 Aloha, welcome to Kids to Success, which is live on the ThinkTech live streaming network series weekly on Thursdays at 11am. We are your hosts, my name is Danelia D-A-N-E-L-I-A. And I'd rather have to do well, John Newman, welcome to the day's show. The goal of this show is to provide professional and personal development tools and profound insights on how to achieve success in life, career and or business. Tiffany Stanton, Realtor Associate from Locations LLC, Diamond Head Office and Stefan Kant, Lender from Honolulu Home Loans, were our guests on our last week's show and their words of wisdom can be accessed on Newman Consulting Services website, NewmanConsultingServices.com or our landing page, Danelia.org. According to the SBA or Small Business Administration, there are over 121,000 small businesses in Hawaii with almost 24,000 small businesses with employees, 97,151 small businesses without employees and 258,345 workers employed by small businesses. Bottom line, small business in Hawaii is over half of the state's private workforce and we are thrilled to have a successful Hawaii business owner as our guest to provide insights on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Today's topic is Imagine, Believe and Achieve. Joining us in the studio today as our guest is Mr. Paul Brown. He is a successful international recognized master hairstylist, educator, businessman, founder and CEO of Paul Brown Companies, Mahalo. Paul. Thank you so much for having me on. Good to see you, Paul. It's been a while, so we're really thrilled to have you on the show. I'm happy to be here. And everybody wants to know how they can look better. Well, you know, we're all challenging ourselves, you know. Exercising is really important. All right. Getting enough sleep is really important. All right. That's very true. So Paul, briefly share with our viewers if you will. What prompted you to pursue a career? Well, I'm a major dyslexic. And when I was going to school, they didn't even have it diagnosed yet. Dyslexia, ADD, I'm obsessive, compulsive, all of those wonderful things. So my parents were, you know, somebody from private school, but we're kind of concerned about what direction being that I had a really hard time reading and anything that dealt with, you know, that kind of using your visual for reading or numbers. So it was very difficult for me. And my uncle, my great uncle was a captain in the merchant marine fleet from the UK. He'd come to the Oakland Harbor. And the kids that worked on the ship were 16 years old. And they brought the, I want to hold your hand by the Beatles. And at 45, make some of your views. Most of your views are not at 45. Yes, I remember. But, you know, and I love the hair and my hair was really thin. And they were, you know, using clippers for it. So I started cutting my own hair. So, you know, we live close to the Haight Ashbury in San Francisco. So it was a time of a lot of change. So I started cutting my own hair. I started cutting my brother's hair. Started charging 50 cents a haircut in the neighborhood. The girl down the street went to cosmetology school. She showed me how to do perms and colors. So my time was 1450 and I was making a couple hundred dollars a month. And at that time, that was a pretty good change. Oh, yes it was. And I was very frugal, so I saved it. But that's how I started the industry. When I got out of high school, I don't know how that happened. But I was able to go to cosmetology school. My parents sent me to cosmetology school. I was hired out of school by a company in New York to come to New York to get trained by Mr. Kenneth, who was Jacqueline Kennedy's hairdresser and Lady Astor. So for six months, I had this incredible experience. I was 18 years old from 19 in New York. Then I was made an art director, like 12 of us. They had 1600 salons. Hawaii was on the horizon. They were doing a lease at the Liberty House at the time. And I said, yes, nobody else wanted to go. And I said, yes, and that was 1970. So you were an entrepreneur right from the beginning. Yes, right from the early start. I was in regards to that because I come from the depression mentality with grandparents and grandparents are very frugal. So I understood what cash was. I think yes, probably. As far as that part of it. So you started your first hair salon in Hawaii in 1971. Yes. What was your vision for it? I went back to New York. They brought me back to New York. Last New York was like a year. They gave you a lot of press. In Hawaii, of course, I met everyone. There was no one here. I did what I did at the time. Hair cutting with a scissor because everyone was doing tees and wigs and scents under the dryer stone. So I brought in this new technique. So we got a lot of press. I loved it. I bought a house of Kailua. I got a hobby cat. I was on the beach. It was 5 a.m. on my hobby cat. And then driving over to Hawaii was incredible. It was incredible. And so when I went back to New York, when they finally all shut down, I rented the house and they brought me back to New York because it was only a year and then somebody would follow you and they could follow somewhere else than somebody else was. That's how they grew the company. And at the time it was winter. I was there two months and I went to the office at Seymour. I got to go back to Hawaii. He got to let me have my job back. I can't do this. He said, you know what? You know we can't do that because we've sent somebody in your place that we're growing. And he said, you know what? You should open your own shop. There you go. And at 92 he passed and I knew him and saw him every time he came to Hawaii for dinner when he came here because that was the most amazing thing for a guy like that who had trained me how to dress. They trained me how to go to theater and opera. Even though in Seymour I had to go to opera sometimes because of the school I went to. It was really the interviews with the Warhol scene, Versace, Steve Rebelle. That company was really understood the fashion industry so I had a credible education for these guys. It doesn't exist anymore, this kind of opportunity. And that's how we got started in the business. What was his name again, you said? Seymour Finkelstein. He sounds like a true philanthropist. Oh, the family still is. I still know the sons very well. The company became Glembie. It's publicly traded now. In the most recent, you know, it went crazy. I mean they really grew it. Regis grew it. It had so many different brands, many different brands including the Los Assum brand. So they grew this company and unfortunately it shifted. The industry shifted dramatically. But he's selling you what you are today. They had such exposure and they understood artists, of course, and Mr. Kenneth was the major player at the time in the United States. And he was an amazing artist. And so they understood how to groom artists, how to train that side, the left side of the brain, how to bring an intellect. And yeah, he was a great guy. So Paul, how do you define success and what do you most attribute your success to? I think my success, a lot of it had to do with luck. You know what luck is? Preparation meets opportunity. I know that. But really, I had this little innate talent. So I was able to utilize the talent. I love people. I love being around people. I love that whole experience. So I really am a hairdresser. I love that still experience that I have with my clients. The fun of growing things was interesting. So I just started developing growing companies. We went from hair salons to advertising. We did companies that would help support the growth of the salon division, which became successful on their own, model agency. We had a little jewelry business that we rolled. We got into the food business with David Paul Catering. It became David Paul Restaurants. We had no affiliate. Because we had parties and we had socially lens. So all of those things synergized to create this identity that became an international. It was one stop shopping. It really was. And we did a lot of stuff for Liberty House. We did a lot of stuff for operations in San Francisco because we all have the San Francisco Salon. So I was going back and forth and then to New York once a week also at that time to do editorial. It was a lovely fabulous experience. Bottom line though, you can do any kind of career. Like you could be a hairdresser, a hairstylist, pardon me. You could be a hairstylist, but not everyone becomes successful like you. Well, you've got to be willing to fall down and get up. That's the biggest thing for any entrepreneur is to admit that you're going to realize and going into it. Because I didn't even think about being an entrepreneur. It wasn't even the thought. I was living this life. It wasn't like this plan to... It became that, but it was just fun. I mean, we were having fun. I think passion is really important. Being able to get up and keep moving and make mistakes. And just keep moving forward. I do think that if anyone out there, and I'd be young or somebody that really wants to get into an entrepreneurial spirit, passion is what's going to drive you. It's loving what you do. And just getting up and wanting to eat it, breathe it, and live it. What we teach in our school, we have a vocational school, and we teach our students to... You don't have to win every time, but you have to give it a win in effort every time. And once you do that, the universe will be there for you and help you through those challenges when you don't win. You know, this is perfect kind of logic. The reality for me is so different because it wasn't... I mean, we had struggles, but when we hit, we hit so hard that it was just even nuts. I mean, it was like... Anything we did was... The opportunity for me here also was there was nothing here. There was nothing like we had here at that time. Now there's plenty of creative things going on here. Really, it was nothing. So all the creative people in town, in photography, or any of them wanted to... And the models, anyone who wanted to be involved with something, they came to us. They worked with us. So actually, to create an identity or to create this kind of opportunity was a lot of people. It wasn't just me. I mean, there's a lot of talent and a lot of people that got me excited to keep going, keep moving, keep doing this. Well, because sustainability now, we've been in business for over 30 years, you as well. Well, my industry is unheard of. I'm 46 years old. Isn't that something? Yeah. I mean, it just doesn't... Matter of fact, I'm one of the only ones left in the industry of my gentry. Probably the... Well, one of the only ones. I don't know of any other, but there has to be that has salons that are still employee-based because nobody has... Everyone leases them. They lease or 1099 or whatever. So it's a very different movie. It's a very different industry from when I was... But it's totally different. Yes. It shows that you love what you do. Oh, no, I love what I do. You love what you do. I wouldn't know what to do. You know, like, I'll take time off or, you know, I'll take, you know, even if I'll have a whole day off and, you know... Rarely, though, I'm right. Well, now a little more. A little more. A little more. Like, I'll take it to the off. And here you are. And we thank you so much. We thank you so much. I'm taking you to the off. You know, I'm doing this. I worked out this morning. And then I'm going to have the afternoon off. You know, I'm going to do the up. I'll figure out something. But I actually... You know, I'm selling the roses more. I work about 40 hours a week. I used to work 100. I mean, it was... My whole life was work, you know, because I get in the elevator. Yeah. You know, when you're Paul Brown, you're always going to be Paul Brown. So I'm getting on the elevator, getting in the... Yeah, yeah. You know, and, you know, I'm like a lucky guy and I'm not... I'm very privileged to have... to have the opportunities that they've had. You're blessed. Well... Something like that. Well, we're going to take a short break. This is Keys to Success on the Think Tech Live Streaming Network series. We're talking with Paul Brown from Paul Brown Companies regarding our topic, Imagine, Believe and Achieve. My name is Danelia, D-A-N-E-L-I-A. And I'm the other half of the duo, John Newman. We'll be returning in a minute, so please stay tuned for more Keys to Success with Paul Brown. Hi, I'm Donna Blanchard. I host the show Center Stage on Think Tech Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and this is Crystal Cork. That's right. I'm Crystal and I host Cork Talk on Tuesday mornings. I like watching Donna's show. You do? I like watching your show. I like watching your show because you talk about... you're not afraid to really dive into issues that are important and sometimes they're a little shocking and you always bring us information that is sometimes the underbelly that we need to know and we need to see. Thank you. It's important. Hi, I'm Marianne Sasaki. We just completed another great episode of Life in the Law and I'm here today with Jay Fidel. Hi, Jay. Hi, Marianne. And what do we love about the law, Jay? There's so much to love about it, right? There's more to love about it all the time. No kidding. We have to be a nation of laws. We have to be a nation of laws and we have to be a diligent nation of lawyers and citizens. It's all about the rule of the law, Marianne. Yes. The rule of law is alive and well and life in the law. Yes, it certainly is. You're watching Think Tech Hawaii, offering lifelong learning from passionate hosts and fascinating guests ready to explore and explain Hawaii's place in the 21st century. Great content for Hawaii from Think Tech. Welcome back. This keeps the success on the Think Tech live streaming network series. We encourage you to call our hotline at 415-871-2474 to join our conversation or tweet us at Think Tech HI if you have any questions or comments. We've been talking with Paul Brown from Paul Brown Companies regarding our topic Imagine, Believe and Achieve. My name is Danilia, D-A-N-E-L-I-A. And again, I'm the other half of the duo, John Newman. Welcome back to the show. Paul. Thank you, John. We're gonna put you to the test. Okay. All right. We're doing well. Can you just share with us, do you feel that there's a formula for success? What do you think each entrepreneur should ask themselves? If they're willing to give them totally to their passion, which would be the business that there is an entrepreneur in business. That's the question that they should ask themselves. In business, I think you have to be willing to move with the flow and, you know, things change. And you have to have a passion. If you don't have passion, forget about being an entrepreneur. If you're just doing it to make money, forget about it. Yeah, we agree with that. You have to love it. No, no. You go through so many challenging times, which brings me to the next question, which is, how do you get through the challenging times? Because there are times when you don't feel like getting out of bed in the morning because it's just so overwhelming. Well, if I look back at things, and I know that's probably one of the questions, I probably only didn't feel like coming and getting out of bed because I partied too much. Frankly. I mean, if you're going to add, you know, because I noticed, you know, if, you know, what would I change, it would be I partied way too much. I partied like a rock star because I hung out with them. So I partied like one. Fortunately, I had a business because it drove me to, you know, but I never, you know, I'm very, I was so lucky. I mean, sure, there were times that I just felt, you know, bummed out, and like, you know, but I had clients. I had to get my O'Coley back, you know, I had to get up and I had to get out and I had a staff, I had responsibilities. So I just had to keep moving. The attitude has a lot to do with it. I mean, here we are sitting with you, Paul, and you're just so full of passion and just positive energy and positive attitude. That really is the substantial part of being successful. Absolutely. And that brings us to the next question. What do you feel the top three keys for long-term success? I'm going to tell you the same things again. Well, passion is number one. Passion. Passion. And the other two now are going to be a very different passion about what you're doing, focus, direction, that makes you comfortable, that's going to, you know, and the other two things is really taking care of yourself, getting enough sleep, eating the right foods, you know, being compassionate. You know, all the things that makes a good human being because especially now in the marketplace of IC, you know, you really need to, people need to feel engaged. And if their employer or their, you know, manager or whatever doesn't, you know, share that feeling with them, their passion or, you know, I think you won't be successful. And you need to, and I think, you know, really bringing your people in and showing them how they can do investments, you know, and showing them, you know, the way to, you know, direct their financial income and, you know, the opportunities on actually showing your income so you can get a loan to buy a house or, you know, a car or something like that. You know, all the things that in my industry, a lot of these people don't know. They have no clue because they're artists. I mean, I didn't pay taxes for a long time because I didn't know what it was to pay corporate tax. Seriously. And so I had to reinvent and start paying tag and learn, I had to learn all of that, other things. You know, and it's not that I love it, but I had to learn it because my love required it. Right. You know, the business required knowing these things because you know, you're going to get ripped off so many times, you know, you need to really figure it out. You know, it's a story like Mick Jagger, which, you know, is a really cool person, I think, is amazing. Actually, still he walks even. But the amazing thing about him is, you know, he was here a while ago with the Sony, had a party for him when Mr. Marita was alive. I was one of his hairdressers, Marita. So I went to the party, was talking with Mick Jagger, and I'm asking him, you know, how did you, you know, get yourself through? He said, you know, all the things that happened with your finances, because you know, he said, well, I got ripped off so many times by managers and by people. I went back and learned how to accounting. That's right. So he now takes care of all his own financial stuff. I think that is an artist. You know, if there's any artist entrepreneurs, you should really take a look at that. Right. Yeah, because I think in any business too, you know, people want to focus on that. But you know, when you're a business owner, you've got to know everything. You cannot just focus on your craft. Sorry about that, but that's the reality. You have to know ordering. You have to know the whole game so that you can watch out for, you gotta watch it all and know how to read the financial. Whatever artist you are. Or you're going to get ripped off. So what mindsets, what mindset helped you make you successful? I mean, one of the things I see is, is that you just never, I mean, you see challenges, but it's like, you just keep going. There was just no stopping. You know, like you, I'm sure, because you guys are entrepreneurs and you know, love people and you know, love life. You know, I really believe that it has to do with loving what you're doing again, but also taking responsibility for loving what you're doing. You know, you have to take responsibility and so many times you don't want to, like in the process, but you have to. You have to just you know, get over yourself. Right. Move on. You know, you're not going to die. You're not going to die. Right. You know, it was as many times because having an identity, you know, I was embarrassed about things, you know, but then like, you know, hey, look, you know, just get over and move on. You know, we've got this one life here and we've got to enjoy every minute of it and the moment we let things wear us down and tear us down, it just, you sacrifice in that time that you have. Absolutely. And the other thing about, you know, I don't know much, but it was always a show, a hair show or, you know, it was, well, yes, now I mean, it's just too much. More for me, you know, it's enough just doing my client base and my work out program. But I got to tell you that there was never once and I still don't feel like I missed out on anything because I had such a great ride, you know, it's like, I'm still riding. I'm still riding. I'm still having some fun. So, you know, I'm looking at maybe doing something new and you know, you know, sometimes when it's really challenging, you always look back and you get to the next level and you get to the next level and you look back and you go, you know, was it worth it? And you go, absolutely. Absolutely. Because you feel, you empower yourself by going through it. So true. Every time that you're down on the floor and you know, catatonic because, you know, how am I going to get that dime to take care of this and you go, you know what, you did it. That's right. So just keep going. And just let it go and just let it go. Just let it go. But forgive yourself, number one. True. And let it go. And forgive the whole scene. Yes. Just move on. Just keep what you can control and you control and what you can. That's right. Now, share with us, if you will, what is one of the most successful moments that you've had in business? You know, they're always successful moments. Yeah, I can't think of one in particular. Well, share a couple. Yeah. Well, you know, when we hit a certain fruition, and I'm not going to go into numbers, but I have this goal, you know, once we start rolling this thing and I understood how to redefine the actual which I did and understood how the whole thing worked and I got pretty good at it. And it was like this innate talent in that direction. So, you know, that was where I wanted to hit and we hit it a couple of years before we were before the team and the management team and everything thought we would and I was really happy. You know, because that in my industry, you know, it's about creativity but also it's a business. Like I was on that board of the international salon business now. Well, tell us about the board. Well, I was there 10 years, vice president and it represents 15 billion in sales and services. Chains, you know, 1600 operations, 3000 operations. Well, I mean, this kind of thing, pennies, you know, these kind of big operations, sports clips and I was the only hairdresser. So, I learned a lot from those guys. Oh, yeah. And they used me as a lobbyist on the Hill. So, I was able to, you know, be the lobbyist for the industry in DC. That was an incredible experience. You know, so I think that was, in business, as a business acronym, this was the most interesting because I learned so much more about, you know, multi-units, you know, how they managed them and how, because we didn't do it that way. It took you all over the world. Oh, in Asia, in Italy, United Kingdom, Egypt, Germany. We've done shows pretty much in even Shanghai. We've been around for a long time having a good time doing these shows. You travel back to day one of your start-up and have 15 minutes with your former self to communicate any lessons you've acquired with the intention of saving yourself mistakes and heartache. What would you tell yourself? I wouldn't have partied. You wouldn't have partied. You mentioned that. Yeah. That was my... Because that weighs down your body, your mind, everything, right? Well, also, you do stupid things. Yes. You know, so, you know, there is a lot of embarrassing situations, and that would be the only thing I would change, actually. Oh, great. The only thing. That's great. Because everything else was important for the growth, my personal growth. Yes. You know, I guess I was a businessman, but I was way more an artist than a businessman. I still am, but I did learn how to become a businessman as far as, you know, making sure the numbers and the taxes got paid. Right. Yeah, we all have to do it. And roles of business. So, if you were conducting this interview, how would you ask this last question? I think, you know, I would ask why, you know, at this point, you know, I'll be 69 in a week. Why are you still doing this? Oh, happy birthday. Yeah, why are you still doing this? Why are you still doing this? Because I know I wouldn't know what else to do. Yeah. I mean, really, I love life. I love swimming. I love to go out. I work out. I mean, I wouldn't, I just need something to keep my mind active. Yeah. It just, I'm not ready yet. Yeah. Okay. Because everybody keeps asking me, well, why don't you come here? Yeah. Believe it or not, we're out of time. Did that go quick or what? Thank you so much. Thank you. So, we'll have to wrap it up. John, would you like to share your quote of the day? Yes, I would. My quote of the day is by Stephen Covey, which says, I'm not a product I'm a product of my decisions. Paul Brown's Words of Wisdoms with regards to Keys to Success can be found on Newman Consulting Services web page, NewmanConsultingServices.com and landing page, denilia.org. Thank you so much, Paul, for joining us today, sharing your insights on your Keys to Success, very, very valuable information. Think Tech Keys to Success will be back at Thursday, 11 a.m. So, please tune in and ask your friends and families to do so as well. My name is Denilia. D-A-E? Oh, D-A-N. Oh, you misspelling my name. You're my husband. D-A-N-E-L-I-A. And I'm another half of the duo, John Newman. We thank you all. Aloha. Aloha. Alrighty.