 Thank you for joining me on Think Tech Hawaii. I am Shayna Park, your host for Money Talks. My guest is Nieva Sumer. She is a senior marketing director with World System Builder. Welcome to the show, Nieva. Hello, hi everybody. Thank you for having me and giving us this opportunity to have a good time with you guys, hopefully. Thank you for being on and for those or for everyone who doesn't know you, please tell me more about yourself. All right, so prior to joining World System Builder, I actually had three jobs, Shayna. I worked for a local high school here for 17 years as a part-time ELL teacher. So I helped new immigrants in our high schools and I was also associate for our wireless industry for a little over nine years. On top of that, I was also a certified court interpreter of the State of Hawaii Court. I'm also married for more than 25 years. I have two beautiful children and I have two grandkids now. My youngest grandson just turned, he's gonna be three months this month. Yes. You just look so hip and fantastic. But it seems like you had a lot of hats. You did many different things. So what got you started in finances and how did you start Maui Financial Center? So actually, I rejoined the company in 2020 during the pandemic. We were on lockdown and so many people. I didn't know where my next paycheck is gonna come back. I didn't wanna depend on the unemployment checks that we were receiving at the time. So I figured find another side hustle, right? So I find an extra income so that I can support our growing family. And during the pandemic, one of my mom's good friend at the Delma from Hawaii reached out to me through Facebook and she didn't really mention anything about the business. She just said, hey, add income and learn about our workshops. We're not doing anything anyway. There's no schools. I said, okay. And then so when I joined the workshops and Zoom, of course, I was thinking, oh wow, I don't know anything about finances at all. And actually before my three jobs, I actually worked for the banking industry for seven years. And I said, oh my goodness, the things that I talk about in the workshop, I've never learned any of that when I was working for the bank. So I said, okay. So what else is there in this company? And then she went on to say, actually, this is also a business opportunity for you. And without knowing that I was actually licensed, life producer licensed already before she reached out to me. So she presented the compensation plan and whatnot. And I said, wow, I can actually learn for myself and then share what I learned. And I can earn extra income on my time and help others as well. And when I joined the business way back in two years ago, I just wanted to earn extra $1,000 so that I can replace one of my jobs. Because I've always worked three jobs, even when my kids were growing up. So I kind of missed out most of their childhood. And I think that's the cycle of families here where we each have two, three jobs so that we can raise our kids, right? But two and a half years later, man, I'm here. We opened the Maui Financial Center. And of course, with the help of our mentor, Piviro Sugitan, and of course, Steven Lee. And two months ago, I stepped away from my three jobs, Shayna. So I'm just so grateful to be a part of this company. You just have such an amazing success story, Neva. And I mean, for most of us who do live in Hawaii, it's not common that we have one full-time job. A lot of people have multiple full-time jobs. And to hear you say that you only started up in the pandemic, which is 2020, and to see where you're at now, it just proves that, you know, whatever you put your mind to, you can achieve. And I love hearing, you know, your stories and your past employments that you had because I mean, you're right. Whatever we, you know, learn through our jobs or sometimes during school, it's not the entire picture of finances. And I think it's your great example of, you know, putting yourself out there to learn firsthand of what you need to know to provide for your family. Yes, I agree, I totally agree, Shayna. So with the Maui Financial Center, I know you have a lot of, you know, business associates over there. And you're born and raised there or you grew up most of your life there, right? I was actually born and raised from the Philippines. And then my family moved here when I was, you know, a freshman in high school. I was originally from Hawaii. So my husband is the one from Maui, but we've been here since 2003. So pretty much, yeah. Well, most of my children spent most of their lives here in Maui, yeah. I see, and, you know, with what's going on in Maui right now, and I'm sure everyone has heard about the tragedy that happened, you know, did any of your family, friends, business associates get affected by the fire? Yeah, actually, Shayna, with our Maui Financial Center is growing. We have a lot of teammates. And unfortunately, 11 of our teammates actually lost their homes in Lahaina. And many, many, many friends and families, immediate families and close friends lost their homes. And, you know, it's just so no words to express, you know, what they're going through right now. So it's just so heartbroken. I was just so heartbroken. What's happening with my... My heart is so broken because we, you know, work alongside with each other too. So when we all heard the news of what's going on in Maui, we couldn't help, or I couldn't help but think about you folks. And, you know, I would love for you to share more in detail of, you know, what's going on with your business associates, your friends that have been affected. Yeah, so when we, actually, and that just the night when, you know, the fire was going on in Lahaina, we were not even aware. You know, we have a full house here at our financial center. We were having a BPM for our RSA, you know, on how to optimize our social security benefits. And then we just hear sirens and our phones were going off, you know, from friends and family because there were three fires going on at the same time, you know, in Lahaina, Kihei and Pukalani. And, you know, our families, our friends are, you know, calling us, they're being evacuated. And of course, you know, we were just, oh my gosh. And, you know, there were eight guests that actually didn't make it. And, you know, they, we just thought that, you know, it's because of, you know, strong winds, you know, high wind advisory and whatnot. But then later on when we see, you know, on our social media and whatnot, we were just so speechless. And, you know, we're just hot in shock, you know. It's like, oh my God, and it just happened so fast. So the next day after the fire, I know one of our associates, she's a veteran, Sharon, immediately went to volunteer at the biggest shelter here near our office, which is the Maui War Memorial Gymnasium. And from there, you know, we saw a lot of displaced families who were in this strut. And, you know, just hysterical of, you know, losing everything, right? And, you know, in the next couple of days, our teammates went to volunteer. Actually, we were asked, our office were asked by a few of our National Guard friends and first responders to go and interpret for our Filipino families who were housed in the War Memorial. And from those listening to their stories, men, like I said, Shayna, no words can express what they went through. So a few of the stories was, you know, an elderly couple. They were already maybe even older than my mom and my dad, you know. They're like close to 70s. And they were in the water for six hours before they could even be rescued. They had to jump out of their car to escape the fire. And Nana said, you know, every time the wave would come, you know, they were holding on, she was holding onto the rocks and they were slippery and she would be swept back into the ocean. And her children would swim back for her so that they could bring her back and hang onto the rocks again. And at one point, you know, six hours is a long time for someone so old, right? So hanging there, you know, they're hungry, they're calm. And at one point she said, and actually she said many times she told her children to just let her go, just save their energy. She's old enough, she lived her life and to just save their selves. But of course her children, you know, wanted her to stay because they said, mom, we need you, we still need you. So yeah, so that's one of the stories that I heard. And of course, Julius, he moved here from Colorado four months ago because he couldn't handle the temperature in Colorado. And but he's by himself, he has no family and he suffered burns. He I think even broke his leg because he jumped out of the house just to escape the fire. He couldn't go through the front door. And, you know, he didn't have any phones. He lost everything pretty much Shayna. And we told him, hey, you know, did you, cause our team was willing to, you know, contribute and buy him like a, you know, at least like a burner phone, not burner phone, but like a prepaid phone, you know, but he said, no, I don't need anything. He said, like, I'm just so grateful that I'm happy. You guys donated to someone who needed more. And it's just so, I don't know, it's just so uplifting that with someone who lost everything and is just so grateful and still positive and just his faith with God, he was just so grateful. And then of course, my cousin, two of my husband's aunties, they are my mother-in-law's sisters. They lost their home. And my cousin's husband was actually working during the fire and he tried to go to my family. Now my auntie and my uncle are both using a walker. And then my cousin is in a wheelchair. And of course my niece, she has only 10, you know, so she didn't know what to do. So what my cousin did is he just left his car in the middle of the highway because he was stuck in traffic and he ran. And he said he didn't even know how did he get to his house or how fast he run because it was uphill, right? He was coming from Hyatt Hotel. And he said, I didn't know how fast I was running or how did I get to our house? I just needed to get to the house and save, you know, your mana and my auntie and uncle and my niece. So it's just, you know, and then we couldn't, you know, it didn't even help that we couldn't get ahold of them for how many days because, you know, their signal was, you know, on and off. But yeah, it's just so, you know, sorrowful and it's just so hard, we were just so heartbroken, Shayna. But yeah, when, yeah. Sorry. All the stories that you just had shared right now, I mean, many different perspectives, but a lot of loss is what I hear. And, you know, with the second guy that you mentioned from coming from Colorado, it just puts a really different perspective, right? Of being grateful for life. And sometimes you lose track of just the simple things and hearing that message really just gave me chicken skin because, I mean, every day is a blessing to be alive and breathing and being able to see the sunrise, right? And, you know, I'm very grateful and happy to hear that, you know, although your family has lost their home, that they're all okay as well. And, you know, I wanted you to go further into, you know, their situation and all the amazing support that has been pouring in on you folks. Yeah, so we're just so grateful, Shayna, that even if we had 11 teammates that, you know, lost their homes and many, many friends and families lost their homes, that no one was hurt, you know, no one got hurt in the fire. Although right now, I know as of today, there's over a hundred that's been confirmed dead and 850 are still unaccounted for or missing. But right now, everyone are, I mean, they're not okay. As for at the moment, a lot of families are still, a lot of the displaced families are still staying at many hotels and our convention centers and whatnot. But, you know, we're just overwhelmed with, you know, everyone all over the world, including our, you know, Ohana and Kauai team actually, our WSB community has decided to donate you know, my minimum of $10,000 from our tickets with our upcoming convention right in Hawaii. And of course, you know, our parent companies as well, right? But, you know, it's just so, what it says, just heartwarming to see all the community coming together. You know, our communities were did not wait for FEMA or Red Cross or outside help to start helping the displaced families, you know, people, regular people went to, you know, Lahaina right after the fire to, you know, give them food, you know, supplies and just to make sure everyone is, everyone is okay. And when we were volunteering at the War Memorial, you know, actually there was a sign up sheet before you could even go in and as a volunteer and man, there was like two, three pages of, you know, waiting lists for volunteers to be called, you know, and it just feels so good, you know, that, you know, even though this strategy, it just happened that many of us come together and wanna help in any way that we can, you know, give as much as we can, especially our time, right? To those displaced families. And yeah, and we are just so grateful. I wanna take this opportunity to thank everyone around the world that who would watch this episode later on that, you know, we are just overwhelmed with Aloha and, you know, we're just so grateful and what this strategy taught each and every one of us is to just be grateful even of the little things because, you know, life can just happen so quickly. Life is just so fragile, right? And the basic stuff that we take for granted every little day, every single day right now, those are just so valuable for the displaced families, right? And, you know, we can, you know, offer help. We may not be able to help so much as far as finances and whatnot, but just be, you know, lending a shoulder just listening to their stories and just giving them that hope that better days are coming and help is underway. And there is hope that there's gonna be a better tomorrow for them. Yes, and I 100% agree with you. And, you know, hearing everything that you're sharing right now too, you're really getting out there and just showing up. And I think that's what matters most right now for Maui. Showing up for the people of Maui and showing up, you know, to help rebuild what was lost. And I know our CEO from the WSB Ohana Financial Center went out to go visit you guys and Maui. And I know we've been gathering a lot of supplies or what's needed. So can you please share about, you know, your business associates that were affected and, you know, how they're doing right now? And just share about them, please. I know they have an amazing story. Yeah, so three of the families that lost their homes actually came when our CEO Ben Young and Karen Young came, I think that was two days ago. And, you know, and just looking at them, losing everything that they have, they are still so positive and, you know, gracious. And, you know, we're just so happy to see them. You know, I didn't think that they would show up with, you know, everything that happened to them, but they came and they were just so grateful with the things that were donated to them from the team. And of course some monetary donation as well to help them get started with their lives. But yeah, they're doing okay. They don't know when they're gonna, because if some of them lost their homes and at the same time lost their livelihood as well, because their workplace part down, but, you know, they're just so positive and optimistic that, you know, they, something happens for a reason. And then, you know, as long as they keep their faith in God and to their community and to other people that everything's gonna be okay. Yeah, so right now they are, you know, staying in the hotels, you know, just taking it day by day. We know that with everyone's support around the world, our teams and the community, you know, we will see, we will restore Lahaina again in its glory, right? Yeah. And I know too when, you know, we had a few conversations earlier and hearing you share that, you know, one thing is that we're in control of what's going on in regards to our emotions. And although during this devastating time, you know, I know your team members or your business associates have been, you know, rising up and really bringing that positive energy and doing what they can. Because I know you mentioned, although they were affected by the fire, like they're still showing up for meetings and to learn and to, you know, get themselves back on their feet. Yes, yes. So when RCEO Ben Young came, you know, I was surprised our financial center was packed with our team members. And that's how that shows their commitment to the business, their commitment to themselves, right? To better their lives and then change other people's lives as well. And, you know, one particular story of Chad, he is, he was only one month, one week in the business before the Lahaina fire started. And, you know, he had to live in his car for a couple of days because he couldn't go back to Lahaina. He was undecided when the fire happened. But the very next day, he brought in a friend and, you know, we shared the campaign and he had a new business associate. And, you know, to him, he said, you know, at the, there's no time to be depressed or feel sorry. I can't take, you know, everything back, I can't take it back, but we have to look forward to a better tomorrow, to a better future. And I have to make sure that I work hard and to strive to succeed again because there's a lot of people that, you know, depending on me, he said, so it's just an inspiring story, you know? And the human spirit, you know, how they survived all that and still processing what had happened to them, but still very optimistic. Yes. And, you know, the common theme with everything you're sharing right now is positivity and helping, you know? Being so willing to help others themselves and just coming together as a community, which is really beautiful. And I know, you know, there are changers all throughout the world too that, you know, are helping through this disaster. And I want to say Japan, they donated, correct me if I'm wrong, $2 million to Maui? I have no confirmation of that just yet. I'm not sure. I know $2 million. And I know Korea has done so as well. But I also know, you know, like you mentioned our parent companies, Aegon and WFG, they gave $100,000 and they're matching up to $250,000, which, you know, I think is so beautiful because this is a really big corporation. And, you know, I know they reached out to you guys personally as well, right? And I believe they reached out to our CEO Ben Young and our EMD baby roles. Yes. Goodness. Yeah. And it's just really, really nice to see too, you know, again, togetherness. And like you mentioned too, with our events coming up, there are donations going towards that. But as of right now, Niava, please share, you know, what else is needed in Maui right now as a whole? What can, you know, the public do to come together and help? Right now, of course, a lot of prayers, a lot of love for our community, but, you know, just to just come and donate maybe like what the displaced families need now is the consensus is they need monetary support because, one, they don't have anything and many of them lost their jobs as well and they don't know when they can go back to work. And of course, you know, basic necessities such as, you know, basic things that we take for granted, like towels, blankets, man, you know, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoos. It's just, you know, it's like things that we don't even pay attention to sometimes, but now it's just like, it's so valuable to them, right? And just to, you know, just sending all those messages, especially in social media, right? So just be positive, you know, keep on rooting for those families that better days are coming and, you know, just sending donations like water and stuff, food necessities, yeah, that's a lot, that would be a lot of help for them. Beautiful, thank you for, you know, sharing because, you know, you do have first-hand experience right now and hearing your stories and hearing, you know, what you guys are all overcoming right now is just, I'm at a loss of words. And, you know, is there anything else you'd like to share, you know, regarding the Maui and everything that's going on in Lahaina before we wrap up? Right now, they have started, well, our law enforcement has opened the Lahaina Road and I know for many of our friends and family has gone back to their homes and they started to just, you know, just clean up the area, I guess just to make it, sorry, just to, I guess make the, clean them up so that when it is time for them to rebuild their house or whatever, then, you know, it's faster for them. And I know a lot of the churches and, you know, businesses and nonprofit organizations are there constantly every day delivering food for them at the hotels and yeah, and it's just so awesome to see the community still coming together for them because, you know, Lahaina is not gonna be rebuilt and we don't know, maybe not even in a month or two. So we are just so overwhelmed with a lot of love coming from everyone and of course the community. It's just our first responders, our national guards are there to make sure everyone is safe and that, you know, the constant food and supply goes to our displaced families. So yeah, it's just so, like I said, it's so heartwarming to see that, you know, with this strategy that happened to Lahaina that, you know, the people are still optimistic. They're still positive, you know, and we're just a big family here in Maui. So that's what we are doing. And even us here at our office, we are helping, you know, anyone who we need to, you know, cause a lot of them are now looking for a home. So we have helped many of our teammates and teammates alike at the shelter to fill out their, you know, rental assistance or housing applications. So we hope what we can. And then I know we've been just passing out the important information, like, you know, when the Mexican consulate was here or the Philippine consulate was here to help the displaced families who lost their alien parts and passports during the fire. So just, you know, sharing those important informations for our displaced families so that we can help in any way we can. Thank you so much, Nieva. And, you know, I really hope I can see you soon at Maui as well. And, you know, just thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for being on the show and sharing all the stories that you've been experiencing. It's really, really beautiful to see everyone coming together and to bring hope for Maui during this devastating time. Thank you so much for being on the show, Nieva. Thank you to Shayna and for this opportunity. Thank you so much. Thank you. I hope to see you all at the next episode of Money Talks. I am Shayna Park, a Gen Z inspiring lives of liberties. Thank you.