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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
Are they worth it? That’s the question asked each year by shareholders, regulators, politicians and the public when publicly traded companies reveal how much they pay their CEOs. Different methods have emerged to try to answer the question of “Are…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
In our lives, we’re probably given more than a million words of advice. Almost everyone feels free to dispense it, even if we don’t ask for it, but much of it is trivial and soon forgotten. The advice that resonates…
Name: Marc Kassis, Ph.D. Job: Support Astronomer for W.M. Keck Observatory Years of Experience: 9 Starting out: In high school, Kassis thought physics was “the coolest stuff ever” and went on to earn a Ph.D. in astronomy from Boston University.…
OK, so you grew up in Hawaii. You know your spam musubi and hula kahiko. Then you moved away – for education, for work, to prove yourself. You’re having a great time. You visit often, but never stay. Then, maybe,…
Retired TWA pilot Peter Forman says the growing airline industry is not prepared for a looming pilot shortage and that’s why he wants to grow the Commercial Aviation Program at UH’s Honolulu Community College. Forman is the coordinator of the…
Ready to move on after decades of experience, but not ready to retire? Consider becoming an encore entrepreneur: someone who takes over or starts a business in a field different from their main career. Many people are doing it in…
Name: Doug Jago Job: Visual presentation manager, Neiman Marcus at Ala Moana Center Years of Experience: 40 Starting out: After graduating from the University of Tampa in Florida, Jago worked in the visual merchandising department at Bloomingdale’s in Woodbridge, N.J.,…
Tim Johns Age: 56 Position: Chief consumer officer at HMSA Workouts: Swimming, surfing, resistance training, stationary biking, jogging, paddle boarding, hiking, long walks with his dog On weekdays, Johns says he wakes extra early to fit in a swim before work. “Then I…
The most important person in creating your Best Place to Work is almost always the company’s owner or CEO, so choose well when you join an organization. The second most important person is not your immediate supervisor. It’s you. That’s…
Hawaii's best places to work offer many great perks for their employees and we have to admit that we're very jealous. To help us feel better, illustrator Jon Murakami takes an irreverent view of our favorite perks. (Other Best Places…
Whether you’re a woman or man, from the Baby Boom, Gen X or Gen Y, liking your job is one thing that everyone agrees is important in the workplace. Beyond that, what drives the genders and age groups can be…