Fellows mentioned in this story: Ann Teranishi

From Hawai‘i Business Magazine:

At an October event on the lawn of the Royal Hawaiian, legendary Hawaiʻi business leader Dennis Teranishi stood alongside his daughter Ann, freshly named CEO of the year, mingling with other executives over drinks.

When I congratulated him on his accomplished daughters – Ann and Lori, founder of the strategic communications firm iQ 360 – he smiled modestly. “That’s because of my wife,” he remarked, before stepping back to let Ann have her moment.

Humility clearly runs in the family, and so does quiet influence. It was Dennis who helped shape Ann’s sense of direction decades earlier, including during their 6 a.m. walks through Kakaʻako Park before her summer stint as a law clerk.

As they talked about her career, he suggested, “If you decide to work on the continent, I do hope that you’ll consider coming back. You can really have an impact here,” she recalled.

He also told her that he could see her as a CEO or president of a company one day.

“I thought he was nuts. I thought he was crazy. People will see things in you that you don’t see in yourself,” Ann said to a group of UH students during a 2022 leadership virtual seminar.

Continue reading at HawaiiBusiness.com.