Page 5 - MidWeek - June 29, 2022

The Mānoa resident — who today is the president and own- er of Flo Water of Hawai‘i, a water refill station retailer and service company — is, believe it or not, a high school dropout.
Hennessy, who admits this is not the ideal route for every- one, spent his days doing what he longed to do: play in the water. He taught surf lessons and eventually established his own company on Kaua‘i and later O‘ahu.
“It was kind of serendipitous in a way because I had just graduated and I was basically already running a sales pro- gram for them and had all the experience. It just kind of made sense,” Hennessy explains. “I gathered my resources, had to borrow a bunch of money from friends and family, and I bought the existing assets in Hawai‘i.”
“For me, my favorite thing (about having my own busi- ness) is being able to make my own schedule and being able to surf when I want,” he says. “That’s definitely the main ad- vantage.”
While growing up in the rural town of Hā‘ena on the is- land of Kaua‘i provided count- less benefits, driving by some of the world’s best beaches, namely Hanalei Bay, was not one of them. Every morning on his way to school, Hennessy would pine for the waves, until
“I was able to grow that to an extent where I was able to make a living and basically pay for college,” he shares.
Robert Hennessy owns and operates FloWater of Hawai‘i.
eventually he decided to stop going entirely.
finance. Meanwhile, a close friend, Wyatt Taubman, start- ed a company called FloWa- ter, which Hennessy interned for while at UH. The company was moving to the mainland, and Hennessy purchased the Hawai‘i dealership.
ride,” he says with a smile. “It’s interesting when you grow a business, you wear a lot of different hats and you man- age a lot of different things.”
“My parents weren’t happy about that, but I knew I was go- ing to go back,” he says.
At the end of the day, Hen- nessy is doing something he loves, which in turn allows him to do something he loves, maybe just a little bit more.
He attended University of Hawai‘i Shidler College of Business at age 22 and gradu- ated with a degree in business
bles in all areas of his interests: business, environmentalism and, of course, water.
day, it has more than 1,000 — found in places from five-star hotels and fitness centers to nail salons and dentist offices — around the state.
For more information on FloWater of Hawai‘i, visit flowater-hi.com or check out its Instagram (@flowaterhawaii).
FloWater of Hawai‘i dab-
When he took over in 2015, the company had just under 100 accounts on O‘ahu. To-
“It’s been a really crazy
PHOTO COURTESY ROBERT HENNESSY
JUNE 29, 2022 MIDWEEK 5
From selling plumeria lei on the side of the road to picking and trading fruit from his grandpa’s yard, entre- preneurship has always been in Robert Hennessy’s nature.
by Ginger Keller
The Pipeline From Dropout To President
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