Turning Points
Nicole Velasco: Struggling While Starting Out 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…
Lifestyle
5 Steps to Accepting Risk
AS LEADERS, it’s the risks we don’t take that we regret the most, says professional coach Mary Kuentz. She suggests you can begin to get more comfortable with risk by changing how you think about it. 1. Question your relationship…
My Job: Perfumist, Deanna Rose
While at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., Deanna Rose grew skeptical of conventional body products. “I was seeking solutions to my thick Armenian hair and dry Northeastern skin that I could feel good about using, and so around my sophomore…
The Careerist: Not Letting It All Hang Out
“I wish people would fully understand the ‘No boobs, No butts, No bellies’ policy when getting dressed for work ... unless you work from home like I do. Then you can just let it all hang out.” This comment has…
Talk Story with Scott Barber, President and CEO, Hawaiian Telcom
Barber had been Hawaiian Telcom’s COO since 2013. He was promoted this June when former CEO Eric Yeaman left for First Hawaiian Bank. Your career began more than three decades ago as a phone company lineworker in California. What was…
Parting Shot: Solar Dry Dock
Friday 9:54 AM University of Hawaii Hangar, Kalaeloa Airport Photo by Odeelo Dayondon The Solar Impulse airplane will spend the winter in Hawaii, after completing the longest and most challenging leg of its…
What's It Worth: Art That Lasts About Four Hours
FOR 30 YEARS, Darren Ho has created art he describes as “simply done,” with less detail than a wood or bronze sculpture, and with a lifespan of about four hours. Using a chainsaw and a few other tools, he turns…
5 Steps to Exit Burnout Mode
CLASSIC BURNOUT SIGNS include exhaustion, lack of motivation and feelings of chronic stress on the job. Strike a chord? Executive coach Nina Cherry shares how you can end burnout and foster a better work-life balance. 1. Do what you love So…
My Job: Cowboy
Start Galimba grew up on Oahu’s North Shore while his dad, Al, played a big role in dairy operations at Meadow Gold. He raised rabbits, birds and goats to sell. “I used to have a sign out on the highways…
Cashing In: Marcus Mariota
HAWAII'S MARCUS MARIOTA signed a four-year, $24,213,976 contract with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. The amount is fully guaranteed. The deal includes a $15,870,164 signing bonus. His average annual salary will be $6,053,494. In 2015, his base salary will be $435,000 with…
Innovation: Good FIT for Chinese Students
Creator and His Product Richard Xie came to Hawaii for an MBA at Hawaii Pacific University and never returned to his native China. After graduation and a few stints in marketing for local wholesale businesses, he set out on his…
Hawaii's Dreamers
Muscular and athletic, Shingai Masiya was certainly college football material. He hoped for that coming out of high school, but the dream died. While he had come into the U.S. legally at age 13 with his family from Zimbabwe, a…
Stars Above Hawaii
IF YOU'VE SEEN the moon, the rings of Saturn and other galaxies in sci-fi movies, you should check them out in reality. Stars Above Hawaii offers twice-nightly tours with its powerful telescopes and other equipment from the Ko Olina Resort. The…
The Careerist: Stood Up
FEW ASPECTS OF LIFE are as thrilling, complicated, satisfying and maddening as our jobs. Victory can puff us up with satisfaction, a promotion and a bigger salary. Defeat can destroy our confidence. That’s because we express and define ourselves via our…
Travelin’ Music
KELLI CRUZ IS a “doer.” She learned early on how to build things from her father, who was a carpenter, and create Hawaiian music from her mother, who was a hula dancer. “When I was 18, I picked up a guitar…
The Careerist: Must I Answer Emails on Vacation?
Few aspects of life are as thrilling, complicated, satisfying and maddening as our jobs. Victory puffs us up with satisfaction, a promotion and a bigger salary. Defeat can destroy our confidence, and that’s because we express and define ourselves through…
Catchafire
N onprofits always need specialized help at an affordable price. Meanwhile, skilled professionals want meaningful volunteer opportunities that go beyond stuffing envelopes. Rachael Chong says Catchafire solves both issues with a database that connects businesspeople’s skills with nonprofits’ needs. Catchafire’s…
What's It Worth: Organizer Helps You De-Clutter
INTERIOR DESIGNER NATE BERKUS says, “Your home should rise up to greet you,” but he’s not talking about piles of clutter that keep growing. Those facing this problem can turn to professional organizers like Nancy Nino, who helps people deal…
Re-Energized
W Hen Iolani Palace’s monthly power bill doubled to more than $41,000 last fall, even drastic steps like cutting off the air conditioning in the adjacent barracks couldn’t bring costs back to where they had been just a few months…
Multimedia Innovator
Jay Fidell didn’t set out to be a journalist. The founder of the ThinkTech Hawaii arrived here from New York in 1965 as a Coast Guard lawyer and military judge. “It was the time of Vietnam, and war was in…
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Green
WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU COMBINE ELEMENTS OF THE 19TH, 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES? Start with the U.S. government’s oldest scientific agency, with roots stretching back to the early 1800s; add historic Ford Island aircraft hangars that survived the…
What’s Next for Solar
If you ever use a waste-burning toilet, don’t be surprised if you find out a solar-power company installed it. That’s one of the technologies being investigated by RevoluSun, a Honolulu-based solar company that has expanded its “Smart Home” division, offering…
Molokai at Work
MOLOKAI IS OFTEN characterized as the Island with Hawaii's highest unemployment rate. That's unfortunate, because most of the residents work hard to earn a living. So we asked photographer PF Bentley, who lives on the Friendly Isle, to showcase his…