Wow, what a whirlwind of a year that was. 2021 started with a bang and brought promise, change and hope. It came and went so quickly, that when I look back at my camera roll I am in awe of how amazing, memorable and epic it really was. I guess anything compared to 2020 would be great but I feel like there were so many milestones and great accomplishments achieved I am truly grateful.
Here's a look at the noteworthy items from last year that I am forever thankful for:

1. Social media collaborations... I know I've said I am not and "influencer" in the past, but last year was a really benchmark year for collaborating with businesses. I think what changed was my mindset and standing firm on not compromising my integrity and my values. I created a rate, media kit and folks who wanted to hire me to post paid me, but I also did it only when I was 100% invested and believed in what I was posting. So it ended up being a win win for all. Surprisingly the end of the year was mainly all sponsored content. I am happy to report that I have even monetized my IG that Instagram is paying me to post too. 
2. Miss Hawaii and Miss Hawaii's Outstanding Teen Organizations - it's been 17 years since I held the title of Miss Hawaii and it was heartwarming to have my Miss Hawaii family reach out and ask for assistance that turned into volunteering that evolved into serving as color commentator backstage during the pageant and assisting with other elements even after the pageant and now. I am happy to be on both executive committees offering help  to these non-profits where I can.
3. insights moderator on PBS. I am back on live television and get this, there are no commercials. Yes, I am hosting a show on PBS about once a month from 7pm-8pm (Thursdays) and it is live and on tv. This is one of the most challenging live shows I've done because you are juggling public affairs topics, with real time conversations, viewer questions and everything that comes with live broadcast. It is invigorating and exciting to be a part of this project that has been on the air for close to as long as I have been alive.
4. Doko Ga Tv is back and traveling again. I ventured to LA and the Mexican Riviera for filming of episodes for Doko Ga Tv on Hawaii News Now. What an amazing experience to be back at it again and it was a beautiful way to get away finally. You should be able to watch our adventures in February 2022. 
5. Voice work was crazy busy in 2020 and not as busy last year. But I was able to land a steady gig as the commercial voice at KITV. That was super cool and involved me voicing commercial spots that air on television for other businesses. 
6. I started a new food blog - You Hungry Hawaii - this is where I have been sending my love of food videos and photos. My goal to write weekly food reviews and blogs didn't happen but the IG is active and growing nicely. 
7. We got a kayak - only used it a few times but it is a great option to get our fitness on and explore the ocean.
8. Scored a few new clients and also signed a nice contract. Digital marketing and social media has grown immensely since I started doing it for work. Everyone acknowledges the power and reach of social media now and no one seems to need convincing anymore. This is the way we communicate now and this is how we share content. 
9. Mentoring. I mentored a young lady who is on her way to becoming successful at anything and everything she does. With that she competed in a pageant and won. I knew she would. This is the first time I mentored someone and it was very rewarding. I think she may have written me the best most thoughtful thank you card I have ever seen. 
10. I got to see my friends in person for my birthday! With the ebb and flow of covid and restrictions... it was wonderful to have a small gathering and celebrate friendships and life. 

​Thank you 2021 you we wonderful! 

Ah the world of social media... I've been active on social since it began with platforms like Asian Avenue, Friendster and Myspace. The evolution of using an online platform to keep in touch, market your business and self has grown exponentially. What free advice I tend to give out and offer to friends and close acquaintances would seem like common knowledge, but often times folks are counter-intuitive when it comes to utilizing social media the right way. 
Here are some simple tips for those who think they really already know social media and have a good grasp but un-admittedly may need some guidance.

1. Less is more. If you already have an established page, posting less will actually help you reach more people. Some think that posting more will prove to be better and gain more likes and traction, but actually it is essential to think quality over quantity in the long run. The algorithm is trying to identify authentic content and anything that looks too spammy will have less reach. 

2. You don't have to make multiple pages for the same brand. A lot of people think new location = new page, but it is best to have one main page be the umbrella of your brand. Starting new pages is more work and means more content and more to juggle. I would recommend having one page that covers multiple locations as the hub of communication.

3. Same business, same location but your name changed - you don't have to create all new pages and start from zero... here's the easiest and best way to make the conversion -- simply, drum roll, change the name of the page. That way you keep all your followers and all the content from before to help explain that your name changed and perhaps your focus did too, but you don't have to start from scratch. The people following you there will likely support you on this new path, if they don't they can unfollow, but it is way better to lose a few followers than to start from absolutely nothing again. 

4. It's all about videos! Create content for posting that is in video format for highest reach. Pictures are good, carousels are great but videos are king. 

5. Good quality imagery is extremely important. Make sure to have clear, focused, on-brand images. Posting a shot of Diamond Head for a Maui restaurant won't make sense and although a nice photo, doesn't translate well. I often see images that don't give a sense of place and have no real meaning when it comes to promoting what it is you are promoting. Make sure what you are posting makes sense to others and not just that it makes sense to you. 

6. It takes someone 7 times to see something before they actually understand or commit it to memory. If you post that you have happy hour once or twice a month... most likely folks aren't going to remember when you have happy hour if at all. You might feel like its repetitive but people are not going to do research, they are simply scrolling. 

7. Always like, share and comment. If you also want to repost user generated content it is part of essential best practices to get consent or at the very least offer photo credit to the source and tag the source - always!

So I met a man who is currently taking care of his wife whom underwent a mastectomy recently... The exchange has upset me and I will tell you why. She opted to get reconstruction, which is your choice and is perfectly fine. For those who know me I had a preventative mastectomy without reconstruction... I just opted to go flat and not get implants or any other modifications. These are the choices that we make and ultimately you hope it is the best decision for you. Now what upset me was he started quoting to me the same things the doctors told me about getting reconstruction and encouraging implants. Words like: they were unhappy after going flat, they didn't like it, stats show most women won't like how they look and etc. I knew in my heart that I was going to be ok with not having any breasts and I didn't need anyone to convince me otherwise. What upsets me about this entire thing is people are perpetuating the concept that you need to be status quo or have breasts to feel normal. 

Here was a guy who was looking at me 2 year post-op (by the way I don't have any breasts or nipples) telling me that having a mastectomy without getting breast reconstruction was going to make me not like it, regret it and so on. No one seems to advocate for this option. I had to fight for it and was referred to several plastic surgeons to try and convince me otherwise. I did not want to spend many months having parts of my body inflated and have another surgery so I could have implants put in or spend 15 hours in surgery having parts of my body taken from one place and put in another. He even said that his wife spoke to other women about their experience and what it was like having the surgery and then having implants, which I did too. It seemed so problematic and no one was really happy with their results after the first try. But I haven't been put on a list for people to talk to when considering going flat... why don't they advocate for those who want to just be free and not have any more surgeries or problems. Why the need to try and convince me of what other people think is right?

I feel offended most of the time because people think I had cancer, when my surgery was aimed to prevent the disease... now I am made to feel as if what I did was not right, not the best choice and not normal? 

I am free, flat and fabulous and no one ever notices I don't have boobs!!! 

Avocado is a delicious buttery fruit that is quite versatile and contains many health benefits. Creamy in texture the fruit with the large seed in the middle is full of nutrients. Avocados are also a great source of vitamins like C, E, K and B. They include fatty acids as you know that are also great for sugar levels and blood stability. Overall avocados support the immune system, skin, heart health and aid with digestion. 

With that here are some out of the box recipe ideas when you have the yummy avocado ready to eat.

If you are new to entrepreneurship, agency work or been around for a while...chances are you will sign a contract with someone who will eventually become the dreaded "worst client ever." You might feel trapped, hopeless and frustrated, but there is a way to maintain your sanity while balancing what could very well be the hardest relationship of your career. Here are some tips to manage the cumbersome experience of dealing with someone who is difficult and challenging to work for. 

1. Rude clients - from time to time you'll encounter the client who doesn't have a filter and may come across as rude. If you internalize this you will have a harder time dealing with them. Simply acknowledge that this is how they communicate and understand that it isn't personal.
2. The client who doesn't respond - in this day and age with so many methods of communicating you will find clients who will drop off the planet for days or weeks and not respond to anything. Try to find the top 2 methods of communicating with that client that they tend to favor. If they prefer email and phone call then use those approaches. If they like text and online chat then use that. But know in your mind that you may not hear back and you may have to continually address them and ask them repeatedly if you don't hear back. 
3. The demanding client - If your client seems to take up all your time and demands so much of you, make sure the contract is clear and your terms are defined. If you prefer to only work Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, let your client know that you are not available during those times and that you will only be available during work hours. Try to make it crystal clear what you are willing to offer and don't allow them to push you beyond your scope. 
4. The client that expects the world but doesn't offer any guidance, support, content or information -  Instead of focusing on what you don't have and what they are not providing... be sure to tell them the solutions to what you need and have them select which option they think will work best. Also let them know what the negative impacts are if you continue the way you are without any help. Make them aware of the risks and what you need.
5. The client that changes their mind - Again make it clear what they are seeking, do follow up emails and lay out what it is they wanted. Be sure to address what it is that they are expecting and tell them what you are going to do exactly. If once they see it and they change their mind it should be clear what the additional charges are, change fees are and what other fees are appropriate. A good way to get around the trouble is to consider charging for your time instead of by project. That way you get paid no matter what. 
6. The client isn't happy with your work - For whatever reason the client may say they are unhappy with your work and it isn't what they expected or what they wanted. Hopefully you can negotiate for partial payment, payment ahead of time or even a trial period.
7. The client doesn't pay or doesn't pay on time - this can be a touchy subject but make your billing information accessible and understood prior to invoicing. If you don't receive payment in a timely manner try emailing or contacting the client to say it appears you haven't received payment and ask them to check. If payment does not come even after several reminders you can suspend service and/or start charging late fees. Of course you want to this to be a pleasant and un-insulting experience so be sure to see if your client is having difficulty and perhaps you can come up with a payment plan. (You won't believe this, but I actually received a check from a client over a year later after they ghosted me. Checks have expiration dates and if it takes that long to send the money... to me they can keep it - it was a small amount anyway.) If it is a large sum you may want to consider small claims court to get your money. If they do pay but are late...try to ask them what is best as far as billing. Perhaps there is a better time of the month or you can stop by in person to grab that check or do direct deposit. 
8. There are too many cooks in the kitchen - this can be extremely frustrating and having to answer and adapt to multiple people is very challenging. Try to only have one person as your primary contact and allow for just that one person to be the one to communicate with you.
9. The client that always wants to meet, chat, talk and etc - know your boundaries. I have had a client put my services on hold yet schedule calls, meetings and conferences for months. While you are not on retainer and not getting paid you don't have any obligation to this client. Looking back you may say this is a big waste of time... so be sure to assess what is an important call or meeting that is necessary of your time. Better yet discuss your contract prior to committing to this client. 
10. The client who swears at you or uses profanities to communicate or demean you - this is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. Always hold yourself in high regard and treat yourself and others with respect. If your client is swearing at you this is completely uncalled for and immensely disrespectful. You don't have to sit there and take it, be professional and be sure to address the situation with class. If you are still under contract see if you can get out of it, communicate that you will not stand to be treated that way or seek to terminate the agreement. 

Ah things are pretty much back to normal, people are gathering, having parties and potlucks are prevalent again.
​Here's a list of don'ts when it comes to putting together, participating in and arriving at your summer potluck occasion... crafted by yours truly. HA!

So... April is a challenging time for me. I had my preventative mastectomy on April 10, 2019... My mom passed away from breast cancer on April 16, 2018 and then a few weeks later Mother's Day rolls along. Emotions are high and I start to feel down. 

But, I am writing this today --- because if you follow me and know me, I really find it cathartic and healing for me to write how I feel and express my true emotions here --- I have been feeling so frustrated lately. And, I feel very badly about having these feelings but the main reason for this is every now and again I encounter someone via in-person, online or even by phone, they tend to ask me "how's your cancer." I feel badly because I do not have cancer. I think people don't understand that my choice to have this mastectomy was to prevent cancer. I understand this is a crazy concept and perhaps they don't really know what the word 'preventative' means. But, it does seem to wear on me when I find that others are somewhat disappointed to be incorrect and have a change of tone when they find out I was perfectly healthy and opted to have a surgery to hopefully prevent cancer. I did not have cancer... =(

For example. I have been interviewed by the media and 50% of the time the person who is interviewing me has been under the impression that I had cancer... then I have to explain what happened and they are so confused about it and say that isn't what they heard or that isn't the message that was conveyed to them. It makes me regret going public a bit with my story because I really don't want misinformation out there and I don't want to take away from the struggle and fight that actual cancer patients and cancer survivors go through. But, it is so challenging to make this clear for other people to understand and I think they will never understand unless they hear it from my mouth to their ears.

I expressed this regret (about sharing my story publicly) with my husband last night and he as always supports me 200% and says I have helped others out there in the world. I know this is true as I have been able to assist, counsel and guide others who were interested in mastectomy or also similar to me. it does warm my heart to see messages and emails from people who appreciate me sharing my story... so perhaps the message and the impact is really what matters most. 

I reached out to a woman like me who did the previvor surgery thing and she said she gets it all the time, people assuming she had cancer also. So I just have to stop overthinking this and continue on my journey. I already started posting less about it because I started to tire of the cancer comments, so I suppose I will just keep doing my thing and push forward. in any case, thank you for helping me find my way. 

Hi everyone! So sorry, it has been so long since I have touched base. Thankfully, things are very busy here and life is good. I've been thinking about a few things lately: 
1. How grateful I am for everything in my life. We really need to take a step back and be appreciative of everything that we have and even the aspects that we don't. Luckily, I am able to work every day and my husband is busy with work too. 
Da Best Hawaii is moving right along. This month featured noteworthy places where I narrated all the episodes. It was so easy and so much fun. I am looking at doing this again in the future. For now April shows are all sold out and featuring local businesses again... that is exciting. 
My new food blog site is growing, You Hungry Hawaii, you might recall this is where I wanted to place all my food reviews, experiences, previews, recipes and etc. It has been fun working on that. 
I have been doing a lot of voice work lately and even started commercial voice work for KITV. That has been a nice change to have something consistent every week. 
I have also been writing a lot too. MauiWatch has had some great pieces that I've put together, HILuxury has another awesome feature coming up in the next issue and I started writing for an international health and wellness magazine also. 
2. Everyone is getting the COVID vaccine and I am being mindful about those who are eligible and those who are not. It is taking a slow start to get this ball rolling, but at least it is going somewhere. Often when I am at a small gathering of sorts the topic comes up and many of us are all on the same page. 
3. I am approaching my second year anniversary from when I got my preventive mastectomy. I feel great and I also feel my body has adjusted completely. I ordered a special mastectomy bra the other day and returned it right afterwards. That thing did not suit my needs at all. 
4. Roxy is getting huge and almost too heavy to carry. I suspect she has hip dysplasia as she bunny hops when she runs and she also seems to have some mobility issues when she first wakes up. But she is doing ok and doesn't seem to be in any pain. She is still partially blind too but gets around a-ok. 
5. We had some major flooding lately, but we are alright. The main thing that happens out here is we get a lot of debris and mud. So after the floods we have to clean up for days, but it is fine. 
6. I haven't traveled anywhere.. but I have been eating out a lot. Daniel has also been cooking often too. We try to have different themes and it has been really delicious, cause everything he makes is amazing. 
7. I posted a video of " How to say the Hawaiian Islands correctly" and it got over 100K views on TikTok. LOL - I usually like to post whatever on TikTok to see how it does and that one went viral. 
Since I am on a roll, I will just make it 10 things...
8. I canceled a pro bono client only to take on another one. That's ok, I feel you need to give to get in return. I like to help others and this is something I am passionate about - so it'll be fun and not considered work really. But with that all my clients have been wonderful and we are a cohesive team! 
9. I still don't feel comfortable hugging some people. I especially don't appreciate those whom I don't really know coming in strong with the hugs. If I don't know you or if I don't even know your last name or phone number then I don't want to be hugged by you. Sorry, that is reserved for close friends and family only. 
10. I also feel we need to keep our guard up. Yes there is a vaccine now, but it is not a magic bullet, you can still get sick and we don't know enough about this virus to go back to how we lived before. I am still very cautious and very clean, always washing, don't touch your face, hand sanitizer and etc. I guess the good thing about all this is we all haven't gotten sick for over a year! All this good hygiene and social distancing has kept nearly everyone I know in great health. 

Wow, it is officially 2021 and time sure does fly by. It feels like just yesterday we were ringing in the big new 2020 year and had so much hope and optimism for the future. Well, I still do... we spent a lot of time at home and no time traveling at all, but that doesn't mean we can't still dream and set big goals for the future.

I've been thinking about my goals for this year a lot. At first, I didn't know what to focus on and was pretty content with how things have progressed over the past year. I often have ideas and write them down, sometimes I implement them and most of the time I don't. Now is the time to really focus on what I want to achieve this year and set my mind to it. 

1. I am going to change the format of Da Best Hawaii in March. Last year I took myself out of the show and was exclusively behind the camera. This year, I have been wanting to create a show that is narrated and has more of a travel showcase approach. So, for the month of March I am going to highlight local popular attractions and share videos with my voice over narrating the background and information about it. No interviews and no guests, just the video to speak for itself kind of. We will see how it goes. I am not sure if this is going to be less work or more work for me, but I have been interested in doing this for about a year and a half and have been wanting to showcase these places in this light.

2. My new platform You Hungry Hawaii will continue to grow. I want it to be a wonderful resource for the latest food adventures, news and recipes. I want it to inspire others to eat, support local and enjoy good food. It is also keeping me busy with my food photography which has been fun also. At first I wanted to write every week, now I feel a great sense of pressure and the slots are all filling up, so I think it will be a balance of just sharing photos and videos on social media with some articles and recipes, as much as I can keep up with anyway. Grow You Hungry Hawaii, grow!

3. My next major goal is to somehow be associated with the Food Network. I know this is a big one and I know I can eventually get there, it may not happen this year, but I am setting my sights on either writing for them, being featured by them or having some sort of association. I have written for the Forbes Travel Guide, been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle and wrote for Where Traveler also. I want to make it my goal to say that I have been featured, shared, mentioned, something --- with the Food Network. If it's a video I took or with me in it, I don't care,  the same goes for if it is a photo I took or of photo with me in it, I feel like this is an attainable goal. Side note Food Network followed me on Twitter a few years back... I know this is achievable! 

So overall, my goals this year are mainly professional... and pertain to my production and media work. I think this is good because this is what i am passionate about and it makes me happy too. Plus, who wouldn't be happy to share the beauty of Hawaii with the world and eat delicious food! 

Originally written in April 2015 for Frolic. 
Wheel of Fortune has long been the most-watched game show in Hawaii … and one of the most successful in American history. Even now, as I did growing up, at 6:45 p.m. I can hear the soft ping and spin of the wheel resonating through my neighborhood.
Hawaii residents have grown to love Pat Sajak and Vanna White like family. I had the honor of meeting them and the rest of the Wheel team when they were taping promos for the Hawaii shows last year. They were genuinely nice people, so very humble and funny, and they love coming to Hawaii!
How many of us dream of getting on the show? This became reality for a local couple during the Hilton Waikoloa Village show tapings last year. The episode that aired in February was part of a couples show that was aimed at celebrating a second honeymoon sweepstakes and showcasing local couples who auditioned, then were tested, then cast. Much to my surprise a fellow professor at Hawaii Pacific University made it onto the show with her husband by her side.