Last week I reached out to a valued customer who was waiting a very long time for their fabric preorder to be delivered. There were multiple reasons for why it was taking so long and not one person’s fault. The supplier made a mistake with the fabric printing which meant we had to brainstorm possible solutions and then my fulfillment team had to reach out to the customer to see how they wanted to proceed. The customer didn’t get the email (cause you know, technology sometimes is not our friend) and so fulfillment was waiting on their response to send it. Then on top of it all I’ve been so busy with projects and keiki that I wasn’t monitoring all of these processes as closely as I would like to be and so a couple of weeks slipped by before we finally came to a resolution this week.

I don’t bring this up to point blame or complain about anyone in the process, rather I bring it up because as Kaulumaika has grown - situations like these weigh heavily on my mind and heart. While I miss the days where I would do all of the things - the designing, manufacturing, packing, customer service, operations, communication, etc. because I knew where everything was at all times in the processes, I also don’t miss those days because I was so stressed, so burnt out, and work was bleeding constantly into my home and personal life. Looking back I can even see how it affected my artistry as the designs and work I produced during those times were some of my least favorite and most disconnected pieces.

Growing a team, asking for help, and working with mentors has changed my life and opened my business up to opportunities I could only dream of. I would never go back, but I do empathize. I empathize with my community and customers. I know all the transitions haven’t been smooth and all the ideas weren’t completed. I know everything takes longer. I know that I can’t make everyone happy. I just want you to know that I still care and so does my team. Systems and experiences may change, but the same care and desire to serve our Hawaiian community through creative education and media never will.

Mahalo nui for your support.

Last week I listened to this episode of Ka Leo Hawaii with Kaulana Char. Here were my main takeaways and wonders:

• I wonder if I’m related to Kaulana as my maiden name is Char and Kaulana was from Kohala and I think I might have relatives from there as well. If you’re Hawaiian you should at least look through Ka Leo Hawaii to find relatives. You might find one of your kupuna!
• She has such a pleasant voice and sounds Hawaiian because she is a native speaker. I was trying to copy her intonation and I found that it helped to speak softer. Maybe (for me at least) that’s part of getting closer to sounding like our kupuna.
• It’s okay to slow down your speech when you’re learning. The kupuna in these recordings do it for those they are speaking with.

This year will mark 10 years since I started learning to speak Hawaiian for my family. I have some big goals before the 10 year mark gets here, namely: I want to work on my sound, intonation, and flow. I want to sound more like a native speaker by the end of the year! If I can figure it out then I’ll be sure to share with you what helps.