We originally met at Oceanic, where Jamie was a commercial producer and Nolan was an account executive. Later we started doing fun videos on the side, then made it official in 2016 when we went full-time and opened Pop! We made our relationship official in 2018, and now basically spend 23 hours/day together 😆

It’s kind of an accident that I do what I do. My first major in college was computer science - I had a vague dream about doing CGI at Industrial Light & Magic (George Lucas’ visual effects company). But I dropped that after my first programming class, when I lost my mind spending all night looking for the one missing comma that kept my marching band program from running. After that I was clueless.

I thought about majoring in film because that was the only major that had course descriptions that sounded interesting, but I wasn’t artsy and it sounded too expensive (cost of buying film and getting it developed). Then I found out that television was a major, it looked similar to film but less artsy, more practical and cheaper. It was only available at Boston University and Syracuse University at the time, so I went with Boston because Syracuse sounded way too cold. I figured I could be a producer at a talk show or something, because I liked planning and checklists.

The second project I did at Boston was on Hoa ʻĀina O Mākaha, a farm that does work with kids at Makaha Elementary. Over winter break I interviewed the owner and got some footage around the farm, and spent a lot of hours back in Boston in a tiny reel-to-reel edit bay putting it together. The farm ended up asking if they could use it to show funders what they do. I was totally shocked that my little school project could be useful for an actual organization doing real work.

Later that year, I was watching Oprah and she said something about television having the power to change the world and I was like, “YES! That’s what I want to do.” I told my brother that I wanted to make videos for nonprofits for free, so they could use it in their work. And he was like, “Dude, how are you going to eat?” Which was a good point. So after graduation, I went to work at KGMB and eventually ended up producing commercials at Oceanic Time Warner Cable, but maybe once a year I was able to work on some kind of meaningful project for a nonprofit.

After almost a decade of commercials, my therapist was encouraging me to try new things and get back to doing stuff that made me happy. That got me away from commercials, and I spent about a year working for a judge - a dream job for this Law & Order junkie. But working for the state was running my finances into the ground, and being a single mom at that point, I couldn’t afford to stay there. Nolan and I were trying to produce videos on the side with dreams of one day doing it full-time, so I told him I was ready to make the jump. If it didn’t work, I’d be in debt and needing to find a new job - which was exactly the spot I was in at that point - so it was time to poop or get off the pot.

We knew that we *could* do commercial productions for corporate clients since we did that before, but then we may as well go back to Oceanic with a regular paycheck, health benefits and a 401k. So we decided to focus on nonprofits and small businesses - organizations we connect with, people we like, and where what we create is meaningful and helpful to people working to make the world a better place. Running a small business isn’t easy, but I couldn’t be happier 💖

Jamie would like you to know that her section is waaayyyyy longer than Nolan's because he kept telling her to add more. She thought he was going to make his section longer to match, but he's refusing. She's letting it go because she's quiet in person so this might be the most you ever hear from her, and he's the talker so you'll really get to know him well in person 🤷🥴️  #marriedlife

I grew up idolizing my grandfather. I was blown away at how many friends he had and his ability to connect people with each other and how he seemed to make every person he came into contact with, feel like they mattered to him. And that was the truth. They did matter to him.

Now that I'm an adult and my grandfather has since passed, I too carry that same passion my grandfather had, to connect people and let them know that they matter. That's why I love what Jamie and I have created with Pop! I get to meet some really amazing people and organizations that are making the world a better place and I get to connect them with others through our videos and creative content.

While making videos is fun and creatively fulfilling, the part I love most about what we do is getting to really know the people we work with and become a part of the phenomenal things they're doing.

I've worn a lot of different hats when it comes to media, marketing, and entertainment, (acting, directing, ad sales, marketing management, writing, producing) which has given me some great experiences and also all the tools I need to help our projects "pop!" and make an impact for our clients and their audiences.

Our business dogs are essential to Pop operations, especially since we moved our office home 💕

Age-Friendly Honolulu   •   Alzheimer's Association – Hawaiʻi   •   Art Explorium   •  Assistance League of Hawaiʻi   •   Compassionate Ko'olaupoko   •   Family Hui Hawaiʻi   •   Family Programs Hawaiʻi   •   Hawai'i Health & Harm Reduction Center   •   Hawaiʻi Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations   •   Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice   •   Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network   •   Hawaiʻi GEER Summit   •   Hawaiʻi Pacific Gerontological Society   •   Hawaiʻi State Chapter of Children's Justice Centers   •   Hawaiian Humane Society   •   Helping Hands Hawaiʻi   •   Holy Nativity School   •   HOME Project   •   I'm a Bright Kid Foundation   •   Island Pacific Academy   •   Japanese American Citizens League – Honolulu Chapter   •   Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi   •   Kāneʻohe Elementary School   •   The Kresge Foundation   •   Manoa Heritage Center   •   Mental Health America of Hawaiʻi   •   Nā Keiki O Emalia   •   Nisei Veterans Legacy   •   Read To Me International   •   St. Andrew's Schools   •   Waikiki Community Center   •  Women's Fund of Hawaiʻi   •   YWCA