MELISSA: The three of you together are a real force to be reckoned with! Hair, makeup, and brows – it’s a killer trifecta! How did each of you decide to specialize in your respective areas of beauty?
JENN: I didn’t set out to do it. I worked the counters through college before transitioning into the corporate world. I’m from a small town. I didn’t know makeup artists existed. It wasn’t until I moved to New York that I realized that was what I wanted to do. I was working at Warren Tricomi (luxury hair and beauty salon) doing hair. They had a makeup artist that worked in the salon as well as on shoots. That was my calling. I talked to the owners and after some negotiation, they agreed. They connected me with an agent.
KRISTIE: I worked at Clinique, which was very skin focused. I learned a bit about skin but not enough to be an esthetician, but then I realized I ultimately wanted to be one. I did facials for five years before following Jen to New York and working at Warren Tricomi.
ASHLEY: My sisters are eight and ten years older than me, so I was obviously inspired. I was in high school when I went to beauty school and just went out of boredom. I mean, beauty school instead of high school? I’m in! I fell in love. I moved to New York at 18, landing a job with my sisters at Warren Tricomi cutting hair.  I moved back to Northern California and continued cutting before moving to Los Angeles. Kristie had just moved to LA, and Jen had been here for a while doing freelance. Jen had been trying to convince me to move here for SO long and I always resisted. I moved and began freelancing. Three and a half years later we opened STRIIIKE.
MELISSA: So Kristie, at what point did you make the transition to brows?
KRISTIE:  I was doing brows sometimes, but much like Jen, I didn’t know that brows could be a specialty or a full-time job. I met a girl that was just doing eyebrows with 12 clients a day. After 9/11, she moved back home, and I took over her clientele. It took one good write up in New York Magazine to change everything. After that, I was juggling over 30 clients a day!
MELISSA: What made you decide to come together and bring your talents to a family-run beauty studio? Was one of you the driving force or was it a collective decision?
ASHLEY & JENN (IN UNISON):
Definitely Kristie!
KRISTIE: The space I was working and running my business out of closed abruptly. So, I had to act fast. It was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me because it forced me to get moving! We, sisters, were always talking about how we could work together. That’s when we turned to Cara, my publicist.
ASHLEY: We were offered to do a book. During talks about what that book would look like, we agreed we would need a space to get creative in.
JENN: But we had never all worked together [in one space at one time]. How were we going to write a book when we haven’t done anything together yet?!
KRISTIE: The book was the catalyst to start working together, alongside Cara cementing that we needed something substantial to talk about.
JENN: We did not have a business plan. We winged it for a long time and learned a lot along the way.
ASHLEY: You come to find that you really do need a plan. It helps a lot.
MELISSA: I think we’re all pretty intrigued to know what is it really like working with your siblings? Any disagreements?
ASHLEY: We always get along. STRIIIKE is the one thing that we all truly agree on and have similar thoughts about it. That’s why we do really well together. Cohesive vibes.
MELISSA: What are some funny or interesting things you have noticed about your sisters since you’ve gone into business together?
JENN: What were actually difficult times seem funny now. It’s scary because you always hear of all these families that don’t talk to their siblings for years [after going into business with them] and it wasn’t until we opened a business together and realized that could definitely be us.
MELISSA: Any advice or tips in this industry you wish you knew before going into business?
JENN: I think the hardest thing is that there is no business replica of us at this point. It’s a new concept, we’re family, and we have a unique story. If there was a business model we could have followed it directly, it would have made it much easier.
KRISTIE: We are careful with who we work and collaborate with. We always want to stay authentic.
MELISSA: If you each could only choose two beauty products (including hair products) that you cannot live without, what would they be and why?
ASHLEY: Milk by Reverie: It’s a California brand. It’s super clean and a great styler for wet and dry hair. My second favorite is Sachajuan Dark Dry Powder Shampoo. It gives everyone fresh, “walk of shame hair” or the good kind of bed head.
KRISTIE: The product I use for tweezing is Aforé: an oil that I make myself. It’s argon oil, aloe vera oil, and a nice blend of soothing essential oils. It’s really good for the hair and hair follicles. It also softens the skin, so tweezing is less irritating. I also love Hourglass Arch Brow Volumizing Fibre Gel. It’s another LA brand that is vegan, cruelty-free, and clean. This is a tinted brow gel with microfibers.
JENN: My favorites change a lot. Beauty Blender is a tool I always have to have. I cannot do my job without it. My second thing would have to be a pop of color on the lips. It’s just a good go to and completes your look.
MELISSA: You also sell products at the studio as well. How did that come about and how do you decide what products to sell?
JENN: I didn’t originally want to sell products. I wanted it to be a natural thing and I think that’s how everything is happening now. We carry products here that we all love and use. We introduce them, but we don’t push them or sell them because we have to.
ASHLEY: We’re really lucky that brands and companies send us product all the time. We get to test it out ourselves and make really informed decisions on what we carry.
KRISTIE: I also ask our clients all the time what they use. They are a wealth of knowledge in all things really. We have the best clients ever.