We pride ourselves in selecting characters that bring strong work ethic, warmth, and light to the Håfaloha team-- and 5 years later the appreciation grows having this gem be a part of our shop Ohana! With the craze of expansion and post-typhoon tidying up, the summer was so much sunnier with this gal on the team. Congratulations Kami, our July 2023 employee of the month!  🎉 She may be the Front of House Manager, but she works to cover all angles wherever she may be needed. Immense gratitude for her impeccably positive attitude and ability to be an integral part of the whole.

During the summer, Håfaloha expanded its presence overseas and launched its new location in Boracay, Philippines as well as expanded its shop locally with a relocation to a bigger space with greater offerings. Although the whole team took on a paddle to help row this rocking boat into port smoothly, we all decided that Kami's dedication to progress and drive to deliver results are really just a few of many contributions that attributed to her being selected for Employee of the Month. During the development and launch of the new shop in Boracay, Kami accompanied the management not once, but twice! She learned to adapt the company culture and operations to a new environment -- from payment system adaptation due to difference in currency to market research (which was really a fun challenge seeing as supplies have to be shipped to the island).

But hold on... it didn't stop there. After the launch of the new location, it was back to Guam to focus on the relocation efforts. Instead of taking time off after a long haul, she and the team took a brief breather and then hopped back on the grind a couple days later. She took the time to research menu construction by contacting chefs at other restaurants to get a feel for quality and price of goods needed in order to produce a solid menu offering. What's more, she went above and beyond to find produce that is locally sourced in order to ensure freshness and support local!

"Boracay was an eye opener, getting to see the different lifestyle, adapting standards and techniques especially since it was my first time to the Philippines. -- If we didn't go as a group, it would have been more of a struggle, but together we had a strong foundation," says Kami. One of the great things about this Chamorrita is that she recognizes that without support from the whole team, success can't come to fruition; now that's humility. 🙂

She went on about her appreciation for her Håfaloha Ohana, "Everyone's always been so hands-on. We've really seen a lot of people step up and show initiative, even jumping on last minute tasks. THE BOND is strong, we find time to recognize each other. WE MOVE TOGETHER." It's not like any job out there, she comes to work excited because management has a truly loving and giving relationship with their employees.

FUN FACTS:

If this breath of fresh air isn't floating around being a social butterfly 🦋, you'll find her whipping out her skills on the soccer field! ⚽

Håfaloha Menu Faves: Acai Smoothie and Tinaktak Dumplings