 Aloha, and welcome to Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. We broadcast live every Thursday from 2 to 2.30 in the ThinkTech studios and beautiful downtown Halalulu in the Pioneer Plaza. We are a show that focuses on success stories of businesses in Hawaii. If you live here in Hawaii, you know that it's a challenging environment, and if you don't live here, you've probably heard that it's one of the worst states in the country for business. But we do have success. There are people who make it work here. There are businesses that are successful. So this show highlights those individuals and explains how they made it work. You know, there's challenges and how do they get around those challenges. And the road to entrepreneurship or owning your own business is always not a direct line. So we're going to talk a little bit about how a couple of ladies had been in a corporate environment, was relatively happy there, but decided to pull the plug and go out on their own, which is a scary thing to do. And so we're going to have Nam Collins, who is a CFO of the company, and Sabrina Bass, who's the Chief Operating Officer of the company. The company is named Contour Spa Hawaii. So it's relatively new. It's a young company, but they've been doing well. So I wanted to say thank you for joining the show today, both Nam and Sabrina. Thank you for having us. All right, now you had to travel quite a ways. You're located on the other side of the island, right? Not that far. Okay, all right. For all the people in Hawaii, it's not that far. It's not. It's right off the freeway. We're located in IEA. In IEA. And I've been out there. It's easy to get in and out. The freeway has an exit right there. And so it's relatively easy to get in and out. And you're like one of the first shopping centers, in one of the shopping areas, right there as soon as you come off the freeway. So it's not that difficult. But you've been in Hawaii for a while. What's the background? How did you guys? I want to talk a little bit about how you got into the business. And so, Nam, you were born here? Or you were born somewhere else? Or how long you've been in Hawaii? No, I was actually born in Korea. And my parents immigrated to Hawaii when I was five. So they forced me to learn my Korean so I can still read and write. But the vocabulary, that's not me to practice that far. It's a working process. It sure is. And that was when you were five. So that was just not that long ago. That's right. Yesterday. No, but we raised in Hawaii pretty much my whole life. Went to Radford High School. Very good. And then from there, went to University of Hawaii in Manoa. And have you been in Hawaii the whole time? Or was there any? Pretty much. I moved to California for about two and a half, three years. I was working at the Radisson in Long Beach and Seal Beach. And then when you came back, you got a job and then you were working there for a while? I wasn't planning on working when I got back. I was planning on becoming a professional student. Living off the parents. No, I'm just kidding. But you know, that was the plan just to kind of go back to school and whatnot. But I can't sit still for very long. So then I started working actually with Paloma Meat Company back then. I was the head of human resources. I was there for about six years and then kind of outgrew it because there wasn't really much more to do. You know, we were kind of downsizing and whatnot. Well, that makes it tough for HR, too. Oh, yeah. But we're usually the last man standing, you know? We have to process everything. So from there, then I moved to a different company, a national company. And that's kind of where I met her. Her being Sabrina, my partner. Also known as the witch. Well, you don't look like a witch. Sabrina, have you been in Hawaii for a while? I have. I actually was born in Trippler. Trippler, all right. Air Force brat. So we moved around constantly. My parents are from here. They're from Kailua. So when they retired, they wanted to move back here. I didn't really want to stay here. I went to HPU for a little bit and I thought I would try my hand at nursing and it wasn't really my thing. So I went to Washington State, U-Dub. And I did business marketing over there. So you were a business major and what major were you? So I started out, my grandfather wanted me to take over the family business, a CPA, but that wasn't really... What's wrong with that? That wasn't really my calling. I mean, I understood it, but it really wasn't my calling. So I went more the liberal arts route. Okay, liberal arts. Well, Hawaii is definitely a good place for you then, the liberal part. Miss Sabrina, getting back to your business major, did you work in Washington for a while before you came back to Hawaii? I did. I worked at Russell Mellon Analytics as a financial analyst, so it wasn't really the route that I wanted to take either. There's a common theme here. Sadly, there are many. I met my husband there in Washington State and found out that my parents retired back in Hawaii and he decided, oh, well, I want to move to Hawaii too. I don't like it in the cold. I hated it in the cold and the rain and it was really depressing over there. So we made the move to Hawaii. And how long ago was that? You're going to ask me when my anniversary was and I don't know. About 15 years. 15 years. Okay, you've been here quite a while then. And what were you doing before you decided to go out on your own? Well, I started... So procurement is my forte background. I started with as an in-house contractor with general services administration. We were doing contracts with the... It's federal stuff. Yeah, very good. So I dabbled in that a little bit and then I went to where the company that we met at. Are we allowed to say what company that is? Sure, we left on really good terms. Okay, so what company was that? CNS Wholesale Grocers. Sorry, say again. CNS Wholesale Grocers. Oh, okay. CNS Wholesale. So you both worked over there? They were the largest grocery wholesalers in the country. Oh, wow. So she was head of procurement and I was head of the human resources. And she started about one or two years before me. She's there before I got there. So both of you were there for quite a while? About eight years and ten. Yeah, a pretty secure environment. Very secure. Regular paychecks, good benefits. And we loved what we did. So you loved it and so you gave that all up to go out on your own. Yeah. What was what was the thought process? Now there's a lot of people that's gonna be watching the show and they're gonna be going, wow, good jobs, good benefits, might even have a retirement plan, you know, 401K and then all that health care and all this stuff. And you walked away from all that to go out and do one of the riskiest things that you can do is start your own business. And so Sabrina, why don't you walk me through the thought process that you went through to come to that conclusion? Let's do that. I want to hear it from the witch first. Thank you. You first. I think the bottom line is we just wanted more. We wanted to see what we were capable of. We were at a company that, yes, the benefits and the cushiness and everything was great. The leadership was great. And we had great mentorship over there. And I think that's what prompted us to say, Hey, why can't we do it ourselves? I mean. Yeah, well, I mean, if they can do it, you can do it. Yeah. And a lot of times you were doing it for them. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. So you decided that you wanted to do something. And I guess what was that similar thought process for you? Very much, you know, the funny story about us meeting. So when when I started, I didn't know anyone, no one. And I quickly got to, you know, her and I, from the start, did not see I do. And I think in a sense we're very, very much so alike. We're very competitive. And you know, she was the person that was always kind of in charge in the sense, you know, and then I got there and I said, Oh, no, that's not how I work. It was a new witch in town. There was. It was me. So, you know, we it took, she says over a year, but I was over it after like, eight months, maybe. That was good. You know, she took a little longer. I took a little longer to meet with her halfway. But once once the connection was made, and you guys started working together, a lot of projects together. You know, we as a national company, there's like a lot of national projects that are just pretty much initiative sent down all across the nation. So everybody has to sort of meet certain guidelines and whatnot. And we would always go out over and above. We do everything. And I mean, I noticed, you know, it doesn't matter. It's off our time. You know, it's not necessarily like nine to five time. We would do it even on our own time, come in early, do whatever it took to get it to be the best, you know. And so that's why we wanted to. That's how people become successful, going a little above and beyond. You know, and that's the and you certainly have to have that trait if you're going to have your own business. So what happened to cause you decide that you're going to leave this soft cushiony environment to go out on your own. So we kind of always knew that we wanted to be entrepreneurs and do our own thing. We just didn't really know what you just needed to find that vehicle or what that was going to do that was going to cause you to unplug and do it on your own. And then you went through the process of selecting this. And the this just was this like your first choice? Or did you look at other things? No, we had a lot of other ideas out of the box ideas and ones that, you know, people were saying, what do you want to do? All right, very good. Well, let me we're going to go on break here for just a minute. And I want to get back into what your, you know, I mean, you did a lot of research on this and you dug into it, you vetted it pretty well. And then you made the decision. And I want to get talk a little bit about that when we come back from break. This is business in Hawaii. We're here today talking to two very dynamic ladies that have went out of the corporate environment where they were very safe and secure into the entrepreneurial world, which is risky at times. And we're going to hear more about their story as soon as we come back in about one minute. Welcome to Sister Power. I'm your host Sharon Thomas and we are a bro where we motivate, educate and power and inspire all women. We are live here every other Thursday at four p.m. And we welcome you to join us here at Sister Power. Aloha and thank you. I just walked by and I said, what's happening guys? They told me they were making music. Welcome back to business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. We're here today talking to the two very dynamic young ladies that have been very successful in moving from the corporate world into the entrepreneurial world. And we're going to talk a little bit about their selection process and how they picked the company that they wanted to. And they had some options. They looked at a variety of them, but they settled on one. So we're going to talk a little bit more with Nam and Sabrina to go through that process. So Nam, how did you settle on the one that you're doing now, the contours spot of Hawaii? Well, we were looking for, you know, I've done other businesses in the past, several of them. And you know, they weren't all successful. A lot of them did not work out. But from each one, you kind of learn and a lot of you learn from the past. So one of them was never do business with family ever. It just doesn't work out. So those are one of your golden rules. That is definitely my go to You also want to find a really good partner that you can be honest with and that, you know, they're going to be there through the hard times, not just the good times. So eight years. We were able to realize almost like a marriage. We were told that. Yes, we were told this is going to be yours. Yes. So get used to it. And it really has, you know, but you know, that's the other rule. And the and the last thing is, you know, for whatever item you're looking to do, or whatever project or business, everything kind of has to come in line. So for us, although we were in a real great, we had a great job, you know, awesome. But at the same time, this opportunity came along. Nobody had it in Hawaii yet. Nobody wasn't here. Nobody else can bring it into Hawaii. We know that. So you got an exclusive. So it's like an exclusive, right? And we just saw the before and afters of how amazing this technology is the only one that has been FDA cleared that is at risk level one, which means there's no side effects. And it can do almost surgical like results. I mean, look at this, you know, you went from this to that. Right. And we're going to we're going to probably spend a little bit more time on that here in just a minute. But you know, the results, I guess, are amazing. Yes. But you you found something and you made a point that I just want to emphasize. Is it most successful business people most successful entrepreneurs usually have a few failures before they actually hit something that works. And so it's not unusual to go through that. But it's it's a great learning experience. And it's it's something that I think a lot of people have to go through before they actually become successful. Sabrina, how did you go through, you know, and pick this company as the one you had different options. But there was something that made this one different from all the others. What was that? It was actually her selling point. So she sold it. I think it was five o'clock in the morning. And I couldn't wait to call me at three in the morning when she found it. But she waited until a little bit later. And she was just so excited. And I was still sleeping. And so you agreed to it. I did. I've been in business for a long time. And we used to it doesn't happen too much today. But we used to take people out for drinks and then get them to sign a contract. So you just wake them up in the middle of the morning. And I think I just found myself saying, Okay, we talk about it later. But you made the decision. And part of it was because it was so unique and was so different than what you're looking at. And nothing else was really like that. Yeah, and I guess that's a good message for people to know is that, you know, there's a lot of options out there. A lot of people can choose different things that they can go into and put their effort into. But it's going to make it better, maybe even to some degree easier. If it's a unique type of product that there's not a lot of competition for. So I would say, I mean, if you look at all the other competition, there's there's a lot of competition out there even so different technologies and whatnot. But as we restarted all of our research, we found that, you know, nothing is at risk level one, you know, and that we don't want risk in that sense where we could hurt somebody or do something to, you know, harm them in any way or, you know, any type of negative things. So we we found it was like, Oh, my God, we need to just jump on this. And you know, the timing was perfect for it. So I think just like six months ago, another very well known organization in here in Hawaii contacted the manufacturer trying to, you know, and they said, sorry, they're very happy. That's good. So you've got this unique product now. And, and I guess in a general sense, without going to the pictures yet, but in just a general sense, what is it that contours bottles of Hawaii does? Really, you just got the nod. I got to go ahead. We deal with red light technology. So like she said, it is unique. There are red light technologies out there and the general properties of red light are amazing. So NASA has been using it since the 50s for healing properties. Healing. So NASA actually uses this to heal. And heal what? Wounds? Wounds, pain management, aches, pains. Really? Yep. All right. And so now you're using it here in this context in a different sort of way? We are. So this, this actual device has been cleared by FDA to remove fat. Which is the food and drug administration, right? So you you kind of got the blessing. Yeah. You know, which is a big deal. I mean, they don't do that for everybody. All right. And, and I'm sorry, you said remove fat. So we actually removed that cell content. You know, I want to I want to make sure my technicians hear that. I've been asking him to remove some weight and they won't do it. So if I want to look a little slimmer and better on screen. Okay. So I know where to go now. That's right. Very good. And in how, you know, and you can nod back if you want. But how does this work? I mean, red light, you know, I mean, I got a red light at home, and I can just shine it on me. It's not going to work. I don't think so. But there's something special about your process. How does how does that process work? Actually, our process stimulates lipolysis in your in your bodies, which is a natural bodily function. It removing toxins from your fat cells through your waste. So it's completely not invasive. Basically, it flushes it out. Wow. So you have become a nurse. So the red light will actually go through and break this stuff down. That's in the body that's creating some of this fat. And then it actually gets flushed out of the body. Absolutely. That's a natural. All right. And how often, you know, does this happen in one treatment? Or is there a series of treatments? Or how does this work? It really depends. I just got the nod. It really depends on the individual. So, you know, some people skin, they react so quickly to it. Others, it takes a few more. But, you know, again, it's it's a proven technology. And we've almost pretty much everyone that we have treated, you're going to see a result, definitely results. Yeah. And so, you know, I'm going to ask you to walk me through the process on this. But before we jump into that, we've got a picture here of a before and after. And can you can someone explain what I'm looking at? Well, this woman came in and she's very self conscious. She has a lot of really saggy skin. It had some major operations in the past. And you notice she's wearing her robe and her pants. And she didn't she was very, very self conscious. Towards the as we continue to treat her, this is in seven sessions, actually. At the end of her sessions, this is pretty much what it looked like. And she says she could, you know, not wear underwear like this, because the skin would go over it. Well, significant difference. And I don't know if the audience can pick this up. But it's yeah, you can see it on the screen there. I mean, there's a big difference between they before and after. So that's the skin tightening aspect of it. So not only are you going to lose the contents of the fat, so you lose volume, but you'll also have a tightening of the skin because of the elastin and collagen. Your cells basically get rejuvenated and they start to produce collagen and elastin again. And that's what causes the tightening of the skin. Now you mentioned that this is the results after seven sessions. How long is the session? For skin tightening, you're looking about hour and 20 minutes about there. Okay. And how does this work? And this is where you walk me through. So someone comes into your your facility, your spa, and they go through the paperwork, whatever. And then they come in and then what happens? I mean, is there a table or something? Or what's the process? For the treatment, we actually put them on a nice relaxing massage table. We put the red light on, we dimmed the lights, we put nice music on. If you give us suggestions on music, we almost definitely put it on for you. We want you to be comfortable. And then you just get to relax while the light does its work. And you can go to sleep if you want to. We've had a couple of people scoring. We can hear them through the door. And so you just lay there for a while. And I guess there's not only a physical aspect to this, but I guess with the soothing music and knowing you're doing something good for your body and for your health, you can actually get a little bit of an emotional kick out of this too, right? And how fast, I know it depends on the person, I guess, but you said some people can see results pretty fair quickly. We had a woman, we had a very sort of wrinkle, oh sorry, decollete area. And even after just two sessions, it was just a dramatic difference, dramatic difference. We had another woman, she had the beginning stages where her eyes were getting a little saggy, the bags. And after two sessions, it just completely, and we have these pictures, they should be on our website. But you could see the difference, huge difference. And so again, it really depends on the person, but yeah, as early as two sessions, you might be able to see something. You mentioned the website. What's the address for the website? www.contourspahuaee.com. Contours? Contours? Contourspahuaee. Hawaii spelled out. Yeah, h-a-w-a-i-i dot com. All right, so I'm going to test you on this. I might ask that again. So, but if they went to the website, they're going to be able to get more information. They're going to get your address, phone number, and kind of some of the before and after pictures and stuff. So there's a lot of information up there, full disclosure. There, I mean, they'll be able to see what's going on. And we fully encourage people to just come in for a consultation. They're free consultations just so that we can go over the treatment, the process, the technology, any questions that they have. We know it's intimidating. Well, and, you know, some people are saying they're going to shine this big spotlight on me and all this. I mean, it's really, it's actually a kind of a calming thing. I've actually been out there. I've seen some of this and there's not a lot of heat generated from from the lights. I mean, it's a, it's an amazing light, the magic light. It is a magic light. Well, there's other, like she was saying, other, you know, red light technologies out here, you even have like the handheld units. But our technology, it is very specific. So every single bulb that is in the panel, it's modulating at a very specific frequency to be able to do what it does. Yeah. And it's, it's, it doesn't compare. Pretty high tech. Very high tech, yeah. And it's the only one in the state, you know, and you mentioned someone else, some of the big, one of the big boys tried to get it. They did. And they said, oh, so sorry. So that must make your spawn very valuable. As we, one of the main reasons we also wanted to leave is, you know, our family, you know, we have young children and we want to spend time with them. You know, we don't want to miss out, right? On their, their little things like school parties or whatever it may be. We want to be there for them. So she was always like, I want to be the mom that makes breakfast for my kid before he goes to school. You know, now we can. And that's one of the benefits of having your own business is that you can make those kind of decisions if you want to. And that's, that's got value. It may not mean dollars, but it has value. And that's part of that thought process. So that's, that's very good. Congratulations on your choice and your business. Thank you. And I'm sorry, what is that website again? www.contourspahue.com. All right. And you go there, you find out more information. There's a phone number they can call. And, and you're very patient. You'll walk people through and you'll show them the whole thing. So very good. Well, appreciate having you on the show today. Thank you for having us. You know, in one of these days, I know I'm going to make that trip out there. We're waiting for you. So the next time you're on the show, you know, they won't recognize me. Can you do anything about hair? Well, this is Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. We broadcast live every Thursday from two to two thirty. We have guests that can be quite humorous at times. But please join us next week. We'll be back again for another success story in Hawaii. Thank you and aloha.