![christine[1]](http://thepacificedge.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/christine11.JPG "christine[1]")
As Native Hawaiian women and owners of Makana Esthetics Wellness Academy, Christine Akaka Hall and Malia Sanchez offer much more than esthetics education; they teach their students to bring a client’s inner beauty to the surface with aloha. “Anyone can do a service and put products on someone’s skin, but we clear your mind to be in the moment with [the] client and do it with the best intentions. We incorporate the love, the aloha energy,” Malia says. To read more click here. Archive Jul-Sep 2009
Christine Hall & Malia Sanchez
As Native Hawaiian women and owners of Makana Esthetics Wellness Academy, Christine Akaka Hall and Malia Sanchez offer much more than esthetics education; they teach their students to bring a client’s inner beauty to the surface with aloha. “Anyone can do a service and put products on someone’s skin, but we clear your mind to be in the moment with [the] client and do it with the best intentions. We incorporate the love, the aloha energy,” Malia says. To read more click here. Lani Sonan and Lori Tamashiro
![lori[1]](http://thepacificedge.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/lori11.JPG "lori[1]")
Leonard da Vinci had the Mona Lisa. Michelangelo had the Sistine Chapel. Lori Tmashiro and Lani Sonan have a hand-painted, bamboo-adorned, three-tieredlongevity wedding cake. When they first met at a bridal expo in 2003, Tamashiro and Sonan were hardly friends. They were competitors-Sonan created cakes out of her home, Tamashiro was the head of the cake-decorating department at a local bakery-so in the hyper-competitive atmosphere at the expo, the two were wary of one another.
Eventually, they became good friends and, recognizing each other’s talents, they started plotting a joint venture that would take advantage of Sonan’s expertise at cake-making and Tamashiro’s artistic decorating skills. Fast forward to 2009, and their thriving business, Cake Creations Dessert Haven, in Manoa has brought an artistic flair to the local world of high-end cakes. To read more click here. Chad Dusenberry
Every day after school, Chad Dusenberry would tend to his father’s lo’i kalo (taro patch) deep in Waimea Valley on Kaua’i, never dreaming that work could possibly be fun. Born of hardworking parents who raised six children, Chad learned the meaning of “You reap what you sow.” His father was a carpenter for Olokele Sugar while his mother worked as a cook at Kaua’i Veterans Memorial Hospital. In their “spare time” they grew taro, which helped feed the family, kept the kids busy, and brought the family together to work toward a common goal. “If you ever buy poi from the Makaweli Poi Mill, that’s my family’s taro,” Chad says, with a tinge of pride. To read more click here. Russell & Karolyn
Karolyn Stokes expected to find culinary inspiration when she traveled to Kaua’i for an internship. What she didn’t plan on was meeting the love of her life, someone who dreamed the same dreams- and who would help make them a reality.
After finishing her studies at the California School of Culinary Arts, Karolyn went to Kaua’i to fulfill her final requirment, an internship at a renowned restaurant. Upon arriving at Roy’s Poipu Bar and Grill in 2001, she met Russell Stokes, then the executive chef. Russell’s culinary knowledge came purely from hands-on experience. His mother and grandmother had operated a commercial kitchen, churning out baked goods and Italian specialties. By the tmie Karolyn came along, Russell had dedicated ten years to the industry and moved up through the ranks at Roy’s. To read more click here. Naomi Lee
![naomi[1]](http://thepacificedge.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/naomi1.JPG "naomi[1]")
On a Saturday afternoon in a quiet, empty ballroom, thirty-eight bare tables await their makeovers for an evening fundraiser. The first event vendor arrives to set up, rolling in a rack full of fabrics on hangers- all ironed and neatly folded for transport. She unfolds champagne satins and luminescent gold silks and tosses them over the tabletops. She smoothes the surfaces and evens the lengths. Next come the chair sashes, precisely tied in a “vintage gold” fabric; last she folds gold dinner napkins into delicate swirls she calls “honey buns.” Using color, texture, and design, linen specialist Naomie Lee transofrms a dull, bare space into something radiant. To read more click here. Grand Ideas
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