MEET THE TEAM
Monica
Co-Founder
Growing up mixed meant learning that identity—and hair—doesn't always fit neatly into one box.
Monica and her sister Marina grew up with Spokane Tribal heritage through their father and First Nations heritage through their mother, with a little French ancestry in the family mix as well.
With ethnically ambiguous features, Monica is often mistaken for being Hispanic, Persian or Italian. She sees the similarities people recognize in her as a reminder that our features can cross cultures—and that you can't assume where someone comes from simply by looking at them.
Monica has always viewed her ambiguity positively. She loves and appreciates different cultures and believes we have far more in common than we have differences. Her mixed heritage isn't about choosing one part of herself over another, but embracing all the pieces that make her who she is.
Her hair has its own version of that story. Neither straight nor curly, it can be flat at the crown, wavy at the ends and different from one section to the next. For years, she tried to make it conform. Today, she'd rather work with her hair than make it something it isn't.
That perspective helped shape the community Monica and Marina want to build through Sister Sky—a place where mixed heritage is celebrated, different stories are welcomed, and no one needs to fit neatly into a category to belong.
For Monica, embracing your roots means embracing all of them.
Marina
Co-Founder
There is no one way to look mixed—and Marina and her sister Monica are living proof.
Marina and Monica have the same parents, the same family roots and the same mixed heritage, yet they don't necessarily look like sisters at first glance. Marina is lighter than Monica, a difference that has always been a natural part of their family. Their story is a reminder that heritage isn't measured by skin tone or by whether someone looks the way others expect them to look.
Their differences extend to their hair, too. Marina's hair is long, thick, strong and coarse, with a tendency toward dryness, dullness and tangles. Those needs made her an especially demanding product tester during the development of MinkiSoft™. She pushed for formulas that gave her hair the moisture and conditioning it needed while leaving it soft, smooth and healthy-looking.
For Marina, being part of Sister Sky is about celebrating the many ways our heritage can show up—and recognizing that no one else gets to decide how much you belong based on what they see.
There is no one way to look mixed. There is only your way.
Melody
Operations Support Specialist
Sometimes your place is right in the middle.
Melody is of Spokane Tribal and Irish heritage and knows firsthand what it's like to belong to a community without necessarily looking the way others expect. She describes herself simply as being “in the middle”—connected to where she comes from while understanding that identity isn't always something other people can see.
Her hair seems to tell a similar story. Straight in some places, wavy in others and curly in others, Melody's hair doesn't fit neatly into one texture category either. For years, that meant trial and error—and a bathroom full of oils, sprays and creams as she tried to find the right balance for all the different textures on her head.
That experience is one reason MinkiSoft™ resonates with Melody. Instead of layering product after product or treating her hair as though it should behave like one texture, she's learned to work with the mix. A simpler routine helps her care for her different textures without weighing them down or trying to make them something they're not.
For Melody, Sister Sky is a reminder that being somewhere in the middle doesn't mean you don't belong.
The middle can be a place of its own.
Sophia
Operations Support Specialist
You don't have to choose which part of your heritage counts.
Sophia carries three distinct Indigenous heritages: Spokane from the United States and Pauquachin and Blackfoot from Canada. Each is part of who she is, and she has never believed that honoring one means leaving another behind. For Sophia, being mixed means carrying all of her family, cultures and histories with her.
That connection comes alive on the powwow trail. A champion jingle dress dancer, Sophia has grown up dancing, traveling and building relationships throughout Indian Country. She treasures the many relatives, friends and communities she has come to know along the way—a reflection of something she understands deeply: we can belong to more than one place and still be wholly ourselves.
Her long hair is part of that journey, too. Years of balancing powwow dancing, college and a busy social life have made simple, consistent haircare important to her. MinkiSoft™ gives Sophia a routine that helps keep her long hair soft, smooth and cared for without making haircare complicated.
For Sophia, Sister Sky represents something bigger than the products. It's a place to celebrate all of who you are—without having to decide which part of your story matters most.
You don't have to choose one side. All of it belongs to you.
