Bloomingdale’s was bustling Thursday afternoon as hundreds of people, including both Gov. Josh Green and Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, turned out to support Hawai‘i entrepreneurs at the Mana Up Showcase.
Mana Up, a business accelerator founded by Meli James and Brittany Heyd, helps Hawai‘i companies expand within the state and globally through a six-month accelerator and alumni program that offers workshops, mentorship and sales opportunities, resources and more.
Its 10th cohort of companies from across the Islands was announced this summer. Just 10 businesses were selected from a record 201 applicants this year.
The showcase is an annual event that spotlights the Hawai‘i-based companies — which now total more than 105 — that have gone through the accelerator program. Early lines to get into the event wove through the Ala Moana Center department store.
Aloha State Daily attended and talked to a few of the participating entrepreneurs, asking them one question: what’s the biggest thing you, as a business owner, got from Mana Up. The responses had a common theme: the connections.
Here’s what they had to say:
“The biggest thing that I got out of Mana Up was being able to meet people that I probably otherwise never would ever, ever get to meet. They bring buyers and mentors and so much opportunity right to a table where we get to sit down right beside them. We’re just so grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of Cohort 6.”
— Miki Vericella of Pawniolo Pets, Cohort 6.
“Just the interaction with different business owners and being able to gain knowledge from other people who are going through the same challenges, through the same situations that we can relate with, and just gain feedback from a whole bunch of people who are business owners.”
— Jeremy Jataas of UBAE, Cohort 8.
“The biggest thing that I’ve gotten from my experience at Mana Up is getting to meet fellow business owners and just trade ideas and get different points of view on how to do something within my business. It’s been really helpful to just talk it out and have people who are going through some of the same things that I am.”
— Cayla Moore of Maoi Swim, Cohort 10.
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Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
