The ladies of Beehive are (L to R): Leticia Ontiveros-McClune, Wendy Powers-Burk, Kris Sharp, Julie Jensen and Debbie Cohn. Photo by Ryan Lely.
Kris Sharp realized her professional dream of catering to the beauty needs of brides and their bridesmaids when she opened Beehive Sonoma here in town earlier this month. Sharp has gathered together a team of talented women, including two hair stylists, a manicurist, and two multi-tasking cosmetologists, who are able to do everything brides need to look their best while walking down the isle.
“I had a successful 2008 wedding season with my makeup artistry and decided that I wanted to have a location for wedding parties to get ready before their big day,” said Sharp, who graduated from the Le Mélange Academy in Napa in 2007, but has been doing wedding makeup for almost a decade. “I also offer facials, waxing, lash extensions, and teeth whitening.”
The salon is housed in a quaint and comfortable bungalow, which is conveniently located two blocks away from Sonoma’s historic plaza. Sharp’s husband, Patrick, transformed the structure into a full-service salon. His work included refinishing all the floors, installing the business’s many cabinets, and doing all the painting. Sharp said that her spouse of nearly 5 years is her “biggest supporter.”
Since its opening, the staff at Beehive Sonoma has been busy bees who often work Monday through Saturday. Hair stylists Julie Jensen and Wendy Burk, cosmetologists Sharp and Leticia Ontiveros-McClune, and manicurist Debbie Cohn have turned out only satisfied brides and nary a bridezilla. All of the hard-working women are proud mothers and Sonoma residents.
Cohn will certainly benefit from all her co-workers’ talent, because they intend to make certain she is a gorgeous bride during her nuptials in October. Right out of high school, she was taught how to do nails by her best friend and was soon doing all her friends’ nails. She feels that she was taught by the best in the business and their inspiration led her to obtain the qualifications to teach.
Jensen, who was born and raised in Sonoma, studied at the Vintage Academy in Napa. She styled hair at Creative Cuts and The Panda Room here in the valley before opening her own successful shop, Studio 28. She keeps very busy with more than 150 women on her client list and her two children, who are 3 and 5.
Ontiveros-McClune was inspired by her older sister, who has been a hair stylist for 45 years in San Francisco. Her professional experience includes a stint at the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa. Born in Texas and raised in Whittier, California, she finds Sonoma to be the perfect place for her family – Ed, her husband of 8 years, their 2 sons and her 2 stepsons.
Sharp cites Catalina Wetzel, who is the owner of Catalina’s Skin and Body, as the person who inspired her. “I was in her salon applying makeup to a bride for her wedding in 2006 and Catalina mentioned getting my esthetician license, and I did,” said the working mother of 3 children, 4-year-old Keenan, 8-year-old Kole, 8, and 15-year-old Kalyn, who did the artwork for the sign in front of Beehive Sonoma.
“You learn all of your practical trade from school, but I attribute a lot of my artistry and techniques I have acquired to my employers and co-workers,” said Burk, whose daughters want to follow in their mother’s footsteps when they grow up. “Once I became a hair stylist, everyone who knew me growing up said they could always see me becoming just that.”
Beehive Sonoma, 730 Broadway, Sonoma; 707.938.4483. Call for an appointment or consultation. Walk-ins welcome.
