Episode 27

Ryan Sung ·  Carrying the Legacy for Honolulu Cookie Company

“We've done so much since March to pivot. We put more focus on e-commerce and figuring out how to get our products outside of Hawaii was very important, because people weren't coming into Hawaii anymore. That plan started probably in May, quickly pivoted to Costco, Hawaii and we had a local grocery Food Land help us out too. So some of the local businesses helped get some of our product offloaded and then that just snowballed into eventually Mainland Costco helping us out too.”

Born and raised on Oahu, Ryan has always been a local boy at heart. Moving away in 2006 to attend community college in Orange County, eventually transferring to USC he always knew he’d be back some day. After graduating, he worked in advertising with the eventual goal to pursue a media sales position until he was called by his parents to see if he was interested in learning the family business. This decision was not easy knowing the pressure to prove his worth at a company that had grown quite a bit since he left home, but he knew this would be an opportunity worthwhile should he be able to succeed. Like many sons/daughters in my shoes, entering a family business started by his parents, there is little structure when it comes to training and plenty of “constructive criticism”. In addition to the pressures of proving himself, there are the complicated aspects of family dynamics that come into play, sometimes resulting in an absence of professionalism. All in all, he finds himself fortunate having the opportunity to carry on his family’s legacy contributing a fresh perspective, while also honoring the vision his parents have in mind.

 

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