A word to the wise this graduation season: Lei will be pricey because of the shortage of Thailand-grown orchids, not to mention the thousands of lei that are now being shipped to the mainland. It’s not just transplanted Islanders who…
Name: Steve Looney Job: Tattoo artist; owner, Pacific Soul Tattoo Experience: 12 years professionally Start: “I took an interest in tattooing as a 15-year-old growing up in Anaheim, California,” Looney says. He studied graphic design in college but couldn’t find…
There’s such enthusiasm for Nita Pilago that you may think you’re at a 90-percent-off sale as women push and shove at a craft fair to grab one of her Wahine Toa designs. Taught to sew by her grandmother, Pilago grew…
Before Bill Jarvis took the helm seven years ago at Mobi PCS, a Hawaii-based wireless phone company, he had spent two decades working for other, bigger national brands. So he knew what not to do. “We could really study the category…
12:56 pm, Thursday Honolulu Photographer: Rae Huo >> Central Pacific Bank’s mascot, Alex the Loyalty Dog, and actor Lance Wheeler prepare to film a CPB commercial. The Shetland sheepdog returned to the bank earlier this year after spending…
Roger Higa, Melissa Chang, George “Chef Mavro” Mavrothalassitis and Shanah Trevenna are very different people with one thing in common: Each experienced a turning point that put them on an unexpected journey to a new calling. For Roger Higa, that…
The Hawaii General Store in Seattle began from a simple act of aloha. In 1998, Hawaii expatriate Gail Stringer wanted to buy a lei in Seattle for a friend undergoing a tough time. A $55 red carnation lei was not…
When Sandy Poehnelt launched her pie business on Kauai in 2009, one of her biggest obstacles was finding a suitable commercial kitchen. “For six weeks, I rented a space that was less than 100 square feet and I could use…
One of the biggest obstacles faced by entrepreneurs is they cannot afford the legal costs to get their businesses up and running. A trio of attorneys – two recent law-school graduates and a veteran – aim to help deserving business…
