What was your very first job, and what did it teach you about people?
One of my first jobs was as a Student Teller for Kamehameha Federal Credit Union. It was an on-campus job, and we had our own special window on the side of the regular credit union. I enjoyed the opportunity to interact with a bunch of students that were in different grades or didn’t have any classes in common with me. It was my first customer service job.
My first hospitality industry job in Hawai‘i was Catering Secretary for The Ilikai Hotel Nikko Waikiki in 1992. I was only supposed to be there a few months between college and grad school, but Hurricane Iniki hit, and I was so inspired by the way that the management team pulled together to service the guests and take care of the property that I called Cornell and asked if I could defer my admission for a year. I was super nervous that they would say no, but they said yes and I’m super grateful to have spent another year with the team. Wes Tenn and Paul Tomonari were leaders that were special to me. I also made life-long friends within The Ilikai team.
When did you realize hospitality was your calling, not just your career?
I’ve been attracted to hospitality and tourism from an early age. I went to Momilani Elementary School in Pearl City, and one of the more memorable field trips featured a back of house tour that included the tunnel between the Sheraton Waikīkī and the Royal Hawaiian. I remember how good the laundry smelled, how cool the tunnel was, how everyone we saw greeted us kids and looked happy to be there, and how amazing the lobbies were. The marble! The uniforms! The landscaping! I wanted to work in an amazing hotel when I grew up!
In high school, I read an article about the fantastical destination resort properties that Chris Hemmeter was developing. It made me determined to get a degree in hotel management, go to the school that he went to, and one day become general manager of one of the Hemmeter hotels. That never happened. I was recruited on campus to join Coopers & Lybrand LLP’s Global Hospitality & Leisure Consulting practice and never looked back.
How has growing up or living in Hawai‘i influenced the way you serve others?
As a product of the Kamehameha Schools in the 1980s, we were taught to be servant leaders. Growing up in Hawai‘i, we were taught to work hard and aloha and mahalo everyone.
Who was an early mentor that shaped your leadership style?
Peter Fithian has been one of my most influential mentors. He wasn’t just the lei greeting guy or the Billfish guy. Peter was our elder statesman. He taught us “youngsters” how we should behave and conduct ourselves. He regaled us with stories of post-WWII Hawai‘i tourism and the development of the industry.
What part of your personality makes you especially suited for this industry?
I think my positive attitude, curious nature, and delight in small everyday things makes me well-suited for my job. I LOVE sharing data and knowledge.
What misconception do people have about your role?
Producing visitor statistics is a lot more complicated than most people think. A lot of people think that we just take the data from the Inflight form and call it a day, that we should be able to report visitor arrivals every day now that the survey has been digitized. In reality, our visitor statistics have a lot of moving parts and coordination.
What is something you once feared in your career that you now embrace?
I don’t know about “embrace.” Many people think that I’m an extrovert, but that’s really not true. I don’t actually like the spotlight; I’m more of a behind the scenes/operations person.
When he started, I asked then HTA CEO Chris Tatum if I could stop giving media interviews. Under the previous HTA CEO George Szigeti, I felt like I was doing interviews every week. The general public is scary. Presenting to the HTA board or at the Hawai‘i Tourism Conference is not so scary to me because I know my audience has knowledge and context for what I’m saying to them.
The pandemic changed my attitude because I realized that the media could use clips from any public HTA Zoom meeting without my knowledge. Now, under DBEDT, I do my best to help the media with their questions so that they can produce great articles with accurate data and let Director Tokioka be the one to shine.
