The Sparck triplets, Michelle, Amy, and Cika Sparck, are Alaskan Native entrepreneurs that grew up in Chevak, a Cup’ik community in Western Alaska. They created and incorporated ArXoticA in 2006. ArXoticA is a dream business that was built from their passion to start a beauty product business utilizing traditional indigenous materials. ArXoticA is based in Bethel, Alaska.
Starting ArXoticA wasn’t easy, but the sisters received overwhelming encouragement from tribal leaders, family, friends, and other Native owned businesses. ArXoticA’s positive reputation is built upon customer satisfaction with the wide variety of high quality indigenous based beauty products.
For over a decade, ArXoticA has endured all the growing pains that any rural, minority business encounters. The Sparck triplets and ArXoticA have been recognized nationally with awards and by multiple media outlets. Undoubtedly, ArXoticA’s perseverance comes from the Sparck Sisters’ strong, confident and grounded cultural background.
“This business is a huge accomplishment for us. None of us had business backgrounds. We learned how to run our business on the fly,” Michelle proudly admits.
ArXoticA has inspired a local University of Alaska branch campus to create an ethnobotany program. The sisters continue to enjoy providing inspiration to other Natives who also dream of starting a business. Even though there are several steps that a small business has to take to become successful, Michelle relates that, “the Indian Loan Guarantee program was one of the easiest processes we had to go through.”
