When Mark Tawara, BBA ’91, met advertising scholar Tiffany Tabbal, BBA ’08, at Enterprise Evening in 2008, neither College of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler Faculty of Enterprise alum may have predicted that it was the start of a enterprise relationship that might finally find yourself with them working collectively as co-owners of a profitable advertising, administration and know-how enterprise a number of years later.

Tawara at all times chosen the advertising and administration choice when he volunteered his time as a mentor at Enterprise Evening, Shidler Faculty’s signature scholar occasion which pairs up professionals within the area with present college students to supply a night of mentoring and enjoyable as they get to know what’s in retailer for his or her future profession paths. It was at this occasion when he met Tabbal and was immediately “impressed by her communication abilities, poise and persona.”

“She made an awesome first impression, and I knew she could be very profitable in advertising after graduating,” Tawara stated.

After finishing an internship at CommPac, Tabbal reached out to Tawara and requested if there have been any advertising alternatives at Belt Collins Hawaii, the place he was serving as director of promoting. Tawara employed Tabbal as a advertising intern, and upon graduating later that 12 months he provided her a full-time place with the agency as a advertising/info assets assistant.

When the corporate needed to downsize because of the 2009 world recession, Tawara tapped into his skilled community and assisted her in securing a enterprise growth coordinator place at Bowers + Kubota Consulting, the place she would spend the subsequent 9 years of her profession.

“It was an incredible alternative for me to have the ability to meet Mark after I did as a scholar simply earlier than I graduated,” Tabbal stated. “Making this connection helped me to get to the place I’m at present.”

Over time, the pair stayed in contact and served collectively on boards and committees for numerous skilled organizations. After spending practically a decade at Bowers + Kubota Consulting, Tabbal was on the lookout for a change, and as serendipity would have it, Tawara was trying to rent his first full-time worker at Manageability LLC, a advertising, administration and know-how consulting firm he began in 2015. Tabbal joined Tawara in 2019 as advertising/administrative supervisor and instantly grew to become a useful and integral a part of the enterprise.

Quick ahead to 2021 and Tawara (who additionally owns Shiny Mild Digital—a profitable digital signage, audio-visual and know-how options firm) determined that he wanted a co-owner for Manageability. He didn’t hesitate to ask Tabbal to fill these sneakers and lead the corporate alongside him. Tabbal grew to become a principal and co-owner of Manageability LLC, making it a girl owned, small-disadvantaged entity.

“I’m so proud to see Tiffany’s development from a scholar, to worker, to co-owner of the enterprise,” Tawara stated. “Our relationship is the epitome of what Enterprise Evening is supposed to be—fostering relationships between college students and native enterprise professionals.”

For extra tales, see the spring/summer time 2022 version of Shidler Enterprise journal.

Go to UH Information to see the 2022 in-person return of Enterprise Evening.