 Hi, I'm Rusty Komori and this is Beyond the Lines. I was the head coach for the Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. My book Beyond the Lines is about leadership, creating a superior culture of excellence and finding greatness which is what this show is all about. And we are broadcasting live from the beautiful Think Tech Hawaii TV studio in the Pioneer Plaza in downtown Honolulu. My special guest today is a Narcissus Queen, Miss Chinatown Hawaii, Miss Chinatown USA, a model, an actor, a flight attendant, and TV host of the very popular Pet Hui TV show. She is Dara Dung and today we are going beyond the crown. Dara! I'm so glad I wrote that intro for you. Hey, I don't know how you have time to do all of that. It's interesting, but yeah, I like my life that way. I think you have 34 hour days. I think so, and zero hours to sleep, 34 hours in a day is good, let's pray for that. Dara, I had so much fun being a judge with you the other month for the Miss Chinatown pageant. That was good fun. Yeah, we had a great time and that was stiff competition that night. Oh, it was tough. My girls were really good and it was kind of nice being back there in that element after 16 years. Oh, I thought it was just five. Four. So, Dara, tell me about Dara's early years growing up. I mean, what schools did you attend and where did you grow up at? I grew up in Manoa, so I attended Noelani Elementary School, where I was student body president. So, I guess my love for leadership started there and then I transferred to Stevenson and I decided to become president of my class at Stevenson in seventh and then eighth grade and then transferred to Roosevelt, the theater school through Roosevelt. And I decided to become president of my class for all four years there. So, I guess I loved, I don't know, bossing people around and no, I just loved giving back to the class and planning fun things for us and yeah. Wow, you're a natural born leader. I don't know. I guess so. I enjoyed it and I think I was always encouraged by my parents and my family and just supported by them. So, marching band, I was drum major and I became a member of interschool and interact and key club and, you know, I took up a love for riflery, which is very interesting and then volleyball and track and field. So, I kind of dabbled in a lot of things. I feel like my life kind of has always been paved out that way for me. And then what college did you go to? UH. I majored in speech and then I graduated with my bachelor's in 2005. And your family, you have, I mean, you plus two sisters and a brother, your mom is the rock of the family. She is. Tell me about it. Well, both my parents were when my dad passed in 2003. So yeah, my mom has kind of been my mom and my dad, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, she's just been amazing and so supportive and just encouraging and loving and she's always taught us just to be ourselves and to just strive and continue and push yourself to be better and don't ever be content with where you're at. She's such a sweet lady. I mean, I love running into her. She's great. Everybody loves her. She really is the sweetest. And she's like that all the time and she loves people. I think she's genuinely one of those people when you put things out into the universe, it comes back. She just really has a love for people and it definitely comes back because people love her too and she's wonderful. So Dara, what was the first job you've ever had? I worked at Ardenby. It was a store in Alamoan. I was under the Wet Steel Incorporated Company and so I told my mom after high school, I was like, just drop me off and I'm going to start walking at one end of the mall to the other and just apply. I was 18 years old and she said, okay. And so I just put in a bunch of applications and I came upon Ardenby and they hired me that day on the spot. So that was my first job. I remember Ardenby. Right. I got a whopping $8 an hour. Big bucks. Big bucks. But it was so much fun and I made a lot of lasting friendships and good experience. So now you are a flight attendant, but you and your sisters are all flight attendants for Hawaiian Air. Yes. All three of us. That's amazing. I worked for Hawaiian for 50 years and she pretty much, we grew up with Hawaiian Airlines so she instilled that Hawaiian culture in us that, you know, we're Ohana and we help each other. So when we decided to become flight attendants, it was just natural for us to apply at Hawaiian. Why do you like being a flight attendant? I guess the go-to answer is because I love to travel, but I mean the experience of my day is never the same. So I can maybe fly to the same destination a few days in a row, but the experience is never the same. You're constantly meeting hundreds of people a day. Yeah. And it's just exciting and fun. And then of course your day can end up with you in Korea or Australia or New York. So yeah, the perks of it are amazing. So Dara, what are some things that passengers do that irritate flight attendants? How much time do you have? That could be our entire show. Oh my gosh, we can write a book off the top of my head. Just some. Just some. There's something with the lavatory door. I don't know what it is, but even though it says push on it, I mean people yank out the ashtray, they're like violently grabbing it. It's just, it's very simple. So we're yelling at them, push, push the center, push where it says push. Yeah, eight times push. Really people are normally really great. So yes, they're our pet peeves. There are things that we can get irritated with, but we love passengers as a whole. You know, there are reasons for being there. And so yeah, those things are minor. Okay. Okay. Just checking. We'll talk after the show. So let's talk about pageants. Now you're the winner of three big pageants and I want to ask you, how did you get interested in into pageants? My sister Dana, she was the one who initiated everything. She wanted to make friends and really just, just push herself. And this is at a very young age when she was 12 or 13. And she just wanted to do something that wasn't her norm because she was a tomboy. She did sports and she thought, I want to do this. So she got involved. She entered her first pageant, had an amazing experience, and was like, I want the same for my sisters. So she entered both then me and myself in our first pageant. And yeah, and then from there, it just kind of spiraled because we had a good time. We made friends. We got to play Jessup and the rest of the issue, I guess. So why do you think pageants are such a good experience for young women? Oh, wow. A multitude of reasons. So I'm a speech major. I graduated with my major in speech at MUH, but I never really had a platform, I guess, to use that major. So, and everyone's like, oh, what are you going to do with this? But for pageants, I was able to do so much public speaking with narcissists. I got to travel to China and just extemporaneously, they're like, get up, give a speech to the prime minister of Taiwan. And you're like, oh my gosh, but you know, with experience and having a degree in it and just practicing, I think that is one aspect that I would definitely owe to pageantry. And then the friendships. I have so many friends just from pageants that I would not have met had we not entered together. The poise, the confidence that comes with it. Even if you enter a pageant and you don't necessarily win, just knowing, I did that. That's amazing. You know, like, you always say, oh, you know, every girl up here is a winner. It becomes a cliche, but it's not. Like, they are winners for just stepping on the stage, whether it be in a swimsuit and evening gown, just for being there and going beyond their own comfort zone, that's a pretty big deal. Yeah. I mean, a lot of them have insecurities about themselves that they're dealing with in the pageant. Absolutely. As did I. And I think I still do until today, but yeah, you're surrounded by people who just want you to be not only yourself, but the best version of yourself, you know, and I feel like my mom, she was such a strong advocate of, don't compete against other girls. You compete against yourself. That's your biggest competition. So I've always taken that with me, I think, in every aspect of my life. I fully agree. Let's talk about your modeling career. Okay. Now, modeling looks glamorous, but it is. It's only glamorous. It's not as easy as it looks, though, right? Yeah. There's a lot of, you know, sucking in and turning it. No, but I feel like the beginning of modeling, just getting into the industry, getting your foot in the door and being out there and putting yourself out there and letting yourself be scrutinized and criticized by people, that is an aspect that nobody really talks about. That's difficult. Once you get out there and people start recognizing you and knowing you, then it's a little bit easier because they know your capabilities. But proving yourself in the beginning, that's, I feel, the hurdle that's most difficult. Yeah. And then you're also an actress. I mean, you acted on Hawaii Five-O and you must have had a lot of fun with Alex and Scott. Oh, they're okay. Tell me about that experience. They're wonderful. I feel like when you do local productions like that, I mean, the crew, not just the actors are so much fun. And they really know what it's like to be family and to take care of each other. So yes, you're filming sometimes a murder scene or something that's very serious, but you're behind the scenes, having so much fun and just really it's a day hanging out and getting your hair and makeup done and, you know, just like being with your friends. Yeah. Good fun. And Dara, you're the host of the Pet Huey. I love watching the Pet Huey. Thank you. So you have a passion for pets, which is absolutely perfect. Yes. Well, we have four dogs to begin with, so obviously we have a passion. They all started out as fosters. We're horrible foster parents, apparently. They just don't leave once we foster them. So yes, we adopted all of them rescue babies. And so Demby actually used to be the original host of the Pet Huey. And then she got very busy. So I took over about two years ago now, and it's just been wonderful. We not only help people find missing pets and we reunite them with their families, but we also feature local businesses, which I think is so important, you know, to support local and just to give back to the community. So it's a great show. I should watch it if you don't already. I totally agree. And you guys also added Chris Kim on from Crime Stoppers to deal with talk about animal cruelty. Yes. So for those of you who don't know, Crime Stoppers has three divisions. It's normal, regular Crime Stoppers division, Crime Stoppers animal division and Crime Stoppers student division, which are now becoming so popular. There's student division they even promote at Milani High School. But yes, their animal division is about helping to reprimand animal cruelty, not necessarily, I guess, to prevent it. But sometimes it just can't be prevented. So yes, we feature Sergeant Chris Kim and we've been doing a lot of good work with him. So we have great, exciting things for that show. Totally great. Awesome. And I also host another show. It's called Island Driver TV. That's right. That's also an OC-16. So I'm doing double duty. I'm talking about dogs and birds and then cars and motorcycles. But they're both on spectrums though. Well, you love pets and cars. Exactly. We have to move around our pets somehow. So perfect in a car. So now you're also doing OC-16 commentary. What do you like about doing commentary? So that's an interesting aspect for me. That's pretty much like this. It's live television. We recently just did the Mililani Marching Band Festival and that's broadcast live from their marching band field. And it's such an interesting aspect to do live television versus the pet who are Island Driver. If I say something wrong or if I flub up a word, then it's like cut, take again. But live TV, it encompasses so many different aspects. Plus, so many students are involved in that. So you know, not only are they tuning in, but their parents as well. So you just want to do a good job for them. I was with Felipe O'Hashto, who is also a very popular OC-16 commentator. He does all high school sports. And it's just very fun working with professionals who kind of push you to be better too. That was a great experience. And this is live TV. I can't screw up either. You never do. You never ever do. Now, you do a lot of work for echelon, a lot of great work. What what is echelon? For those of you who don't know, who have never heard of the Salvation Army, we have a younger that's what they call the younger generation of young leaders in the community who are giving back. So we're all volunteers. And what we do basically is we go out into the community. We feed the homeless. We did a CEO sleep out. We raised $50,000 in one night to help raise awareness towards homeless. We actually pack brown paper bags full of food and walk into downtown and distribute food to the homeless. Right there you see we're distributing school supplies. We've chosen three schools to give back to. And so we give over 300 backpacks full of school supplies to these students in need. And we've dedicated it to schools that really have a difficult time, even buying a $3 t-shirt for days that everyone has the same shirt. And a lot of the students don't have lunch until Monday morning after they leave school on Friday afternoon. So it's really kids in need that we've targeted and want to give back to. So we are looking, we're always looking for young leaders who want to be a part of it. So echelon, yeah, it's just made up of young leaders who just love giving back to the community. We do a bunch of other things too. I could get into it, but that's basically the gist of what we do. It's very admirable, Dara. I mean, you're doing some great work there. We're going to take a quick break, and when we come back, we're going to continue going beyond the crown. You're watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii with my special guest, Dara Dung. We will be back in a quick minute. Thanks to our Think Tech underwriters and grand tours. The Atherton Family Foundation. Carol Mon Lee and the friends of Think Tech. The Center for Microbial Oceanography, Research and Education. Collateral Analytics. The Cook Foundation. Duane Kurisu. The Hawaii Council of Associations of Apartment Owners. Hawaii Energy. The Hawaii Energy Policy Forum. Hawaiian Electric Company. Integrated Security Technologies. Galen Ho of BAE Systems. Kamehameha Schools. MW Group Limited. The Schuyler Family Foundation. The Sydney Stern Memorial Trust. Volo Foundation. Yuriko J. Sugimura. Thanks so much to you all. Welcome back to Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. My special guest today is a former Narcissist Queen Miss Chinatown Hawaii and Miss Chinatown USA. She is Dara Dung and today we are going beyond the crown. Dara, I know you read my book Beyond the Lines. What do you like about the book? Oh, everything. How much time do you have for that question alone? Everything. You know, Russ, you make it so easy to read. It's a very easy read. It's so pragmatic. I love how you own the leadership role. You know, a lot of times it's difficult for people to get into that mindset that they are a leader and people look up to you. So I love that you took your real life experience and you put it in plain words of what you dealt with, how, you know, in the beginning you're kind of hesitant, like, oh my God, this is so much responsibility for me to be taking on, but then understanding that that's really your calling. Yeah, no, I had, at that moment, I was responsible for a lot of impressionable teenagers. So I thought, man, this is, I better not screw it up. Right. You know, people that just deal with other people, I mean, they are in a leadership role. They don't have to be a CEO or a manager or a head coach. Oh, that's true. You know, that same life as a stage, it's very true. In your everyday actions, you're sending an example. You're, you know, sometimes I feel like I'm even sending an example for my dogs and the things that I do, they're watching me. They're paying attention. And then once I get on the plane, you know, I'm in a different role there. Yeah. You know, at the Pet Wholy Island driver, very different pageants. Yeah, I feel like in every aspect, you can become a leader, a role model. Yeah, it's a culture of excellence. And it's a choice that we can all make. Now, let me ask you about success. Okay, I want to know how you define success. Progress. I think we're all very successful in our own lives, in our own aspects, but nobody wants to be stagnant. Nobody wants to still do the same thing day in and day out and not push themselves. So I truly feel that when you're progressing, that's when you feel successful, that sense of accomplishment. Like, I've done this, let's move on. You know, like you don't just sit and rest on your laurels. So to me, that's true success. Yeah, little things matter. Oh, absolutely. And it adds up to the bigger picture, you know. Even, even like in your everyday life, say you're helping someone and you decide, well, now I love the feeling of health and I want to join this organization. Like, you're progressing, you're moving, you're growing, so. That's how success happens and it becomes contagious. So, Darryl, why are you achieving success? No one's ever asked me that before. I think it's the hustle. I really feel that when I plan out my schedule, when I think about what I'm doing, it's because I want to do more. I want to pack my schedule in with as many things as I can in that day because I'm hustling to be better, to give back, to do more, to just push myself. So that's why. You're definitely a hard worker. You're definitely a hard worker. Yeah, but I enjoy it. And it's not hard when you love it, right? Like when they say when you find a job that you love you don't work a day in your life. So, I feel like that's what makes me strive to be better. Got it. Now, what's a big adversity or a big challenge that you dealt with in your life and how did you overcome it? Well, my dad passed me. That was probably the most life-changing thing. It's been like 16 years, but it's still, yeah, definitely, it's me. He was such a big part of my life and he still is. What was it that made him so special? Oh gosh, everything. I think he's the one who told me to be myself from the get-go. You know, and this was years ago before they were even coming up with motivational talks and speakers and losing him was life. It's impactful. Thanks, Russ. Thank you for that, Russ, too. But yeah, when you lose someone like that in your life, they're irreplaceable. Yeah. And you never imagined that you're gonna lose a parent. For sure. Meaning it's so deep. Well, you're gonna make me cry now, Dara. Okay, let me ask you this. What's a valuable lesson you learned in life? Oh, so many. It's possible. Anything is possible. And I think when I set my mind to something or even when something is initiated that I didn't necessarily expect in my life, I have to think. And if it's not something I'm comfortable with more so, but I have to tell myself it's possible. And that's something I've taken with me through a lot of challenges in my life that I didn't think I was gonna overcome, but. You know, in life, we receive a lot of words of wisdom and advice from many people. What's like the best piece of advice you receive in your life? I listen to a lot of podcasts. So Wayne Dyer is probably one of my favorite. And he always says when you change the way that you look at things, things change the way they look. And I absolutely believe in that wholeheartedly. And what you put out into the universe is what you get back. If you're in the universe saying gimme, gimme, gimme, the universe is gonna answer you with gimme, gimme, gimme. Whereas if you are there to say, what can I do to serve? I feel like the universe is going to give you that type of service. You know, that's not what your country can do for you, what you can do for your country, that same mentality. You know, it's all about giving back. And when you match your passion with your purpose, that's when you truly find what your love for life is and the impact that you can make on people. Only agree with you. Darrell, what's your biggest fear? I heard this story about this man who was dying and around him, the ideal situation would have been for the people he loved to be around him. But instead, what he had were hope and dreams and wishes and that's something that I never want to die with. I don't want to die with regret and having all the hopes and dreams and wishes dying with me. I want to be able to do everything and that's probably why I do my schedule and I do my life and I live my life the way I do just because I want to fit everything into my 34-hour day. I want to be able to say I did it and I accomplished it and I want to move on and I want to be better and I want to help people. So there's a lot on my bucket list. Yeah. What's something that you want to improve on about yourself? I'm probably the same thing. I want to prioritize things. I want to be able to fit everything into my day. I want to write our strength as our downfall. It's the same thing. I want to be able to prioritize my priorities like you say, like someone wise. Rusty Komori said, you know, I want to be able to prioritize the things that are truly so important in my life that time is such a precious commodity. It's something we can never get back. So that's probably my downfall as well as the thing that drives me. Yeah. Well, I think that's totally correct. I'm with you. I mean, you definitely need to prioritize your priorities knowing you, Dara. I know. It's there. It's there on my list. Now, besides family, who inspires you? Oh, like I said earlier, Wayne Dyer, absolutely. I love listening to him. He's so motivational. Les Brown, I've been recently listening to him. And he's the one who tells me every day when I listen to him on pocket, like, it's possible. Do this. Push yourself. If you fail, at least you're putting yourself out there. You know, like, we miss 100% of the risks that we don't take and the shots that we don't like. If you don't try, then you guarantee we'll fail. And really, the only person standing in your way is you. So sometimes I just have to tell myself, as I'm listening to them, because they motivate me, just repeat to myself, get out of my way, because I'm the one who's stopping me from achieving these things. So yeah, Les Brown, Wayne Dyer, Oprah, they're all my mentors. What are your thoughts about risk? Because some people are just complacent with their life. But when you're complacent, you can't achieve greater things. So what are your thoughts about taking risks? Do it. Just do it, like Nike says. Just do it. And like you said, you don't know. You actually don't know what you can do and what you have the capability of doing until you put yourself out there. And a lot of the things in the past that I never thought I'd be doing that, I never thought I'd be doing a live TV show. I didn't think I'd be hosting. I didn't think I could do a pageant. But you never know. We're never fully aware of what we can do. And sometimes we have to listen to the advice and the opinions of how other people see us. Whereas a lot of times, we're our biggest critic. Whereas other people see us like, you're amazing. You can do this. You just have to put your mind and your heart and just set it to it. And so sometimes you have to listen to other people's opinions of you before you believe it. The good thing, the good thing. Not all. But yeah, when people are encouraging you and coming from a place of love, you have to believe their belief in you. Of all the things that you've achieved so far, what's been your greatest accomplishment? Probably being my parents' daughter. You're gonna make me cry. Yeah, you can. You can. I just wanna do things that make them proud. It doesn't necessarily come with titles or trophies. That's all just tangible things, but it's the intangible things. And yeah, I just want them to be proud of me. I'm sure they are, because you're making an impact in society. You're going beyond the lines. I mean, that's what you do. You're helping so many people. You're helping improve our community. And I do love that. I do love that aspect. Right after this, I'm gonna go read to children. And I love that aspect of giving back and just seeing the look on their faces. And I really actually find a lot of satisfaction in from feeding the homeless and something as small as that. Something so small to us is so big to them and it's the gesture and it's the time, really the time that you take. So those are the things that bring me satisfaction. Dara, it's been super awesome having you on the TV show today. They're awesome, thank you. I mean, thank you for going beyond the lines and let's make it contagious so everybody goes beyond the lines. Yes, let's pay it forward. Thank you, Dara. Thank you. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKamori.com and my book is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Dara and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.