 Welcome to Adventures in Small Business, a collaborative effort by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the SBDC Small Business Development Center of Hawaii, VBAC of the Pacific Veterans Business Outreach Center, and the Pat C. Teeming Center for Business and Leadership, all great partners. So today, I'm Terry Funakoshi, your host, and we have an amazing guest, a special friend and amazing woman, Ms. Noella Napoleon. She's president of Advocates Hawaii. Welcome, Noella. Aloha. Thanks for having me. We're great to have you. So, Noella, I want to just find out about your background. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Well, I'm a mother of four and a small businesswoman, actually. So this year marks the 24th year that my husband and I and my children have our own beverage and ice cream distributorship here in Hawaii. And it's been a wonderful, thrilling, and challenging adventure. And now, in my second career, I do consulting for small businesses. Oh, okay. So what about a little bit about yourself, your background? My background is, well, I started my career in advertising, working in downtown Honolulu, helping other businesses to promote themselves. And I had a variety of assignments. I really love that job. And throughout my career, I've always been involved in promotion in one way, shape, or form, and also simultaneously, advocacy, just very much involved in Hawaiian culture, social change for Native Hawaiians. And after running my, so I did that. I did nonprofit work for a long time, actually. And then I went into private business when I had my first child. So that was a huge leap back into the private sector. I also taught school at a small Hawaiian immersion school. I was very lucky to be a punny haka haka, they say, substitute teacher. So I got to teach little children all the way to high schoolers, bilingualy. And yeah. So now I've put it all together, and I've decided to help adults. Oh, yeah. Okay. Well, let's talk business. I know you have a successful business with you and your husband, but I know now you're including the family. You want to talk about that? Oh, yes. So when my husband and I started off, we didn't expect to start a business. It was just sort of the opportunity arose. I was about to have a child. And so we had a chance to buy out another company, a beverage company. And I had nothing better to do. I was on maternity leave. So I thought, well, okay. Hesitantly, we launched out. We started a home-based business distributing beverage products to small little mom and pop stores. And then things grew. We started taking on different lines of products. Then people came after us looking for distributors in Hawaii. Then we went into coffees, teas, ice creams. You know, a few years later, we looked back and we had a business without really having much formal business education. And so it was a wild ride, but here we are 24 years later. In the first three years of business, we were just growing by leaps and bounds. And we were nominated for one of those fastest 50 awards by First Hawaiian Bank, Price Waterhouse Coopers, and Pacific Business News. So it was great, you know, and it's been a struggle and a thrilling challenge at the same time. Right. And so now, like you said, 22 years later, you're bringing your family into it, especially your boys. How's that going? Oh, it's great. Yeah. When we shot our first TV commercial, they were babies. They were in our first real commercial on TV, and they were just little ones, and everyone had a role to play. My nieces and nephews, and now they're actually helping us to run our company. So my one son, my oldest son, Aiku E, he's the manager of catering. And my other son, Kekahu, he is the manager of our social media and our sales. And so now we're all working together. It's really awesome. Great. Yeah, I love it. So I know that you have all your family support at home and in the business. And so that allows you to also be a business instructor and a counselor. So you want to tell us about that part of your job? Yeah. So it's interesting because when I was 10 years into my business, of course I had a lot of friends and family. This is Hawaii, right? People come to you. So they would come to me for help on how to start a business, how to register their business, a lot of little things. And so 10 years ago I thought, well, maybe I can be a consultant and do this for a living side job. But as soon as I tried to set out and do it, then of course nobody was interested. So I just threw it to the universe and I thought, well, I'm not ready. And I have to say it did take a lot of seasoning, I guess. Even when you're 10 years into your business, that's sort of just getting the engines revved up, honestly, now that I look in hindsight. So when I was heading for 50 and my baby was ready to graduate, I told my husband, you know what? Now I'm going to try again. So I started improving my resume and bringing that up to speed. And I just threw it out and I was looking for an opportunity to help others launch their business. Lo and behold, I found the Patsy Main Center. We found each other, I should say. And it was amazing. I didn't even know this was a thing. They hired me. The Patsy Main Center hired me. And so I started my career. My company's name is Advocate Tawaii. And this is my second life career, my encore career, so to speak. And so I still run my company with my husband. I'm still in business. But now I get to do what I love. So this is a me time job. And I find that a lot of women, especially once we raise our kids, we're looking for that thing, either to pick up our careers where they left off, or just saying to ourselves, I've raised my kids and now I want to do something that gives me meaning, right? So it's really a privilege and an honor. And every time I'm able to share the good, bad, and ugly of business, which is what it is, right? I feel very rewarded. I learn a lot from our clients. Well, that's great. I know we have some pictures that the viewers are going to see. And I've had the privilege of working with Noella. And she is an awesome instructor and business counselor. I think with the Center, you've had more than 100 people come through your courses. And they all love it. And there's so many success stories out there from the people that you've taught. And you mentioned Encore. So Encore entrepreneurs. I mean, a lot of women we see today getting into the field that they love. Can you tell us more about that? And how do you feel about doing it? How long have you been teaching? Doing this? Well, this is actually my third year as a business consultant. And it's amazing. I want to say this. In our clients, I see this proving itself out time and time again. You actually have a wealth. We have a wealth of knowledge inside of us. When we hit a certain point in our life, Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. And imagine as mothers, as career women, we have way more than 10,000 hours in whatever we're doing. So it's thrilling because it's very validating. And I find that a lot of women actually don't realize how much they have to give, how much knowledge, skills, and insight, and wisdom women really have. Women out there, you have it. It's all inside of you. You just have to capture it. You just have to look at your life and take an inventory of all that you have to offer. And if you're struggling with that, struggling with how to find that thing that you want to do going forward, then I would really encourage women out there, men too. You can come and see the Patsy Ming Center right in the YWCA O'ahu. Come and let us work with you. Let us help you bring those good things out, because I'm finding it to be thrilling myself. Yeah, I know you mentioned the Patsy Ming Center, and they kind of found you, you didn't even know about it. Yeah. You know, and I find that a lot of people don't know about the center. Can you tell us a little bit about the center and how it differs? Sure. So back when I was starting my business, we, of course there was no internet, right? We literally had to walk from state agency to state agency in the city to fill out all your paperwork and become compliant. Well, that all by itself was kind of an eliminator, because you had to really have a lot of gum chin, there's a word, to get out there and find the resources. There was no internet. I can't even imagine. I don't know. I found them all, right? You looked in the phone book is what you did, yellow pages. And so you went around finding the resources, and so flashed to today, now we are easy to find. Back then writing a business plan was very laborious, now there's software for that and there's online subscriptions, you can just easily write a business plan. So the different sites say just in the global perspective is that services are easier to find. Now the Women's Business Center, the Patsy Minx Center is the Women's Business Center of the U.S. Small Business Administration, and it's been around for a long time, right? It's been around for over 30 years, however, again, awareness. In its current version, now that five years, Patsy Minx Center, it is just zoomed right into the future. It is current. It is on point. The Patsy Minx Center, because it's so well networked, we are becoming better known. And so that's the difference. The difference is now it's more than just here's how to write a business plan or register your business. We now understand as women, and I think the SBA is so fabulous in doing this now, we just help people with the whole picture. Okay. Yeah. Well, that's great. The Minx Center does so much good work, so we're going to come back to that. So right now, I'm Teri Funakoshi from Small Adventures in Small Business, and we're going to take a break, and we'll be back in one minute. Thank you. Come back to Adventures in Small Business. I'm talking with Noella Napoleon, and Noella, tell us about your business Advocates Hawaii. Advocates Hawaii is an online platform and a service for adults, really. My interest is in supporting adults through lifelong learning, and so I'm creating this online resource for adults who need to access services for education, self-development, professional development or self-improvement, and also for advocacy. So I'll just break that down. Education because Hawaii is rich, rich with resources. All the community colleges and all of these educational resources that are off the map that are very low-cost or very affordable, and I really want people to know this because so often after high school, all the supports drop away, right? We need resources to help us as adults. So education is big for me, and I believe it is for others looking to get that better paying job or fix a problem, fix an issue in our lives. So that's education, and if you go on to my website, www.advocateshawaii.com, you can find hopefully some educational resources for you. Also self-development, for example, the Patsy Mates Center has the Leadership Alliance, Business Courses, who knew? Go on to my website, and we're there too. All these things for professional and personal improvement. And then finally, advocacy because, you know, we can't always improve every single problem out there. We want to as women, right? But what we can do is learn how to advocate for those areas of social change that we're interested in, that we can have a direct impact. For example, our theme for this year, I have three themes that we're supporting. One is child sex abuse, to try to educate people through one of our clients, Elizabeth Lin, to help people to understand the dynamics of that. Also violence prevention, to help people to not go that extra step and hurt someone or kill someone. That's very important in Hawaii. It's important everywhere. So that's one of our themes. And the third, probably the biggest for me, is bullying. It's school place bullying. So I've created this wonderful PowerPoint. It's on our website, www.advocatoa.com. And you can go on there and pull down this PowerPoint, look at it, learn. It's full of the laws regarding bullying, the dynamics of bullying, and you can share it with your friends. So instead of feeling disempowered by the things that we can't control, I like to try to encourage people to feel empowered by the things you can contribute to, even in the smallest of ways. Right. I mean, and the whole contribution thing, you know, let's talk about nonprofits. Sure. You know, I read somewhere that Hawaii is like one of the top per-capita states that has nonprofits. Are you seeing like a trend in more people wanting to open nonprofits? Oh, definitely. We see business clients coming in, we're thinking they're going to start a business. And you know, a nonprofit is a business. It's just a different type of, it's more of a social enterprise. And absolutely we see many more people wanting to start their own nonprofits for this reason, to jump into the game, to help improve, you know, conditions, not only in Hawaii, but around the world. And many of them are women. Right. And I know that for the MIG Center, you're doing a class, or a workshop in April, April 21st. Yes, it's coming Saturday. Yeah, a program, Launch My Non-Profit. Yes. Launch My Non-Profit. Yeah, what, who goes to that type of class? Why don't you kind of give us an idea? Okay. So, you know, a nonprofit, a not-for-profit business, it is a business. And many people don't understand that. It's, rightfully we need to run it as a business. It's just that the end product is social change, not net profit. And so people come confused about how to get it started, how to put a board together, and just where to start. You know, they just, all they know is they want to do good. So what we do through the non-profit courses, we help them put the structure, we put the flesh on the bones, so to speak. And once you enter this course, by the time you leave, it's just a two-day course, you have a pretty good idea of what a non-profit is for, how to get one started, where to find the funding to operate a non-profit, how to put your board together properly, and the regulations that are involved in this kind of business model. Yeah. So if someone takes this workshop, this two-day workshop, and then they start a non-profit, can they come back to the Center for Help? Yes. And what are the services that you provide? Okay. So it's the same as we would do for any business, right? We provide ongoing counseling. We will help you put your business model together, put a format together, put your plan of action together, help you to find the resources to construct your non-profit entity. Once you launch, then as any business, we're there to help you. We don't do the business, but we provide guidance. That's very important, especially with a non-profit, because it's considered a public corporation, yeah? So compliance is an issue that everyone wants to learn about, needs to learn about. As long as you understand those mechanics, then you can be about your business of helping others, you know, helping your community. Right. I know you mentioned, you know, in today's day and age, there's so much technology, the internet, you can download your business plan or information, you know, about a non-profit. I'm wondering, you know, do people, with all that access, do they still come in, you know, and need help with that? Because I see it's very confusing online sometimes. You know, that is the fascinating phenomenon. So in this age of technology, it's amazing to me that we still, as human beings, we crave that warm touch. We crave it. You know, even the young ones, you know, the poor millennials, they always get picked on, right, for this or that. I want to say that to all you millennials out there, we applaud you, you know, they're out there, they're doing it. They're trying to change the world, be better people, be more humanitarian. This generation is phenomenal. And they're actually not, you know, the serial type, all technology. No, I find it to be the opposite. Our millennials and people of our age and older, we're all interested in having technology and using it. But we want that personal touch. We want both, you know. So we're finding in our classes, in our one-on-one counseling, that it's the two. It's technology, but you need the wisdom of another human being to guide you through it and to give you all the nuances. Yeah. It's not just one or the other. It's both. I think that's what we're finding. Yeah, great. Yeah, that's what I heard, that, you know, it's a nurturing center. Super nurturing. And you get everything. And so I'm hearing that there's a continuation. They can come back and, you know, continue their learning or help. I know your second part, is it on grant writing or how to get funds? Yep. So the first part, now two days is sort of an immersion experience, so to speak, right? There's a lot to learn. You're not going to learn everything in two days. But it's a lot better to come and to get the information rather than try to do it on your own. So day one on the 21st is coming Saturday. It's all about setting up a nonprofit. Day two, which is the following Saturday, I believe that's the 28th, it's about grant writing. So what are the important components? What should you have in a grant proposal? So that funders, people who help give money to nonprofits, so they'll pay attention. And so they'll be interested in what you have to offer. And we talk about networking and how important that is in the grant writing process to have support other organizations and other individuals in the community supporting you. And what is that message and what does a nonprofit program look like so that others will come on board and say, yeah, you know what, we'll support you with some funding. Or, you know, you can use that extra room we have or we have a car available. You know, it's all about presenting your nonprofit in a way that solves social problems. And not just that, in a way that people will come and also support you. So that's the grant writing piece. We're not going to write a full grant. We're going to teach you all the important components of a grant. That's very important. I know when I was looking at the nonprofit statistics, I read somewhere that almost 11% of the state has some part of a nonprofit. That's fabulous, actually. And I think I saw over 6,000 nonprofits. Throughout the I-Mans. It's amazing. People just want to get out there and help. So that, all the more, this kind of education is important because instead of launching out and starting a nonprofit, what we want people to do is walk it back and make sure that your nonprofit is constructed in a way also not to over duplicate. There's many people doing XYZ service. You want to make sure you know who they are so that your funder knows that you're not overlooking the available resources. Also, all the people who want to help, we want you to know that there's more than one way to raise funds. There's grants, yes. But there's also, you can be entrepreneurial as a nonprofit. You can, you can sell something to make money. You can get donations. So we encourage people to find multiple revenue streams because it can be very difficult to fund your operation unless you're diversified. And that's where the business piece comes in. You know, the traditional business mindset. So if you have an entrepreneurial mindset and you're a social visionary and you combine the two, that's where we want to get people to. It's to combine the best of business, private business world and social change efforts. Combine the two, that's the most powerful. Okay, so again, let's wrap that up. So when is the workshop? Can we let them know? Yeah, sure. So the Launch My Non-Profit program is divided into two parts. Non-Profit Toolkit Part One, that's this week Saturday, April 21st at the Patsy Meeks Center and we're housed in the YWCA O'ahu next to Eolani Palace. Okay. Yeah, just walking the door Saturday, the 28th. It's part two, that's the ground writing piece. Okay, great. And I know you said the information can also be found online at the Patsy Meeks Center for Business and Leadership, which is MCBL. It's www.mcblhawaii.com and you look under the program, excuse me, .org. www.mcblhawaii.org Click on the program link and you'll find the Non-Profit Toolkit. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Noella, for joining us today. Like I said in the beginning, you're an amazing woman, very generous. I'm so happy to call you my friend and associate. And again, I thank everyone for joining us today in adventures and small business and I hope you tune in every Thursday at 11 o'clock, same time and thank you. Bye-bye.