Thanks to an improvised semester project, four BYU-Hawaii business students found out what's in a name…even though, at first, they didn't have one. The students created—at the last minute—the "No Name Shrimp Truck."
One of those students, Victoria Woods, called an official at the Turtle Bay Resort looking to sell t-shirts at the resort's annual seafood festival. When that request was denied, Woods was told she and other students could be involved in the event if they could manage a shrimp truck. The festival was set to start just hours after the phone call.
Woods took it.
She then quickly got back on the phone and called all her team classmates. Three of those classmates—Kaumana Barton, J.P. Son, and Levi Shumway—said they could make it for the event. Son had some experience working in a shrimp truck, so Woods knew Son would be key in the quick organization. "It was a scramble," Woods said. "We didn't have a lot of time to prepare, that's for sure."
"It seemed to me to be an impossibly short amount of time to prepare. I never dreamed they could do it," said Keoki Wallace, Turtle Bay Resort's public relations manager.
The four were thrown in the middle of the action with relatively little experience cooking shrimp—but they were determined to give it "the old college try." With their youthful zeal coupled with coaching from Turtle Bay's chefs, the BYU-Hawaii team made a lasting impression on attendees and their taste buds.
"Our line was the longest by far," Kaumana Barton said. "It made us feel good because we'd never really done anything like that before."
The team's success didn't stop at satisfying hunger, though. "They were up against people that were in the business for a dozen years, and they held their own. They literally competed… and did it to such a degree that everyone assumed it was their business," Wallace said.
Because the students' spot was a last-minute entry and stood alongside other long-established businesses, it was affectionately dubbed the "No Name Shrimp Truck."
"People were probably like, 'Who are these kids? Let's just call them the no names,'" Woods joked.
However, the students' names and efforts were definitely known to Turtle Bay officials.
During the first week of the 2007 fall semester, Wallace visited campus on behalf of Turtle Bay to present BYU-Hawaii with a certificate for the students' participation.
During the presentation, Wallace read from the document: "Turtle Bay Resort is pleased to present this certificate of participation to the 'No Name Shrimp Truck' in honor of the participating members' contribution, under extreme duress, to the success of Turtle Bay's second annual seafood festival."
BYU-Hawaii and Turtle Bay Resort have a long history of partnership, and students often benefit by the real-world scenarios presented to them. "In business they ask you, 'What do you know how to do?' not what classes you took. The students have to apply what they learn [in classes] in real-life. So I think the Turtle Bay project is a… good reality check for the students of what life is like in the business," said Helena Hannonen, international business management (IBM) department chair.
During the festival, the group made money as each person ordered lots of three shrimp. Woods said the group made around $1,750, which went directly into the scholarship fund of the School of Business for future classes. "I am really grateful to have had that experience," Woods said.
Through determination, cooperation, and improvisation, four BYU-Hawaii students handled a real-life problem. According to Wallace, they took advantage of the chance they were given and excelled. "They weren't simply subbing for someone else… they took control of the situation. If you've got students that can do that, that's very, very impressive," he said.
At the one-time project's end, the students likely learned more of what it will take to be successful in the business world. In the process, they even made a name for themselves.
left to right: Levi Shumway, J.P. Son, Kaumana Barton, Victoria Woods.
photo courtesy of Keoki Wallace