Name: A. Christian Whelen Job: Administrator, state Laboratories Division Experience: 28 years in healthcare Responsibilities: If the Ebola virus somehow found its way from Africa to Hawaii, Chris Whelen would lead the local analytical testing to help the national Centers…
Name: Vivienne Lim Job: Owner and artistic director, Royal Academy of Ballet Experience: Three decades in ballet Start: Born in Malaysia, Lim was just 3 when her parents enrolled her in a ballet program certified by the esteemed Royal Academy…
Name: Katie Wright Pere Job: Stuntwoman Experience: 14 years Start: While Pere attended Florida State University, she trained two to three hours a day, six days a week, as a competitive swimmer. She also rode Jet Skis and water skied.…
Thirty-nine percent of Americans believe they are underpaid – 42 percent of women versus 33 percent of men, according to a survey this year by the career website Glassdoor.com. If you are in that group, be aware that there are…
Name: Mike Hall Job: Mixologist Experience: Two years Start: When Hall moved from Maryland in 1999 to attend Hawaii Pacific University, he did what many college students do: He worked at a restaurant. It wasn’t until he got a…
When veterans retire or separate from the military, they leave more than their jobs, they leave a way of life. What makes the transition tougher is their skills sometimes don’t seem to translate easily to civilian jobs or running businesses.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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:…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…