Photo: Aaron Yoshino Monday, 6:08 PM Oahu Cemetery, Nuuanu photo by Aaron K. Yoshino Danny Villarin is one of seven caretakers who maintain the grounds and buildings at Oahu Cemetery. There are no more interments at the 171-year-old nonprofit cemetery, but it still provides cremation and funeral services. Among those buried there are Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr., the father of baseball;…
Mao-Chi Tzeng approaches tofu-making as an art. “It’s like chefs preparing dishes,” explains the 66-year-old co-owner of Mrs. Cheng’s Soybean Products in Kalihi. “Same materials, same ingredients, but different chefs come out with different dishes. “I like fine art and good food, so I use them as examples to show that not all tofus are created equal.” Originally from Taiwan,…
REAL BUSINESS NIGHTMARES are truly scary, but a Halloween nightmare can be a fun way for a business to reward customers and employees. That’s one reason companies hire Kevin Okada to stage private parties, events and attractions. “Everybody likes to get scared for the thrill of it,” says Okada, owner of Nightmares Live Haunted Attraction. After helping with Kapiolani Community…
IF CARVING PUMPKINS during Halloween season is too conventional for you, Island Divers Hawaii offers the chance to do it underwater, which is as challenging as you would guess. “You go down there with high hopes that you’re going to get a real good idea, but water distorts your view and so the pumpkin comes up not looking the way…
MANY PEOPLE CAN’T imagine leaving the intimate communities and beautiful aina of their favorite Neighbor Island, even though that may limit their career opportunities. Executive and personal coach Sydney Wiecking offers ways to reduce those limitations and turn your home into a professional advantage. 1. Create Community Locally Develop relationships with people on your island who share your professional commitments and…
CHRISTINE HANAKAWA ENJOYS working with families and young people as a program coordinator for Parents and Children Together, but she also brings her caring spirit as a volunteer co-leader for two 4-H clubs: “Green Whales” and “Friendship Magic.” The youth mentoring program’s emblem is a green, four-leaf clover with the 4 H’s symbolizing: Head, Heart, Hands and Health. 4-H has…
QUESTION: Now that Windows 10 is out, I’m wondering: Should I upgrade or wait? Our company is small and doesn’t have a lot of resources or IT expertise. ANSWER: Since its release in July, there have been tens of millions of Windows 10 activations, with every indication that users will continue a steady migration toward the new platform. It is cleaner…
EXECUTIVE COACH KIM PAYTON recalls being asked to help with a case of workplace bullying. Just one problem: Who was bullying whom? “This guy is a mid-level manager,” Payton says. “He’s new to the organization, so he doesn’t understand a lot of the procedures. He’s a big guy, and when he gets frustrated, he turns bright red, and he starts…
Ngo is one of only two women in the state heading a publically traded company. She shares career insights and discusses her vision for Central Pacific Bank. You were COO and became CEO on July 1. What was your first official decision? I wouldn’t say there was a single official decision, but I did decide the executive team we had…
Every workday is different for Brett Miller (center right wearing a black shirt), though each day usually includes at least some time in the MauiWine vineyard in Kula, on the slope of Haleakala. Start: While majoring in biology and chemistry at Oregon’s Linfield College, Brett Miller started working in a vineyard and wine-tasting room. “From there, I was hooked,”…
JEANA IWALANI NALUAI calls her business a getaway from the masses. Hoomana Spa is on Piiholo Road near the Makawao Forest Reserve, an hour by car from Kaanapali and Lahaina and 40 minutes from Kihei and Wailua – the places where most tourists stay on Maui. But visitors drive to the wellness center every day and Naluai believes that’s because today’s…
QUESTION: I feel like I take criticism badly. How can I learn to listen without getting offended or taking it so personally? ANSWER: A negative reaction to criticism – even when it’s mild or constructive – can get pretty severe, especially if someone grew up in a home where they were criticized a lot. They will associate negative feelings with…
Overlaid on this picture is part of the Early Childhood Action Strategy systems map. TO TRANSFORM A system as complex as energy in Hawaii, dynamic thinking is needed, Dawn Lippert says. Systems maps and systems thinking help guide that dynamic thinking. “The way we see systems thinking for energy is that it’s bridging across space, but then also trying to forecast…
IN HER NEW BOOK, “Why Smart Men Do the Same Dumb Things: A Warrior’s Manual for Change,” Rosalie K. Tatsuguchi explores the idea that an inflexible “samurai attitude” holds back men – and many women – from a rich life and traps them in a cycle of poor decisions. The root of the problem, Tatsuguchi believes, is adherence to Bushido, the warrior…
Phuong-Thao Nguyen’s work at Hawaiian Telcom will affect everyone in the state. It’s important to maintain the passion that first drew you to STEM, says Phuong-Thao Nguyen of Hawaiian Telcom. “Passion is your sense of curiosity, your desire to understand why, your curiosity to learn more. When you have that, you won’t think of what you’re doing as work. When…
SERVCO PACIFIC HAS been growing for nearly a century and its holdings today cover cars, tires, insurance, appliances and a private equity firm, and they stretch from Australia to the U.S. mainland. Plus Servco now controls Fender, the company that makes the guitars used by Hendrix, Clapton, Springsteen and many other rock stars. Every three months, Hawaii’s Mark Fukunaga talks guitars…
BEFORE BECOMING A global franchise operation, L&L began in the 1950s as a modest business called L&L Dairy, owned by father and son Robert Lee and Robert Lee Jr. That restaurant, now called L&L Drive-Inn, still stands at 1711 Liliha St. in Kalihi, but today it is one of 190, thanks to L&L president and CEO Eddie Flores Jr. and his…
The leaders of Lean In Circles from across the world met in Palo Alto, California, to discuss ways to better guide their groups. ONE GROUP CALLS calls itself the Crunch Brunch and these techies meet every other week in Kaka’ako though they all work for different organizations. Another is called Na Wahine Kuilima o Ka Leo Kamaehu and its members…
Designers across Hawaii and around the world are reinventing the aloha shirt with both new and retro styles, for business and pau hana AFTER A PERIOD when many fashion-conscious young men in Hawaii looked askance at the aloha shirt, it is enjoying a fashion renaissance, here and around the world. The aloha shirt continues to mean many things to many…
Nicole Velasco: Struggling While Starting Out Nicole Velasco. Photo: Aaron Yoshino It was 2008, the depth of the Great Recession, and Nicole Velasco had just graduated from Princeton University. She quickly found that even an Ivy League degree isn’t an automatic ticket to success. Both her mom and dad had just lost their jobs as Aloha Airlines folded, and both…
There must be blood in the water. Until last year, when Hawaiian Electric Industries announced its intent to merge with Florida energy giant NextEra, the company seemed like a permanent fixture of the local economy. Only a few zealous renewable-energy mavens spoke of its eventual demise. But the sharks are out now. Everyone seems to be talking about converting the…