Aloha Alive: The Dawn O'Brien Podcast
Why Aloha? the whole world knows what aloha is--love in Hawai'i--but better to ask WHY ALOHA? the answer is as essential as breath & as fun as whistling, so LET'S GO!
Aloha Alive: The Dawn O'Brien Podcast
Ep. 15 Overcoming Sudden Death with A-L-O-H-A!
How do you find strength to breathe when tragedy hits SUDDENLY? Lisa Pakele, widow of beloved Hawaiian musician Kaulana Pakele of the Mana'o Company, shares her "suddenly": a sudden heart attack in 2020 during CV19 lockdown.
"I just kept breathing," Lisa reveals, describing how she navigated overwhelming grief while raising four children in the public eye. With remarkable courage, she shares the practical wisdom that sustained her: carefully selecting a "Sacred Circle" of a few friends, stepping away from social media, & finding strength in her faith. Her story isn't just about survival—it's about transformation, as she helped her son Dillon complete the "Faith EP" album they had begun with Kaulana before his passing.
Drawing from her earlier experiences as a teen Mom who refused to become "a statistic," Lisa demonstrates how past challenges prepared her for facing seemingly insurmountable grief. Now, she's channeling that resilience into building Kaulana's legacy via music collaborations with artists like High Risk, Pacific Blue, Fiji & Sudden Rush. All while supporting Native Hawaiian businesses thru InPeace's Center for Entrepreneurship.
At the heart of Lisa's story lies the Hawaiian concept of "lāhui"—community coming together. "We're not made to do this life alone," she reminds us, defining aloha as grace: extending kindness without knowing what others are going through. Her journey shows how protecting your peace, finding your tribe, and taking one faithful step at a time can transform tragedy into purpose.
Have you experienced a life-altering loss or challenge? Lisa's story may give you added courage to take that next breath—and the next step forward. E ola ka lāhui! (Long live our ohana!)
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Aloha, and welcome to Aloha Alive, the heartbeat of Hawaii. I'm your host, dawn O'Brien, and this is my baby sister, lisa Pakele. She's mye baby sis, but let me do the formal introduction. She is a director at InPeace, which is the Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture, a non-profit on a mission to improve the quality of life for Native Hawaiians. Much needed Launched, she helped to launch the Center for Entrepreneurship in Kapolei to help family-owned community-based businesses to increase their capacity to succeed. In other words, she's a lady boss of boss families. Yes, you Slay. You started 20-plus years ago when your son, dylan, was just a little baby. You first started at In Peace and now he's a grown man. You are also co-owner and operator of Pakele Entertainment, who she co-founded this in 2019 with your late husband Kaulana, to help support and promote local Hawaiian musicians and artists. Welcome to Aloha Alive.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me. Thank you for coming.
Speaker 2:Now some background for us. In 2020, your husband, my brother, kaulana because we grad Hilo high Vikings Kaulana Pakele of the Mana'o Company died suddenly of a massive heart attack on the beach in Waianae. It's been five years and a long road, sis Lise, but you just celebrated the third Kaulana Bash in Hilo. And catch us up, if you would, and tell us how have you been and what's been going on since.
Speaker 1:Thank you, thank you again for having me. It's been interesting. Five years and I, just today, I'm healthy and I'm just continuing to breathe and move forward and take steps, navigating this journey on this side of glory. And so the kids, the Ohana, everybody's well doing good, thriving in their own areas, um in life and um just trying to stay really busy.
Speaker 2:Um, you're very, very busy and we're going to get to that, but you touched on a few things and I just want to kind of zoom in a little bit. You have four keiki, right, you had a blended family with Kaulana, and so they're all adults, they're all grown and they're all doing well, and you have not just one, but two grandbabies, mo'opuna, your little honey boy, and also wonderful, the older one.
Speaker 2:What's his name? I'm sorry, isaac. Okay, thank you. Now everyone's doing well, but I want to back up and kind of zoom in a bit. It was what we call a suddenly where Kalana passed of a massive heart attack. You had no rhyme or reason. He was in his late forties. It was right during COVID lockdown and shutdown. And I want to ask you a personal question how did you overcome the suddenly, especially as you were in the public eye? I remember one day I called you and you I think. We're at a grocery store, I won't name which one, and even the cashier, as we all love you, lisa, we all knew the news, we love Kolona. You couldn't even go buy groceries without somebody asking you what was going on. So how, how, how did you overcome?
Speaker 1:The first thing is I just kept breathing, like the choice to keep breathing, um, and just not slip out into, you know, not out of this world, um, but yeah, the choice to keep breathing. Um, I did some things to help keep me healthy. Um, just the people who surrounded us, I just that was a huge thing. Um, we're super blessed. We had so much love and support, which was which was very huge to to. Kalana lived such a huge life, a bold and loud life, and so silence was really not a thing in our world.
Speaker 1:And so it was, even though it was, you know, a lot of people that came around and it could be overwhelming, and it was overwhelming. It also was very helpful to keep, to help us keep hearing, just hearing and feeling the love around us. So that was very helpful to keep moving forward, and so I tried. I was selective, though, with a few people that could just enter my space, because it was just so. I was kind of I was just really fragile and so just making sure I had just some key people around me to speak life and encouragement and just help me to keep moving forward and to get up, sometimes when I just didn't want to get up, and so you were definitely one of those key people. That was a huge thing is just having a couple it's not a lot, but just a couple key people around you in your life to help you navigate and help you navigate. That was a helpful thing. And another thing for me personally was a huge thing was just removing myself from any kind of social media.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:And just that was a huge thing. I was off social media for almost four years.
Speaker 2:Wow, and I felt like that helped to keep me healthy and just there's so much noise out there, so that was a huge thing to help me those are two massive key things that you just said and thank you, sis, that you said you did you really called a number of your sacred circle is what I call it where you have a certain amount of let's say, for me it's two or three friends who really sustain us.
Speaker 2:Because it's interesting that there's a scripture in the Bible that you and I love that held you together also, and it says though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil for thou, o Lord. I shall fear no evil for thou, o Lord. Art with me. But it's also the humans Jesus walking it out in human form with your friends, and you had some of those sisters really close to you. Now you also stopped with the social media which is why I quoted that scripture, because you walked through the valley and a lot of mental health and wellness nowadays talks about how we manage our emotions in a trauma is actually allowing yourself to feel and process. Was that part of shutting off the distraction?
Speaker 1:that was everything. Everything for me is um, I had to, just uh, peace was a huge thing for me in terms of protecting my peace and choosing to protect it, like only I could do it.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Only I could choose who's around me and what I do and what I read and music that I put into my head and just you know, reading the word or getting the word. For me, faith is everything Like you know, believing in the word.
Speaker 2:For me, faith is is everything like, um you know, believing in the word and yes, and praise and worship is a huge thing for for me and my journey and my life, um, and that would really, honestly, that was the only thing that could get me through yes, it was big, and I love what you're saying, because there's two things I've learned with you is protect your peace, and I know you get that from your place where you worship, which is Pastor Art and Kuna Sepulveda at the Word of Life. Thank you for being a wonderful spiritual mom and dad to Lise, especially through that time. I remember we were shooting a series at the time, during 2020, called Aloha.
Speaker 1:Ha.
Speaker 2:And you folks were scheduled. Brother Kaulana died. He passed to glory on Monday and you were scheduled to have um Pakele Mele on Aloha Ha that Friday. It was every Friday to help sustain the spirit of Aloha in the state of Hawaii and to make people laugh, hence Aloha Ha. And when I saw you Monday, brother had passed from that heart attack out on the beach and I came to the house Tuesday.
Speaker 2:You I'm sorry, sis, you're a stunning, beautiful, drop dead gorgeous woman, but your face looked like you'd gotten beaten up like a puffy, like just a big old baseball. It was so puffy, your eyes were almost closed. You were crying so hard. Small, it was so puffy, your eyes were almost closed, you were crying so hard and by Friday it wasn't much better. But you put a smile on it and you put aloha in your heart. And Pastor Kuno is right there leading with the praise and worship. And so two things I'm hearing from you as you walk through a sudden death of your significant other. Your husband was number one watch who you're walking with and number two was to cut off distraction and really walk through that. It was overwhelming. You said that. But a third thing I know about you that's not been spoken? Is you also taught your son?
Speaker 2:Dylan we close the back door. We don't allow any practices or being in a place where we're letting in confusion or division into this family, and that can be something as simple as a lot of drinking that that could happen in a home and I'm not casting any stones on anyone for that or judging, because I've already walked through my place with alcohol. But you said there's not going to be alcohol here. Is that? Would that be something you're comfortable with sharing?
Speaker 1:Sorry, yeah no, no, um, I I'm today. I'm sober free for 15 years and that's my own choice right. Everybody has their choice to make, and so this is my own, my journey in healing and and restoring, and restoration. And you know it's my journey, and so it started. Before Colonna passed, we both decided. Well, he decided first to be silver free and he walked it out, he did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, I didn't even know that, through some circumstances, but in everybody's journey, right, you have the choice that you want to live out, and so you know, know, navigating the entertainment industry, and and without drinking and without drugs and to be one of the top most recognized bands beloved for decades.
Speaker 2:Right, and he, I mean I remember his last post on social media. He was connect correcting people for littering, remember that. And brother man is one of the most aloha people like. He literally called me out of the blue one day and colonna, he's like don don don. And I'm like, yes, I heard you the first time. Aloha, colonna, and he goes.
Speaker 2:Is your cousin in hilo, sean o'brien, is that your cousin? Yeah, because I went to school at saint joseph's with our at the Christian Catholic school with Sean. He's a cardinal and I go, yeah, that's my cousin and he goes. You have his number. Can I call him? And I'm like, sounds like him, random, random. You're going to call? And he did. He called my cousin, sean Patrick O'Brien, and said we went to Catholic school together. Of course Sean remembers him because he's world famous, but he was so full of aloha but I love that brother kept a hot red line because it means we malama aina, we malama each other, we aloha kia kuwa. He knew that. He knew that he knew certain things. So thank you for allowing us to flashback.
Speaker 2:Small kind with that Now. You shared those really key tips on how to come through a suddenly thank you for allowing us to flash back. Small kind with that now. Um, you shared those really key tips on how to come through a suddenly thank you. Watching the sacred circle around you, you were also going to your place of worship a lot, in fact. Now your daughter, kamale, is a worship leader.
Speaker 1:She just came back from bogota. They had a mission trip, and so it's you know, as we navigate our own journey and our own walks and wherever god's leading us, kamalei for Kamalei, she found her place in wanting to do praise and worship Just like her dad. Yeah, so I'm super blessed to watch her grow and, as God uses her and grows and molds her.
Speaker 2:She's on stage? Well, she's at the altar almost every sunday, when she's in town at word of life we can see kamalele, she's really growing into her own. And then dylan catch us up on my godson dylan paquele oh wait, is this his cd? I have right here because auntie's so 80s, 90s, you know I gotta have my cd here. It is you put out this album in the last five years faith yeah, so that was really a journey.
Speaker 1:Um, this whole journey has been a journey album in the last five years Faith yeah, so that was really a journey. This whole journey has been a journey. But in the beginning they were recording. Dylan was recording with Kolana the first song and after he passed to Glory, it was like no music, no, nothing. You know, didn't want to do anything really honestly. Well, it was such a shock for everyone and just like I just just I don't know, I just didn't want to um, but through lots of love and encouragement and dylan asking and and saying that he wanted to um, I had some key people around me helping me navigate, which was one danny kennedy and siobhan kennedy, and just helping me navigate the backbone of the mana'o company and wonderful people, family of faith.
Speaker 1:I just love danny and siobhan I know I love them, um so much they they're a key part of the tribe, um yes, so they really, really helped me navigate that space to take one step forward in supporting Dylan, in moving forward with continuing to record.
Speaker 2:Girl. They were there before KP passed. I mean KP was on the band with Danny and, of course, shauna Awaw and other guys, but Danny is always the one right. He's that straight line, always there for you. Before KP passed to Victory. He was there at both of the celebrations of life. We had one here on oahu, then danny and siobhan were there at both of the celebrations of life for brother and this is his light with his guitar. If anybody is noticing, it's got the tattoo detail on it, but this was his favorite guitar that now his son is using, boom shakalaka. Thank you for that gift. I keep it right in my home but I brought it down special for us. But danny and siobhan were both services uh, the celebration of life here on oahu and then one on the big island, and he's still helping now with dylan's work all the things like.
Speaker 1:So he really encouraged me in the beginning to um, he said something around the the point of you need to find the things that keep you breathing, keep you moving, keep you going. And I really didn't know what that was. Um, but when Dylan asked you know to, he wanted to record again and get into the studio. Um, what do parents do? Just support our even when we don't feel like it, you know, or we might not.
Speaker 1:You know, I didn't feel like it, but we dig down deep, and so that's really what happened. And so, as we navigated the journey because this is, this is a journey, we're on a journey- Absolutely yes. And as we navigated the journey of bringing this album together, we didn't have that. He didn't have the songs, he didn't have the concept, he didn't have, like we didn't have the guitar with the etching. It really was an act of faith, just walking it through.
Speaker 2:Well, and you keep using the word journey and I love that and I have God bumps because you know this ain't chicken skin.
Speaker 2:We ain't created in the image of no chicken. We're created an image of the Holy Spirit. But you use the word journey and you took one step at a time. I've heard faith defined as such that it's taking one step at a time, even when you can't see the whole staircase. Yeah, absolutely so. A lot of us might look at a finished product like this and say, well, he's got six beautiful songs, f-a-i-t-h Faith, right From Forgive Me to Heaven in the Sky, which he co-sang with his father. It's beautiful to hear it. And then you also have Brother Fiji on the album. I mean, there's so much faith that went into this that you are saying you didn't have the guitar, you didn't have songs written. You would walk into the studio, as I recall, mama juror, lisa, and you would be praying outside for it to come together because certain things were missing and god would provide right there jojo, and it reminds me of proverbs 16 9, where we can make our plans but he directs our steps.
Speaker 1:And that's really what was happening as we were going through the project and and it unfolding over. You know that a year and a half of it coming together, and the ideas and the encouragement and the praying and uh we first were with uh langa severe, which we're so blessed to be able to uh have recorded with him and had that time before.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to pass to glory, yeah, so wow. And then from langa you went to uh imua garza, which he literally was heaven sent.
Speaker 1:I think, um, he was just perfect for dylan and me, because it's like navigating this space without kolana and not knowing you know what questions to ask or what to do, or like how. I mean, I'm just a praying mama, I'm just a mama supporting her son and God shows up and shows out.
Speaker 2:He shows off for you because, if you don't know Imua Garza, he is the Amadeus Mozart of Hawaii. I have described him as such, since I've worked with him on missions and ministry. He's also a pastor at C4, but he is the mastermind, creator in the image of God, the creator at Zale Recording Studios. So you work with him now.
Speaker 1:It's been amazing. He's literally handpicked for us to walk this journey out, to finish the faith EP and continuing in the project that dylan's working on right now.
Speaker 2:Oh, oh, oh okay, what are we talking about here? So see, this is more of what's gone on in five years, because I really look at what god is doing in your life, sis, and we get together and we just have lunch and I just sit and and look at my baby sis and try to have space, hold space for us, and it's it's been a precious treasure to me to get close because really honestly, I didn't feel like I knew you that closely and I knew brother because we went to Hilo High together. Vikings got to throw it out there because he would always torture the Kamehameha schools, graduate here with our Hilo High Vikings public school. But I didn't know you as well until the day after when God sent me to the house. Now we sit in, we do lunchtimes, we do birthdays, we do a lot of big moments together. But God has brought you to such a place and that's why I wanted you to come onto Aloha Alive, the heartbeat of Hawaii.
Speaker 2:You may not feel like you have something to say to other people, but just in the last five days I sat with a sister at Queens Hospital who suddenly lost her kane, her, her partner, and it was in a tragic way. He's in his 30s. And I said to you, as we walked in, and you're so humble, humble, hawaiian, I tell you. But I am neither Hawaiian nor am I humble. So I said you have so much to share. In fact I'm going to ask if she could share a word. But God works in the valley of the shadow of death and sometimes we don't even walk with him through that valley. He carries us.
Speaker 1:he has been carrying, he has literally been carrying me. I I feel like I am walking now on. You know I can walk um, but I would say honestly, for the first three years at least maybe, yeah, I was being carried, and so I will be forever grateful. The Lord just has carried me, brought together divine connections, like you, and a small tribe around me to help carry me. I just feel like I couldn't do it, and in the valley, when you're just sick, you just feel like you just can't. His love, his grace, his mercy helps you through and it just shows that you can with the Faith EP, the Project, now the Kalana Bash.
Speaker 2:I mean, and you've developed a recording studio at your own home, which was part of the vision that you and brother had in making Pakele Entertainment was to open up more opportunities for a lot of the native people and artists from the west side, because there was nowhere to go that was always his heart, to always help people and and figure out how to help.
Speaker 1:And you know, as we navigate the journey, it's I'm helping dylan, but it's I'm calling in the reinforcements and tapping into the experts and and our circle of people that can help, like Dani, like Feej.
Speaker 2:The entertainment community has been amazing Kalena the kids were taking voice lessons with her At the of course, kapena School of Music, which is at Windward Mall, and that's another family that came into your life immediately and that was even before.
Speaker 1:I mean they were taking vocal lessons before she even had that and then they were blessed to be a recipient of a scholarship after to go through. But she's been amazing. Kimie Minor took the kids in through Haku Collective and really just surrounded them with so much love but also opportunities at the same time. Love but also opportunities at the same time, because with the love without like direction, it kind of can get like oh okay, I feel love, but like now, what, like what do I do Right and see again.
Speaker 2:It goes back to that journey step by step. And, lisa, last I checked in 2020, you had never produced an album before an EP. You had never helped to record or write a song not that you've done that, but you were there during the process and many times you would say Hi, I've never been in this place before, but we are walking through you said I'm breathing, I'm walking, I'm protecting my peace.
Speaker 2:And so to hear you talking about you know you did have like Kapena School of Music, before it was there was helping to mentor Kamale and. Dylan, that you had also. Then it became the Water Company, came in as a sponsor. You got a scholarship. There's a lot of things that we don't see when we're walking through the valley of the shadow of death, because we really are just trying to wake up and survive and breathe and walk. But on the side, looking back, do you see how God moved mountains for you?
Speaker 1:It's crazy, it's so much. I mean, everything he brought together. I see all of it. As I was preparing to talk with you today, I just I was reminded about all the things that God has done and brought together and his grace, like and just divine connections, opportunities. But he can, he can't, he can do these things, but he needs us to. He needs our faith to be able to step and and it says faith as a mustard seed I really just had like this, really, really, really, really little, like it was so little it's almost not there, and he took that and he helped me.
Speaker 1:I mean you. You know me and you know that I never. You know no recording, no concert space. You know everything I'm doing on the professional level at in peace, it's like it's none of me, like it's impossible, like I could never do all of these things, but like open a little brand new center for entrepreneurship.
Speaker 2:So impressive we can come out there, we can have a meeting space, a workspace, network, and I'm like lisa, I thought you just had a new office, but this is like an office for the whole, the whole, I know the whole island chain community.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, it's god you walk it out, sis and then you host these makeke right and then you also have is it the young entrepreneur, um cohorts that you've been hosting with teenagers who have companies and you mentor them. You have, and I just have to tell you, family let me just stop and pause and look right at you because it's going to feel awkward that I'm bragging on my Hanai little sister, but this is the power of God walking it out with you. And to recap what you just said, you felt like you only had a faith the size of almost an mustard seed. Yes, it might have been invisible Like that's how small it was. But I will tell you on the flip side of that, because I've been at the house for Thanksgiving. I've been at the house for family parties.
Speaker 2:I've been at the house for lunch with her and one time at Thanksgiving we were two years out from brother going on to victory and I had the kids standing around and you know they all look like teenagers to me and I'm like Dylan, go get your little friends. Dylan is like six, five. Okay, I don't know how tall, he is Super tall Hawaiian man. He's 27 years old. His friends are also grownups, but he goes and he gets the friends with Kamale and I asked them one question what are you grateful for this Thanksgiving? And three of the them, including your two, kamale and dylan, said I am thankful for mom and for her strength. We wouldn't have been able to do this, we wouldn't have come this far, and you're saying that in three years. You were still in shock and overwhelmed, but your children were talking about you and your strength. Now, something I know that and I'm going to go this way with you, and it's not necessarily on the questions that I gave you.
Speaker 1:Don't get nervous.
Speaker 2:I know a little bit of your story. Before Kaulana you were pregnant in high school and you had some childhood trauma of your own, growing up in a single parent family, and we know some of the issues of abandonment and other things that come with childhood trauma. You kept the baby. We have Chantel and we thank God for Chantel who has your little maopuna.
Speaker 2:She saved my life, she saved your life. But at that time, you know, we were all in high school and this was you graduated 91 um, that kind of wasn't a thing. So you kept the baby and you grew strong and you had to leave your home. You did move in with that gentleman, the father of your child, and then you haven't ever looked back and you never asked for help. Do you think that played a part in how you were able to be resilient and overcome with this suddenly?
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, I do, I think. Sorry, my brain just got messy so much. I come from a loving family, right, I have a lot of support, and I made some choices and in navigating life at that point as a teenage parent, you just, you just think the world's ending and and you, just, I just had to press in and I knew I needed to. I didn't want to be a statistic, I didn't want to, you know, be a high school dropout or not, you know, be on the system, or to be on the system and not go to college. I just didn't want to be a statistic. And so.
Speaker 1:I just made some choices that you know. Maybe I could have done differently, but I, you know, I moved away and decided to go to college with having my daughter. That really, really shifted the narrative of my whole entire life. I mean, that's where I met Colana, you know, and I graduated.
Speaker 2:I graduated UH Hilo UH.
Speaker 1:Hilo. But as a single parent, you know, I graduated from high school and college with a lot of support from high school and college with a lot of support. But as a teenage parent going to college, I had to dig deep and look for resources and support and, you know, not do a lot of things. I mean I didn't do my nails, I didn't go shopping, I didn't. You know, I didn't do all the fun things, but the fun things is just with my daughter and being a mom and going to college.
Speaker 1:But I felt like it did prepare me for this time in my life to be able to dig deep again, to look internally a person so like I'm the only one who can make a decision, to get on or to eat when I didn't want to eat, or to um, you know, let everything just go to shambles, like just not pay bills or not go back to work, or like I'm the only one who could make the decisions to be better for me myself, like I had to be healthy.
Speaker 1:Yes, like that was my number one goal. My boss had asked at that time like what? You know, what did I want? They said I just I just want to be healthy. Yes, like, because if I'm not, then I can't. I can't be there for my kids, like I.
Speaker 1:I just couldn't get out of bed. And I wanted to get out of bed, yeah, and I wanted to, um, you know, be healthy for my grand. I had a grandson at the time, so just be healthy for him. And when he came over, I didn't want to be crying all the time you know so it's like making those choices for yourself to be healthy, right so that you can. You can then be there for others.
Speaker 2:And that's amidst you. You had to find the passcodes for his cell phone, for the computer.
Speaker 1:That was a nightmare.
Speaker 2:You, had to find the paperwork for right. Everything was being processed and, mind you, this was amidst May 2020, everything was closed. We you I was there when you got the call Do we take him to the mortuary, to the morgue? We can't. You know, there were so many things that couldn't be done with a body at that time.
Speaker 2:Thank you, lisa, for looking from that time when you were a pregnant teenager, not wanting to be a statistic and there's power to saying that because you, you didn't let yourself be sidelined. You overcame powerfully with a tiny little baby and the keyword. And then it went forward to when KP passed in 2020. But back to when you were that teenager, the keyword I heard there in that part of the journey was resources. You found people to come alongside and, of course, we love your dad, your mom. They're both wonderful.
Speaker 2:There was a divorce there, but your dad is almost 50 years on the police force right, law enforcement, uncle Val and auntie Vina, your step-mom. You have half siblings right who came in strong. Of course, you have your older sister from the same mom, kim, and so there was an extended Ohana that came around. But resources and tribe. You said it when the 2020 tragedy happened, but you also just said it there, you had a tribe, and when I look at your life now with In Peace, as well as with Pakele Entertainment and pretty much everything that you're doing, you find resources for the lahui. I didn't actually know what that word meant.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it's a Hawaiian word. Can you tell us what does lahui mean? Because the first time I heard it really was from you and I went to UH Hilo with her husband. We were, you know, he didn't actually attend classes at college but he attended every party there was at this college. But you recently, a few years ago, said supporting the lahui, and it caught my ear. What does that mean? Because I kind of want to always perpetuate culture and teach the language here, on Aloha Alive.
Speaker 1:Lāhui. Everything for me that it means is just community, ohana, together Like we're stronger together. We're not made to do this life alone, and when we, you know, retreat and we pull ourselves back from being with others, then we're not meant to be there. You know. That's when the depression comes in. The mental health is a huge thing that I didn't really experience. Any kind of mental health for me wasn't like a thing, like I just didn't think depression, depression, I really didn't think depression was a real thing I don't think a lot of us who grew up in the 80s, 90s we didn't, really we weren't as aware of it as we are now.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I would just be like get up, you can get up and make a choice. It's yeah just tough it out. You know that's how I grew up like. Just get up, wipe your dust off your knees and right, pick yourself up by your nostraps and keep marching forward, no crying big fanatting.
Speaker 2:I mean we can use a lot of terms how we grew up, but that didn't really work Like, how's that working out for you? Yeah, so to give yourself space and awareness, to have mental wellness, right.
Speaker 1:Right, and so that's for me. The Lahu'i just is there to we support, we kākou. One another, support one another. And there's a lelano'ea that says I'm just going to read it Yay. A'ohe hananui ke alu'ea. And it means no task is too big when done together, and life can be so overwhelming. There's so many things happening and happening super, super fast.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And just like tasks, it's like one after another and it can just feel so overwhelming, but like today, it was so overwhelming for me. But God gives us, Allah gave me you to do this task together.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it's better together, like it's better together, supporting one another, and on's better together, like it's better together supporting one another and on my side of the table, it's overwhelming to have a podcast to be wanting to perpetuate our host culture. I'm not Hawaiian but I know it is part of the key that Atsipi Lahipaki said in the 21st century, the whole world's going to be searching for peace and in fact, we are a world looking at world war, but we search for peace and the key to peace is aloha. So they're going to look to us. Thank you for being there for me on this one. Like I needed you to be here as much as you needed me.
Speaker 2:Recently, another example of the lahui was we had a graduation party and on Kauai, I'm here on oahu, we're centered here in honolulu and um, my sister said don, I know you're gonna help us find the palaka print so that our family can all be matching at this family party. It's kind of a hawaiian thing and I'm like I don't even wear palaka. What are you talking about? Why do what I don't wear? Gingham is the English word for it and so I was praying and the Lord said Lise. And I went oh my gosh, lise knows all of these small businesses and these families. I text you and within a minute you texted right back and said oh hui, palaka girl, and they sell it over here at Ward and you can go to Nammea, hawaii. So it is, is that a good example?
Speaker 1:of lahui. Yes, absolutely Thank you for being there for me. Yeah, I'm going to give that business a shout out. Kuhui Palako, max Mukai is the owner and just through relationships, you know, I could just text the owner Right and he texts me right back, and I just text him today too for something else that we're supporting working together. But yeah, that's the Lahuwe and community and being able to tap into our people To help one another, to help one another. Did they get the plaka?
Speaker 2:Yes, and they looked amazing Super, super zhuzh, super boujee. But here's where I was saying. It's about resources, and the resources are people. Yes, and we are a small island chain with huge hearts.
Speaker 2:And so one of the things I learned early I had a mentor tell me Dawn, don't burn bridges on an island. And that makes a lot of sense, because if you fire somebody and you burn a bridge and you burn somebody, or you trash them on social media or you bad talk them or gossip, it will come back to you. Absolutely. That's a god, garrons, ball barons guarantee in the bible that says what you sow, you shall reap, and that anything that's whispered in the house will be shouted from the rooftops, especially on an island. So we also and I hear a lot of voices saying this now always support, support local, because if we don't support locals, there won't be any more locals to support. We're seeing a mass exodus, especially of Native Hawaiians, off of our own islands, right? So thank you for helping with that. And here's where I'm going to shift over to In Peace. I love In Peace because you work there and also because I love many of the people. Um, how does it help local people and local businesses?
Speaker 1:in peace is amazing, um, so it's a native. It's a native hoi, an organization, non-profit, that supports our people, our la hui community, um, through a place of empowerment and strengthening, and so they they have. There's 11 programs under In Peace. They've been around, for we just celebrated 30 years. We're going into the 31st year of celebration, so amazing.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's a good long time. That's faithfulness.
Speaker 1:Lisa.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I've been blessed to work there for 23 years. I actually started 25 years because the first two years I was a parent in a program, kiki Steps, and so I really am that parent that was empowered through their program, kiki Steps, and then there was opportunity to work and 23 years later now I oversee one of the 11 programs which is called Center for Entrepreneurship, supporting small businesses, and that really is really supporting a person in their journey of business, whether it's their idea phase or going international and everything in between. But it comes back to the partnerships and resources that are out there, because I'm not the expert. You know we're still building out Kepa, kele Entertainment and KP Studios, and what does that mean? You know I'm still the expert. You know we're still building out Kepa, kele Entertainment and KP Studios, and what does that mean? You know I'm still a small business owner trying to navigate our space, and so my role in this is really I'm a connector and I'm a huge cheerleader.
Speaker 1:Yes, you are, I will just encourage, you know, in the journey, because it's tough, it's really tough, especially for young small businesses starting out and trying to get launched.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a whole process to that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's interesting to see that it's happening in your life with Paquela Entertainment, but then it's happening for the rest of the people you're helping at In Peace right, yeah, so really that journey and connecting them to the different resources, connecting these small businesses to the resources that are out there, and so I really develop a lot of partnerships, and that's really what the program has been built around and connecting the small businesses to the resources that are out there and then cheerleading them, holding their hand through the process until they overcome each step, like getting their GE license, getting their product getting to, taking it to market expansion. You know all the things that happen.
Speaker 2:Social media marketing right Photography. Even you have Nick there helping with those things, yeah. Networking and I always found out that there are four true treasures that we all have as human beings. That includes your time, how you spend your time, your talent. So what is your God-given talent that you do? What is your treasure, which is money. And the last one that I added was tribe, and you include all four of those when you're helping other people walk through that process. How can people get more information about In Peace?
Speaker 1:Sure, so you can find us on all social media platforms inpeacehawaiiorg, or visit us at our website inpeaceorg, and all of our programs are up there and through that you can get connected through email me at lisap at inpeaceorg.
Speaker 2:But yeah, and it's really that journey Wait lisap for Pakele at inpeaceorg and we'll have that information in the show notes as well as there on the screen. But go ahead. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:I wanted to highlight it and just supporting somebody in their journey and whatever that could look like. And so it's really exciting we're going into. There's a Ho'oma'o event coming up and a Made in Hawaii festival. Oh, hey, and so those are two huge events coming up that support Ho'oma, specifically supports Native Hawaiian businesses, and it's the journey again, the lahui, the community, supporting one another as you navigate your own journey and whatever that is.
Speaker 2:And what I love about it and I've said often, especially when it was 2020 and a lot of us were learning what is hybrid learning or what is distance learning. A lot of us were learning new systems, how to do business in this new world, and I would say, you know as much as we think we have a certain COVID curve. We are all doing the same learning curve. We're learning together. It's a Kako thing. It's a Kako thing.
Speaker 1:It is a Kako thing 's a cock hole thing. It is a cock hole thing and a huge thing. Um in not in not having to know everything before you start or before you do anything. It's like starting where you're at and growing as you're going and the main thing is just start, whatever that is.
Speaker 1:and so, even you know, through the faith ep, it's like I didn't want to go back into the studio, but it's like just start, and we have a project. Now we're doing a legacy project that honors Colano and puts Dylan on his continued path in his own, you know, journey of music.
Speaker 2:You know that it's a huge project that we didn't know how to do. The legacy project, which has some pretty big name artists. Yeah, can we drop at least two names or three?
Speaker 1:Yeah, sure. So Dylan Lee's the third song off this project. It'll be a full length, at least 10 song project, which we're at about seven songs, but he dropped three songs already, the last one on my birthday and so, and then, and we're going to continue the journey, but there's working with key bands that were very special to and Polona worked with.
Speaker 1:So we have High Risk is a band that they did, Chillaxin that song Chillaxin. Pacific Blue has did a collaboration on there with a fun song that's going to come out, Of course, Mana'o Company, Thank you. We have a special song that Feej had wrote for Colin and I back, you know 15 years ago what and Dylan he is going to, he is remaking the song. It's very, it's very special and we'll have a guest artist on that song.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, I got total God bumps everywhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's so much special things. It's such a beautiful song, it's a love song if you didn't guess already. So much special things. We just confirmed Sudden Rush will be partnering on one of the songs, woo yes, hilo, oh, hilo confirmation. So gotta give a shout out to koi chang um, who wrote the song and then shane from sudden rush, dylan will be collaborating with him and so still going after all these years, you know what we were back in college.
Speaker 2:We were partying when keola was inventing hawaiian rap back in the day and we were just talking about that at your birthday party. We're like, girl, remember, we were just like there at the party and he started doing that and we're like, oh okay, and he's like it's now making this huge resurgence Hawaiian rap. So we were there when it started. Yeah, wait, did that just age us?
Speaker 1:Now him and Kalana are rapping in heaven.
Speaker 2:Amen. And one thing I want to throw in there, as you're talking about the legacy project, but a quick insertion is she, she came and I love my brother kawalana. I've known him since I was in high school and, um, we say rest in victory, rest in victory. Kp was where we landed, not rest in love, because of course we all say that, we all know that, but it was part of the redemption, for the absolute sheer shock. I mean, it made not just local news, it made national news, it even went worldwide.
Speaker 2:Kaulana Pakele, lead singer of Wanao Company, dies of a heart attack and there can be a lot of you when you just hear that. You land in that pit of pain. Grief is a thief and a robber completely. But we as the people of god, as kaulana was a worship leader of keakua, we land in the promises of god, we land in the goodness of god and that's where God gave us rest in victory, because it turned our heads down from the pit and the grave and the grief and we looked up because he is seated at the right hand of Jesus, seated at the right hand of the father, and they're worshiping. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And so you, hi, thanks for bringing that up, because in my devotion time over the past five years I think maybe about my third year going into my fourth year God placed on my heart as I was working through some, you know, overcoming a dark place again. He just reminded me. He replaced the rest with rejoice and he reminded me that Kolana is rejoicing in victory.
Speaker 2:And he's like singing and what he's just like rejoicing.
Speaker 1:He's at the seat of the Father, you know, rejoicing in victory. And he's like singing, and what he's just like rejoicing. He's at the sea of the father, at the, you know, rejoicing with jesus and it's just like joy, pure joy, pure joy.
Speaker 2:And if you knew kaulano, or you know somebody who is just buckaloos for broke, just this boy could party like he, and he loved the lord, he knew the joy of the Lord as his Superman, superpower, super strength. I mean, it's just so.
Speaker 1:You're right, sis, so it gave me, like it literally, in that moment, strengthened me and that in Nehemiah 1.8, right, the joy of the Lord is my strength. And so it just reminded me, like it literally encouraged me, refreshed me, and walking into my fourth and now my fifth year, I really feel like I'm in this place of strengthening and aligning with purpose, intentionally aligning with purpose, and that was the Word of God. Try my tribe and just a love and support, continued love and support, with the, the last call on a bash. It just really was all of God. It was pretty tough that one to bring, to bring out, but just God reminded me that he's got me.
Speaker 1:I'm moving forward. Some fun highlights is we'll release the legacy project. Dylan will start on his project, where we will be recording in New Zealand. What and then we're going to Do?
Speaker 2:you need Godmother cheerleader there as well.
Speaker 1:I love Aotearoa and that's two resources, that's, the resources and connections, hallelujah.
Speaker 2:And we're going to expand Kalanabash Island wide and so those are just some little fun things that God's doing Little sneak peeks for previews of what God's doing in your near future the miracles, thank you. Last couple of questions what is aloha to you? We always ask our guests here on Aloha Alive, because we want to always have the heartbeat, but we can't beat it if we don't know it. So what is aloha to you, lisa?
Speaker 1:If I just had to say one word, I would say grace. Aloha is grace to me in everything. The way that we can show aloha is having grace to others, for others In life. There's so much going on.
Speaker 1:And we never know what someone's going through Through the happy smile face or the crying face or whatever it is. We really truly don't know. And I feel like, um to just having aloha is just having grace and walking it out, um, by just like holding someone's hand, buying a coffee, sitting with somebody bringing a lay, bringing some food, uh, going to the movies, just whatever that is. And if somebody hurts us for whatever reason, we can choose grace and that's covering it with aloha and maybe one day they'll say sorry for maybe they hurt us, maybe they won't, but we have the choice to just malama our own heart so that we can cover in grace, so that we can move forward.
Speaker 2:Because if we don't and we allow that to you- know the bitterness to come in the unforgiveness, and it just gets like yucky.
Speaker 1:So if I just had to say you know one word with a little explanation, it would be grace.
Speaker 2:And that's how to show aloha, love, that Grace, and often in the Bible. When we read the New Testament, the Apostle Paul wrote half of it and he would always start off with greetings in God's grace.
Speaker 2:And he would end with and I impart grace and peace to you. So thank you for that, because, like the aloha culture in Hawaii, we say Aloha to say hello, aloha as we leave. So a big part of Aloha is grace, much needed. Last, last question who is your Aloha hero, either past or present, somebody who lives true, pure Aloha, and why?
Speaker 1:When I you gave me you're graceful enough to give me some questions in advance, and so I was thinking about that and praying about that, and I just the only one that kept coming back to me is Kaulana, so I don't want to cry, but, um, he truly uh, exemplified Aloha in just his vibrant life, in the life that he lived.
Speaker 1:And, um, I think about legacy as we work on the legacy project. Um, it's every everything that we have like, every everything that's coming back to us today now, from resources to love, to donations, to whatever it is. It's because the life kolana lived and that the impact that he made, all of that is coming back to us. And, um, I also think about the words that people spoke to us and shared about what, what kolana meant to them, and it was never like, it wasn't anything like, though. It wasn't about the hokus, it wasn't about like nothing else. It all of it was how he made them feel, and I know there's somebody that says something, I forget what, something about, um, it's not what you do or say, but it's it's how you make people feel. And maya ang.
Speaker 2:Yeah, maya Angelou, people will almost never remember what you said. They may not remember what you did, but they'll always remember how you made them feel. And you're right, that was called Lana.
Speaker 1:That was called Lana.
Speaker 2:He made you feel aloha in the purest, truest form. And the neat thing about my brother if I can help brag on that and I love that you picked him as your aloha superhero, because I thought, man, I don't know who she's gonna pick, but it better be my brother um, he was a man of vision and passion.
Speaker 2:He lived both really well. I remember once he called me when I was on the radio and he said don don Don. I heard you the first few times. But he said I just see, you know what God told me. He said we're going to do a massive Christian concert at the Waikiki Shell and I was like this little podunk girl from a little podunk town, right, I'm like what are you talking about? I rebuke you, polona. And I hung up on him and he never. He just kept calling me and saying Don, like he didn't get why I couldn't see the same vision that God had given him. And his vision is still reaching lives and impacting and influencing people for the true heart of Hawaii which is Aloha.
Speaker 2:In fact, it's the song that we use as the intro and outro of Aloha Alive. It's A-L-O-H-A. A little aloha in our day. This has been our time talking story and just having a heartbeat, breathing, walking and space with Lisa Pakele. Lisa, hooey hooey Pakele. Lisa, hooey hooey pa'kele. Lisa hooey hooey pa'kele. She loves that song. She loves when people from Hilo High sing to her. Just walk up and do it. No, she doesn't. This is why she keeps me around. Or the other thing I like to do is Lise, lise, lise, Closet door. Kalana used to do the same. The Lord promises that my grace is sufficient for you, that his power is made perfect in weakness. And if there's one thing that Lisa Huihui Pakele and Mr Rest in Victory no, I'm sorry, rejoice in Victory Kaulana Pakele would give us, is that he also gave us.
Speaker 1:He loved the scripture out of Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, which says what Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but acknowledge him in all your ways and he shall direct your steps.
Speaker 2:Family. The Lord is with you. The spirit of God is the spirit of Aloha and we know that Kaulana's living legacy that continues to this day through Pakele Entertainment, through In Peace, through Lisa and the children and the Mo'opuna and generations to come, is the heart of a beating Aloha, the heartbeat of Aloha. We love you and Aloha.