10/18/2015 0 Comments People I Admire: Mehana Lee I'm starting a new project, fueled by the idea of HONY, where I interview people that inspire me. I am constantly inspired and in awe of the world around me and I want to share the passion and wisdom I gather from friends and nature with you all. The first person I interviewed is my friend Mehana. She is from Maui and we've just started hanging out but we share similar values and passions for waking up early and being grandmas. Both of Mehana's parents are flight attendants and so she has been blessed with the opportunity to travel- a craving I have that never seems to be satiated. She also recently started her own company Dear Women where she sells handmade jewelry and gives some of the profits to organizations to help women in need. Let's meet her! What is your favorite place that you have traveled to? Italy, specifically Rome. I know it is really touristy but it was amazing seeing everything in person. What are the benefits of traveling? How does it help you grow as a person? Traveling alone is really beneficial because you learn a lot about yourself when you’re put in unfamiliar places. It teaches you more confidence when you’re able to navigate through somewhere that is not home. I just think you’re just more sure of yourself. Like when we did that road trip and planned it all by ourselves, it was just very empowering. If I can do this, I can do so many other things. If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go? I really want to go to Copenhagen. It’s just a really different place than America. The people are different. It’s socialist and I feel like it would be really cool to experience something like that. Also there’s this restaurant Noma that I want to go to: it’s rated the #1 restaurant in the world. That’s definitely on my bucketlist. Where is one place that you definitely want to return to? Austin, Texas. I didn’t think I’d like Texas that much but that was one of my favorite places I visited on our cross-country trip. I wouldn’t mind living there. Where do you consider to be your home? My home is technically Maui but I feel like I’m at home when I’m far away from home- when I’m somewhere new and experiencing something new. That’s the place that I feel most comfortable. So I guess just traveling makes me feel at home and reminds me of who I am as a person and I think that’s what home is supposed to remind you of. What is the mission statement/goal of Dear Women? I started off with it not really having this grand plan. To put it in the most simple terms, it’s just to help people that are less fortunate than me. So yeah. I think the goal is just to make a difference in someone’s life, whether that’s one person or a lot of people, I just want it to have some sort of positive impact on people. How long have you been making jewelry? I used to make jewelry when I was young, like 10, because my dad’s ex-wife had her own jewelry line. Only recently, like the beginning of August, I started again. I don’t have a lot of experience. Who do you write for? I mostly write for myself because I never thought that people would actually read it. But now that I see that I’m getting feedback from people my age, I’m trying to relate it more to people in their 20s who are trying to get their lives together like I am. Would you consider yourself comfortable in your own skin? Tough question. I’d like to say yes but I know that I’m honestly not there yet. I think…I feel like after the breakup, I lost a lot of self-esteem. I felt bad about myself, which is how you feel after any crappy thing happens in your life. But starting these projects has helped me find my worth and gain more confidence in myself and has shown me that I can do things that are bigger than just me. What is a lesson you could impart to the next generation from your experiences? Just take time to be completely okay with yourself and by yourself. And don’t try to complete yourself by having someone else in your life. You have to be complete and okay with yourself. Who inspires you? Definitely my parents because they have just been a really—they’ve been my rock…and I don’t know. They’ve just encouraged me to do everything that I’m passionate about and not once have they stopped believing in me. That’s pretty inspiring. My other inspiration is my cousin Pi’i. She reminds me to be free and love what you do and to just be in love with your life, because that’s something that we forget a lot. It’s simple but you forget that a lot. Check out her recounting over her travels at http://abroad-spectrum.weebly.com and follow her company's progress at @dear.women or follow her personal instagram account at @mehanalee
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