Favorite spots: Blue Hole, Snipes, Paikos and Toes. Main boards: His favorite is a 6-foot Superbrand “Toy” squash tail, but he also likes his Erik Arakawa 6-foot, 3-inch rounded pin. When it comes to surfing, Evan Fujimoto’s mantra is, “No guts, no glory.” “When you go over the falls or get drilled, you just pick yourself up and you go…
There’s such enthusiasm for Nita Pilago that you may think you’re at a 90-percent-off sale as women push and shove at a craft fair to grab one of her Wahine Toa designs. Taught to sew by her grandmother, Pilago grew up making clothes for herself and then went on to make clothes for her children and grandchildren. She spent 15…
Deborah Crown is trying to provide students at Hawaii Pacific University’s College of Business Administration with real-world experience while they are still in school. She became dean at the state’s largest business college in August 2011, the fourth dean or interim dean in the past five years. She says her focus is on answering the question, “How do we take…
You only have seconds to capture someone’s attention; if they don’t find what they want quickly, they’ll move on. Approach web content for your business strategically to get people to your site, hold them there and keep them coming back for more. Encourage dialogue: Ask yourself, “Is my website providing long-term value, is it fulfilling a need and is there…
That’s what EMS chief did after getting to the top. During almost three decades of service, Patty Dukes worked her way up from paramedic to become chief of Honolulu’s Emergency Medical Services. Now, she’s back in school, finding that you’re never too old or too accomplished to hit the books. Dukes, the first female EMS chief in a major U.S….
Consider the wildfire-like spread of tablet technology and it’s no surprise that teachers, students and parents are excited about the latest educational tools and software. One of the most popular is the Promethean ActivBoard, an interactive whiteboard. “Imagine an 87-inch iPad,” says Brett Seitman, CEO of It’s All About Kids, a technology-in-education company that is Promethean’s sole business partner in…
Name: Steve Looney Job: Tattoo artist; owner, Pacific Soul Tattoo Experience: 12 years professionally Start: “I took an interest in tattooing as a 15-year-old growing up in Anaheim, California,” Looney says. He studied graphic design in college but couldn’t find a job in the field when he moved to Hawaii in 1994. After working for three years at a hotel,…
A word to the wise this graduation season: Lei will be pricey because of the shortage of Thailand-grown orchids, not to mention the thousands of lei that are now being shipped to the mainland. It’s not just transplanted Islanders who are ordering lei from Hawaii for events like May graduations and weddings, says Carlos Campos, CEO of The Hawaiian Lei…
Rude coworkers, bullying bosses, stolen lunches. Office life can be uncivil. But Penelope Paik, president of Civility International Inc., says five small changes to our behavior can make a big difference. There’s no better time to start than this month, which is International Civility Month. 1. Golden Rule: Even in the business world, the Golden Rule should apply. “Treat each…
Q: It seems like a paycheck isn’t enough to keep my employees fully engaged in customer service and efficiency. What can I do? A: To engage your employees, create a positive work environment that has clear goals and expectations, effective communication, accountability and customized rewards. Here are some proven ways to do this: • Clear goals and expectations:Inspire with a…
Before Bill Jarvis took the helm seven years ago at Mobi PCS, a Hawaii-based wireless phone company, he had spent two decades working for other, bigger national brands. So he knew what not to do. “We could really study the category and see what’s broken with it,” says Jarvis, Mobi’s president and COO. “We knew how the big companies thought and…
12:56 pm, Thursday Honolulu Photographer: Rae Huo >> Central Pacific Bank’s mascot, Alex the Loyalty Dog, and actor Lance Wheeler prepare to film a CPB commercial. The Shetland sheepdog returned to the bank earlier this year after spending three years helping children at Kapiolani Medical Center, practicing agility training and hanging out with his siblings, Kula and Kacey….
WHAT IS STANDING FIT? Standing Fit converts tables or countertops into stand-up desks. It’s a 3/8-inch-thick plexiglass stand designed by Kona native Tiffiny Taylor, and manufactured and shipped to customers byGlasplex LLC, based in New Jersey. Unlike a traditional stand-up desk, you can sit or stand while using it. For instance, it can host your laptop or tablet on your kitchen…
The first woman to lead the full-service medical facility in Kailua discusses Castle’s renovations, green efforts and open-heart-surgery program. Castle is undergoing a $26 million renovation. What’s changing? Over the last 10-plus years, we’ve been renovating older areas of the hospital. We’ve done most of our inpatient areas. Now we’re renovating the operating suites, ambulatory surgery facility, and expanding our…
Roger Higa, Melissa Chang, George “Chef Mavro” Mavrothalassitis and Shanah Trevenna are very different people with one thing in common: Each experienced a turning point that put them on an unexpected journey to a new calling. For Roger Higa, that turning point was the death of his wife. Photo: David CroxfordRoger Higa’s life and career path were transformed by the…
Margaret Larson has felt “range anxiety.” If you buy an electric vehicle in the near future, you will feel it, too. Larson is the electric vehicle specialist for the state Energy Office and was driving the state’s Nissan Leaf electric car back from an event on the North Shore along H-1. Just as she passed the Likelike Highway exit, an automated voice…
Eric Yeaman runs Hawaiian Telcom, Gene Awakuni leads UH-West Oahu, Karl Fujii is VP and CFO of Hawaiian Building Maintenance, John Komeiji is senior VP and general counsel at Hawaiian Telcom, andRobbie Alm is executive VP at Hawaiian Electric. The common thread? They’re all graduates of the University of Hawaii whose decision to stay home for college gave them networking and other advantages that helped lead…