My first job was when I was 14. That was at Waimanalo public and school library. I was a student helper. I loved to read and I used to hang out at the library a lot. They needed help, a student helper, and since I was there a lot, they asked "why not just work here" and so I did.

I worked for Honolulu Federal Savings & Loan, which eventually changed to HonFed bank. I started out as a customer-service representative and eventually became customer sales and service representative.

I got back into the financial industry with American Express Financial Advisors. They hired me and sponsored me to get my licenses. I stayed with them for a couple years, to the end of 2000, then I joined the bank.

As a financial consultant, I help the bank customer to achieve their goals and dreams through the use of insurance and investment products and that's my primary job duty.

Becoming assistant vice president enables me to be part of an advisory committee for the bank within the financial services group ... to determine how we can operate more efficiently, if we can bring on new products, delete old products, and if there are any challenges we can overcome.

There are actually no fees for our services. When I was at American Express we charged a flat-rate fee for our service, a one-time, lump-sum annual fee. Here at the bank they don't charge fees for our services. So I tell the customers pick our brains because we're not charging them for our time.

That's the nice thing. A lot of times when you work with a firm ... of course they want you to sell their proprietary products. Whereas here at the bank, we're the middleman between the customer and the investment company.

All the products and services we offer are nonproprietary. We're not just trying to push one product on them because we don't own any of them.

A lot of people work and try to promote themselves because they have a lot of material things they want to achieve in life. For me, because I came from a low-income family, I know what it's like to go without.

And it's because of my church, too. I was a raised in Kawaiahao Church as a young girl. The first time I went to the mainland was because of the church, to sing and perform hula. Today I belong to Hope Chapel in Kailua. I'm just a country girl in Waimanalo.

A lot of people get amazed when they realize my history. I know what it's like not to have certain things. I know what it's like not to have food on the table.

It's just really unfortunate in today's society a lot of big corporations are doing away with employer-sponsored retirement plans, so it's more important for people to start saving on their own.

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