 Hello everyone and welcome again to Think Tech for another edition of Tourism 101 where we're talking about everything that has to do with tourism. Our guest today is a very special woman in our community who together with her husband had built a very successful small business enterprise on the heels of the hospitality industry. We're talking about Shah Thompson and together with her husband Jack Tihari Thompson have been able to employ thousands of people through the years through Tihari Productions and next year they'll be celebrating their 50th anniversary. Shah, good morning and welcome to our show. Aloha. Thank you for inviting me. I can't believe next year is 50 years. Where did the years go? He must have started when you were two years old. Yeah, there you go. Let's talk about, you know, I always like to reminisce, I always like to go down memory lane. Tell us about growing up in Kali and going to Farrington High School where Jack also went to school. I'll tell you, I am so grateful for the visitor industry, you know, next year. They're actually writing a legacy book on Tihari Productions and it's founders. That's us. And I made a joke with them and I said, I thought you had to discover penicillin before you get it, you know. But the visitor industry is so important that they felt I've been a part of it, we've been a part of it for coming up 50 years. So they're doing a book and we'll have a great gala and I want to say thank you to the industry, the whole industry, but mainly different organizations that help bring us to where we're at today. So yeah, this is what a kupuna looks like, okay? Now, Jack and you met at Farrington High School. We did. Yes. Yes, we're high school sweethearts. And did you know back then when you were a song leader at Farrington High School and Jack was a star athlete that one day you folks would be having this very successful business? I truly did not because Jack really is a shy, kind of quiet guy and as you know, I'm loud and so I didn't and quite frankly he was a gentleman, meaning his father was part of the Navy and so he came to Farrington High School with his shirt tucked in and he wore loafers and I come from a very big Hawaiian family and my brothers are rough guys and so all of us girls were tomboy and I thought, I thought quite frankly he was a little bit too much gentleman for me, but as we worked together and we did work together before we were married at the old Queen's Surf, Pukapuku Otea. 1965 and I saw this handsome, handsome person and I thought, but eh, he's too quiet, was meant to be. We just made 53 years married, just made 53 years, very good and and 16 mopuna, 16 grandchildren. That's my claim to fame by the way. So I want to talk about what you know, I mean your first name is really Charlene. Yes. Your first name is Charlene and your second version is Shah and Jack of course is known as Tehati. Tehati, yes. So tell me how Shah came to be and you, Jack was able to adopt the name Tehati, just give your moniker through the years, Tehati Productions. Okay, let's start with Tehati. He was this shy guy that would come when we were dating and pick me up after work at three in the morning because in those days you had three shows that ended, it started at 1.30 in the morning at the old Queen's Surf and he'd pick me up and we were dating. And finally everybody went to the World's Fair and there were no knife dancers and he said to me, you know, I wonder if I can learn that dance. I said, yeah, you're Samoan, oh you should learn it but I didn't believe that he would try it. Well, everybody went away and my mentor, Elaine Frisbee said, can your boyfriend dance? I said, oh yeah, he's very good. Well, the first day he danced I was certain that I was going to break up with him, I was certain and he'll tell you the story, he was so bad and today he'll say that to all of our knife dancers because we have 12 world ranking knife dancers in our company. My son is included and he'll say, I was so bad but God bless me, look at that. I learned this dance and look at all these kids that we employ that can do it so well. And my name, Shah, coming from Charlene, the kids in Kalihi where I grew up, never used ours. I was never Shah and I can tell when people don't know me from business organizations they'll call the company and say, may I speak to Shah please? And they say, we don't have a Shah here. So they never said ours so I became Shah. And then Karen, they made it really known as Shah because she started writing the Shah of Waikiki, you know, even though it's spelled C-H-A-A. So that's how we got our names, Tehati and Shah. Great. Now, let's talk about the company itself. Today you are and Jack are basically in retirement having turned the company over to Afatia and Misty. How has that transition been, the two of your children now actually running the company, making the day-to-day decisions? Are you really completely out of it? No, I'm still the CEO. I knew they were going to catch you there. I tried to. It was difficult for them. They tell me it was difficult for them because it was hard to let go. And I guess so. I didn't think so. I'd go in and check and give my opinions but they didn't listen to it. They have taken it to a different level. I mean, it's no longer an MC introduction. My daughter is a research specialist. And this is what she went to school for. So she will research the area or the district where the shows are at and she'll bring back all the facts of Hawai'iana and how it derived its name, how the helumua was helumua before it became Waikiki. And so they did bring it up. When we were first married and having our babies and working day jobs, what my mother called real jobs, we didn't have the time. You needed to be cute and you could dance well and you worked for a lesser amount of money. Today it's a business. It's a big business because that's what they went to colleges for. That's what they went to school for. And they look at the company different. I used to know every single employee. I knew every one of their children. I went to every baptism. I went to every graduation. I can't do that anymore, not with a thousand employees. But I'm the old lady and he's the old man and when we go we get our enjoyment by them just saying, wow, we met Tihati and Shah, you know. But Misty and Afatia, they just know what to do. That's why you sent them to good schools. They... And those good schools were? Oh, heavens. One went to not Columbia, Colorado State University and of course, Afaa was the first string running back for June Jones at the University of Hawaii. And Misty majored in journalism, what kind of journalism though? Whatever. In journalism, Afatia was in business. And they tell us that they think differently from us. So I... But I always say, but for the grace of God, there go I, so you too. And I say that because they say, you know, she's from Kalihi Valley Housing. That's why she says that. But I use that example all the time. You were born on Port Lack Road, I was born in Kalihi, so we do have a little bit of a difference. Great, great. Now, they obviously had some big shoes to fill because when you and Jack were in charge of the company, I remember back in 1986, you were voted the Hawaii small business of the year. And then later on, you folks were inducted into the Hawaii business hall of fame. So they don't really feel that pressure of having to do well because they've been brought up in the company, obviously. And then also now putting their own stamp and going for it. Today, you still have 1,000 employees and how many shows throughout the island? I think it's 13 or 14. Our latest was the Olani, the Disney Olani. We opened that and we're grateful for that, very nice. But every show is different. So what they tried to do when we were doing it, we'd teach all the employees and everybody had a separate show and you knew it. Afatia and Misty taught, made sure that every show knew every other show, they knew all the dances. Therefore, if Maui is short of two performers tonight, you fly them over from Honolulu. So it's a whole new thing. I mean, we worked so hard that, and I was still teaching at the time, we teach Maui and we teach a big island and we teach Kaua'i and then I'd say, what numbers, what are we doing? What is, what's happening there? But they have themed it and they've named every show. We were just always Tihati Productions, Tihati Productions on Hyatt, Tihati Productions at Hilton. Today, you go to the Teh Moana Nui at the Princess Kaua'i, separate format, anyway, every show has their own identity, their own theme, because it's in a different district. And that's what they've done, the research that Misty Mokehana has done. It's very different. So we go and we enjoy it a lot. Now, in my opinion, you folks have really been blessed because you've been around for 50 years. Oh, Evans. And, you know, luau shows, wine shows, Polynesian shows, sometimes come and go, depending on the market, depending on the interest, sometimes depending on ownership. So what has been the secret that has kept Tihati Productions alive and well and continues to be one of Hawaii's best small businesses? You know, Mufi, a lot of people will think this is a cliche, but for Jack and I, the book that they're writing, the legacy book of Tihati Productions, we said to the writer, we want to make sure that the reader understands that we understand, but for the grace of God, there go I. I mean, we believe that with our whole heart and soul. I mean, to Kalihi kids, I did go back to school, and I'm going to say this. When I got my degree from Hawaii Pacific University, and Jack drove me every night. Every night. A Bachelor of Science, I might add, in Judicial Administration. Yes. Yes. When I did get it, I thought, but I'd gotten all the kudos and the business hall of fame and the small business and many others already. What is this going to do for me? And honestly, for those that sit on boards, you understand, you don't get the respect until you have that pala pala. And I thought, but I used to talk them down without the pala pala. So my point is, it's very important, education, the degree is important. But again, but for the grace of God, because I did all of that before I got it. And now that I have it, nobody asked me about my Judicial Administration thing. They still asked me about tourism. And boy, am I grateful for tourism. Have you had some mentors along the way, both you and Jack, they sort of served as role models and examples of it? I did. I did. Well, Elaine Frisbee, for instance, was one. Mike Kumuulis, Rose Mauna Kea Lane, Myrtle Lee was my tourism industry mentor. And the reason is entertainers don't get long contracts. You get it for a year. Sometimes you don't get one. You get it for a year. And then maybe they'll renew it or maybe they'll just roll it over or maybe before Myrtle Lee left the industry, she called us in and she said, you too deserve this. And we were the first entertainment company that got a five-year contract, and that just shot us. I mean, other hotel general managers followed suit and said, why would she trust these kids? And so now with 13 or 14 shows, whatever it is, Myrtle started that, Myrtle Lee. And don't you also lend your expertise to training folks from other countries that want to do? Oh. Remember a few years back, wasn't it Thailand? Yes, yes. 150 performers on a stage, and it was a 500, 5,000 seating supper club. And they would bring your food on skates. I kid you not, they'd bring it on skates. And I remember when we left simply because there was a civil war. And I was there in the White House—no, they're not a White House—in the palace when the king made the two opposing parties crawl and make friends. That was very impressive. But we left shortly after because the war was still on, but at least the king had his say with everybody, chill. This is both our country. So the visitor industry and our occupation sure afforded Jack and I an awful lot of travel and experience, you know. We've been more than halfway around the world. Well— But I trained. I trained them about this. Absolutely. But we're going to be coming up on our next segment here after we take a pause for the cause because we're here this morning talking with Shaht Thompson. As you can see, she's so full of energy. And we haven't even scratched the surface of what this iconic woman is all about. We're going to talk about her community involvement, for example, and her latest venture in the tourism industry. Have you heard of the Blue Note Hawaii? That's Shaht Thompson. We'll talk about that after we take this break. We'll pause there. Once again, we're here in Think Tech, Hawaii. This show is called Tourism 101, where we delve deep into the tourism industry. Talk about things that are happening, especially as seen through the eyes of people that have a track record of making things happen. So happy to have Shaht here this morning. And together with her husband Jack, they're coming up on their fiftieth anniversary of the Hottie Productions in Hawaii. Right back. Aloha. My name is Mark Shklav. I am the host of Think Tech, Hawaii's Law Across the Sea. Law Across the Sea is on Think Tech, Hawaii every other Monday at 11 a.m. Please join me, where my guests talk about law topics and ideas and music and Hawaiiania all across the sea from Hawaii and back again. Aloha. Aloha. I'm Wendy Lowe, and I'm coming to you every other Tuesday at 2 o'clock live from Think Tech, Hawaii. And on our show, we talk about taking your health back. And what does that mean? It means mind, body, and soul. Anything you can do that makes your body healthier and happier is what we're going to be talking about, whether it's spiritual health, mental health, fashion health, beautiful smile health, whatever it means. Let's take healthy back. Aloha. Our guest today on Tourism 101 is Shaht Thompson. We've talked about the beginnings of the Hottie Productions, how they met as Sweethearts and Kalihi, and certainly now have developed a very successful company. But I want to delve into the other side of Shaht Thompson that may not be as well known to folks outside the industry of how involved she is. I mean, here's a woman who's been on the police commission. She's been involved with the Law United Way. She's been involved in fundraising activities. She also has accomplished so much that the Girl Scouts made her a woman distinction, she was the distinguished woman of the year, and also the mother of the year by the American Mothers Association. So Shaht, I know you don't like the spotlight, China, but you've done so much, and I want to focus on how much you inject due to give back to the community. You're not two individuals that are kind of hoarding it for your immediate family. You're always looking to help. It could be schools. It could be your fellow entertainers. It could be causes that are going unnoticed in the community. And when you get involved, all of a sudden everybody goes, oh, Shaht's involved, we've got to give. Well, I think one of the awards that I appreciate the most and I'm most proud of is Mother of the Year for the State of Hawaii. Because I believe everything happens in a home, everything. And when they called me, American Mothers Inc. called me, I said, what is that? I thought every, I mean, I'm sure most mothers do exactly what I do. Yes, you do make the home lunch and yes, you go to PTA meetings and yes, you, but I think we owe a debt to mothers that work and our mothers. So when I hear women that don't work outside of the home and they say, oh, I don't work, I think, oh, you silly lady. Let's tell them what you do, what you actually do. We raised our own four children and eight more. They were either relatives and came from families that didn't have as much or anyway. We raised 12 children. And everyone, the line dulls when it comes to the children I bore and the hanai that we raised, they are all very close even today. And on Sundays at the church, everybody comes to the Port Loc Thompson's house because we have the best food on Sundays. We have a huge kongai and everybody eats and they don't go home. We watch TV or the kids are swimming or whatever and they lie out on the floor. There's bodies all over the floor and then we have dinner together. So, it's a big deal. This is one of the reasons I appreciate the mother of the year award mostly. Yeah, well, I think the classic scenario with the Thompson family is, you don't eat till you food, you eat till you die. And you saw the size of my boys. I see that, believe you me, I believe you me. So let's talk about the tourism industry in general. You've said repeatedly during this segment with you of how blessed we are to have a wonderful tourism industry. What do you see as some of the challenges going forward so that we can maintain the best of what the industry has offered through the years? I especially like the fact now that because you and Jack have been such proponents of the importance of the culture. We see that much more reflected in everything that we do about tourism. Yes, yes. I think for one thing, and like you said, I've been around for 50 years. I think that we must continue to be sure that there's an even allowance for both the visitor industry and the residents. Because some of the residents that don't understand what we're doing, sometimes think we're the big bullies that do everything for tourists. Not so, not so. There are many, many, and we may run out of time. But there's many perks or benefits for the local people to get involved with tourism. My mother, for instance, during her time, was very anti-tourism. However, she learned through me, first of all, when she came to Puku Puku Atea to see me dance, she thought that I should put more clothes on. So that was the one thing. But then she realized that the benefit that tourism affords the local people. And it's not just jobs. We meet people from abroad that we have made, Tiahti and I have made lifetime friends with. And they understand our plight. We understand theirs. We must continually, the visitor industry is our responsibility to make sure that the visitor, the resident, is included and involved in whatever we do in tourism. First of all, we do have too many people now. I'm going to get scolded for that. No, no, no, go ahead. Aren't we 10 million visitors now, or 9.5? Very close to it, yeah, 10 million. And I say this to all the general managers. I'm with every chain, Hilton, Hyatt, Sheridan, you name it. I say, the parking is going to kill the local person here. Now I understand that part of it too. But we must continually remember that that's not all that Hawaii is tourism. It is our number one industry. But we also have much more to share from the local residents, much more. So if you get a chance to stay in a resident's home, stay. We do that all the time. We invite people. And of course, my daughter calls our house a Grand Central Station. But people stay with us all the time. And you leave a lasting effect on those that don't really know Hawaii or island people. And I don't just mean the Hawaiians. Because right now, the Filipinos are our largest ethnicity. And they are as warm and as wonderful as the Japanese people in Hawaii. Hawaii people is Hawaii. So what would be your message to government officials or tourism leaders in terms of making sure that we stay connected with the community and that we have our ear to the ground and we're listening as much as we're talking about their concerns that need to be addressed if we're going to have an industry that truly is going to be prosperous and advantageous for everyone who calls Hawaii home? I'm thankful for some of the legislators, not all. Some of the leaders, I don't think are with it at this time. I don't think. I don't think they talk. I think they talk only to their followers, maybe, only to—I think that they need to be more inclusive. I really don't think we're—and I think that the different organizations of tourism, one of my favorite ones is the Aloha visitor, Jessica, and Shucks, but she takes care. Jessica Lonnie-Lash. Thank you. They do a great job and they don't try to take credit for anything. Maybe we have to go a little higher up and say, okay, you got your picture taken today, but listen to so-and-so that came in this morning and you guys checked them off. I really think that our politicians need to be more effective in working with all the different organizations and not try to make brownie points. You must listen to the Hawaiians. They have a plight. You must listen. I mean, I don't talk about—I don't think radically. They don't have to do that, but they need to listen and not exclude people. So you're saying that they need to come out of their offices more, get out in the community, be open to criticisms, suggestions. That's what I meant about don't just come to have your picture taken. And the people know. They really know, which makes me very sad that you are not involved, but I'm not going to say those things. Let's talk about what you've done to show the advantages of being involved with the visitor industry. One of the things that I give Hugh and Jack big kudos on is I've seen you folks many times when a fellow entertainer, when a fellow leader in our community who's going through struggles, going through hardships, whether it be for medical expenses, in some cases they've passed on. And you folks never hesitate to come up with a fundraiser where you bring the industry together, where they get to demonstrate that aloha and compassion for each other. And you put everybody in a good place by doing that. I have had the privilege of serving in areas like that, like a good friend that just left us down whole. I ran his funeral. Our sweet, sweet Willie K. who had cancer, we had a big fundraiser for him. But more importantly, that's just the nature of Hawaii's people. I mean, the first ones to call and say, Shah, so and so is Seiko, or Shah, the school needs help. And I just go. I think it's, honestly, I think it's a gift that I maybe was born with and love it and don't think I deserve any kudos for that. I just think that that's part of what Hawaii is all about. I'm not the only one that does that. Visitor industry is amazing. Entertainers absolutely always, you know, we come in and we do a huge show and everybody comes to see the named performers and we raise all the money. I'm most proud that I gave Skippitya's $12,000 in Farrington High School football team did not have money for helmets. And we gave Skippitya's because I'm a Farringtonian. And when we celebrated our 25th year, mind you, we're going on to our 50th. But when we celebrated our 25th year, we gave Evercent. We gave, I don't know what it was, $50,000 to St. Louis High School. We gave to Farrington. We gave to the Waikiki Improvement because I really believe we made all our money because of the Hotel Association. So we're going to do it again next year. And I'm so grateful that we have the privilege to do that. I mean, give money away. People need the money. And so I want to say on behalf of the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association, we really are very grateful to Tehati Productions with you and Tehati leading the way and setting aside some funds many years ago that we were able to now use that for what we call the Downhole Legacy Award. I didn't even remember doing that, but I'm so grateful that we give it to a student of Hawaiian ancestry that wants to pursue music, arts, culture, and entertainment in college. And then hopefully that will be their profession. And thanks to you, we can do that every year. Well, we do have an arts scholarship from Tehati Productions. Anybody that wants to get into the business, because I don't know a business tougher than entertainment. I mean, when we started, we'd work for next to nothing. Downhole gave us our first break, and we were paid for 12 performers. We had 35, called every relative we had, especially Tehati. He has relatives. And so it's just part of our nature to help advance entertainment in the islands. And because of that, in essence, we're helping tourism and loving it. Grateful for it. So in parting words here, and the last question I'm asking of you. So what would be your advice to that person now who is thinking about a career and has all these choices before them? And maybe they have an inkling to go on the visitor internship, but they're thinking, ah, it's a service industry. It is. It depends on tourists coming here. What would you say to that person? I would say, like I say to all the kids, follow your dreams, but be true to yourself. Don't try to do something that you know you're not serious about. Don't go in for just the money. Follow your dreams, and hang in. Don't be afraid of anything. Well, as you see, we've been very blessed this show to have Shah Thompson. She certainly leads, by example, I've known Shah and Tihati for a long time. Her exuberance, her appearance today is just as it was back in the day. And we really appreciate all that she's done. And most importantly, she's passing it on now to the next generation of leaders. I'm big on mentoring. And they've obviously done a great job of mentoring. I miss T and Afatia, that they are going to continue the legacy of Tihati Productions. Thank you, Mufi. Happy to be here. Mahalo Nui Law, and we'll see you next week when we have our next show. We're scheduled here on Think Tank to be able to, again, focus on tourism one-on-one. What makes this industry take what we need to do in going forward to assure that all the challenges are there, that we have solutions for them to ensure that this industry remains nocoy. Mahalo.