“What I have been doing most of my adult life and professional life is being very open and honest,” says Daniel Chun, one of Hawaii’s openly gay business leaders. “If it’s weird to me, and if I make it weird,…
Iselle battered Pahoa, then lava threatened to overrun it. This sleepy Hawaii Island town persevered, as did most of its businesses, but many other things will never be the same PAHOA, Hawaii Island – Petra Wiesenbauer, owner of Hale Moana Bed…
Dozens of local charities work with homeless people. All have boards of directors and staff. Most have an office and equipment, like a bus or kitchen, to maintain. And almost all face the same need to raise funds and provide…
Ngo is one of only two women in the state heading a publically traded company. She shares career insights and discusses her vision for Central Pacific Bank. You were COO and became CEO on July 1. What was your first…
QUESTION: I feel like I take criticism badly. How can I learn to listen without getting offended or taking it so personally? ANSWER: A negative reaction to criticism – even when it’s mild or constructive – can get pretty severe,…
IN HER NEW BOOK, “Why Smart Men Do the Same Dumb Things: A Warrior’s Manual for Change,” Rosalie K. Tatsuguchi explores the idea that an inflexible “samurai attitude” holds back men – and many women – from a rich life and traps…
The leaders of Lean In Circles from across the world met in Palo Alto, California, to discuss ways to better guide their groups. ONE GROUP CALLS calls itself the Crunch Brunch and these techies meet every other week in Kaka’ako…
BEFORE BECOMING A global franchise operation, L&L began in the 1950s as a modest business called L&L Dairy, owned by father and son Robert Lee and Robert Lee Jr. That restaurant, now called L&L Drive-Inn, still stands at 1711 Liliha St.…
YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT Newell’s shearwaters, the birds native to Hawaii that are also known as Hawaiian shearwaters, are a protected species. But did you know their protection extends beyond the shore, including enforcement on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of…
10 years after Norwegian Cruise Lines went all-American with its around-the-Islands cruises, the Pride of America still sails every week, each time at…
YOU ARE ENGROSSED IN the latest action movie, noise-canceling headphones in place, halfway through your book chapter or, worst, sleeping. The flight attendant comes down the aisle, interrupting everyone’s mid-flight routine, and says, “Please fill this out.” You get the…
RESTAURATEURS SEEM TO lead charmed lives. They pick where they work, set their own hours, create a pleasant atmosphere and run a place where…
WHEN OAHU’S LAST dairy closed in 2008, Monique Van der Stroom started her own. “I went to college at the University of Arizona in dairy science. It’s what I really wanted to do with my life, so I just figured, if…
LAST YEAR, THE TOPIC was growing Hawaii’s economic pie. This year, the annual conference of the Hawaii Economic Association will focus on how to expand other facets of prosperity, such as environmental well-being, sustainability and social quality of life. Everyone…
A lot of collaboration takes place around the main work table at WATG’s Honolulu office. From left are Craig Takahata, VP and managing director for Honolulu; Tiffany Lee, associate operations manager; and Brittany Meyers, administrative assistant. Photo:…
IT LOOKED LIKE the end of an era. Maui Land & Pineapple shuttered its agricultural operations after 90 years and laid off the few farm workers left out of a workforce that once numbered more than a thousand. In what many…
George Atta, director of the Department of Planning and Permitting and a former principal at the architectural firm Group 70 international, knows just how swamped Honolulu's permitting system is. Hideo Simon can barely contain his frustration. “It took me six…
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…
“I WANT TO make people feel at home here,” says Supreecha Sangthong, nicknamed “Dang,” co-owner of Pae Thai Restaurant in Makiki. “I’m happy to cook for them, and I want to personally make sure they’re satisfied. I’m not so concerned about…
WE THINK WE DO good work at Hawaii Business magazine, but it’s always reassuring when we receive affirmation from others – whether our readers or peers. At the end of June, we got a lot of reassurance. In the annual statewide…
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…
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…
Kunz oversees a budget of $1.9 billion that pays for a staff of 25,000 and 289 public schools, including charter schools. Q: Energy costs for the schools are one of the largest parts of the annual budget. How are you tackling…
Noel Nedli is the founder and CEO of Room Service in Paradise, which delivers 50,000 meals annually from 75 Oahu restaurants, employs 45 people and grosses more than $2 million a year. But, back in 1991, Nedli was studying at Windward…