We were lucky to catch up with Sandra Soueid recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sandra, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?
My hero is my dad, Michael Majid Soueid. He taught me how to ride a bike, how to parallel park, and how to run a business. He was my Baba, my home, my first phone call whenever I was in trouble. He taught me how to unconditionally love, and he taught me sacrifice.
He passed away in 2020 after a harsh battle with Covid-19. It’s hard to talk about him. I am so proud of him, and so proud to be his daughter, and I would really love to share what my father was like as I knew him.
My dad was a serial entrepreneur and small business owner. Some of my earliest memories are of me wandering around my dad’s store: “Blue Jeans,” a hip hop clothing shop in Jersey City. Back when I was 5 years old, I can remember playing with the clothes when there were no customers, running around in outfits that were a hundred sizes too big for me.
That clothing store wasn’t his first venture in his business. Rewind a few years, my mom and dad recently emigrated to America from Germany. My dad sold rugs and bicycles on the streets around north Jersey, the Bronx and Queens. My mom did tailoring and alterations while they raised my older brother and slowly saved up enough money for my dad to open up his first store. By the time Blue Jeans came around, he was meticulous and scrappy. Sometimes that meant rolling up his own sleeves to renovate the store without a contractor to keep costs down; other times, it meant working late nights to make ends meet.
After a fire from a neighboring property burned the store down, he decided to leave Jersey City, and opened a Dickie’s clothing store in Perth Amboy. Then, following the 2008 market crash, he pivoted again to a completely different market and opened a cellphone store. I would find out later how much we were struggling when he made that move. “It felt like I was heading straight for a cliff,” he told me. “Time was running out and I had to make a decision. So I jumped.”
My dad was not a very technical person and he had to constantly learn and improve for his store to be successful. But merchandise was merchandise, and my dad was exceptionally great at two things: finding up and coming neighborhoods, and selling goods. His business took off.
As an entrepreneur, this was one of the most important lessons my father taught me: never box yourself in. Even though his experience was mostly in selling clothes, it did not stop him from seizing opportunities where he saw them. Paired with the work ethic and determination he demonstrated everyday, that confidence is the reason he was able to support my upbringing, my education, and provide the opportunities that have gotten me where I am today.
I like to think I carry a lot of my dad’s spirit. His laughter and smile were infectious, and he was genuinely a good natured person. After he passed, so many people would stop me to tell me something new I never knew about him. How charitable he was in private, how sweet and loving he was, how they came to see him as a second father. Hearing those stories, I realized that he lives on in our memories, and how many more lessons I have to learn from his legacy. Every day I think about him and all that he taught me– especially on days where I need to parallel park. Looking to the future, I’m excited to apply all that I’ve learned from him into my new beauty business.
I’m so lucky to have him as my dad.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
How I Went From RuneScape to Quantum Computing to Beauty Tech
When I tell people that I became a programmer because of the video game RuneScape, they’re usually shocked. Then, when I tell them that my background includes quantum computing, but my new startup is a beauty booking business, they’re generally just confused.
So, how did I get here?
My name is Sandra, and I’m the CEO and founder of Mira Beauty, a new beauty-tech startup committed to matching you with your perfect hair stylist. We’re hoping to launch by the end of 2025, and I’m very excited to debut my story on your platform, CanvasRebel!
A bit about myself: I’m the daughter of Syrian & German immigrants. My father is from Aleppo, an ancient mercantile city that served as a vital crossroads on the Silk Road. He has entrepreneurship in his blood, and my brother and I grew up watching him manage a variety of small businesses. My mother was his compass and I swear she should be the Finance Minister of a small country; she has such a discerning eye for accounting and finance management.
As kids, my brother and I spent our after‑school hours in the local public library. While our mom was studying for her cosmetology license, we roamed the aisles and discovered two lifelong passions: reading books and playing the online MMORPG RuneScape. The library’s big, boxy Windows PCs ran the game in a browser; so, we logged on, mined ore, fished for lobsters, and sold them for virtual gold until closing time.
Looking back, I realize those sessions were far more than play. RuneScape showed us how new skills unlock new markets, and how scarce resources force hard choices. It taught us basic economics—supply and demand, return on investment—and often mapped one‑to‑one with the real‑world global economy. Ask any veteran RuneScaper about inflation and you will get a lecture fit for grad school.
RuneScape also nudged me toward software engineering. My brother and I hosted our own private game server, gave ourselves godlike stats, and played around in the source code until I realized that I actually really loved programming. That one realization led me to study engineering in high school and college, and to my first software role on a systems security team at Bloomberg LP.
Following 6 years in the software industry, I turned my attention towards research in another interest of mine: quantum computing. Working in a lab felt familiar to my previous pursuits; similar to a business, a lab runs on limited funding, tight deadlines, and clear milestones. Unlike my time at Bloomberg, however, funding was much more fickle in the research world. Following the loss of a major NSF grant, I found myself with a lot more free time.
That brings us to today. Mira is an AI‑powered beauty marketplace that matches people with stylists who truly understand their hair. My path here may seem nonlinear—gamer, fintech coder, quantum researcher, beauty‑tech founder—but at each step, I found myself applying the same skills; leveraging limited resources to solve interesting problems that I’m passionate about.
We’re starting with a simple product. Mira is an app that learns your hair history and matches you with stylists who understand your texture, goals, and budget. We add photos and notes after every visit, so the next appointment starts at your last best result. For salons, we offer booking software that pairs their specialties with the right clients. For creators, we host short tutorials that turn expert tips into repeatable routines.
Sadly, most people struggle to find a stylist who truly understands their hair. They waste time scrolling through random reviews or take a risk on the nearest salon. Stylists lose revenue on mismatched bookings and empty chairs. Mira fixes both problems. Clients see curated matches in minutes, and stylists can fill their schedules with the guests they serve best.
Our product stands out because our recommendations come from real outcomes, not generic ratings and anonymous reviews. Our proprietary AI matches people to their perfect stylist—an informational edge that compounds every time we learn from a booking.
I am proud that early users tell us they feel heard. They leave the salon confident instead of anxious. Stylists say the platform lets them focus on their craft rather than cold outreach.
Mira is here to make beauty feel personal. Follow us at mirabeauty.co and be beautiful, always!
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Listening.
Our most effective growth strategy has been starting with real conversations instead of assumptions. Before we built anything, we talked to women (friends, strangers, stylists, clients) about their pain points. We asked what they needed, what frustrated them, and what they were sick of settling for. Their answers shaped our product completely.
From there, we focused on building trust over scale. Instead of a blast campaign, we created targeted messaging for very specific communities: women with curly hair, women who wear hijab, New York transplants, and stylists who specialize in protective styles. We made space for people to feel seen, and that created momentum. When people feel like a product finally understands them, they talk about it.
We also leveraged beauty professionals themselves, not just as service providers, but as ambassadors. Mira fills their chairs with the right clients, and allows them to promote their own businesses to the most valuable potential customers. Growth is slow and steady, but it sticks.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
We stay close to clients with personal check‑ins, tailored content, and small community gatherings. After every booking we ask how the visit went and how it could be improved.
Our content strategy feels lived‑in. We share lessons people wish they had learned sooner. Some of our content includes POV videos at the salon, and authentic moments between clients and stylists. We spotlight different perspectives, including stylists’ techniques, cultural care rituals, and the everyday experiences women have navigating beauty.
We also invest in education and empowerment. A big part of our brand is helping women understand their own beauty needs—what to ask for, how to care for their hair, how to feel confident choosing a salon to walk into. That guidance builds loyalty.
On the stylist side, we treat them like partners, not listings. We support our stylists with resources, spotlight their expertise, and listen to their feedback as we shape the platform. When both clients and professionals feel respected, loyalty follows naturally.
We also host pop ups at salons for meet-ups, hand out limited-run swag, and team up on photo shoots that celebrate the people behind the profiles. We include bonuses for referrals and reward repeat bookings on our platform, to help our users stay consistent with their beauty routines.
Our goal is bigger than staying in touch. We are building a community that people feel lucky and proud to be a part of.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mirabeauty.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mira.beautyco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mirabeautyandstyling
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandrasoueid/
- Twitter: https://x.com/mirabeautyco
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sandrasoueid
