, and I wasn’t juggling a crying baby and a customer question at the same time anymore.

I figured other businesses like us could use something like this too. So I built Mahana.

Made with care by a small pottery studio in SoCal, for businesses everywhere.