 I'm Rusty Komori, and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou School Boys Varsity Tennis Team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. This show is based on my books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game, and it's about inspiration, welcoming adversity, and building a superior culture of excellence. My special guest today is the host of the very popular Where Hawaii Eats TV show. She is Ann Lee, and today we are going beyond restaurants. Ann, welcome to Beyond the Lines. Hi, Rusty. Thank you so much for asking me to be on the show. It is an honor. You've had some amazing people on the show, and there's so many people that watch you as well, and really respect what you do. Oh, thank you, Ann. I feel the same about you. I love watching your shows, and I want to first ask, if you can share a bit about your background before really coming to Hawaii? I was born in Korea, and I came to the United States when I was three with my family. My dad was a dentist, and there was a New York dentist that was really a fan of his work. Back in the day, they would find these people and they would fly you to wherever, and then do a work visa and all of those things. It was an incredible opportunity that my dad took that leap of faith, and we ended up in New York. I actually grew up in New York, and I came to Hawaii right after about 9-11. That's when I came to Hawaii. Nice. Ann, while you were in high school, is it true that you played some tennis? I shared this with you, Rusty, because I know you were a tennis coach and you're an avid tennis player, so I was in eighth grade and tried out. At the time, there was only one tennis team. It was no JV or it was just Bar City. I had played a lot. I wasn't a compete, like I didn't compete or things like that, but I just had a joy for our tennis. I tried out for the team going into freshman year, and I didn't make the team, and I was devastated. I couldn't believe it, because every time that I tried to do something, I do my best to succeed, and my older sister, she was like a mother to me. She called the coach and she's like, my sister's devastated. She really, really wants to be on this team. So the coach, the goodness of her heart, she's like, well, just have her come to practice, and I changed the way that she saw me, and I ended up getting the most improved player award that year. So that really taught me a lot that if you really, really want to do something, you really have to put effort and really show that you can do it. See, right there, perseverance, and you are a single mom of three kids. How do you balance your career and your family? It's been difficult. It's interesting what they say to you is that as the kids get older, it's easier. It's really not because when they're younger, you know where they are. They're at daycare. You know set pickup times. You know exactly their routine. You know who's in their class. You know all of those things. As they get older, they get the sense of independence, because I have a 17-year-old, a 15-year-old, and a nine-year-old. And my 17-year-old, he's going to be an adult in February, which is like, he's 18, but he doesn't even know how to really do laundry. So I'm really scared for him. He can cook though, he can cook, but they have this sense of independence, and that's where you don't know where they are. They're in vehicles or driving. They're with, you know, they're basically adults and you kind of have to let that go. So it's actually much easier when they were younger. I don't know how women, I don't know how families do it, because there's three of them. In my situation, there's three of them and one of me. There's three drop-offs in the morning. We just pray that we get to school on time. You know sometimes one person's going to be late and you just got to have to figure out who that person's going to be. I have a lot of close friends that are moms of three, which is crazy, but it takes a village and I think that having good friends, I think through the years, you develop really good friendships of people that you know and work with and grow to love and you become your own little family in some way. And so, yeah, there's times that I have to rely on some help, but I think you just don't think about it. You just do it. That's just the way it is. And that's funny right there about, you know, thinking who's going to be late? Which one of the three will be late today? No, Ann, you know, I mean, there's a lot of single moms out there and that's why I wanted to really, I mean, I'm impressed with, you know, you being, having a successful career, being a single mom. I mean, there's so many moms out there that's in your situation. That's why I really wanted you to share some of those insights. Now, I know, well, I don't know, but you know, I assume being a single mom is very difficult. Is there a best parts of being a single mom? There are a lot of good parts about being a single mom. You get to have their undivided attention. You know, you are the one person that they are counting on, you know, at that moment. And then when they're not with me, gives you have a little break too and it wasn't that easy in the beginning. You know, you just wanted to be with them 24 seven, but you know, being a joint custody, you know, it just gives you some time to be able to kind of do things that you wanna do, you know, in that you don't have to be chasing after, you know, what time do I have to pick up this person and we have to wear yellow shirts today. You tell me the morning of, you know, like, those types of things you don't have to deal with. So it's actually you get your little bit of your sanity back, but there are some great times that you can have, like, you know, just shop, like I just wanna go shopping, you know, without having someone ask me, can I buy this, can I have this? You know, so there are some joys to being by yourself without the kids, I'm not gonna lie. No, and you're so right. I mean, you do need some time to do the things that you need to do. I can see that and you are a resident foodie. We all know about your TV shows, like I said, about all the restaurants. Now, do you like to cook? You know, believe it or not, I don't have this role because I like to cook. I hate cooking. I cook because I have to feed kids. It's a necessity, but to be honest, I don't enjoy buying the groceries, prepping it, cooking it, then cleaning it up. It's, to me, it's so much easier time-wise to go to a restaurant. That's why the restaurants, without restaurants, I would starve. They're my friends. I really do look to and support them as well, because when you think about it and you break it down, there's so many hours in a day and you just, you wanna spend time with kids. You wanna find out what they did that day and have that time. And sometimes when I feel like when you're stressed out about cooking and then we have homework and then we gotta do this, this and this, it's just very stressful. So I do not cook. I mean, I can cook, but I choose not to. What if your kids' survival depended on it? Well, yes. I mean, during the pandemic, they would, it constantly, like you just ate, I just cooked, you just ate. And they wouldn't go, they weren't going away. They were always there constantly eating. And so, yeah, I had to cook. I had to cook at that time and they surprised me. Yeah, the pandemic forced your hand to have to cook. And I wanna know more about your Hawaii Eats TV show now. How did it start? And tell me about your first episode. The first episode, how it started was actually because of the pandemic and we wanted to figure out a way to really help the restaurants because they had suffered so much. And a lot of our sponsors were really like, yes, let's help them. That's really how it started. And speaking with the restaurant community was more like, and people were staying home more, they weren't going out. So they were glued to their televisions reading the paper. I mean, listening to podcasts. So it was a different time at that time and that's how that started. It was really to bring more light and light to the restaurants in the community because there were some restaurants that did close. Some new restaurants actually opened during the pandemic. So it was really highlighting all of those things as well. And I think people are just curious about food and it's visual, food is visual, colorful and they wanna see it. So that's really, I think why people were so fascinated. Anytime that you go into a restaurant and you see a server walking by with a dish and you look at that dish, it's like, what is that? And you ask your server, what is that dish? And so everybody has to eat, everyone loves to eat. And we just wanted to make sure we did an incredible job on communicating that. No, I love how it all started. And Ann, I was a guest on your show and it was so much fun being with you. And then we're having to eat on your show which is not the easiest thing to do, the eating and talking, but we also had a bottle of wine there and we did the filming at Giovanni Pastrami restaurant. Ryan Tanaka is the owner. And we had so much fun together, right? Yeah, I think we were also telling Ryan and he had to up his wine list a little bit. You know, just teasing. No, but seriously, yeah, but anyway, that's another conversation. But yeah, it's really, you know, if you think about the European countries or you think about a lot of different countries outside of the United States, having a meal is an actual, it's a thing. And they have two, three hour lunches, they have wine, they have all of the, it's an event. And sometimes, and I feel like sometimes we forget that, that having a meal together, it's a celebration. It's actually sharing time with that person and really enjoying what it is that you're eating and drinking and really, you know, I think that people lose sight of that. And I just definitely think that it's an experience. So you wanna be able to experience all the things that a restaurant has to offer. Well, you're definitely right about the experience and the celebration because after we filmed, I mean, you and I finished the rest of the Cabernet Sauvignon, right, Ann? We did, we did. I mean, that, we can't just leave it, you know? What do we have to do? No, but it was a really good time, that actual experience, cause I learned a lot about what Ryan was doing and Brother Ryan and Brother Rusty, with the Brotherhood Grimes, that was such a great thing you guys are doing to give back to UH Athletics. And it was, you shared a lot with me then. And then I'm actually able to share that information with the restaurants as well. So hopefully we can get more segue with this. Well, sister Ann, you also had one of my friends, Super Bowl Champion, Michael Bennett on your show. Where did you guys go and how was that experience? That was actually an amazing experience. I had met Michael at a fundraiser for hugs when I was incoming president for hugs. And he was, I believe we had on our June Jones that year and he was one of our guests. He was, he's super, super tall. Like really tall and just incredibly humble and nice. He chose Mudhead Water. And I was surprised by that. And I say that on the show because here I'm thinking this Super Bowl star, you know, he's a football player. He wants to probably eat some steak or something hearty. But he had chose Mudhead Water because of the different types of things that they have. Like there's this banana bread that that whole family loves. And they come, you know, they do go there quite often and they do a lot of catering with them. You know, so there's a relationship there. And you know, I did say to Michael, I'm like, okay, you've got to pick the menu items because I don't want to pick something that you know, you're not going to want to eat. So we deferred to the chef and the chef had actually selected some items that he knew that Michael would like. We also had his white pelle on on the second portion and her mom, it's her grandmother, her mother. Her mom or grandmother was originally from Oahu. So she does have Oahu ties. And what brought them to Oahu to live here was that they would come to have vacation here often, like sometimes once or twice a year. And we talk, and I asked Michael because he is still so young, why he retired? Because he still, I mean, think about Tom Brady was 40 and he did retire, then he didn't retire. And then I don't know, is he playing? I don't know if he's playing, but- He retired now. He did retire. Okay, so he's fully retired now. And I did ask him that and he said one of the most honest things and he said he wanted to be around for his family. He didn't want to do that to his body anyone. When you think about it, they do get thrown around. I mean, my goodness, it's like getting tackled every day. I don't know who could really take that on, but he did that, he did that for his family. And I really had to, I respected him for that. He was like, wow, that was quite a decision, but he's doing things that he loves and she's doing amazing things. She's doing so many things for women and creating beauty lines. She has a group that gets together often and she empowers women. So it was really great to meet them, just wonderful, wonderful people and they have girls, I mean, they have kids. So they're very, very family devoted. No, I love it. I love Michael and Pelle and I'm so happy you had them on. And you also had Lieutenant Governor Silvia Luke on your show. And where did you guys go for that episode and how was it eating with Lieutenant Governor Silvia? So Lieutenant Governor Silvia, I met through my friend representative, Scott Nishimoto and she is just a wonderful, lovely, down-to-earth person and she's very similar to my background. She came here from Korea, she was born in Korea, but she came here when she was nine. So we kind of talked about the differences of, you know, cause it's like culture shock when you have accessibility to everything. And when I grew up, I remember my mom and my grandmother always just cooking everything. We never went to, I mean, we didn't go to restaurants. My family always cooked, that's what I remember. And then you come to the United States and it's like this accessibility, anything. Like I remember the first time I went to McDonald's and I was like, what is this French fry? Why is this so good? And it was addicting. It was like, how come it's never mushy? You know, and so it's that accessibility culture here. And then we talked about that. We also talked about, you know, why we had it at Podmore was she had, she was really integral in pushing this initiative of like protecting historic buildings and the Podmore building was one of those buildings. So the owners before purchasing the building they had this, it benefited them basically to be able to take over that building and make it historic and keep it, keep the foundation but they also included when they remodeled elements to make it theirs, you know. So there's bits of New York in there. There's bits of, from Chef Anthony he grew up in London. And so there's elements in there that remind him of his family and things like that. So it's a journey when you go in there and it's beautiful, it's absolutely beautiful. You feel like you're transformed in New York City but that's why we chose Podmore and the food is incredible and she loves the food. So that's how that went. She loves, she likes to eat that one. She really does, like she's a foodie too, believe it or not. So yeah. Well, I agree with you completely. I love Lieutenant Governor Sylvia, she's so much fun and I'm so glad you guys went to Podmore. I mean, that's a great place. And you know, with your TV shows and what I love about it is, like you mentioned earlier you're really spotlighting a lot of these restaurants which you're literally helping our community. You're helping these restaurants survive. Like you said, many of them didn't survive the pandemic and the ones that did, they're not necessarily like making money right now. A lot of them are still struggling to recover. And so it's such a great thing that you're able to go around and highlight these restaurants to try to support them which ultimately helps our community, right? Yes. Thank you for bringing that up, you know especially with what happened in Lahaina. So many, I mean, restaurants have just been impacted and I think not only restaurants, but the people like the economy. So if you think about what makes Hawaii we have so much tourism. So if you look at the hotel and restaurant industry I would say I think it's like 70% of our population works in that type of industry. So if we look at how do we support, we have to be able to support because without them being open, there's no tourism there's none of that. So yes, sometimes we don't want the traffic, you know we don't want those things we don't want long lines everywhere but it does help us at the end of the day we are a beautiful, beautiful state. It's probably one of the safest and nicest places to visit. You know, anytime that people come here or visit from the mainland they're always like it's so different here, it's so different. Like people actually let you cut in in front of them they allow you to do it, you know instead of like beeping or something aggressive. So the culture here, it's so we I feel like that's what the restaurants do too. They're so accommodating, wonderful. There's so much that restaurants bring for us. You know, and look the Japanese, you know the tourism, the international tourism is not there as well. So they are really relying on the local community to also support them. So everything you said, spot on. Yeah, I mean, we all have to speak and live Aloha and you have both of my books. I wanna know, did you like the books and what stood out to you in it? So I gotta tell you the way I came across your books I was, you and I were like two ships passing in the night. We would always like, we knew of one another. We knew like similar friends. But Walter Kuremitsu actually gifted my books gifted your books to me to give to my son who's going to St. Louis and Walter was the CEO of St. Louis. I wanna say like maybe 10 years ago or so something like that. You were president of St. Louis, yeah. You were president of St. Louis. So I gifted the books and I was reading them and it was like, it's so well done because it's like just certain points, certain points on anybody. You could be in high school. You could be the principal of a school. You could be anybody, but it resonates with everybody. And I gotta say, you know and I would have never had the opportunity to pick up a book if Walter didn't give those to me. So, you know, it's incredible. I think the bottom line is you've helped a lot of people because when you read it, you take what you write. Basically the person reading is going to take that element and really put it to their use on how they feel it's best for themselves. And what I found, you know when you had Chris Lee on, I was Chris Kim on Chris Kim, he, you know, being vulnerable like that. And also, you know, he's a man, you know that industry, you don't show that kind of vulnerability. And so for him to be able to share as much as he did with you and tears, you know that just really shows how important what you said, it spoke to him. And so in, you know, you saved him. You really did save him in that, in that, in that manner and he shares that. So it's very impactful. And I know that you're on your way to writing another book. Yes, I am. Book number three. Book number three. And so, yeah, there's going to be more wisdom that you're going to be able to share with us and I'm looking forward to that. I want to say the one thing that stood out like really spoke to me was finding your passion. It was number six, because I think when I was younger you think of passion, right? You think of passion. What is your passion? Oh, passion. What do I love? I love to shop. You know, I love to go to the spa. You know, that's what you think passion is but passion to me means doing something that doesn't feel like a job or it doesn't feel like a chore. It doesn't feel like, oh gosh, I gotta do that today. It's more like it's just natural. It's a natural ability and you want to do the best at it and you have the best intentions and that's what passion, I feel, is the way that I see what passion is or I feel passion is. No, I love how you brought up key number six. You're right. Key number six for passion. And I'm just so happy that Judge Walter Keremitsu gifted you the books for your son. And then you're able to watch the Sergeant Chris Kim episode. I mean, I had no idea that my books would have the effect to where it has, where it's helping people with their mental fitness of even saving people from depression and suicide. And I wanna know, reflecting back on your life so far, what's a big valuable lesson that you've learned? There's a lot of lessons I think that especially, with my years here, I would never think in a million years that I would be living in Hawaii on an island and doing what I'm doing. If you told me that when I was growing up, I would have thought that you didn't know what you were talking about. The biggest lesson that I learned is go with your gut. There's always something that is happening to you feel it. There's these little tiny things your mind does or you feel like something's just a little bit off. And nine times out of 10, it is true, it is true. So I've had the biggest lesson, I guess, was being able to forgive, forgive things that have happened, separating from my children's father or leaving a job or things like that. So I know it doesn't sound as, detrimental, I guess, but it's like those things, because again, it's passion, right? It goes back to passion. I'm very passionate about what I do. I'm very passionate about doing the right thing. And sometimes when things are not done the right way, you have to, you just make that decision for yourself. So it's really going with your gut, really going with your gut. I love hearing that insight from you, Anne, because you're right. Trusting your instincts is very key and forgiveness is very key. And I just have to say it was such a joy to have you on the show today, to hear insights from you having a successful business career, but also being a very successful single mom and for you just to really be sharing these insights. And I wanna thank you for taking time to be on the show today. Thank you, Rusty. This was again, an honor for you to ask me to be on the show. It was interesting, because I'm usually on the other side asking the questions. So it was kind of different, different for me to sit here and be like, okay, I gotta, now I have to do the answering. So I hope I wasn't babbling. I don't wanna be babbling. No, you were terrific, Anne. Thank you. Thank you so much, Rusty. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, please visit rusticomori.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Anne and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.