By sixth grade, Cedric Gates' future already looked bleak: Severe childhood obesity had pushed his weight over 200 pounds. A year later things got worse: His mother collapsed at work and died from heart disease. By the time he was…
Our cover was created by Matt Tapia, a nationally recognized illustrator and hand-lettering artist, born and raised in Hawaii. He’s done work for clients ranging from Nike to Zoo York. His approach is…
In many impoverished countries, students are required to wear uniforms to attend school, yet often they cannot afford one. Akin Clothing Ltd. mixes business with humanitarianism by providing school uniforms for those children…
With the wealth he amassed during a successful business career, Edmund C. Olson could afford to treat the rest of his life like a vacation. Instead, the 81-year-old Hilo resident continues adding to his significant Hawaii Island land holdings and…
Who would have thought that a company started in the middle of a recession could succeed so quickly? Hawaii Human Resources, or HiHR, has been growing steadily since its start in early 2009. A provider of human resource needs ranging…
Tom Park, founder and owner of Leather Soul, which carries exclusive men’s shoes, can’t believe his success in following a dream. “I’ve always loved shoes, from when I was in kindergarten,” he says. In March, his flagship Waikiki store moved…
Teddy’s Bigger Burgers does well in a good economy and better in a bad one, says co-CEO Ted Tsakiris. That’s one reason Teddy’s opened its fourth restaurant on Oahu in May, at 2424 S. Beretania St., near University Avenue. In…
Online competitors were killing off bricks-and-mortar music stores when Peter Dods bought Honolulu’s Easy Music Center from Servco Pacific in 2005. Since then, Dods has opened a second store and, with the two locations, has tripled sales and quintupled profits,…
Michael Fairall doesn’t go to great lengths to advertise the “green” side of Mokulua Woodworking, his Kailua-based construction company. Never mind the sometimes surreptitious adherence to LEED standards, like low-flow plumbing (“Basically, we bring that approach to anything that we…