Five Daughters Who Stepped Up in the Family Business – Hawaii Business Magazine

Hisae Uki | Candice Sombrero Ishikawa

Alison “Bo” Tanaka | Heather Cutter | Clarice Casamina

Hisae Uki, Sun Noodle

Hisae Uki didn’t envision herself going into the family business. “I majored in psychology. I’ve always been interested in human behavior,” she says. After graduating from the University of Puget Sound, she moved back to O‘ahu and thought she might continue studying psychology at graduate school.

While sorting out her plans, she started working at the office of Sun Noodle, her family’s noodle manufacturing company. “I was just kind of learning the very basics, like how to take orders, customer service, and then also helping my mom with the payroll and some basics of HR,” she says.

Uki discovered she enjoyed working there. “This is also a time where the ramen boom was really picking up in the mainland, especially in New York, and the company was growing. And so, I’m thinking in the back of my mind, it’ll be a waste or a lost opportunity if I didn’t kind of stick around to see how I can be a part in helping grow the company.”

Her father, Hidehito Uki, founded Sun Noodle in 1981, right after moving to O‘ahu from Japan at age 19. He then met her future mother, Keiko, and she became both his wife and business partner. They have three children: Jamie, Hisae and Kenshiro.

“So my childhood, that’s when our parents are still grinding every day, trying to really build this business. My brother and I spent our Saturdays, sometimes Sundays, our summer break, our Christmas break at the factory. The driveway was like our playground; we would bring our bicycles or rollerblades, bring books. And then, if we were allowed to, we would help out sometimes in the packaging area. So our childhood was spent a lot with our original employees here.”

Sun Noodle makes many kinds of noodles, with ramen as their specialty. “I believe we have 200 different types of noodles. And that’s because we can (count) ramen as one category, but there would be different subcategories of ramen,” says Uki.

The company also sells yakisoba, saimin, chow fun, udon, chow mein, traditional Japanese soba and Okinawa soba, as well as gyoza and wonton wrappers. Over the years, the company has expanded to California, New Jersey and, most recently, the Netherlands.

Uki’s brother, Kenshiro, is one year younger. Unlike her, she says, “he knew from the very beginning that he wanted to be in the business.” While she was working at Sun Noodle’s Hawai‘i headquarters, he was learning the ropes at their California factory, then their New Jersey facility.

Hisae Uki and her younger brother, Kenshiro, spent weekends and breaks at the factory, sometimes helping in the packaging area. | Photo: courtesy of Hisae Uki

Uki herself spent a decade at the California factory before moving back to Hawai‘i in January 2023. Since becoming an official employee in 2007, she’s worked in administration, HR, food safety and quality assurance, and marketing. “My current job title is VP of business operations, but I feel like my job title changes all the time,” says Uki.

“I’m kind of in accounting and finance, and at the same time operations overall. So some people call me the jack-of-all-trades, or as I like to say, the jade-of-all-trades.”

Although she oversees Sun Noodle’s operations in Hawai‘i, Uki says her “parents are still here running the day-to-day a lot.” And while she admits working with family can be difficult to navigate at times, she says they put in the effort to maintain healthy relationships with one another.

“My favorite part about working in the family business is, honestly, my family. You know, we hear these horror stories where families don’t talk because of whatever happened in the business. When my brother and I were getting involved in our mid-to-late 20s, we had to figure out how to communicate. We’re both pretty receptive to how to be better every day.”

But it’s not just the Uki family’s hard work that’s brought Sun Noodle success. She says the company’s workers deserve a fair share of the credit.

“When we were kids, my parents used to tell us all the time we have to be grateful for the employees that work for us, you know, because we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. The joy that I really like about the family business is being able to know that they are all part of the family as well.”

– Ryann Noelani Coules

Candice Sombrero Ishikawa, Aloha Beer

When Candice Sombrero Ishikawa was 3, she was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder called immune thrombocytopenia. It occurs when a person’s immune system produces antibodies that attack platelets, preventing their blood from clotting.

“My parents first noticed that it was similar to hemophilia, where if you hit yourself, you would just bruise internally forever. Or if I had a cut, it would not stop bleeding. Even when I would cry, they said blood would come out of my eyes and it was the scariest thing in the world,” Ishikawa says.

Her family moved from Guam to Hawai‘i so she could get treatment and later lifesaving surgery from a doctor here who specialized in rare blood disorders.

Her health is no longer compromised, but the experience shaped her character.

“I think that instilled in me this intense, fervent need to be independent and competent, and to show others that I can thrive on my own. And it’s come full circle, because I feel like I use that drive to make my family’s business succeed.”

The family business is Aloha Beer, which her father, Steve Sombrero, founded in 2010. Located on Queen Street in Kaka‘ako, Aloha Beer produces local craft beers that you can enjoy at their brewpub and local restaurants or buy from stores.

Before she joined the family business she was on the mainland, running a business that she and her husband, Yusuke, launched in 2012.

That business, Skoshbox, which offered subscription boxes packed with Japanese snacks, was acquired by another company. “As part of the acquisition, we had to stay on with that company for two years to help them transition everything,” says Ishikawa. When that commitment ended, she and her husband moved to Hawai‘i; they joined the family business in 2018.

She is head of marketing at Aloha Beer and Yusuke is head of operations and finance. Her father is still involved in the company, but he’s also the owner of Cushman & Wakefield ChaneyBrooks, a commercial real estate and property management organization, and “far more involved in real estate,” she says.

And while he continues to provide vision and assistance on leases, capital and “all the big stuff,” the Ishikawas do things their way. “He really allows us to run every aspect of the business, and he trusts us. There’s no micromanaging. It’s nice,” Ishikawa says.

When the couple first ran Skoshbox together, they fought a lot. “But I think after 14 years, we trust each other, we know the objectives, the mission, and I feel like we work really well together,” Ishikawa says. “It’s definitely not for everyone, but I think we make it work.”

As head of marketing, Ishikawa leads on branding and collaborations. “One of the things I love most about my job is doing the collaborations” with retailers, restaurants and everyone from airlines to video game companies.

A video game called Like a Dragon recently launched a Hawai‘i version that features an interactive map depicting real-life local businesses like ABC Stores and the Moana Surfrider hotel, and players can see Aloha Beer cans in the game. And for their part, Aloha Beer created a special edition Like a Dragon-inspired beer that customers can buy in real life.

She says that was an especially cool collaboration since she often played video games as a child. “As a kid, I never dreamt that I would be running my family’s beer business, of all things. But I’m here now, and I love what I do.”

– Ryann Noelani Coules

Alison “Bo” Tanaka, Tanaka of Tokyo Restaurants

There’s a Japanese proverb Bo Tanaka lives by: “Nana korobi, ya oki!” It means “Fall down seven times, get up eight!” For Tanaka, the mantra encourages fortitude when faced with adversity, and unwavering determination to rise above challenges.

“In my late teens, I had my first experience with an abusive relationship. When people think about abusive relationships, they mostly think about the physical abuse, but the emotional and psychological abuse can also be insidious and leave invisible scars on your self-worth and mental health for years, destroying your confidence and holding you back from going after what you want and deserve in life,” says Tanaka.

She says she was lucky to have a loving family and strong support system that helped her escape that abusive relationship. Afterward, Tanaka felt compelled to “get rid of the stigma of speaking up and help others in the same situation.”

A few years later, she competed in and won the 2012 Miss Hawaii United States pageant, which gave her a platform to advocate against domestic violence and highlight mental health awareness.

“I’m definitely not a pageant girl and I was a bit of a tomboy growing up. At the time though, it was a really empowering experience being able to speak up about things I had kept to myself for a long time and help others going through something similar,” says Tanaka. “I was definitely outside my comfort zone, but that is the only place where real growth and personal development happens.”

She also credits working at Tanaka of Tokyo Restaurants – which her father founded in 1978 – for giving her a sense of purpose and drive. She started as an hourly employee at 18 and worked her way up to her current role as VP and CFO – or “Fuku Shacho,” as she’s called at work.

When she was young, Bo Tanaka says her father encouraged her to pursue a different career because the restaurant business is a “tough industry” with “a lot of late nights.” That didn’t dissuade her. “From the first second that I worked in the restaurants, I was hooked. I loved the excitement,” she says. | Photo: courtesy of Alison Tanaka

“I’ve worked every position: front, busser, server, cashier, bartender, dishwasher, kitchen helper, and cooked teppan during Covid takeout. I also worked in the office as an executive assistant and bookkeeper. I got my MBA in 2015 while working and joined the management team immediately after. I worked as an assistant manager, manager, AGM, GM, corporate GM and eventually VP.”

She says the restaurant industry is a tough business – and became harder during the pandemic, especially for Tanaka of Tokyo, whose big draw is teppanyaki, where chefs cook at the tables while cracking jokes and performing impressive tricks.

It was challenging to adapt to takeout-only, and then socially distanced dining when in-person gatherings resumed, but she says the business not only survived but emerged stronger.

“We’ve had a great past few years” thanks to trying new things and being creative about attracting customers, she says.

Historically, she says, Japanese tourists have been a big part of Tanaka of Tokyo’s customer base, but the pandemic reduced that flow. “It’s still not quite recovered, so figuring out how to adapt our marketing strategy to bring in more domestic and local visitors is where we focused our efforts, and it actually really paid off,” says Tanaka.

The Daruma doll represents the proverb “fall down seven times, get up eight.” It’s designed to bounce back upright after being knocked down.

“I think it is the perfect symbol for our company and our people. The challenges thrown at myself and the company have definitely shaped us to be determined fighters, to strategize, to change and adapt, to have a deep sense of humility and gratitude, and to not take anything for granted.”

– Ryann Noelani Coules

Heather Cutter, Cutter Management

Though she grew up on O‘ahu in a prominent family known for its auto dealerships, Heather Cutter had another career in mind: She planned to become a judge. In pursuit of that path, she graduated from California Western School of Law and went to work as an attorney at the Superior Court of California in San Diego.

In 2011, she gave birth to her daughter on what happened to be the birthday of her father, Nick Cutter. “He called from Hawai‘i and said he was going to come visit as soon as he could, but that I should really start thinking about moving back to the Islands to raise her with my family.”

Heather Cutter took the birth date as a sign. “My daughter is actually the key factor on how I became a daughter who stepped up,” she says.

Cutter and her husband, also an attorney, moved from San Diego to Hawai‘i, where she dove into her role at Cutter Management. She represents the third generation of Cutter leadership at the company, which was founded by her grandfather, Gerald Cutter, now 96, and grew exponentially under her father. Her two uncles are also in the business.

Cutter Ford, which opened in ‘Aiea in 1974, was the family’s first Hawai‘i dealership; Cutter currently represents nine brands at multiple locations around O‘ahu: Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, Mitsubishi, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat and Mazda.

As president, Heather Cutter oversees 300 employees in sales, service, parts, accounting and other departments. “Every day has new challenges,” she says, “but no two days are the same.”

She says she relishes “being an employer in the state of Hawai‘i and providing opportunities for people to be able to live in paradise. That seems to be getting harder and harder. I hope our companies and other local companies like ours that have been here for years don’t get pushed out and can stay and support our community. That’s important to me – that there’s a path forward, for my daughter and for the future of everyone in Hawai‘i.”

Guiding a family business is rewarding, she says, because “you get a sense of pride and accomplishment that I don’t think would necessarily exist in corporate America. I’m grateful that I have that opportunity to make my family proud. Of course, this also goes with the challenge that when you do make a mistake, then it’s also those people who you’re disappointing. That can be a double-edged sword – it’s more than just a job.”

Separating work from their personal lives is key to the family’s success, Cutter says.

“We talk about business when it’s the time and place, such as at board meetings and business lunches, but at family barbecues or when we’re watching my daughter’s volleyball games, it’s all about being present in the moment and being a family. That happened organically but I’m glad it did; it’s better not to be consumed.”

Cutter is on the board of the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association and the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii and is a member of YPO, formerly known as the Young Presidents’ Organization.

“I’ve never seen gender as a barrier for me, whether it was when I was an attorney and all the partners that were at my firm were male,” she says, or when she’s sitting on the board of the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association, meeting with manufacturers, or leading her family business. “I’m often the only female in the room. I haven’t taken that as a disadvantage. I think it forces me to strive, to push and to lead by example.”

– Kathryn Drury Wagner

Clarice Casamina, House of Finance

Clients are trusting me with the biggest financial decision of their life,” says Clarice Casamina, VP at House of Finance, a mortgage lending business that helps local families become homeowners.

“We’re sitting with you the whole time during what traditionally is a very stressful experience. We try to take on as much as possible to alleviate some of that,” she says. Team members who make themselves available to clients outside of normal business hours are a big part of that.

“This is not a 9-to-5 industry,” she says. For people who work all day and are buying a house, the really challenging questions arise when they’re lying in bed next to their spouses, stressed out about the monthly payments they’re about to take on, she explains. “And the last thing I want you to do is say, ‘Oh, it’s past Clarice’s working hours.’ So if it’s 11 p.m., and you’re tossing and turning or you’re losing sleep over this, I’m your resource.”

Casamina was in elementary school when her parents, Roland and Evelyn Casamina, founded House of Finance in a tiny office in Kalihi in 1995.

“We grew up with this company being our fifth sibling,” says Casamina, who has two younger sisters and an older half-brother, who is House of Finance’s COO.

Casamina says they all spent a decent chunk of their childhood hanging out or helping at the office. “I remember being 9 years old and answering the phone, like ‘House of Finance, can you please hold?’ ” she says.

Clarice Casamina now has an eight-year-old daughter – Casamina’s age when her parents started House of Finance. “It’s totally come full circle,” she says. | Photo: courtesy of Clarice Casamina

“I reflected about it with my dad now. I was like, ‘Dad, there’s child labor laws.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, I wanted you guys to be able to have soft skills. I needed you to learn soft skills of communicating, appropriately speaking, properly speaking professionally, and there’s no other way you’re going to do it other than by doing it.’ ”

Learning those soft skills early allowed her to focus on mastering the hard skills as an adult, she says.

“I started from the beginning of the process, I worked the receptionist desk, I worked the processor desk, I worked the underwriter role for a long time before I filled the loan officer role, one, because my dad was adamant that we truly understand the nature of the business, and two, I couldn’t make a recommendation on how to implement any type of efficiency until I understood the entire process.”

Casamina says the company culture at House of Finance is unlike that of similar businesses. She recalls one time when a client asked if he had to take his shoes off because he saw an employee not wearing any.

“I laughed about it, because we’re not the typical bank. We’re not all in these tight suits and everyone’s expected to be perfectly dapper,” she says.

Instead, their focus is helping people through unfamiliar processes. “Our jobs are collecting paperwork that people have never seen in their life and looks complicated to them (with) terms they’ve never heard of. This is the place that’s going to help you own a home and understand the 30-year obligation that you’re putting yourself through,” she says.

“We get dirty, we roll our sleeves up and take our shoes off. So, if it means that we’re going barefoot downstairs when you’re running from the Xerox machine to the clients’ folders to talking on the phone, whatever is going to make it easier on my staff. Absolutely. But it made me laugh, because he’s like, ‘Is this a no-shoe policy bank?’ Just make yourself comfortable, right?”

– Ryann Noelani Coules