Page 18 - MidWeek - January 25, 2023

18 MIDWEEK JANUARY 25, 2023
It’s always a joy to hear from MidWeek read- ers, so when a letter from Kaimukī resident Ken Shibuya wound up on my desk, I was eager to see what he wanted to tell me.
by Ginger Keller
Kaimukī Native Follows In Dad’s Footsteps
“The long road for some to become an entrepreneur started by entering the mili- tary right after high school,” Ken writes. “Trust me when I say, talking to Scott personal- ly will blow you away.”
Although Scott’s entrepre- neurial journey started later in life — he previously served in the U.S. Air Force, worked for United Airlines in Califor- nia and taught graphic design at Kaimukī High School for a decade — in a way, he’s ex- actly where he’s meant to be: following in the footsteps of his father. Both his dad and grandfather owned Honolu- lu eateries, but it was never something Scott envisioned for himself.
“There’s a million and one things you could do out there, but I thought of my broth- er-in-law’s — who’s from Kaua‘i —smoked meat,” he says. “Him and his father are hunters and they smoke their meat with invasive strawber- ry guava wood. I was like, ‘Brah, this stuff is unreal, you should be marketing this.’ He was like, ‘You know what, half the guys on Kaua‘i hunt
In 2011, Scott took it mainstream, frequenting farmers markets and sell- ing his smoked meat out of a booth. A few years later, he found a kitchen in Ka- lihi that “had rent that was cheap enough.” Today, Guava Smoked (check out guavasmoked.com) boasts three locations in Kalihi, Kap-
morning.”
Scott admits it’s hard work
The Scott he mentions is his son, Scott Shibuya, who owns Guava Smoked, a local restaurant that specializes in smoked meat.
do it because I know how much hard work it is,” Scott says.
“I call him my PR person,” Scott jokes about his dad’s
“I never really wanted to
“I remember waking up on a Saturday when I was in ele- mentary school to make like a thousand laulau. I should’ve
letter, which he didn’t appear to know was sent. “He’s not on payroll — actually he is,
been watching cartoons,” he adds with a laugh.
and therefore they kind of just give it away to each other.’
ahulu and Pearlridge Center. “A lot of the things I did have given me skills along the way where I get to use them all now,” he says. “I can do the graphics for our menu and logo, and with me- chanical stuff, I just got done fixing my Coke machine this
I’ ll bring him once in a while.”
beer
But when he felt it was time for a career change, he consulted his friends and family who own businesses, and thought, “If they can do it, I can do it, too.”
“When I started thinking about a business, I thought of this because you can’t buy it at the store, you have to get it through an uncle or friend or on the side of the road and no one really took it main- stream.”
cases of
Scott Shibuya
to keep his local business up and running, especially with the events of the past few years, but he falls back on his values of integrity, honesty and gratitude — and with a little support from those who know him best, like his let- ter-writing dad, success is a sure thing.
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