The Hawaii Business Podcast

Kevin Chang, the Executive Director of Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo, discusses the organization's mission to empower rural Hawaiian communities and promote community-based natural resource management. With origins dating back to 2003 and Chang joining in 2011, Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo has established itself as a driving force for positive environmental change across the Islands. Chang emphasized the cultural significance of fishponds and their role as key components of traditional land stewardship. He also introduced the Hui Mālama Loko Iʻa network, a statewide initiative that fosters dialogue among fishpond practitioners for cultural and community revitalization, while simultaneously promoting environmental conservation.

Kaimana Brummel has long been a bridge builder, but in the aftermath of the Maui wildfires, that role took on a new life as she helped connect organizations and displaced residents with life-sustaining resources. Brummel has also been working with the People’s Fund of Maui, a fund started by Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that provides direct support to impacted Lahaina and Kula residents. Winfrey and Johnson together contributed $10 million. Brummel is part of a group of community members helping to convey what residents need. Brummel is the director of advancement at Seabury Hall, her alma mater where she helps students, alumni, parents and staff connect with the greater community and vice versa. Her community focus stems from being part of the first ‘Aha Pūnana Leo cohort on Maui. “So then we had friends who were from Ke‘anae, so we could go to Ke‘anae and be immersed in ‘āina there. We had friends who were hula practitioners, so then we could join hālau. We had friends who were experts in botany, and, you know, it became our community, they became our neighbors.”

Mary Fastenau, senior partner at Anthology Marketing Group, fondly recalls the Internet’s early digital marketing potential and the growth of what is now the state’s largest integrated marketing and communications agency. “It’s the beauty of what’s going on in digital, even today, is that … you can test, you can look and you can make sure that your hypothesis, even if they’re very well researched, that they are actually relating to real people,” she says. Starr Siegle became Anthology Marketing Group in 2007. Today, the agency is part of Finn Partners, a global marketing and communications firm, and represents clients like Hawai‘i Pacific Health, Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, Hawaiian Telcom and ‘Iolani School.

The Shaka Tea co-founder Bella Hughes shares her career journey and how the lessons she’s learned have helped shaped her into the leader she is today. Bella Hughes is an angel investor who invests in female entrepreneurs to help address the sexism that women commonly face when looking for financial backers. Women, she says, only receive about 1.9% of all invested capital. “I think when you empower women and minorities, they tend to give back tenfold and we can then create that abundance, we can create that change,” she says. One of Hughes’ goals is to help support more female entrepreneurs, such as through Hawai‘i FoundHer, the company she co-founded with leadership consultant Gloria Lau. The company provides a six-month accelerator program for Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian wāhine business owners.

Jack Wong, CEO of Kamehameha Schools, shares his background, how he manages such a big responsibility and the trust’s priorities. Wong served as a senior counsel for Kamehameha Schools in 1997. He became CEO in 2014 when former CEO Dee Jay Mailer stepped down. The charitable trust serves over 7,000 students at its K-12 campuses and preschools, manages 363,000 acres of land, and employs about 3,000 people. As a leader, he says most of his job is getting staff members excited about their work and helping them do their best. One of Kamehameha Schools’ priorities is to shift to a mindset rooted in the importance of culture. Its E Ola! values of ‘ike kūpuna, aloha ‘āina, and mālama and kuleana are used as a framework to integrate a Native Hawaiian identity into its work. The aim is for students to learn and live those values. “You have to be able to see that through your culture, you will be academically successful – understanding who you are as a Native Hawaiian, understanding your ‘āina, understanding your ancestors, your culture, and being proud of who you are, your identity,” he says.

Ray Vara, the president and CEO of Hawai‘i Pacific Health shares the health care system’s commitment to create a healthier Hawai‘i. And like his organization, he’s in it for the long haul. Health care in the United States is broken and the way to fix it is to look upstream at the issues that underpin poverty, says Ray Vara, president and CEO of Hawai‘i Pacific Health. That means addressing things like early childhood development, K-12 education, affordable housing, homelessness and food insecurity. “Poverty is the greatest enemy of health, and that is why we as an organization and I personally worked so closely with the Hawai‘i Executive Collaborative and the Hawai‘i Community Foundation,” he says. “Because whether it’s the CHANGE initiative or what we call the social determinants of health, they’re completely aligned in terms of addressing those things that threaten the long-term health of our community.”

In this episode Bob Harrison reflects on his 27-year career with First Hawaiian Bank. He says his career is fulfilling thanks to his employees and colleagues, about 20 to 25 of whom celebrate their 40th, 45th or 50th work anniversaries each year. “You just have this cadre of people who’ve been with the bank a long time,” he says. “They love the customers, they love each other. All the work’s got to get done. And you just never forget the people. It’s not about the jobs I had...” As a leader, he’s emphasized giving back to the community. The First Hawaiian Bank Distinguished Professorship of Banking Endowment at UH’s Shidler College of Business was created in 2013 to invest in the next generation of bankers. And to mark its 160th anniversary, First Hawaiian donated $160,000 to Bishop Museum. The bank plans to roll out upgraded online and mobile offerings this year, spurred by the pandemic, which taught the bank that customers want to interact with it in different ways, Harrison says.

During his tenure as UH’s athletic director, David Matlin hired a record 16 head coaches, helped student athlete graduation rates and grade point averages hit all-time highs, and oversaw $103 million in facility upgrades. “It's always about getting 1% better,” he says. “That's kind of my mantra.” Matlin credits much of the department’s achievements during his eight-year tenure to the hard work of his colleagues and student athletes. “I just believe when our teams are doing well, people are happier here,” he says. “When people are happier here in Hawai‘i, business is better, people treat people better. I mean, it matters. The eight years I spent in this job stewarding that responsibility, that was special to know that you can make an impact to the community, to uplift it."

For Micah Kāne, Hawaii Community Foundation's president and CEO, it's all about being relevant, humble and helping the next generation of leaders. Sharpening fishing spear prongs, organizing nets and cleaning the family boat as a child taught Micah Kāne an important value that he strives to embody as a leader: being relevant. Kāne spent almost every weekend on that fishing boat – the only kid among six grown men. He saw how they handled bad weather, getting seasick and life-threatening situations. Kāne has held leadership positions at the Hawai‘i Republican Party, Pacific Links International, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and the Building Industry Association of Hawai‘i. He says he never imagined he’d be a leader but acknowledges the great responsibility that comes with the role: “Influence doesn’t make you humble? You shouldn’t have it...” he says.

President of Atlas Insurance Agency Chason Ishii has a local leadership style that empowers employees to deliver results and help the community. Ishii began his career at Servco under second-generation leader George Fukunaga, who showed him the importance of humility and sincerity in business. Ishii spent 16 years there before becoming the president of a real estate firm, a remediation company, a holding company and now an insurance company. Atlas Insurance Agency is the largest insurance company in Hawai‘i. Ishii says he and his team are driven by a bigger picture of supporting small businesses. “Our purpose here is to be a local company, to help local companies and to support Hawai‘i as a community, beyond just financial, to be participative, to be actively involved … nonprofits, government, all the different areas to help shape Hawai‘i’s communities for the future,” he says.

The co-owner and executive chef, Robynne Maii of Fête was the first female chef from Hawai‘i to win the prestigious James Beard Award for best chef. Robynne Maii’s love for cooking sprouted while watching her parents cook meals and host gatherings at their ‘Āina Haina home. She saw how they demonstrated love and care through the presentation and delivery of food. She and her husband, Chuck Bussler, opened Fête in Honolulu’s Chinatown district in 2016 with a commitment to fixing problems they saw in the broader restaurant industry. Fête sources most of its ingredients from local producers, and because the produce it gets is sometimes imperfect, cooks must get creative to maintain the high standards of the restaurant’s dishes.

John De Fries, president and CEO of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, discusses the Islands’ potential as a model for regenerative living and the results the agency is already seeing from its destination management plans. Born and raised in Waikīkī, John De Fries has spent 40 years in various parts of Hawai‘i’s hospitality industry. His charge now is leading the state’s tourism agency amid economic recovery and cries of overtourism. “The biggest lesson is that none of us live in a destination; we live in a community,” he says. “And so when you’re experiencing the benefits, as well as the adverse impacts of tourism, more than likely you are incentivized to find the solution.”

Bettina Mehnert speaks to designing with a purpose and planning for a sustainable future in episode 3 of The Hawaii Business Podcast. Raised in the tiny town of Grevenbroich, Germany, Bettina Mehnert originally didn’t want to become an architect. She had an industrious personality and followed in her mother’s footsteps and became a carpenter. But that eventually drew her to architecture, and she became the third generation in her family to enter the field. She moved to Hawai‘i in 1988 and has been with Honolulu-based architectural firm AHL ever since. She became the firm’s first female CEO in 2013.

Fairness and justice guide Emily Reber Porter’s work in the community. The chief operating officer of MacNaughton joined the real estate and investment company in 2015 after working as a litigator in Hawai‘i and Washington, D.C., and as an executive at a disruptive tech company in San Francisco. Her passion for issues that affect women and children led her to approach Child & Family Service six years ago to ask about serving on its board. She hopes to help educate the broader community about domestic violence and the organizations working to tackle it.

Peter Ingram happily describes himself as an “airline guy,” a title he’s held for the last 30 years. The president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines discusses the company’s plans to fly Amazon packages, install high-speed Wi-Fi on its planes, and implement a new passenger service system. Born and raised in Toronto, Ingram originally worked in financial services. He pivoted to the airline industry after being hooked by American Airlines’ philosophy that prioritizes curiosity and problem-solving among new hires over knowledge of the industry.