Tapping Hawaiʻi’s Spiritual Grounding, Good Mana Shares It With the World

Credit: Aaron Yoshino

Back in 2019, Denny Kwock often stayed on Hawaiʻi island’s Hāmākua Coast at Akiko’s Buddhist Bed & Breakfast, a lush two-acre property 15 miles north of Hilo. One morning, Akiko Masuda, the host and owner, showed him a root crop he didn’t recognize. “Olena,” Akiko explained. “Hawaiian turmeric. It grows like a weed here.” Their exchange hung in Kwock’s mind.

He recognized an opportunity to build something local. Struck by the quality and purity of the turmeric grown here, the Oʻahu native saw potential for “taking the goodness of Hawaiʻi and sharing it with the world.”

Kwock’s whole career has been based on promoting health and wellness. He led clinical research of supplement formulas at The Daily Wellness Co. when the Honolulu-based company was founded in 1996, and worked with several schools including Stanford School of Medicine, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Wake Forest School of Medicine. Nine years later, he was appointed president and CEO.

In October 2022, Kwock also became president of newly formed Good Mana, and it has become a way for Kwock to expand upon his prior work and serve the place he calls home.

As a projection of the company’s name, Kwock approaches the business of wellness as both sacred and spiritual. “In Hawaiʻi, nature is more intimate. The air is gentler, the skies feel closer, and the colors are more vivid. In promoting Good Mana, I want people to feel this, whether it’s by using the product or by seeing Hawaiʻi in a different light, rather than just as a tourist destination.”

This perspective has also been shaped by fatherhood. Kwock’s two sons, 15 and 20 years old, have given him “an appreciation of how quickly life goes by” and an understanding of how his business can improve the quality of life for his customers.