 Rusty Komori, and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys Varsity Tennis Team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. My book Beyond the Lines is about leadership, creating a superior culture of excellence, and finding greatness, which is what this show is all about. My special guest today is highly respected as Hawaii's former first lady, and she is president and CEO of the very successful United Laundry business. She is Vicki Cayetano, and today we are going beyond Washington Place. Hey, Vicki, welcome to Beyond the Lines. Good morning, and Aloha, Rusty. Thanks for having me. Now, Vicki, it's so good to see you again, but I don't know if you grew up in Hawaii or not. Can you tell me about your youth? Yeah, actually I was born in the Philippines, Manila, and my family immigrated to this country, to California, when I was about three and a half years old. I moved to Honolulu about 40 years ago, and had the privilege to be living here since. I love it here. Wow, and Vicki, I heard that you were in a movie with Elvis. Is that true? So that's actually connected to how we came to this country. So my sister Ginny is really the star here. She is a child prodigy, and to this day, she still plays the piano, and a friend of Ed Sullivan, if you recall that very famous TV show way back when, was in Asia and happened to hear her, and he was just amazed at how she played the piano. At that time, she was only five years old. So he took that to Ed Sullivan, and she came to this country to make some appearances, which then led to all of us following her. She got a role playing with Elvis Presley called Girls, Girls, Girls. And after that, the director and producer wanted to cast her in another role for the next movie with Elvis, but my father had already committed her to perform for President Kennedy, and he knew that I couldn't play the piano. So he sent me instead to play the role of Sue Lynn in the movie It Happened at the World's Fair with Elvis Presley. The backdrop of that, if you can recall, was the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, Washington, and that's what the movie was all about. So that's how I was lucky enough to get that role. My first paying job at six and a half. An interesting anecdote from that film too is that that's the film that Kurt Russell made his movie debut in playing in that movie. Wow, that's so interesting. And Vicki, not many people can say that they've been in a movie with the legendary Elvis and then to have that little bit about Kurt Russell as well. And Vicki, I know that you're a very successful entrepreneur, but I want to know what other jobs did you have early on in your life? Well, you know, looking back, I've always been very entrepreneurial. So even as a kid, I sold lemonade, the usual things, you know, but I always in my mind wanted to do something different. So my lemonade couldn't just be lemonade. Had to be special Asian lemonade, which you know, on the mainland for a lot of the people in the community, they're like, oh, this must be different. It was actually not that different. But I think you live by the motto that you have to differentiate yourself to be special. Yeah. And Vicki, I know that your family keeps growing and I know how important your dogs are. Can you tell me about your family? Well, we're very fortunate. Ben has three children. One passed away, but he has the two girls from a prior marriage. And then I have two children, Marissa and Will's, and they each have two children. So I'm grandma four times over. And yes, our fur babies, we had 10 at one time. But due to age and other things, you know, we're now down to five. But you're right, they're like our children. Most of them are rescue. Ben and I are big advocates for animal rescues and animal rights. So Vicki, how did you and Governor Ben meet? You wouldn't believe it looking at both of us now, but it was at the gym. We met at Honolulu Club working out at like five in the morning. I used to go there just about every day. I still work out, but mostly at home now. And that's how we met working out together. Well, I love the Honolulu Club. And Vicki, I want to ask you, how did you enjoy your time as Hawaii's first lady? You know, I enjoyed it. I think that one of the benefits of being first lady is that it really gives you the opportunity, the privilege to have a platform of things that are important to our community. And it just gives you that opportunity to elevate those. So for us, it was one of the things that Ben wanted to do was open up Washington Place to the public. And so we raised private money to build the new governor's residence in order to be able to open Washington Place up to the public. Governors still continue to host dignitaries and have dinners there, but Governors now also and their families have more privacy being able to live in the new residence. So that was one goal. The other thing that I did champion in Ben's final year in office was a long-term care program called Care Plus. And it's unfortunate it did not pass, but I think you see now a lot of efforts to address long-term care because that is something that our Kapuna and their families deserve to have. So those are the two things that I primarily championed in addition to being involved with both the arts and animal community. Well, Vicki, you know, you were and still are extremely highly respected as our Hawaii's first former lady. And I want to ask you, what advice would you have for future first ladies? You know, when I became first lady, one of the first things I did was to have lunch at Washington Place with all the living first former first ladies. And that's exactly the question I asked them for their advice. And I'll never forget the take of them, which was basically what I would say, and that is just be yourself. Enjoy this time because it really is a privilege to be able to serve the people of Hawaii and use this opportunity to have a platform where you can elevate causes that are dear to you. And that are also very important to our community. I like hearing that. And Vicki, you know, when Governor Ben was our leader, what accomplishments of his are you most proud of? Looking back now, I think one of the things I really appreciated was how he brought our community together in a very difficult time. And that was shortly after 9-11, if you'll recall, that happened on his watch. And there was so much confusion, sadness. It was just a very difficult time for our state, for our country. And I think what he did was bringing together people from all different walks of life and to create one, the unity together that we will get through this. And as part of a bigger picture, our country in that time to create new rules, for example, for travelers, as you know, our lives were forever changed by that event. And to grieve, but also to look futuristically as to what we need to do to improve the security for our state and for our country. So I'm very proud of how he did that and how he brought together during a very difficult time in our state. The other thing I would point to is he was very much at the forefront of getting the John A. Burns School of Medicine, the medical school built in Kakaako. So Japson is there very much because of his leadership and that of the dean and of course the community. But I do think that in spite of some criticism, I give him a lot of credit for standing firm and getting that done. And then although the next governor after Ben had the opportunity to sign it into law, he was doing all the heavy lifting to address the quarantine issue for animals and for dogs in particular, and to, you know, minimize that or reduce that. So I give him a lot of credit for that because that took a lot of years of heavy lifting in order to get it passed. Yeah, so that's my husband. He's very determined. Well, he gets things done. Yes. Yes, he does. And Vicki, I want to talk to you now about your highly successful United Laundry business. Can you tell me how it started and I know before Corona you had 600 plus employees but can you tell me about your United Laundry business. So it's really the vision of a gentleman named Masaichi Tassaka. And Mr. Tassaka was the then president of Kua Kine hospital. And he wanted to get hospitals, health cares out of the business of doing laundry. I think he was very visionary. And he's still alive. I still talk with him. And he felt that they had no business running laundries and that they would be better off allocating those resources for medical equipment and things like that. So he sought out an independent person and entrepreneur, as he said, to manage this for the hospitals. And he had heard about me through a mutual friend. And that's how it all started. My interest in addition to serving the health care community was to look at hospitality, because if you look at all the hotels and back then, many of them had their own laundries on prime Waikiki real estate, which to me didn't make a lot of sense. So I thought that if we could offer them an alternative of a high quality, very service oriented company to do their laundry, which is a necessary part of their business that we would be able to convince them to close their on premise laundries. And so we set forth to do that. This is our 32nd year. We started with 25 employees. And over the years we've grown the business. And with support from so many people, our employees, first of all, our customers, and of course our vendor partners. We've been able to continue doing what we do, which is doing laundry for both the health care and the hospitality industry. So Vicki, as president and CEO of United Laundry, what's one of the biggest challenges that you're dealing with in your business? Well, truthfully, I don't think any of us has ever seen anything like this COVID-19 situation. But putting that on the side for a minute, I would say that prior to that, the challenge is always finding the right people, you know, employee talent. And I think that's in any industry that is really the heart of our challenges. And of course, prior to COVID, if you recall, we have a very low unemployment rate. And we're in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. So unlike other states that can bring talent in from other places, we're very limited. And we have to live with what we have and make the most of what we do have. I like hearing that, Vicki. And, you know, in my books, I talk about leadership and creating a superior culture of excellence. And that's all you. I mean, you have such a high superior culture of excellence. You're a great leader. I want to ask you, what qualities do the best leaders have? Well, I think you define it pretty well. And I think it's, of course, setting the example. People who are genuine, who care more about others than themselves. I think that's really a key trait. And I think that people who will go to battle for other people, not to benefit oneself and who have compassion. I think those are important qualities. And in today's environment, with the complexity of issues and the diversity of our community, I think another important trait to have is the ability to communicate. I think strong communication skills are very important. And I totally agree with you, Vicki, because for me as head coach, I would want to share everything that I'm thinking and feeling with my team so that they knew, I mean, they wouldn't have any misunderstandings or misperceptions. And it really helps when everybody is on the same page. And I want to ask you, Vicki, what are your thoughts about taking calculated risks? Well, I have the saying I go by, and that is measure the risk to the reward. Okay, so early on in our business, we had to take risks. Because if not, we would not have been able to survive. So I think you have to create a balance. With COVID, I was less likely to take any risk because, you know, there was not much more reward you could do, and a lot of downsides to taking more risk. But now in today's environment, we're in a whole different ballgame. And I think businesses today in order for us to survive, we're going to need to not only think creatively in a new way, but we are going to need to take some risks. So Vicki, how do you get your team members to buy in to the philosophy that that you're trying to instill with your with your United Laundry team? I think like how you coach your team. One is to communicate to them how it benefits the team, not just one person, yet make them help them to understand why we want to do the things we want to do. So communication, the objection, and then to be clear, everybody needs to know what is their role, right? In football, there's only one quarterback, not everyone can play that role. So everyone needs clarity in what they need to do. And in these very trying times, it was very interesting, I heard Arnie Sorenson of Marriott say, we have to be honest that we don't have all the answers. And yet we have to provide the leadership and the direction that people need from us as leaders. And so I think when we talk about buying, we need to explain to them what's the objective of what we want them to do, whose role is it to do what, and then to hold people accountable. Because I think accountability is an important word here in order for us to get the results that we want to achieve. I like hearing those insights, Vicki, and you know, a lot of people define success in various ways. What is your definition of success? That's an easy one to answer. So I think that for people, success is a very, you know, every person's definition of success is different. And so I think that if you take whatever your definition is, and you've achieved it, you're going to be happy. And for me, it's all about happiness. I don't think it's so much the material things. I think it's what you're happy with. And for me, happiness is being able to say, especially at this stage of my life, that I've left this place a little bit better for my having been here. I think that's very important. And I know for Ben, that was a big part of why he sought to do public office is because he could impact people's lives in a way that very few professions can. And so I think if we can, for me personally, if we can do things to make people's lives better, that's the definition of success and have fun while doing it. You know, I totally agree with you because, you know, in my second book, chapter one's title is make an impact. And, you know, I want to inspire people like what you just said to, you know, make a positive impact in society. And if that, if one person can do that, it's going to become contagious with many others. And Vicki, I want to know why are you successful? Well, for me, I think being happy is part of that. And you know, I want to go back to your comment about making an impact on people's lives. Do you not find Rusty is very interesting that people who think of others first are oftentimes very happy people. And people who just think of themselves and what they can get for themselves are usually pretty miserable. Yeah, it's interesting. But I always observed that. So why am I successful? Well, how do I define success? Happiness, having people around that I can both learn from but also help. And I think families and animals and music. Those are the things that I love to do when I'm not at work. It's what gives me balance and what's it is what gives me a lot of joy. Right. And Vicki, can you tell me what's a big personal challenge that you dealt with in your life that you have to overcome? Well, it's something I'm dealing with right now and I have not overcome. No, seriously, I think I never thought in my lifetime I'd see something like this of this magnitude hit our country, our world, our country, our state, our business, our people, everybody has been impacted by COVID-19. And I think honestly speaking, we think we know, but we're not all certain as to how we're going to get over this. But I know that we have to have the confidence and the faith that together we will get through this. But it's getting out of some light. That is the big challenge right now. So this is definitely one of our biggest challenges, I would say. Yeah, I totally agree with you. And you know, for all of us, I mean, I try to train people to be thinking, you know, in terms of welcoming adversity, you know, looking forward to challenges. And this is one of the biggest challenges ever that we're all going to face in our lifetime, but it's a mindset. What are your thoughts about having the right mindset and perspective? I think that's very important. You know, it's really interesting. I love sports. And one thing I always say is that when you get to competitive sports, all things being equal, it's a team with the right mindset that's going to win the championships. So mindset is very important. And I think it's a combination of things. One is determination, okay, confidence and determination, but also faith. Faith that exceeds beyond what we believe in ourselves, but in a greater power that's going to help us get through all of this. And I think for me, that's what keeps me going through even the most difficult times in life. Yeah, it's having hope that, you know, things are going to get better that tough times never last, but tough people do. And I think we just need to spread that message to more people. And Vicki, I want to ask you, in terms of if you reflect back on your life so far, what's a valuable lesson you learned? Don't worry too much about the little things. Don't sweat the small stuff. And if you think about it, a month, depending on the severity of the situation, a year from now, how meaningful is this moment going to really be? So I would say to be realistic about what's really important in life. There's not a lot actually. We have our health. We have our faith and family and friends and we will get through everything. But I think that would be the lesson learned is to not worry too much about all the little things. Of course, having said that, I don't want to confuse that with the fact that it is the details that make the difference between being good and being great, right, or being excellent at what you do. So paying attention to details is important. But at the end of the day, too, not to worry too much about a lot of little stuff that just clutters your mind. Yeah, it's having that vision of looking at the big picture as often as possible. And I like how you said not sweating the small stuff. And Vicki, I know that you have empathy for your employees, your team members. How important is it to have empathy for leaders? I think it's so important. In my mind, I want a leader who knows what we're going through as a people that he or she serves and has empathy, who can understand. I think that's that is just right on competence and, you know, aptitude is empathy to me. That's really, really key rusty. And Vicki, earlier you talked about, you know, the advice you got from former first ladies. What's the best advice you received about business? About business. Yeah, about business. Well, I think it's a combination of things. You know, there's always this vision thing that's talked about. And I think that's important. However, I do believe that the greater challenge always the execution of it. So to say to have vision is important. But I would say an immediate follow up is know how you're going to execute that vision, how you're going to implement it, and then have the determination to see it through determination and discipline. It's all those things. So it's vision, implementation and execution, determination and the discipline to see it through. Vicki, what's something that you want to do, but you just haven't done it yet? I would say that just to be able to continue to do things to elevate everybody's lives in some way or another. I mean, when I started out the United Library, I really wanted to elevate our industry and elevate the work for the people in this industry. And to an extent, I think we've accomplished that. So I just always look around for things that that I can help or I can do that with better people's lives. As a general statement, I'm very, I would say that's my big focus. I've been very fortunate to have all the things that I think anybody could want in life. I've had people supporting me, the best parents, very close to my remaining siblings who are alive and very close to them. I'm very grateful for friends and family. And of course, our fur babies. And by the way, I have to give a shout out to my sister, Jenny, who helps tirelessly the Hawaiian Humane Society. She's devoted her whole life to the cause of animals. And I really admire that. So I think anything we can do to better our world, our environment as well. I think that's worthy of doing. Vicki, I want to thank you for taking time to share your insights and I want more Vicki Cayetano's in the world. Thank you. Well, I want more Rusty Kamori's in the world. So thank you for having me. Thank you, Vicki. Aloha. And thank you for being beyond minds on Think Tech, Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKamori.com. And my books are available on Amazon and Sentinel. I hope that Vicki and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.