How to Earn a Promotion
The keys to getting a promotion are not what you say when asking for one, but what you do to make the promotion more likely. Some of those actions may be obvious, but others might surprise you. Earning a promotion…
Careers
Job-Hunting Advice for Young People
Alec Brownstein didn’t want to join the millions of young college graduates who settle for jobs they don’t want, because they fail to grab the right person’s attention. Instead, he acted boldly and it paid off. Brownstein hoped to get…
My Job: Weather Anchor
Name: Guy Hagi Job: Weather anchor at Hawaii News Now Experience: 15 years Hagi will never forget his first day as the weather anchor at KGMB. He had just returned from a family vacation to New York City. It was…
China is the Land of Opportunity
Hawaii-born Russell Leu loves working in China, though he recognizes living there offers challenges. The Hawaii attorney wears a top quality, high-tech, air-filter mask on the street on days with heavy air pollution, and has a phone app that tells…
Creativity in Their Business
Roberta Oaks, Fashion Designer and Retailer Oaks did not start out to be a fashion designer. She majored in photography and art history, and then worked in restaurants for 10 years. Not until her late 20s did it hit her:…
Not Your Parents' College Degrees
The world will always need people trained in traditional fields such as education, medicine and law. But many college students today are looking to emerging fields where the number of jobs are growing, not shrinking, or careers that seem more…
5 Steps to Becoming a Better Public Speaker
Public speaking is a great way to build your business by educating the community on how you can serve it. Motivational speaker and speaker trainer Annette Lynch shares these steps to help you overcome nerves and engage your target audience.…
Wild Days of Tree Trimming are Dying
PHOTOS BY ELYSE AND MATT MALLAMS Back in the mid-1970s, when Abner Undan started working for a tree-trimming company, the standard method was to lop off branches randomly and use spikes to climb palm trees. “Those were the old…
Parting Shot: Surf Photographer Zak Noyle
Swell Shot Wednesday, 5 P.M. North Shore, Oʻahu Photo by Nate Lawrence Zak Noyle positions himself as he prepares to photograph surfers at Pipeline. Noyle has been shooting surfers for eight years, the past six professionally. The time he spends in…
Entrepreneurs Inspired by the Ocean
It’s no surprise the same ocean that inspires surfers, paddlers and swimmers has also inspired entrepreneurs to make a living off what they love. They start surf schools, design canoe paddles, cultivate marine livestock, run fishing charters or develop technology…
Caring for Kahoolawe
Name: Michael Nahoopii Job: Executive director of the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission Experience: Five years at KIRC QUALIFICATIONS: In many ways, Nahoopii has prepared for this job his entire life. He first visited Kahoolawe at age 15 during a trip…
Former Career is Still a Passion
If you look at John Thielst today, sitting in an office in downtown Honolulu, you would never imagine his previous career. The managing principal of Coffman Engineers, a Honolulu-based engineering consulting firm, once worked almost entirely underwater. For about three…
Helping Clients Develop a Personal Style
Name: Summer Shiige Job: Personal Stylist/Shopper Years of Experience: One year STARTING OUT: Shiige had always wanted to own her own business and, last year, after working in the retail industry for more than a decade, she started Summer Style,…
Which Ethnic Group Makes the Most Money?
If you have lived in Hawaii for a while, the ranking of the richest and poorest ethnic groups shouldn’t surprise you. The hierarchy has remained the same for the past four decades, says UH ethnic studies professor Jonathan Okamura, who…
Inside Hawaii's Wage Gap Between Men and Women
Payday is always a great day. It means more money in your wallet or bank account. But imagine if your pay stub had an asterisk and tiny print that was hardly readable: *Each dollar worth only 82 cents. That’s what…
How Fashion Happens in Hawaii
PHOTOS BY MARK ABEIT When people think about the fashion business, they tend to focus on the designer’s creative ideas and the finished products they buy. The beginning and the end. But it takes a great deal of work…
Tugboat Captain
Name: Ben Isabel Job: Tugboat captain for Young Brothers, the main shipper of cargo around the Hawaiian Islands. Experience: Started with YB in 1994. START: Isabel served as an E-5 second-class boatswain mate in the U.S. Navy. But, to work for Young Brothers,…
Winners and Losers in Hawaii's Job Market
Source: Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations One way to follow a changing economy is to track the fastest-declining and fastest-growing jobs. The following infographic report outlines the state’s forecast for the biggest changes in Hawaii’s labor market, both in…
Space Wars
The most heated argument about modern offices pits the relative privacy of cubicles and offices versus collaborative nature of open workspaces When the cubicle hit the furnishings market in 1967, it forever changed the landscape of office culture and the…
Family Tradition of Feather Work
Name: Paulette Kahalepuna Job: Feather artist and owner of Na Lima Mili Hulu Noeau, a store where Hawaiian feather work is taught, and supplies and finished pieces are sold. Experience: 21 years. START: In 1991, Kahalepuna helped her feather-expert mother Mary Lou and father…
Hunting for Purple Squirrels: Why Your Fantasy Job Applicant Doesn't Exist
The hard reality of a slow-growing national economy and persistently high unemployment rates has helped spawn a mythical creature, the purple squirrel. Even though no one has ever seen a purple squirrel, some employers keep looking for one. And, for…
Making a living underwater
Name: Rob Hemsher Job: Scuba diving instructor and owner of Ocean Eco Tours Years of Experience: 17 years as a certified dive instructor Background: Hemsher made his first pool dive when he was 6 while growing up in Boynton…
Parting Shot: Dough Check
Wednesday, 2:34 PM Love’s Bakery, Kalihi Photographer David Croxford >> Nenita Ramos, oven infeed operator, checks the quality of the loaves heading into the 400-degree oven. This batch of Hawaii’s Hearth 100 percent Whole Wheat bread is one of 276…
Editor's Note: How to Spot Bad Advice
This month’s feature on the “Best Advice I Ever Got” suggests a complementary article, “The Worst Advice I Ever Ignored.” Every successful person has followed lots of good advice to get where he or she is, and, along the way,…