Phenomenal Women
Making you feel beautiful inside and out

Real life sisters Allison, Jennifer and Sara love working together, and now they can thanks to their Jaqua Girl line.

Allison, Jennifer and Sara Jaqua, creators of Jaqua Girls beauty products and kits, make you feel great inside and out! These girls aren't all about the frills either. "The purpose of our products is not only to empower woman but also to give back to woman in our society," says the sisters. Read on to find out how.

Interviewed conducted by Jennifer Park, GirlSite editor

The whole idea was to empower women and girls to get together with their friends.

GirlSite: How did you come up with the idea to start your own business?

Sara: The three of us basically really wanted to work together, we wanted to be together. We were really close when we were growing up, but for years we were scattered all over the country doing our own thing. When we all got back together in the town that we grew up in, we decided we should work together, so we can bring back that closeness that we used to feel.

Allison: When we first sat down, we didn’t even know what we really wanted to do. We thought about writing a book about the Internet for people who didn’t know anything about computers, and then we designed some baby t-shirts with Jennifer’s photography. We were all over the map with our ideas. Then one day we were on a hike and we were talked about doing a beauty parlor night at my mom’s (we called them our get-togethers). We decided that’s it! We could make a beauty parlor night kit. The whole idea was to empower women and girls to get together with their friends.

Go to www.jaquagirls.com to see their line of too-cute products and kits.

GirlSite: You girls definitely have the smarts to start your own business. Is that what you went to school for?

Jennifer: We all came from totally different backgrounds in majors. Sara majored in English, I majored in Photojournalism and Allison majored in Graphic Design. The common bond for all three of us was that entrepreneural spirit. I had a couple different businesses that I started before Jaqua Girls. Allison had a cat calendar she had designed, marketed and sold and Sarah had a hand-painted shoe company.

The spirit started when we were really little. We used to mix up perfume. Well, we thought it was perfume. We would take spices from my mom’s cabinet and mush up plants to make perfume, and then go around our neighborhood and try to sell it.

GirlSite: You girls are creative, but starting a business is more about numbers and such. How did you learn that part of it?

Sara: We brought in consultants from time to time to help with things we didn’t know. But on majority of things we trusted our intution. It was pretty amazing how you can be so right about things without previous experience.

Another thing to know is to know when to get out of your own way. Let other people help you.

Jennifer: One of the things that we didn’t do when we started was try to learn too much too soon. There are some people who feel they need to know everything there is to know before starting a business, but that's not how we work. All three of us were at the same comfort level and we were at a place where we felt like we could just jump into this. We learned a lot as went along—the key is to grow slowly. Start really small that way if you do make a mistake it’s really easy to correct it.

As we got bigger, we realized we can’t just rely on that anymore. We continued to grow to the next level, but we decided it was time to bring in people who have the experience we don’t have. Another thing to know is to know when to get out of your own way. Let other people help you.

GirlSite: Some of our GS readers might want to start their own business someday. What’s the first step?

Sara: When we first thought of our company we talked a lot about it, but we didn’t do anything. We were afraid so we kept trying to make things perfect before jumping in. Jennifer was finally the one who raised the money to get it going. And then it became real. We had the money, and then the next step was we took a risk and quit our jobs. We were fully committed and we had the money so we just had to do it. You really need to embrace your idea and just jump.

GirlSite: OK, we want to know what are some your favorite Jaqua Girls’ products?

Allison: My favorite is the Traditional Japanese Bath Kit. That was the first kit we ever did that was for just one person. And it was from a different culture and it had a bamboo ladel, seaweed soap and I feel like we took a big risk with that kit.

Sara: My favorite is our new stuff that is coming out. It’s not in stores yet, but it will be in a month and we have some great bakery theme products. There is a really cool orange-vanilla foaming foot scrub that smells great. The whole line is really going to be phenomenal.

Glamour To Go Kit, $29 at www.jaquagirl.com

Jennifer: It’s hard to look back to our favorites because there is so many great things coming out and I think the new packaging with the cake boxes is my favorite thing right now. It’s fresh again. We were in the paint cans a lot longer than we ever thought we would be.

GirlSite: Come on, is Jaqua Girls 100-percent your ideas, creations and designs?

Sara: Up to this point we always relied on just the three of us and our creative ideas, but this season is the first season we decided to bring in some new blood and take it up a bit. We’re still part of the development but it’s a much bigger team now. And I think that reflects on some of our new products. We did get some outside consultation on our inspired ideas, which we don’t have any shortage of but we tend to always look for a certain thing and its good to see what other people are looking to.

GirlSite: Do you have any teen fans that help out in the process?

Growing up we were more tom-boys, we didn’t like makeup or girly things. It was really only when we got into our twenty’s that we thought let’s have fun with this girly stuff now.

Jennifer: We have a couple people that are working with us right now that are more trend forecasters and focus more on developing the brand identity. I think when we come up with a new name or a new kit we always ask everyone. I’ll call up a friend and say, “What do you think about this?” We all talk around the office, everyone puts in their two-cents. We have also gone to the street corner outside of Anthropology with a clipboard and asked certain age groups about this or that.

Sara: When we first started we didn’t think about breaking into the teen market at all. But it’s been a win situation for us. We don’t concentrate on the teen, but they find us. It’s great that teens love it. Growing up we were more tom-boys, we didn’t like makeup or girly things. We really weren’t that concerned with what our appearance looked like. It was really only when we got into our twenty’s that we thought let’s have fun with this girly stuff now. We did it on our own terms. We didn’t have it shoved down our throats when we were younger. It's really fun to get into it now.

GirlSite: What’s up with the people who work at Jaqua Girls, are they as cool as you gals are?

Jennifer: The most important thing about work and the people who work for you is balance, and that might mean giving a day where they can go to yoga. We have a Yoga Day. Everyone can take a Yoga Day once a week if they want. We also try to do company hikes. It sort of goes back to when we were on a hike when we first thought of the idea of starting this company. We feel like when we are on a hike our creative thought process will come out. Oh, and our office is actually a house, that reflects how we are like a family.

Sara: Like someone is actually doing their wash right now.

Allison: We baked cookies the first day we were here.

GirlSite: Jaqua Girls products are created with a sense of fun, but they also help out in other ways too. Tell us about the different organizations you help out with and why?

Allison: We actually go to a battered woman’s shelter here in Santa Barbara and we go to a juvenile hall in Los Angeles. We take our kits and we do make-overs. Everybody ends up participating, like putting on mud masks and painting their nails. We also contribute donations. At least once a week we’re giving a donation to some kind of organization where we give our products so they can raise money through raffles, auctions or whatever. And it’s mostly organizations that have to do with girls. I don’t think we ever turned down a donation request, but it’s for mostly girls. We’re suckers for things like that.

GirlSite: What advice can you give our readers to make their dreams come true?

The purpose of us was to empower woman but also to give back to woman in our society.

Sara: When we first started our company, I had a strong vision of what our company would be about and I kept this vision through the tough times. And my vision was actually seeing truck-loads of money being dropped on our business. And I also had a vision that we gave out money to people who needed it. I think that really helped me get through the times where I wasn’t really sure what was happening. It’s important for any one who is starting a business to have a strong vision of what they want the business to be about, and why they want it to be successful. The purpose of us was to empower woman but also to give back to woman in our society.

Jennifer: There are so many people out there who are going to tell you why it doesn’t work and there’s a point where you have to figure out what your own truth is in it. And how much you believe in yourself and try to align yourself with people that are encouraging you. And they are out there. There our organizations that mentor young girls. I do a lot of mentoring myself. Ignore the people who tell you, you can’t do it.

Allison: In the quest finding out what girls want to do with their lives it is always helpful to get together with your friends and just feel that support. Getting your friends together and feeling that power is really going to take you far.

For more information about the Jaqua sisters or for a complete product list go to www.jaquagirls.com

>>Check out Jaqua Girls' Sweet Sensation giveaway just for GS readers.