Callitor · Stella for pottery & art studios — eight wheels, a waitlist, and the phone answered with clay on your hands

The problem

Clay on every hand, and a phone that rings out.

01The phone rings mid-throw. It rings out; the taster night fills somewhere else.
02“Is there space on Thursday's course?” needs the count now — and the level, and the tutor.
03Kiln days, half-terms and a tutor away — the course calendar lives in a notebook.

You don't need another studio app. You need someone who picks up, knows every wheel's count, and keeps the course calendar honest.

A call, while your hands are busy

Tuesday, 7:10pm. Both studios throwing. A caller wants the taster night.

Stella knows the live places, offers what has room, and enrols — or waitlists — on the spot.

Incoming call · unknown number

S

Stella · Kiln & Co.

ringing

0:00

Illustrative conversation. She adapts to what people actually say.

ThursdayStudio 1 · Marta

What she does, all day

Everything a good front desk does — plus she knows every wheel's count.

The universal six, and two that matter when your book is courses, tasters and a kiln.

01

Answers every call, like a person would

No menus, no “press one”, no hold music, no disclaimer wall. Place, first name, how can I help — in one breath. Then she listens instead of interrogating. And she's there at 7:40 in the morning and 9 at night — when the parent thinks of it, not when you open.

“Good morning, this is Stella — how can I help?”

02

Books into the real book

She searches actual availability — who is where, doing what, for how long, in which chair or room — and never double-books. If she offers 2:20, 2:20 is free.

03

Reminds, and takes the reschedule call

Reminders go out ahead of time. When someone can't make it, she handles the flustered call with warmth and finds the next time without drama.

04

Fills the late cancellation

A cancelled four o'clock is the one slot you can't sell tomorrow. The moment it frees, she offers it — by text — to the people who've said they'd take short notice, who wanted earlier, or who owe a make-up. First yes takes it; nobody else hears about it.

“A 4:00 with Mr. Ellis just opened — want it?”

05

Tightens your day

A four o'clock cancels? She asks the five o'clock if they'd like to come earlier. Nobody is obliged, and it cascades — you finish at five, not six.

“The four's opened up — would you rather come at four?”

06

Learns each client, gently

Someone turns down a 9am; she stops leading with mornings for them. Preferences, never rules — and when she checks, she uses very few words.

“Mornings tough? I'll avoid them.”

07

Fills the last wheel by phone

Courses and tasters are published with places per studio; she enrols by voice or text into the live count and, when full, runs the waitlist — the first person gets the text the moment a place opens.

“Thursday's taster has one place; next Tuesday's has three.”

08

Kiln days and half-terms seen coming

A six-week course is a standing arrangement; kiln days, closures and a tutor away are flagged when it's booked and settled then — a make-up week, or a different tutor if the students agree.

Last-minute cancellations

A cancellation is not a hole. It's an offer to the next person — the same morning.

She takes the cancellation the moment it comes, whatever the hour — nobody waits for the desk to open. Runway is money: the earlier she knows, the more people she can offer the slot to once your outbound hours open, and the likelier it fills. Your policy — notice period, deposit, fee — is yours; she states it plainly, applies it the same way every time, and stays kind about it.

S

Stella · Kiln & Co.

text messages

10:12

Illustrative. Your policy, her words.

10:12Freed — Sam cancels by text
10:13Policy applied, rebook offered — kindly
10:14Outbound hours open — offered to 3 people who asked for short notice
10:26Filled — Ines said yes; the rest hear “taken”
·Sam · next Tue 6:00 · moved

The freed slot goes to the people most likely to say yes: the short-notice list, the waitlist, make-ups owed, anyone who said “earlier if you can”.
First yes takes it. The others hear “taken” — never who, never why.
The make-up lands in a slot that would otherwise have gone empty; the freed slot earns today.
Your policy is applied the same way every time; the tone stays warm — especially to a parent with a sick child.
Outbound only inside your hours: she'll take a 7:40 text the instant it arrives and start offering the slot when your day opens — never before.
You see it on the panel — freed, offered, filled. Nothing to do.

Everyone on the short-notice list asked to be on it. Nobody is nagged; nobody hears another client's business.

And when it's your side

One sentence into the mic. She does the phoning.

Rain, a burst pipe, a birth, the autoclave, the hall double-booked — the whole block moves, and it's your call, not the client's. You say it once; she works out who's affected, offers each person the right alternative in their own words, waives the fee, logs the reason, and reports back. When it's an overrun rather than a closure she works by who can still act: the people who haven't left home yet get the call and the choice; the people already in the room get the honest ETA and a coffee; nobody further out is touched until the delay is still growing. Nobody hears why; nobody rings the desk.

The kiln's dead till Friday — no glazing this week. Tell Wednesday's course it's throwing instead, and add a firing week.

Stella, twenty minutes later8 students told · course extended a week · nobody double-booked

Courses are capacity

Eight wheels. She knows which are taken.

A course or taster is a published shell with N places in a studio with a tutor; a private session is search-then-create into a tutor's hours. Same ledger, one honest answer.

Live places per session and studio; she never enrols a ninth.
Full → waitlist; a freed place goes to the first in line by text.
Courses are standing arrangements — kiln days and closures flagged when set.
Your online booking stays; Stella is the phone front door.

For your team

Hands stay in the clay.

A panel by the studio door: which session is next, who's new, who's on the list. One button to say “move Thursday's course to Studio 2.” Clay suppliers and scam calls never reach the wheels.

Now5:52Studio 1

Taster night — 6:00 · 7/8then Beginners wk 4 tomorrow 10:00 · full

Next Tuesday's taster: Sam & Priya enrolled together — now full
Kiln day Friday — Improvers told, make-up week added
A clay supplier and a robocall handled. Nothing for you.

“Add a second taster on Saturday afternoon and offer it to the waitlist.”

A panel, not an appan always-on screen at the desk that answers one question in five seconds: who's next, for whom, and has anything changed? Everyone sees their own day; the owner sees the floor. Something to read, not operate.
One button, your voicepress it and say “move Ana to four, and call Peter back for me.” That's the whole interface. She does the machinery behind the glass.
The shieldsales calls, scam calls, realtors — they never reach you and never appear anywhere. Real callers can ask to be put through; you still choose whether to pick up.
Only what can't waitat the desk, things land quietly on the panel. Out of the building, your phone only buzzes for the next hour or two.
Your whole inbound“tell Peter I'll be home at seven” in the same breath as the schedule. The cost of a personal call is the context switch, not the two minutes.
You are the bossyour team's hours guide what she offers on her own. A direct instruction — from you or from the stylist whose chair it is — is simply carried out, silently, and teaches her nothing about “normal”.

Between sessions, a glance and you know. Nothing to tap.

What she will never do

Warm is not the same as loose.

No menus

Not a phone tree

No “press one”. No “your call is important to us”. No recorded disclaimers before a human word. Warm, short, present — and honest if you ask what she is.

No inventing

Never makes things up

She offers what's in your catalogue and staff profiles. She won't crown a “best” anyone or promise an outcome. A time she offers is a time that's free.

No gossip

One client never hears about another

A moved client hears “we need to move your Tuesday — let me find you another time.” Never who, never why. And once moved kindly, they're not yo-yo'd back.

No pretending

Honest about what she is

She doesn't lead with it and doesn't apologise for it. Ask, and she'll tell you plainly: she's the assistant. She helps; that's what people remember.

Early access

Give Stella your studio.

Your courses and tasters with places per studio, your tutors and hours, your kiln days and closures. She's configured by hand for the first studios — a few at a time.

Stella is in early access with a small number of practices and salons. Tell us about your phone and we'll tell you plainly whether she fits — and when.