Two Hawaiian women from Kalihi, Oahu, who are longtime friends, told BYU-Hawaii business students in the February 21 entrepreneurship lecture how they have relied on local culture and aloha spirit to help get their scrapbook manufacturing business off the ground.
Bella Finau-Faumuina, a former musician, and Delia Parker-Ulima, a 1996 political science graduate from BYU-Hawaii who went on to earn a law degree from the University of Hawaii, started Native Creative Crafts out of their homes in 2001, launched a retail website three years ago, and opened a small retail store in Kaneohe last year.
"When we started the company in 2001, nobody in Hawaii knew what scrapbooking was," said Faumuina, who explained the popular business started in Utah and spread across the country. She also noted they started up just before 9/11, "and then everybody said we shouldn't do it. People thought we were crazy. We prayed about it, and felt strongly we should do it."
"Interestingly, scrapbooking took off at that time, because people wanted to reconnect with their families," she added.
"We were both crafters at the time," Ulima said. "This was something we could start up in a reasonably short time, with a couple of thousand dollars each and a $5,000 loan from Bella's dad."
She noted early on if customers were looking for Hawaiian-style supplies, they would likely "find things like a parrot or a beach ball. They were not going to find tiare and lei. We wanted to fill that niche, so we started manufacturing Hawaiian theme products."
"We're basically wholesalers," Faumuina said, noting their products are placed in many stores through a local distribution company. She added they also recently started ordering lauhala products from the Philippines through a vendor they met at a trade show.
"The thing about business," Ulima said, "is you can't have a romantic attachment. To make ideas become reality takes money — a lot of money. There's also timing involved with containers, fees and customs. When you own a business, you do everything. Most of the time, we're delivering. That's just how it is when you're starting out."
Faumuina credited some of their growth so far to free publicity. "We never advertised before. Advertising dollars are a gamble, so get as much free press as you can," she said, pointing out that Ulima has been very aggressive in pursuing coverage.
"The media are looking for stories," added Ulima. "You'll be amazed at the people who read the papers. Free press will get you everywhere, but you've got to be aggressive."
The two Hawaiian women also shared what they call their "divine laws of business" with the students:
"You have to do what you love, or fall in love with it," Faumuina said, "because sometimes you don't get paid, or if you don't go to work, you don't get paid."
"People first," Ulima said, explaining that for them that means the aloha spirit. "Part of our success is who we are, which actually translates into dollars. We have aloha for what we do and everyone we come in contact with. How you treat people goes a long way."
"Integrity matters," she added, "which means you deliver on time, pay your bills and taxes."
"Being creative is better than being competitive," Faumuina said. "We always seem to be a little ahead of the competition. That totally works for us."
"Always give back to your community. When you give, it comes back to you," Ulima said.
"Be open to divine guidance. We're talking about spirituality all the time," she continued, noting that some people might call this intuition or inspiration, "but we know it to be divine guidance. Everything you do has a divine connection."