When people ask me why I care so deeply about service, leadership, and community, my answer traces back to a simple question—one I said out loud before the Honolulu City Council, and one I ask myself often:
If not me, then who?
That question shaped the message I shared in 2023 when I was invited to deliver a Message of Aloha to City Council. I didn’t stand there as a politician or an activist. I stood there as a son, a husband, a colleague, a Rotarian—someone shaped by family, work, and community, and accountable to all three.
At the time, I was on the eve of my 14th anniversary with ALTRES. What began as a summer job turned into a professional home—one that taught me something foundational: business, when done right, is an act of service. Helping people find work. Helping businesses thrive. Creating stability so families and communities can flourish. When people are employed and supported, everyone wins. That isn’t theory—it’s lived experience.
ALTRES also showed me that service isn’t about writing checks and moving on. It’s about culture. About leadership by example. About being asked—not quietly, but clearly—to step up. When your workplace gives you time to volunteer, matches your charitable giving, and encourages you to ask “what can I do,” it reframes responsibility. Service stops being optional. It becomes expected.
That mindset is what led me to Rotary.
In 2017, alongside 19 others, I helped charter the Rotary Club of Hickam Pearl Harbor. We didn’t start with grand speeches or lofty promises. We started by listening. Meeting weekly. Asking where help was needed—and then acting. Schools. Shelters. Housing communities. Historic trails. Tree plantings. One project at a time.
Rotary taught me that service above self is not sentimental—it’s operational. It demands standards. Accountability. And reflection. Every meeting ends with the Four-Way Test, a compass for decision-making that asks whether our actions are truthful, fair, goodwill-building, and beneficial. That framework doesn’t just apply to Rotary; it applies to life.
Along the way, I learned something deeply personal: my grandfather was a founding member of the first Rotary club in Hawaiʻi over a century ago. Service, it turns out, runs in my blood. Not as tradition for tradition’s sake—but as responsibility passed forward.
When I spoke to City Council, I wasn’t asking for applause. I was asking leaders—business leaders, employees, parents, grandparents—to reflect on their influence. Whether we realize it or not, people are always watching how we show up. Especially the next generation. Especially when it’s inconvenient.
Hope doesn’t come from slogans.
Hope comes from investment.
From time. From energy. From showing up.
That is my why.
This blog exists for the same reason I stepped up to that podium: to encourage participation. You don’t need a title. You don’t need permission. You just need to decide that your community matters enough to act.
Because if not you—then who?
