In October 1988, the signing of the “Women’s Business Ownership Act” marked a huge milestone for women entrepreneurs. This legislation allocated funding to establish women’s business centers nationwide, and facilitated the process for women to secure business loans without a male cosigner.

Since the passage of the Women’s Business Ownership Act, October has been celebrated as “National Women’s Small Business Month,” shining a spotlight on the tremendous impact and influence women entrepreneurs have in our communities.

To round out National Women’s Small Business Month, our MBDA Enterprising Women of Color Business Center shared two great stories of local women entrepreneurs from their Certification Cohorts. At YWCA O‘ahu, we are committed to providing resources and support to help women small businesses to succeed.

Marie Lau, current owner of Hokulani Bakeshop, was a participant in the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Enterprising Women of Color (EWOC) Business Center Certification Cohort 2 from February to April 2021.

Marie identifies as Korean and Chinese. She has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and has worked in the food industry for more than 25 years.

For most of her life, Marie worked for her family business — Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory. She gained valuable entrepreneurial experience as Chun Wah Kam evolved from a single shop for homemade noodle products, to now serving full menus of Asian and local dishes at multiple locations on O‘ahu.

Marie eventually became general manager of the largest Chun Wah Kam location in Kapolei. She was integral in coming up with innovative ideas for the restaurant, including marketing their expansive dining area as a desirable space for private events.

After seven years of working as Chun Wah Kam Kapolei’s general manager, Marie felt it was time to follow her dream of owning her own business.

She reached out to the Hawai‘i Small Business Development Center (HSBDC) for assistance and resources to embark on her new entrepreneurial endeavor. Although Marie didn’t have a product or service original to herself, Marie explored the option of buying a small business and making it her own.

HSBDC found an opportunity for her to meet the previous owners of Hokulani Bakeshop. After discussing some things, Marie eventually bought the popular cupcake business and fully took it over herself in 2016.

“It was really respectful,” Marie said. “It was in the food industry but not a direct competitor to my family business, which is amazing.”

As the new owner of Hokulani Bakeshop, Marie took on the business’ operations – including the responsibility of maintaining carefully crafted recipes for its unique cupcakes, cakes, brownies and cookies. The bakeshop has a loyal following with locals and visitors, most notably after a Hokulani team took home the top prize on the Food Network “Cupcake Wars” show in 2012.

“When customers ask, I always give credit where it is due and let them know that the bakeshop won the competition, but under the previous owner and staff,” Marie said.

“When taking over, I wanted to ensure that I followed the same values, themes, and mission, which is making everything from scratch using no preservatives, fats, oils, or shortening,” she added. “We’ve remained true to that mission. We make over 18 flavors of cupcakes every day, which is something I believe is unique to us.”

Marie said she believes that a great leader should have skills and knowledge in all parts of a business. With the insights from her longtime family enterprise, as well as her own prior baking experience, she delved into everything from employee training, to developing new cupcake flavors, to assessing the financial feasibility of Hokulani’s locations and investing in new methods of customer outreach.

“My management style is to learn every position because it can help me become a credible leader,” she said. “I am always faced with the decision of doing what was best for the company.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, small business owners were faced with many unknowns. One of the decisions Marie made to support her company was taking the business certification course offered by the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Enterprising Women of Color (EWOC) Business Center at YWCA O‘ahu. She signed up for Certification Cohort 2 at the recommendation of her friend and fellow local entrepreneur, Camille Heung of Valia Honolulu boutique.

“I went through with the process because at the time COVID was such a big question mark,” Marie said.

“I would ask myself, ‘Are we going to have normal traffic or normal sales?’ And so with the opportunity of getting wholesale businesses certified and contracted came up, I thought, why not have another tool under my belt and whip it out when I need it? I felt ready to take on another skill with my business being pretty established and situated.”

After completion of the Certification Cohort, Hokulani Bakeshop is now in the final stages of getting certified. The potential for additional contract work and business growth opportunities is critical for local entrepreneurs like Marie to ensure diverse options for sustainability in the future. Being part of the Certification Cohort also connected Marie to a network of other small business owners and her peers.

“Sometimes for small businesses, it can seem like it’s hard to get resources and information to help our businesses grow,” Marie said.

“By talking to other owners, you can see a bigger picture of where you want your business to be and what you want for it. I love meeting other owners and talking shop and creating the relationship with them to know that we can have each other’s back and support regardless of what the product or service is being sold.”