{"id":206890,"date":"2024-11-26T15:18:25","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T01:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=206890"},"modified":"2024-12-03T17:17:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T03:17:48","slug":"uh-alumni-shiyana-thenabadu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/11\/26\/uh-alumni-shiyana-thenabadu\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> Alumni: Shiyana Thenabadu, owner of Kailua Honey"},"content":{"rendered":"
Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Thenabadu
Thenabadu outside Kailua Honey\u2019s newly opened store<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/pvOJgq-BfwU” el_aspect=”916″ align=”right” el_id=”wrap-video-right”][vc_column_text]\n

A small, locally owned business on Oʻahu<\/span>\u2019s east side is shining a spotlight on Hawaiian honey. University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa alumna Shiyana Thenabadu, who graduated with her master\u2019s degree in communication from the College of Social Sciences in 1994, recently opened a storefront for her venture, Kailua Honey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I think we need to have a brick-and-mortar store for people to take us seriously,” said Thenabadu.<\/p>\n

She credits her connection to the community to her student days at UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa.<\/p>\n

“It was a fabulous experience. I got to meet so many people from different parts of the country…and we really felt the aloha spirit in our classes,” she said. “I was a foreign student, so it wasn\u2019t easy, but [my professors] made it easy for me to assimilate and do well, basically.”<\/p>\n

Inspired by bees<\/h2>\n

Her journey began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she left her job as a teacher for McKinley Community School and began reading about the challenges bees face. Inspired, she decided to start a hive and try her hand at beekeeping.<\/p>\n

Her hobby soon grew into a small business, beginning with sales from her front yard and local deliveries by bicycle.<\/p>\n

\"Jars
Kailua Honey products<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“We source locally as much as possible. We want to help Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> agriculture, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> farmers, and we want to help other small businesses,” she said. “We know it\u2019s not easy to survive and I think collaboration is where it\u2019s at, not competition.”<\/p>\n

With this new venture, Thenabadu is also looking to give back and support other women entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

“If there\u2019s anything I can do to help other women entrepreneurs who might want to start their own business at UH<\/abbr>, I would love to talk to them and give them a hand,” she said.<\/p>\n

Learn more about other outstanding UH<\/abbr> Alumni<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Kailua storefront signals a sweet expansion for a UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa alumna.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[90,301,661,1466,1314,73,9,56],"class_list":["post-206890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-alumni","tag-college-of-social-sciences","tag-communications","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t