Aarika was born in the rugged, Rocky Mountain city of Kalispell, Montana, where her parents had a small general store and rental cabins on Highway 2, the scenic highway to Glacier National Park. Her family moved to Moscow, Idaho in 1989 and then to the small, neighboring town of Troy two years later.

Brought up in a household where both her parents were musicians, Aarika has been singing her entire life. She started out giving her friends backyard concerts, then graduating to her church choir. She loved acting and singing in community theatrical productions and local children's performing groups. Her parents decided to home school their only child, focusing on a music education. In 1994, the family started a gospel trio called Three Strands, singing original and traditional inspirational music, with 14-year-old Aarika as their lead singer, performing for regional events, as well as local television and radio stations. One of Aarika's favorite audiences was the North Idaho Correctional Institution in Cottonwood, Idaho. Her expressive voice and personable attitude have touched many a heart.

Aarika graduated from the University of Idaho as a Theater Arts major, Acting, where she has performed, managed and functioned backstage in full-scale productions of Cabaret, Marriage of Figarro, Romeo and Juliet, Rainmaker and many others.