From our newsletter. Don’t miss out, sign up for the Makanalani Newsletter here (scroll to the bottom of the page to enter your email).
This past week at Makanalani, new lambs were born!! Enjoy some pictures of the newest additions to our farm as well as our little lady calf!
Now that I’ve highlighted all of Fall interns I want to take the next couple weeks to introduce you to the management behind Makanalani’s partnering restaurants! This week is Emma! Emma came to Kauai from Arizona and is managing our JoJo’s Shave Ice shop in Coconut Marketplace!
1. What brought you out to Kauai and how did you get involved with JoJo’s?
“After graduating with my Bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University earlier this year, I was given the opportunity to live on Kauai when my good friends Rachel and Chris Holohan offered me a job nannying their three awesome children! I got involved with JoJo’s when I knew I wanted to stay on Kauai longer than the summer and would need a job after the kids went back to school. I fell in love with JoJo’s after working for a few shifts and was fortunate enough to have been asked to help open and manage the new location at Coconut Marketplace.”
2. What’s been your favorite part about managing?
“The best thing about managing is the opportunity to see how to run a business at a deeper level. Before, I was to simply interact with customers and keep the shop clean and stocked, but now, from working with vendors, to ordering quality ingredients, and creating schedules that ensure all workers are getting enough hours, I see now that shops are successful largely to the work that is being done behind the scenes. I also enjoy the problem solving aspect of managing. When issues arise, I’m usually the first person people turn to to resolve them. Having to think creatively and critically has given me a chance to push myself and use parts of my brain that may have collected some dust since graduating. I am nothing but thankful for this opportunity.”
3. What’s been the most difficult?
“The most difficult part of managing is balancing all of the different components of the shop. Trying to find a cost effective way to schedule employees and keep the shop stocked up can be challenging, and I don’t always get it right. As a people-pleaser, this bothers me. However, every challenge is an opportunity for growth and keeping this in the back of my mind has helped me not be so hard on myself.”
4. How has being here impacted your life?
“I have had so many opportunities to grow and learn since moving to Kauai! I have had 2 new jobs that have both challenged and rewarded me immensely, I’ve helped start a business, learned how to shepherd sheep, and have been given the chance to meet so many amazing people. Getting the chance to live on the North Shore of Kauai and create Ohana in a house full of people I love has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. Growing up, visiting Hawaii was never an option. Now, I live on island and have carved out a home of my own where I feel happy and fulfilled. There’s never a day where I am not blown away by my circumstances.”
Last week Makanalani hosted a Women’s retreat. These women are from a ministry known as Accessing Freedom. This ministry is dedicated to providing sessions of teaching and personalized inner healing and deliverance over the last 25 years. This retreat is a way for them to refuel, and continue learning by participating in workshops related to their ministry. These women uncover some of the darkest roots of a persons past so they can help them release their burdens over to the Lord and help them to be set free from past burdens in order for them to be all that God has designed them to be.
