{"id":5146,"date":"2025-02-17T15:25:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T15:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/?p=5146"},"modified":"2025-02-17T15:54:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T15:54:18","slug":"solomon-kaimimoku-connects-culture-and-community-in-waikiki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/news\/solomon-kaimimoku-connects-culture-and-community-in-waikiki\/","title":{"rendered":"Solomon Kaimimoku connects culture and community in Waikiki"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article has been shared from Aloha State Daily<\/a> | Stephanie Salmons<\/em><\/p>\n

Kaimimoku became general manager of the Waik\u012bk\u012b Business Improvement District\u2019s Aloha Ambassador program last August.<\/p>\n

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\"Aloha<\/div>\n<\/div>
Aloha Ambassadors General Manager Solomon Kaimimoku (Aloha State Daily Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/section>\n
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Solomon Kaimimoku says a lot of people call him Mr. Aloha.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s fitting, he says, that he became\u00a0the general manager of the\u00a0Waik\u012bk\u012b Business Improvement District<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0Aloha Ambassador program<\/a>, a role he stepped into last August.<\/p>\n

Born and raised in K\u0101ne\u2018ohe, Kaimimoku \u2014 a Castle High School graduate who previously owned a food truck and is the owner and chef at Bad Ass Burgers, a catering business \u2014 says he was looking to do something that would benefit not only his family, but his community and culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw this opportunity, I did a little more research on what it was,\u201d he recently told Aloha Sate Daily. \u201cIt aligned with everything that I was praying for and meditating on and what I wanted in my life, so I went for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

M\u0101lama \u2018\u0101ina, he says, is \u201cso important to my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to be a part of something that\u2019s actually taking care of the community that I\u2019m raising my son in, was the cherry on top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aloha Ambassadors<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve walked around Waik\u012bk\u012b, you\u2019ve probably seen them, wearing bright shirts emblazoned with \u201cAloha Ambassador.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aloha Ambassadors handle an array of services throughout the community.<\/p>\n

WBID President and Executive Director Trevor Abarzua<\/a>\u00a0told Aloha State Daily it’s the \u201ccore of our clean and safe program.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the program\u2019s website, Aloha Ambassadors can be contacted if you need directions to or recommendations on anything in Waik\u012bk\u012b; safety escorts; assistance with flat tires, car lockouts and jumpstarts; to report trash, graffiti or suspicious activities; or for mental wellness response or services.<\/p>\n

The Aloha Ambassador Clean Team collects trash, clears debris, removes graffiti and works to maintain \u201can overall pristine environment,\u201d while Aloha Safety Ambassadors engage with business owners, employees and residents on safety concerns or needs and maintains close communication with local law enforcement; and Aloha Hospitality Ambassadors are located throughout the district and can offer directions, recommendations and answer questions, the site explains.<\/p>\n

Having these \u201cAmbassadors\u201d is \u201ca nationwide best practice,\u201d Abarzua said.<\/p>\n

But if you go to other cities that have similar Ambassadors, \u201cI don\u2019t think they do it like us in Waik\u012bk\u012b,\u201d he says. \u201cI think that what makes us unique is that aloha spirit of it all, and just the staff that we have and the team that we have and the pride that people take in the role here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Language and history<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kaimimoku, who has a degree in Hawaiian studies from the University of Hawai\u2018i at M\u0101noa, says it was important for him to bring\u00a0his knowledge of the Hawaiian language and Hawaiian history and present it, \u201cnot only to the community in Waik\u012bk\u012b, but also to my staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, he says he works with his staff on pronunciation of words and tells them that when speaking \u2018\u014clelo Hawai\u2018i, \u201cit\u2019s super important to speak it right, because in our language, you can pronounce it wrong and you\u2019re talking about something totally different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing that cultural awareness to the team was super important to me,” he continued. “And for them, it\u2019s also growing their knowledge of the place that they\u2019ve grown up in or that they\u2019ve decided to come and move to. [It\u2019s] super important for me to have them find a connection to this place and to the language and to the culture, because with that, when they walk around Waik\u012bk\u012b, they see Waik\u012bk\u012b as their home.\u201d<\/p>\n

To integrate the culture and language with the team and community, Kaimimoku said he has labeled items in the office with Hawaiian words and shares the history and stories of certain places during briefings.<\/p>\n

\u201cConnecting the modern things that are here to the things that are from our past in Hawai\u2018i is so important\u00a0 because they start to see the connections of \u2018why this is here,\u2019 \u2018why this is named that,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cJust sharing stories, legends about Waik\u012bk\u012b \u2026 Just having them be aware [that] there\u2019s a whole culture and so much history here in Waik\u012bk\u012b that we can share with our guests visiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

It makes the interaction with visitors \u201cjust a little bit more valuable\u201d and they gain a little more insight, too, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for the guests that\u2019s receiving this information that I share with my team, they now have a connection to this place, and I feel like they gain a love and a respect for it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abarzua said integrating the culture and language with the Aloha Ambassador program is \u201cthe brand,\u201d but there\u2019s more to it, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people come to Hawai\u2018i to go on vacation here, to visit here, even to move here and to live here, that\u2019s the connection they want to feel, and that\u2019s something that is unique about Hawai\u2018i,\u201d he said. \u201cTo have that from the brand perspective is huge. But I think the biggest thing is, just from the staff perspective. What we\u2019ve seen and what we have observed when Solomon took over is just that comfortability with their boss, in that someone that we have on our team that is from here, that did grow up here, connects on more of a deeper level to Solomon. \u2026 Solomon cares. He reaches out and makes sure that they\u2019re OK. It\u2019s not just a boss-to-employee relationship. It feels like a family over there.\u201d<\/p>\n

A staff that\u2019s happy and like their jobs, are better Ambassadors on the streets, Abarzua said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re more willing to smile at someone as they\u2019re walking by. They\u2019re more willing to take more emphasis in the role that they\u2019re doing,\u201d he continued. \u201cI think we\u2019ve seen an elevation in the services we\u2019ve provided, not because of more money or more staff, just because of the demeanor of the team since Solomon took over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaimimoku said one of his goals as GM of the program is to elevate the cleanliness of Waik\u012bk\u012b.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019ve come so far, and at the point that it is \u2026 outsiders come and they see it and they\u2019re amazed at how clean it is, and it\u2019s because of the passion and integrity that our workers have,\u201d he told ASD. \u201cFor myself, it\u2019s just to upkeep that and keep it elevated even more.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also would like to eventually expand the program to other districts, \u201cand be able to grow this program and really show the different cities how important it is to have this type of program, and how it changes the life and the way that a lot of these cities are looked at.”<\/p>\n

There are currently more than 50 Aloha Ambassadors, including eight who are part of its second-chance program, which Abarzua says is formerly incarcerated individuals who have recently been released, some of whom have been homeless in the past.<\/p>\n

More information about Aloha Ambassadors can\u00a0be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Salmons\u00a0can be reached at\u00a0stephanie@alohastatedaily.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article has been shared from Aloha State Daily | Stephanie Salmons Kaimimoku became general manager of the Waik\u012bk\u012b Business Improvement District\u2019s Aloha Ambassador program last August. Aloha Ambassadors General Manager Solomon Kaimimoku (Aloha State Daily Staff) Solomon Kaimimoku says a lot of people call him Mr. Aloha. So it\u2019s fitting, he says, that he …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5146"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5152,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5146\/revisions\/5152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}