CMA Hawaii x FLUX Hawaii Magazine's Talk Story Sessions

Why didn't they teach me this in school??

You know the feeling...after maxing out your credit card...after dating a loser for six months too long...after learning anything the hard way...you sit there and think, why didn't they teach me this in school??

That's the exact thing I thought to myself after attending Talk Story Sessions, put on by CMA Hawaii and FLUX Magazine Hawaii this past Saturday at the Waikiki Edition Hotel. Thankfully though, it was successful local designers, artists, musicians, and entrepreneurs sharing these important life lessons, not the School of Hard Knocks.

The purpose of the event was "to promote arts and music education in Hawai'i with Talk Story Sessions, designed to educate, evolve and inspire the local creative set through interactive dialoguing." Each time slot had two speakers who participants could elect to "talk story" with. I attended the sessions with Nella Media Group, Brandon Reid of The Manifest, and Mari Matsuda of CMA Hawaii.



Nella Media Group is a local media company that specializes in magazine publishing and design, PR, brand management and creative advertising campaigns, and is perhaps best known for publishing the Chinatown newspaper and innov8 magazine. Speaking at the session was Jason Cutinella (the "Nella" behind NMG), Valerie Sanchez (the self-proclaimed "dream crusher"), and Chance Carpenter (the stylish architect turned graphic designer). The trio had a clever way of organizing their Talk Story Session. Jason talked about Vision - his personal vision of NMG and how important it was for him to partner with others that could help him fulfill and elevate that vision. His talk led into Valerie's discussion of Production. As the "dream crusher" and "email nazi" of the team, Valerie's role is to provide structure and to create systems for the company. She stressed the importance of keeping on track with schedules, calendars, and always following up. Chance rounded out the session with a fun and aptly designed power point on Execution. He discussed the designer's role of making his team's or client's vision a tangible reality, through at many times, playing a therapist or mind-reader.

Brandon Reid of The Manifest started his Talk Story Session with asking the crowd (and perhaps himself) "Is this really happening??" The owner of the Chinatown coffee shop/bar/art gallery immediately got the audience on his side with his honest disbelief that his successes have taken him to the point where we would spend our Sunday listening to him speak. He made us feel that he was one of us, just your typical local guy from a public school education and divorced parents...but one who achieved his amazing vision of a place that would serve the Honolulu Chinatown and art communities. He made us feel that if we persevere, we can make our dreams reality too.

This sense of realness remained throughout Brandon's talk. He talked about the death of his father, being duped out of his money, and people who doubted his dream to build The Manifest, among other life tales. Yet through his hardships and despite the nay-sayers, Brandon pushed forward with his goal. "What kind of man would I be if I didn't make things better?", Brandon had thought to himself at a point in his journey. He advised that if your idea will help serve the community, people will want to see it succeed and will put their $1 down to help you see it through.

Mari Matsuda is a professor at the UH Richardson School of Law. She began her Talk Story Session with stating that many people believe that our generation is apathetic towards creating positive social change. She continued with video clips of protests by young people - Arizona high schoolers, University of Rutgers students, rappers from L.A. and London, and finally Kauai natives in protest of the Super Ferry in 2007. 

The proof was there - our generation does care about social causes and wants change. It's just a matter of putting yourself out there as a concerned individual and banding with like-minded people in order to enlist that change. Members of the audience questioned, "But how do we make a difference? How can we protest?" Mari answered simply to start small. Start with a small, obtainable goal and get a handful of friends to support you. In that success, people feel a change within themselves - that they can make a difference and that they actually like that feeling. This "something small" builds the kind of imagination and courage that leads to big social change. I think she drove the point home when she asked the group why did we all come out to the day's event...because there is a feeling our gut and we can envision that things can be better.

I think the over-arching theme throughout all the sessions I attended was to make your life one that's worth living. Jason Cutinella said "At Nella Media Group, we get to create our own lifestyle." Brandon Reid asked the group "Why would we leave the things we want to do in life for someone else to experience?" And Mari Matsuda simply put it, "Just do it." I took away from these three sessions that if you have the courage to follow your gut instinct, you can indeed find that sense of personal fulfillment that we all are longing for. I hope to continually attend these Talk Story Sessions and will definitely be on the lookout for more positivity and inspiration coming out from CMA Hawaii and FLUX Magazine.