From Top 200 Salon to AI Salon Expert: How Michele Matkovich Built the Future of Beauty Business with AI
From Top 200 Salon to AI Salon Expert: How Michele Matkovich Built the Future of Beauty Business with AI
TL;DR: After earning national recognition as a Top 200 salon owner, Michele Matkovich is now the founder of Fully Booked AI® — the first AI-powered platform built specifically for beauty professionals. Her system is helping salons and med spas scale smarter, automate client follow-ups, and capture thousands in lost revenue — without hiring a full-time team.
From Behind the Chair to the Frontlines of the AI Revolution
Michele Matkovich didn’t set out to become a tech founder. She set out to build a salon that thrived — even in a recession.
And that’s exactly what she did.
After graduating from West Virginia University in 2002, Michele entered the beauty industry with purpose, grit, and vision. By 2010, she opened her first salon in the middle of the Great Recession — and still managed to grow, lead, and scale. Her business was later named a Salon Today Top 200 Salon in North America — not just once, but six years in a row.
What earned her salon this elite recognition? Not just beautiful work — but its leadership in technology, operations, and customer service.
Today, those same pillars are the foundation of Fully Booked AI®, a category-defining platform that’s helping salon and spa professionals across the U.S. grow with precision, without burnout.
Why Fully Booked AI® Is the Platform the Industry Has Been Waiting For
Let’s be honest: most tech tools weren’t built for beauty entrepreneurs.
CRMs are clunky.
Marketing platforms are bloated.
Virtual assistants are expensive.
And generic software doesn’t get the nuances of our industry.
So, Michele built a system, not just software.
💡 What Makes Fully Booked AI® Different?
AI-Powered Virtual Receptionist: Answers calls 24/7, sends text replies to missed calls, and books appointments in real-time.
SEO & Google Maps Tools: Optimized visibility strategies that bring 3–5 new client calls per day.
Lead Gen Funnels: Pre-built offers and landing pages that attract high-quality local traffic.
Automated Follow-Up & Reputation Management: Converts inquiries into booked appointments and boosts 5-star reviews on autopilot.
Done-for-You Marketing: Schedule and post salon content without the content block stress.
It’s not a bloated tech stack—it’s everything in one place, designed by a beauty pro who lived the chaos and solved it from the inside out.
Solving the $750/Day Problem You Didn’t Know You Had
Here’s a stat Michele shares that stops salon owners in their tracks:
💸 Every missed call is worth $150+.
📵 Miss 5 calls/day = $750 in lost revenue.
😱 That’s $3,000+ a week—gone.
The AI Receptionist in Fully Booked AI® solves that instantly. It answers in real-time, follows up via text, and books the appointment before your competitor even checks voicemail.
👉 Use the missed calls calculator on Fully Booked AI® to see how much your salon might be losing each week.
Salon Success Story: From Start-Up to Scale-Up with Fully Booked AI®
Karen Sgroi, owner of Loka Beauty Studio, is one of Fully Booked AI®’s most powerful client case studies.
After leaving a 17-year partnership, Karen launched her salon with just two employees. With Michele’s AI-powered systems in place, she:
Expanded her team to 17+ professionals
Secured a new location in Avenue North to meet growing demand
Tripled her call volume through SEO + Google Maps visibility
Replaced daily chaos with systems that scale
“I can’t say enough about how Michele and her team helped my salon grow. We now get 3–5 calls a day from new clients. You think you can’t afford it? You can’t afford not to.”
— Karen Sgroi, Loka Beauty Studio
The “Search Shift”: Why SEO Now Goes Beyond Google
In a recent interview with Authority Magazine, Michele shared this truth:
82% of beauty searches are now happening outside Google.
Think: ChatGPT, Gemini, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube.
Fully Booked AI® ensures your salon isn’t just showing up on Google—it’s everywhere your clients are searching.
That includes:
Google Business Profile automation
SEO-optimized blogs
Social-ready content systems
Custom GPT tools for bios, captions, and packages
Why the Beauty Industry Needed a Female-Led AI Platform
Tech tools are often built by tech people for other tech people—not beauty professionals.
Michele changed that.
“I didn’t build software—I built solutions. The kind I wish I had when I was scaling my salon from scratch.”
And that’s what sets Fully Booked AI® apart:
💬 Built by a stylist, not a startup bro.
📈 Refined through 20+ years in the salon trenches.
💻 Powered by real-world results, not theory.
What’s Included in the Fully Booked AI® System?
Here’s what’s inside the platform (and what makes it worth every penny):
✅ Local Lead Generation (Offers + Funnels)
✅ AI Receptionist (24/7 Call & Text Automation)
✅ CRM for Beauty Pros (Track Bookings, Payments, Leads)
✅ Review Automation (Google-Boosting Feedback Loops)
✅ Email & SMS Campaigns (Premium Add-On)
✅ Plug & Post Social Content
✅ GPT Tools for Offers, Bios, & Brand Voice
Michele’s Mission: Wealth Without Burnout
Michele isn’t here to teach hustle culture. She’s here to end it.
Her mission? To help beauty professionals:
Build real wealth
Automate what drains them
Show up powerfully—without burning out their team
Get their time back while scaling revenue up
Whether you're at $8K/month or $80K/month—you don’t need to do more. You need to automate smarter.
💼 Ready to See What Your Salon Is Leaving on the Table?
Get your free salon business audit to find out if you're missing $3,000+ a week.
👉 Claim your audit at Fully Booked AI®
People Also Ask (SEO FAQs)
❓ What is Fully Booked AI® and how does it help salon owners?
Fully Booked AI® is an all-in-one platform built specifically for salons and med spas. It helps beauty entrepreneurs automate bookings, follow-ups, and marketing—without needing to hire a team.
❓ How does the AI receptionist feature work?
It answers missed calls 24/7, sends texts to potential clients, and books appointments instantly—turning missed calls into revenue.
❓ Can Fully Booked AI® help with Google SEO and visibility?
Yes. The system includes Google Maps tools, GMB post automation, SEO blogs, and social media templates to boost visibility and drive traffic.
❓ Is Fully Booked AI® only for large salons?
Not at all. It’s designed for solo stylists, growing teams, and established med spas alike—with customizable tools to scale based on your stage of growth.
📍 Serving Beauty Professionals Nationwide from Charlotte, NC
Whether you’re a solo artist in Charleston or running a med spa in Miami, Fully Booked AI® is designed to help you scale locally—with national-level tools.
Ready to transform your salon systems? https://aisalonsalesteam.com
🔗 Get Started with Fully Booked AI® Today - 704-327-2200
Articles Written:
Women’s Insider: https://womensinsider.com/from-first-click-to-loyal-client-how-michele-matkovich-is-redefining-lead-generation-with-ai-for-salons-and-med-spas/
How SEO Fills Your Salon’s Schedule: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-seo-search-everywhere-optimization-fills-your-every-matkovich--7ozee
Links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fullybookedai/
Youtube Channel: https://youtube.com/@fullybookedai?si=p3qqgn9RCgB7_HpC
FBAI® TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fullybookedai_official
Website: https://fullybooked.ai
FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/get.more.clients.patients.usingai
AI Salon Voice Agent Website: https://aisalonsalesteam.com
