Looking Forward to Icing

Well I'd be lying if I said I haven't been busy this year.  I'm not sure if you knew about my journey these past few years, but to quickly fill you in...

I got laid off just before graduating with my MBA back in 08.  It was heartbreaking.  I went back to school to jump-start my life, to start fresh and anew, and everything was going seemingly well, until that happened.  I ended up graduating into the financial meltdown with very little job experience, and a whole bunch of debt.  After collecting unemployment for a month or two, I settled into the Waikiki travel industry, and have been learning and working my butt off though this recession trying to keep my financials out of the proverbial 'red.'

I've learned more about myself in these past few years of my early thirties than I have in my entire teens and twenties, and this year have finally arrived at a place I can be proud of.

At Aqua, I have dedicated myself completely and wholly, offering to be cross-trained in as many positions at my property as possible.  So far, I've been trained in back-office reservations, front desk guest service agent, and night-auditor. Mastering each has been a challenge, but gives me new insights into how a hotel operates.  I've gotten so into it I autonomously wrote some S.O.P.s  for the night audit position that we've never had before.  I've also made it a habit to offer my graphic design services, and have been able to get portfolio work doing things such as an entrance-awning, a mock up illustration of a front-desk redesign, promotional flyers, and video advertisements that play at the front desk.  I have since asked to be a part of the next 'transition team,' a trusted group of individuals who move into newly acquired properties to train and acclimate the existing staff to our company policies and procedures.  The next one is forming in December, so I've got my fingers crossed...

This past year I have invested much of my time into Taiko, www.ryukyukobudotaiko.org :the group I coach/teach on Monday nights.  We have doubled our enrollment, have had 2 successful fundraisers, and have a strong performing group that I think can really go places.  In addition to that, our leadership team has been working on decentralizing, meaning the other instructors have really stepped up their game in order to lessen the burden on yours truly so that I can keep all the other plates spinning in my life.

Most importantly (in terms of personal achievement), this year I have finally launched my own business.  As of October 2010, Sweet Ignition Design is officially in operation, and I have been spending most of my non-hotel and non-taiko time on creating logos, business cards, a micro-website www.sweetignitiondesign.com , even taking on my very 1st client, Dr Stephen Chu, DDS.  Finally having my own business is so liberating and satisfying on so many levels.  This step is definitely a step in the right direction in terms of my personal AND professional growth and development, that I only wish I had done it sooner.

I am both excited and validated by these three personal projects of mine, and I finally feel like I am on 'the path' that I've been searching for this whole time.  Its funny, how things turn out isn't it?  I am all at once no where I thought I would be, and exactly who I wanted to become.  When know you are on your path, getting to the end is just the icing on the cake, and oh there will be icing.