 Today on my show, we have a power couple who are the founders of Kaika Maoloa Youth Foundation. Together, Kaleo and Misty Padela mentor the youth of the Big Island. The title of our talk today is Kaika Maoloa Forever Strong. Today, I would like to introduce to you what a difference this young couple has made as they mentor our youth of Hawaii. Welcome, Kaleo and Misty. Aloha. So let's get started. I know that you have a beautiful blended family, Kaleo. Let's start and by sharing with a little bit about your family. Well, my family, I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, grew up in Waimanalo, Hawaii. You know, my mom, my dad and three sisters. And as we got older after high school, my mom and dad transitioned to Kona. And I was actually going to school in Arizona and my sisters, they all came, followed my mom and dad. And after I was done school and I came back, actually, I went back to Hawaii, lived with my grandmother for a few years then decided to come to Kona. Wow. So when you got to Kona, I know that you, I know you started a family. So did you share a little bit about your family? So my family, I didn't start my family too, like later in life, you know, in my 30s. You know, when I got to Kona, my thing was, I didn't know what I was going to do here and stuff. And then that's how I ended up going to the boxing gym. I just stumbled it, stumbled upon it by chance, you know, just like walk because I was down the beach throwing net, catching fish. And then when I was at these, the bathroom, so I walked to the bathroom at Old Airport and that's when I ran into the Kylo Kona boxing club. Oh, the humble beginnings of walking into your career, you didn't even know it. Wow. Don't I know that you had a great career in boxing, please share with us a little bit about your boxing career. Yeah, when my boxing went, like I said, you know, I walked into the gym and, you know, met the coaches and that's when basically my career started from boxing, you know, coaches started training me and then, you know, I just started competing, competing and I just got good at it. And then next thing I didn't know I was in the Golden Gloves and I had a state championships and I wanted to go on the Golden Gloves in 2000. I always take Golden Gloves and then I won the state championships in 2001 and went to the Nationals from there. And after that, then I got into the mixed martial arts training MMA and started doing that with with sunny Westbrook, cold sunny Westbrook. And I just kept doing it, doing it as a, you know, just fighting, fighting, fighting and not realizing, you know, what the end goal and result was going to be. But I just did it because I liked it and I just got pretty good at it. Oh, so the lesson there is Missy, every time he wants to go to the bathroom, you better be careful, you don't come out with a career. Oh, so Missy, I know you had a beautiful career also before you got into what we're going to talk about. I have a photo of you, a beautiful hula dancer. Tell us about Missy and what that was all about for you. Thank you. So yes, I was born and raised here in Kailua, Kona. And of course, everyone knows my mom is a, you know, beautiful famous hula dancer and Tika Ulu. So, you know, that just pretty much was instilled in me from a very, very young age, never ever imagining that dancing would be a career in my life. Definitely blessed and super grateful for the opportunities that was able to take me, you know, worldwide to travel. And you really don't see it as a job if it's something that you enjoy doing and getting paid for it, you know, it's been a passion of mine forever. So I'm just really grateful for that. And with that, it's just opened many, many doors and the opportunities never seem to amaze us. Wow. And I know that you met, you both met, and I don't know the duration of the courtship or what transpired, but I know I have a photo of a very big celebration for you both. And just share with us a little bit about that. And then maybe you can just point out that there's a famous dude in the background there with you all. Kaleel and I have been together for a little over a decade now, and we chose to get married on Halloween. Prior to all of this, we've always done events together. And so we're pretty much known in the community for all the community events we've done. But Halloween has been our jam from a Halloween block party that I used to put on before in the community. And then Kaleel just thrives on our community haunted house. So that's been ongoing for many years. And we figured, you know what, we might as well get married on Halloween because that's pretty much been our family thing. So we did. Here I was trying to plan a wedding in Kona, figuring it's going to be here in Kona. And Kaleel had it all planned out already. He said, no, we're going to do it in Vegas. Dog the Body Hunter is going to marry us. And that's what we did. And it was amazing. Wow. What a story. And so how is it that you were able to get Dog the Body Hunter to preside over your wedding, your marriage? How did you get it, Manny? Well, actually, I worked for Dog. I mean, his personal security, him and his wife. I'm one of their personal bodyguards. So I worked with them on the TV show too. Like, I started working with them on Dog the Body Hunter season eight. And I worked for two seasons or three seasons, right? I'll get bet on the hunt. And then we had our last season on, it was called Dog's Most Wanted. So I've been on all those shows with them. So me and Dog was really close. Wow. No wonder you look so famous. I knew I knew you from somewhere. And how best that he was able to preside over your wedding as you serve him. Now he's serving you and you guys are just, all of you are a match made together right there. Yeah. That's beautiful. They're super great. Yeah. And so now I know there's a photo and this is a beautiful photo because it's the blessed Ohana. And I know that this right here is a full time job. So people are wondering, why is the full time job? Well, these are all their kids. So please share with us a little bit about your family. I go first. Okay. So our family, we say is a big blended family of 10 children. So I'll go ahead and start with my first three. I was from a previous marriage and my oldest is now 22. And then I have an 19 year old and then a 17 year old. And that's Mahiae, Ola and Makana. And then I was blessed to be able to have three more boys with Kaleo. And that was one baby Samson. And then Kanan is our eight year old and Ethan is our five year old. Yeah. Blended with his blessings. Yeah, I had my oldest daughter, Angel, and then I had my son, Noah, and then my other son, Seth. And we just blend it all together. And then we have Lacy. Oh, and Lacy. In California. And yeah, so like I said, we have 10 kids. We're done. Hey, you declared it. Wow. And I know you mentioned, and this story is pretty much. I think we're going into baby Samson or baby, do we call him baby Samson or Kaikama Loa? What? Everyone's known him as baby Samson. Our boys all have names from the Bible. And so yeah, everyone knows him as baby Samson. And Kaikama Loa was his Hawaiian name that was given to him by Uncle Danny Akaka. And it means forever strong. Beautiful. So please explain to our audience. Why is baby Samson so special? So baby Samson, he was our firstborn son. And he passed within 24 hours due to undetected pneumonia. He was very, very unfortunate circumstance, but through the power of prayer and the love of God, you know, I do believe with all my heart that by this act that occurred, you know, a huge blessing came out of it. And that was birth the Kaikama Loa Youth Foundation. It was my desire on my heart to start a youth foundation that just really help educate on health and wellness awareness. Little did we know, I believe that this was also the pathway to allow Khalil to use all of his God given talents to something that he's clearly, I don't want to say ignored, but something that he just never received to take on the responsibility of what he was called to do, which is teaching, you know, health and wellness awareness through boxing, which is his talent. So many people even prior to me, you know, have always reached out to him that, you know, you've got to do this, but he's always brushed it away. No, no, no, he never, ever wanted to do this. But through this, you know, the sacrifice that we had to give up of, you know, not having Samson in our life. With that, I believe came multiple blessings, physically, spiritually, every area you could possibly think of professionally with us as well. So we're just able to experience so many blessings because of that through this heart-wrenching moment, we've embraced the blessings that came out of it. Wow. And you know, through Khalil, through your obedience, you know, a lot of people are called to ministry and to teaching by saying, I'll do whatever it takes, Lord. And then they go and they, the administrator says, okay, first you go and scrub the toilet and that's where you want to start. But in your case, God just called you directly to the restroom. And as you pass, that's where he has your, you see your vision that he laid out for you. And so it's amazing that you were able to, that you had eyes to see what God had in store for you. And yes, Misty, by opening this gym, it allowed Khalil to really max out who he was created to be. And he didn't, he may not have known it then, but through his joy of boxing and all the values that he got out of boxing, it was now able to take it and utilize it to help others who are in need. And so yes, this gym is a birthplace of many opportunities. And there's going to be a lot more. And I'm just, I can't wait to hear more of the stories down the line and in your future. So opening a gym in Samson's honor naturally was the best and the next step for you all. So just please share with us more about the purpose of this gym. So with the gym, the Kaikomalo Youth Foundation, we're able to obtain our 501C free nonprofit status. And with that, we wanted to have a place where the youth can come and just be empowered, you know, physically, mentally, spiritually, just be empowered, but also incorporating the health and wellness aspect to all of this. Because we did lose a son due to undetected pneumonia, and we've lost many, many family members all related to health and wellness. And, you know, we figure, you know what, we need to start these kids from when they're very young, just with being able to encourage and empower them and educate them. And we figure we might as well utilize, you know, the God given talent that Kaleo has with boxing because he has such a huge following. This was just another door that opened for us, and we just took advantage of it. Well, I applaud you both, because your purpose that you're fulfilling is so great, and the need is so there. Our children are keiki of Hawaii are not being as blessed from this blessed land as we would want it to be as we want them to be. Because you think Hawaii is a land of paradise, everyone should be healthy with the great air, the great ocean we can serve, we can run in the sunshine filled lands and the island is just in our system in our souls, but it's not so. Our children are not so healthy as one would be in first thinking about Hawaii. And so yes, you have a big role, a big responsibility ahead of you, as you take on this, this, this role to create health awareness. Mentally, so it's mental health, spiritual health, nutritional health, emotional health. And I believe I truly believe that when I walked into your gym yesterday, I felt that it can be done. And so, I was just grateful that I was able to have that opportunity to walk in and feel the mana that I felt when I was there and so I thank you for allowing me and opening the doors to me, and to many more that are yet to come. So, you know, when you walk into the gym, you normally see, you know, especially a boxing gym, you normally see a ringside, you know, where they go in the ring and they stay boxed and they practice and they spar, but, but you first think of that when you focus on a gym, but not in yours. Your focus when I walked into that gym was not just the ring. It was more than that. Can you tell me and share with me what your focus is when other members come walking into your gym. You know, with this, a lot as I mentioned to you earlier is this has all been a big spiritual journey for us. So people that walk through the doors. We've noticed a lot of them are broken, you know, and they see our place as a place of refuge, where many of them, they have a hard time leaving and they just come, you know, like the floodgates have opened and we're just so grateful but at the same time it is overwhelming. Because we're like, Oh my gosh, what do we do now, you know, but with the faith that we have like we just have to trust in God that he's going to equip us for everything that comes our way. But that's really what's happening here is, you know, people have broken the loss. They just come through they want to learn they want to talk, they just want to be heard at the same time, you know, they're learning. The art of boxing and jujitsu. And then even with that we've had others that want to come and teach here as well. We're also incorporating hula for health. We've incorporated some step classes because people just want to dance and move. And we just get so many requests we wish we could accommodate them all. We're really still trying to pray to see what what what's God's plan right now is we've just this was just beyond us far beyond us. Oh, just stay in your obedience as you both have done and listen, be still and listen to all the prompts that he gives you and you won't go wrong. As long as your doors are open, and your arms are outstretched, you know the need is there for just a hug, even though they said we cannot hug. Okay, and you all know that because I know that you guys never stop and just be mindful of everything around us. I know that your doors have opened about three months ago. And just in the perfect time when people are still wondering should can I come out with what's out there. What is that a safe place to be and as I said when I walked into your gym. I felt that it was a very, very safe place. So please tell me who can come to your doors to be a part of this Ohana that you are creating. For me when this started, my main focus was for kids. You know, that's that's all I really cared about as long as the kids the only place for training, you know, my mentality was, you know, I grew up with a corner boxing club and like a lot of kids couldn't afford, you know, to pay membership and stuff. So with the county, they gave us that place for free, you know, but like now we're in this place so obviously we have, you know, bills and rent to pay. But so my thing is like, I'm not trying to make money off of none of the kids, you know, my mentality was no child left behind, you know, they can't pay the feed and they just still let them come in, you know, that's, that's how I see it as. Right. So what you're saying is money should not be a factor on giving them what they so rightly deserve as Kiki to grow up in a helpful environment. And what you're doing is even further than the Ohana is you're the extended, and you're able to mentor them through the nutritional training that you're bringing. I mean, I love the step class, the hula classes and that's exactly that's the best exercise ever for both men and women to, you know, to just be utilizing their body in any which way they can. It doesn't mean that they have to be so physical with boxing, but I could certainly movement, just movement and that's so basically what we need is just movement, and then one cares and that we all care and we all love each other around us. And that right there is so healing Kaleo and so what you both have both have and are creating, it's just, it's just immeasurable and I'm just applauding you all the time for what you're doing here. Yeah. So Kaleo there's another next slide. I'm asking you to talk about it because there are men and then I think they're a product of what you created there. So what's happening in this slide. There we have our head coach Sunny Westbrook from the corner boxing club. And then we have the two brothers and sisters, Ariana and Gio Ramos. Gio, he was the 2017 national champion, first, first kid ever from corner to ever win a national championship in boxing. Mr. was ranked number two in the nation. Yeah, we've been training training training with them they've been training with us since they were six, seven years old and stuff. Wow. Can you and you know what this is just the beginning for for this amazing gym. You're going to change so many lives positively great creating greater futures for all and that's so so very important. I'm so proud of you. So, so tell me, tell me about some events or competitions that you prepare for besides, you know, just title holders and championships. What's this photo all about. Well, this is actually when I first started in Kona. This was our, when I walked to the gym. This was probably like a couple weeks after that. That was the coaches at the time that's coach on the left on the right hand side behind that's coach him from over off. And then on the left is coach Peter even is so they was like my first mentors here in Kona. And then, you know, they kind of stepped away and that's when Sunny Westbrook got involved and he took over the gym but this was back in 1995. And that's when I started here. Yeah. Wow. And so that was your first experience with your career that's leading you to open all these doors for so many people who would imagine right Clale. Oh yeah. Well, you know what he had the plan he just needed to show you the right door to open to go and find it. Well, bless you both are. I'm just amazed. Such obedience. So together we can buy so together we can buy putting our best foot forward. I love this, but putting your best foot for that's so important. You know, and it may not be the wrong foot it just need to be the best foot. So what are the goals for the next half of this year for your gym. That's a lot. So putting our best foot forward, we definitely want to grow our membership and our staffing you know that's always the ultimate goal. We can always have large numbers but at the same time if we're not fulfilling our main purpose of instilling and empowering and educating, you know numbers won't seem to matter. So with the numbers that come with the goal, you know we want to be able to provide quality quality education and quality performing. Of course the competitiveness of Clale, you know he wants to race champion. So that's definitely the goal is you know to be able to build the youth from ground up and just being able to empower them and you know make them feel like they are the champion of the world, be able to walk away, you know, knowing in their heart that they fulfilled their goal physically. But as well you know we want to make sure that the emotional side, the spiritual side, everything all aligns in one. So, do you just wait for that child on that person to walk into your doors or do you go and outreach in any way or do you take referrals, how would you know how do you get them to to work with you. Right now, you know, because Clale had such a huge following already from his career, we have not had to go out and advertise and like solicit it really just happened, fortunately. So we've just been all word of mouth right now and it's just been so amazing. It's been amazing, overwhelming but all in a good way. But we are we're on media, we're on Instagram, we're on Facebook, we have our website, and we can only continue to grow from here. Wow, so get used to that Clale and Misty, and don't be don't be overwhelmed or don't call it overwhelmed because God will only give you what you know he knows we embrace it embrace it all the way. I think I heard you say something about you have a upcoming fundraiser on Father's Day. Is that correct? Can you tell us a little bit about that maybe if I'm in town I can come back and enjoy when you have to offer. So share with us please. Yes, so how that stemmed up was we had a grant opening a few months ago and it was very successful. So the owners of Palikui Plaza, you know would like to continue seeing events such as that providing that we can work within COVID regulations. So we decided to put on a Father's Day fundraising event, and we have two beneficiaries for that event to very prominent fathers that are very well known in the community through sports as well they're battling cancer. So we do want to utilize this opportunity as a fundraiser to help the families, and we're going to have vendors entertainment it's going to be on Father's Day here at Palikui Plaza and of course we have to have boxing excitement. So we're going to be including that as well in our Father's Day event here. Yeah, that sounds exciting. Right. And then other people who are looking for the bathroom, Cleo. And you know what just bring them in embrace them and give them a hug and say hey come on my, and welcome to our club and just embrace them. And that's how you'll continue to read out and grow. I'm so excited for that so I want to hear the results of that. So I just want to ask you both, you know, you're for you, Cleo your career. Do you have one most memorable or outstanding moment that you want to share with us in regards to your career in boxing? What honestly, like it was all such a blur, you know, because I used to fight so much. The only thing that that is really like stands out to me now is like right now what happened with the whole how we established this gym and, you know, with the whole COVID, you know, all the kids who started to come to train at my house and that's what is standing out to me was, because I never wanted to do this. Hell no, I didn't. Not one bit want to train kids and everything and how the whole thing played out it just all fell into place and then now it's like, oh, that's all I want to do is train the kids like great. Wow. And it didn't take you very long to get to this point, you know. Yeah, the neat thing is that he opens the door and he knows what he wants you to do for him and then it's like with resistance we say no, no, no, no. So the more you say no, no, no, the more he says yes, yes, yes. And then what happens is you're doing it. So you know what just continuing to continue to say yes, yes, yes. I'm here to serve and I'm going to do whatever it takes that you need to do. And that's your purpose. And that's the blessing that you both have is that you're fulfilling purpose. And money can't buy that, you know, so don't ever let that that part take you down where it's like, oh my Lord, what are we going to do now. No, don't ask him he knows. Okay, and you should know because you have trusted him. That's right. So now I know we had some information about your contact. Share with us please. How can we get in touch with you. So you can go ahead and tune in to ikaiqamalua.com. That's on the web. We also have Facebook and Instagram right now. But yeah, ikaiqamalua.com we are definitely enhancing it as well so bear with us but in the meantime that's your go to. And is there a Facebook page that you have. Yes, it's also Ikaiqamalua Youth Foundation. And is it you that is managing it or do you have someone who walked into your door who's very techie that may need out to do that for you and then you need to find that heart and give them. We're putting it out there right now it is just me but I am praying and believing that someone will be able to come and take it all and I will be able to release that wholeheartedly. Well just pray because you know that young man that young woman is sitting there saying oh I wish I wish I could do more for this club. I want to do more. Lord use me so you need to find that heart and then you need to share with them that you need them. And I tell you that door will be open like how Kaleo's door was open. This amazing career, this amazing gym and finding purpose in both your lives. So I wish you continued success this is only just the beginning and I know that you know that too because you're being obedient and that to me and of course you're putting your best foot forward. And that's how. Right. So we've come to the end of our show. You've been watching Take Taking Your Health Back with Think Tech Hawaii. So I want to say mahalo to Kaleo and Misty Padilla of Ikaika Maoloa Youth Foundation as they changed the lives of many people by me. So thank you for participating and thank you to our viewers for watching. I'm Wendy Lowe and we'll be back in two more weeks with another edition of Taking Your Health Back. Aloha and mahalo to the Padilla youth. Aloha.